Thanksgiving Weekend

Here are some shots of Marie over the past weekend. Her Aunt Abigail got a lot of time with her, which is great as she is babysitting Saturday during Uncle Rob's wedding. Marie received tons of attention at Uncle Tom's. As the picture shows, there was rarely a moment when she didn't have at least 3 or 4 people entertaining her! Even though she missed a few naps, she enjoyed her first holiday weekend!
The other pictures are of her enjoying some of her favorite things...her swing and puffs. For those of you who are not familiar with the recent improvements in baby stuffs, there is now baby snackfood. Gerber started it by making a star shaped cheerio-like food that dissolves quickly and comes in different fruit flavors. Now, there are storebrands; I believe Marie is enjoying Meijer brand sweet potato puffs here. And her swing - she loves her swing. If I try to take her out before she is ready, her little hands grip the ropes and she screeches while tightening her legs so I can't lift her out easily. I believe that is politely called being "spirited."
Her newest skill is waving. We worked with her on that for a few weeks. At first she would only wave at her reflection and then she saw an illustration in a baby book of 4 babies waving. She waved back at them and has not stopped. When she cries at night and Jim goes in to check on her, he finds her waving!

November Update

Here is Marie busy at home this week! You can see she is crawling, trying to feed herself and all around a happy little girl.

She is very excited about the crawling. So much so that, unfortunately, she loves to crawl in her crib. I just checked in on her napping to find she has rotated herself so she is lying the short way of the crib, complete with one leg sticking out between the bars. That will be a fun way to awake. She feels the need to demonstrate her new sitting up and crawling skills anytime I place her in there. I leave and after a few minutes I hear the cry of, "I can't lie down by myself!" and I go back in, put her on her back and cover her with a blanket. She goes to sleep mad at my lack of appreciation for her new mobility.

She also is excited about feeding herself. I think only 10-15% of the food makes it into the mouth. So I sit with another hidden bowl of food and feed her in between her attempts. She gets so excited that she doesn't even notice that there is no food on the spoon as she quickly transfers it from bowl to mouth.

Marie turns 1 on December 3rd! We can't believe it! We will be celebrating her Uncle Rob's wedding to Aunt Sandra on the 2nd so we will be down in Brighton. The following weekend up here Marie gets baptized by Deacon Tom Bousamra and then her belated birthday party to follow that day's nap.

On the advice of my English teacher...

...I will update the blog. Marie got some mail; you can see she is jubilant! She does love getting the mail every day. She always gets to hold some junk mail and waving it around is just so much fun! The other pix is of her playing with her favorite toy - Jim's ID tag. And, of course, the picture of her with Daddy!

She is doing well; she wants to be with me a lot but that is good. Yesterday she played the piano but was really more interested in throwing the music on the floor. She loves loves loves her swing. Favorite foods remain rice,poultry and sweet potatoes, although bread crust and cheerios are right behind. She loves seeing what happens to food when she drops it, unfortunately. I do not know how much weight she has gained but you can see the chubby cheeks are now there and weren't before.

It is interesting to follow people's stories now who are just now getting pictures of their daughters. They have waited a long long time and we are so excited to see their journeys. On this side of the wait, that perspective is nice. One thing I realize, if we didn't have that delay waiting for Marie, I might not be home right now having this time with Grama. As Jim says,it is nice to see the hand of God in things.

I got to go have lunch at work today. Interesting to see how much I miss the interaction but how much I enjoyed leaving to go home for nap time. She is so much fun!

Adjusting

Marie dressed up in her U of M attire for her impromptu visit from Uncle Scott. He is really visiting Grama Thelma but staying with us. We'll take that though. She played with him today and Jim is a little jealous!

For the recent visitors, you should note that Marie now has a hat and it fits!!!

We met up with Aunt Becky, Uncle Guido, Henry and George this past weekend at a pumpkin patch. Henry had lots of Star Wars questions saved up for Uncle Jim who did not let him down but knew all the answers!

Marie has been hugely popular. She has had visitors and gifts daily for over a week now. We cannot keep up with the Thank You cards and announcements. If you have received either recently, you are lucky. But we are so very grateful for all the love expressed for this child. As my Uncle Larry said to me, "She is blessed! You two are blessed!" So, even though the formal note may be long in arrival, please know that we do appreciate the time and attention from everyone! For example, today she had a visitor with a gift and a package in the mail. She received a gift in the mail the previous two days. Again, we are blessed!

She is asleep now and will awake for a bottle at some point. She awakes at about 7am. Morning time is precious with both Daddy and Mommy. First Marie gets her bottle. Then Momma gets her coffee. The both can take on the day!

Who's afraid of Daddy?

As you can see, Marie and Jim have come a long way. Today, Saturday, Jim played with her, got her down for her morning nap and took her for a walk all by himself! Then he went to a buddy's house to watch the UM-msu game.
Marie continues to adjust well. Her sleeping has improved dramatically so our sleeping has as well. Bedtime routine begins around 6:30 with a bath, stories and songs, bottle and prayers. Her favorite "lovely" unfortunately is the Charmin Bear - as in the toilet paper, yes. The radio ads made Jim and I laugh so much a few years ago that I got one as a joke for him. She loves it. She loves all stuffed animals but it is Charmin Bear who has stolen her heart. Her Pooh from Hong Kong airport is a close second though.
Today I left the house without her! It was the first time since we becme a family that I wasn't with Marie. It was quite exciting. My big excursion was to the grocery store and then the Farmer's Market where I met Kerry and her 3 year-old daughter Hailey. I was gone for 1.5 hours! And, oddly enough, the world didnt end and she survived without me.

out and about

Marie had a good night last night in that she didn't screech for hours. Last night, as usual, she awoke after exactly 3 hours sleep and would not go back to sleep. Previous nights, we tried the back-patting every 10 minutes, the cry it out, the bring her to our bed, the rocking...these do not work with this child. We figure that 1) her stomach is still on China time and 2) she has had a lot of recent experiences with waking up someplace new with strangers. She slept okay in China but her crib mattress was right at my eye level as I lay in bed. She would wake up, see me, fuss a little or play a little and then settle back down. In her crib she was waking up alone someplace new...not good. So, last night Momma slept in the chair next to her bed. It was not a perfect solution by any means but, as I said, she didn't screech and go into hysterics. She was consolable although still was up a lot. We'll see...pray that tonight is better.

We took a nice walk along the Vasa today. That is a famous cross country ski trail in Traverse City but today was just home to people and dogs. Marie liked it but Momma thought that the 3k was a far enough walk when you have 15 pounds of toddler strapped to you. Wonder if we will ski the trail this year?

Then we stopped by to introduce Marie to Great-Grama. Grama fed her cheerios and was delighted to see her. She remembered who we were and knew right away who Marie was. Had to be reminded of a few things but on the whole enjoyed the visit. As we said goodbye, Grama pointed to Marie and clearly said, "I want to see that one as often as possible."

Tomorrow Jim goes back to work and it is just the girls. One of us is a little nervous but it will be okay.

White Swan Pictures

Here are some pictures taken as we left the White Swan Hotel for the swearing in ceremony at the US consulate. A new family poses at the top and the bottom is the famous "red couch" picture. It is tradition that all the children pose together for a group photo before going to the consulate appointment. Herding cats is a little easier, I believe. Marie is the little one in white on the lower right. She tried to climb off her cushion repeatedly and hit the girl next to her a few times but for the most part, she was a good model.

White Swan Pictures

At Home

Here are some pictures from our second full day at home. Our night last night was fitful; poor little peanut is 12 hours ahead. She also has a front tooth coming in. And a cold. Needless to say, it was a difficult night. Probably didn't help that her mommy is a little hovering and doesn't allow her to just fall asleep by herself. But she is learning to let Marie be. You can see Jim is working hard at bonding with Marie; have you ever seen such intensity?
The flight was surprisingly easy. She slept a great portion of the time. The man across the aisle from us took her picture as he got off the plane in Chicago. Marie became a US citizen as we cleared customs. Aunt Heidi and cousins Sydney, Shelby and Luke helped the 6 hour wait go quickly with a airport visit. Sydney was proud to hold her new baby cousin and she did very well. Shelby was adamant that she is not Marie's little cousin but a "big cousin" because she is 5. Luke mooched leftover cheerios. It was so nice to see family after such a long time away. Then we took the last short flight to Traverse City. We arrived home to family and friends egerly waiting at the airport with pink balloons and gifts. Hailey and Hannah, Marie's 3 year-old friends, stayed up late to greet Marie. They said Ni Hao and had left flowers and groceries at the house. Jim's family greeted us at the airport as well and taped the entire event. Marie didn't take to the carseat or crib at first but now she thinks they are allright.
We are all doing great - tired but loving every minute of it. Marie is a joy, as you can see from the pictures. Now let's see if tonight she sleeps through the night!

Mao's Revenge?

We have delayed our flight to Monday. Here in Hong Kong I got food poisoning and our room looks like a dysentary ward at a hospital. As Marie has been sick and tired too we decided to wait a day. Jim is a hero...it has not been pretty. Fortunately we bought our tickets with adoption fares - not sale fares - so changes do not have a fee applied. We are at the Regal Airport Hotel in Hong Kong till Sun night your time.
We will have the same itinerary as before just one day later. We have been trying to call family and no one is home. You might get a phone call if we can reach anyone. I can lie around now without anything coming out either end so Jim has run to the McDonalds in the airport to give himself a much needed break. Marie is taking an early nap as her schedule is all messed up too.

Guangzhou

We all have colds. Marie gave them to us as her welcome gift. So today we spent a lot of time getting her better. I stayed in the room with her sleeping on my chest so she could breathe, Jim ran around trying to get the things we needed. She actually went to the hotel clinic and they told us she has a cold- give her cold medicine. So we did! Tonight she and I sat in the bathroom and steamed, we vaporubbed and aspirated. I gave her a good dose of cold meds and I think most of it actually got swallowed.

Our pictures show how we have had quite the day today, even with the illness. One thing you can't tell from the pictures is that Marie went through 3 outfits by 10am. She was a busy girl this morning. At dinner I said that I feel like I have formula over everthing I own. We also got a phone call this morning from home - thanks Charles! I was in shock at a familiar voice and could barely talk! Nice to realize that home is getting closer!

The first picture was a gift to us from the hotel. Every family that adopts and stays here receives a Welcome Home Barbie. This is quite the baby-filled place. Everytime you get in the elevator you get to exchange stories and admire the new baby of another couple. It is so much fun to be here as everyone is happy and excited to go home.
The next one, with our cutoff heads, is from two nights ago. Marie wanted to make sure everyone in Nanchang was aware of the Michigan victory over Notre Dame.
After that are some pictures of the medical exam. That was interesting. Basically there wer 3 stations. They just looked at every nook and cranny on her and measured everything. She was no thrilled as this meant a lot of strangers holding her. More on that later.
Last is the night view out our window. Actually we can't get a picture of the entire view as it is quite the picture window. But you can see how nice it is.
Tonight we had a traditional Chinese dinner with the majority of the families. The food was awesome. Jim ate everything andMarie had rice, steamed bun and cheerios. Later he and a few other new Dads are meeting. They realized that in China one can have a cuban cigar and I believe they are going to partake in a celebratory new dad cigar.
So, the holding. She won't go to anyone but me without crying. Not just a few tears either. She was with her foster family till Sept 1st and then was back in the orphanage till last Sunday. Sunday she had a 3 hour bus ride and then was left with these strangers - us. So we decided to not push it and basically I end up holding her a lot. We put her in the carrier and I get so excited to have my arms back! She's gonna hate the carseat. So just be forewarned. She only started touching Jim today and will smile at others but she makes you work for it.

Tomorrow we get our visas and leave for Hong Kong early the next day. I will try to do one more post before the big trip home. Thanks for reading and sharing this with us.

World Traveler

Marie has a passport. It was issued to Lin Yi Hong today by the Chinese government. We put it to good use and flew from Nanchang (where the hotel air conditioning was shut off during the day) to Guangzhou. We are staying at the White Swan for the next 3 nights. This is not your average Holiday Inn. Our room overlooks the Pearl River; there is a light show from the surrounding buildings and boats are going by constantly. It is amazing. I am sipping a Pearl River Lager and it taste like a Miller light....not missing much there. We are so happy to be out of the hotel in Nanchang to this paradise. It is amazing.
Marie did well on the plane. She had a bottle as we took off and entertained the people around her. She played a lot with Jim's face and ate a lot of baby snacks. Her schedule is messed up; tomorrow we have to be up and out by 7:45 for the medical exam to get her visa. The next day is the swearing in ceremony. Our trip has been greatly expedited and while we appreciate the money and time saved, it has been very tiring. Every day we have a meeting and its usually confusing and long. Aren't all meetings though? Needless to say, we are so relieved to be at this ultranice hotel for the end of the trip.
Our travel group is great. There are 3 families from Michigan and the others are from Wisconson, Minnesota, Iowa, Pennslyvannia and Georgia. One family brought their young teen daughters and they entertain the babies. The babies all look so different - the shape of their eyes and their cheeks and chins. They are all so cute in their own way. Marie is a charmer with her big eyes. We all just hang out and play with each others babies as we hold our own.
Sorry no pictures today. Our day consisted of the bus ride to and from the passport place, packing, riding to the airport, the flight and the ride to the hotel. Once we got here, Jim had to go to a meeting to do paperwork and I had bath and bed duty. Then I washed the bottles in the hotel sink; can't wait to be in a kitchen again.
See you all soon. Thanks so much for the comments!

Halfway through day 2

You all are sleeping right now while for us it is almost 2pm. Marie is napping. I thought I'd take advantage of the downtime to share some more.

Here are some pictures of our day today. We toured a nearby temple that has been rebuilt and destroyed 23 times. Now it is basically a very nice, somewhat historical tourist trap. The pictures are of that and the area around the hotel.


We are in Nanchang which is the capital of Jiangxi province. It is southeastern China and the population is a million plus. We are here until tomorrow afternoon when we depart for Guangzhou. That is where the
American consulate is located. (The Chinese govt does not want the US to have its consulate office in Beijing.) While Marie is now legally adopted, she does not yet have US citizenship. That is the next step. She will have a medical exam, they take a day to look over our papers and then there is a swearing in ceremony. On the 22rd we go to Hong Kong for the night and then the flight home on the 23rd.
It is very hot here but not nearly as polluted as Beijing. The air was thick and smoggy there. This town is very old and known for its pottery. It is not known for its food. We are both very open to trying new things but we are ready for some home food. Sometimes we eat the western food here but it doesn't taste like you'd expect. Marie, however, is a big fan of cheerios.

We have had so many nice things happen; you can tell the chinese people really do care about these girls and their welfare. Today the orphanage director sent over a small photo album with pictures of the orphanage and also a gift for Marie. Yesterday, when we were in a store, a little girl walked up to her and gave her a flower. Lots of other small things have happened like that. It is very sweet and we are overwhelmed.

Having said all that, we are getting ready to come home!

Day One

Aren't I cute? Here is my dad makingmy formula in the hotel bathroom; he is ready to go home to the dishwasher and safe water. Next is my family when we legally registered the adoption-I am now a Whall. Last is my foot next to the shoe they had on me when I arrived. I do not think it was sized well. Could be worse, the girl nextdoor came with two left shoes.

We are exhausted and it is 8:45. The day started well but then we left on the bus to register the adoption = necessary paperwork. We thought we were prepared with a bottle of formula and a bottle of juice except after the meeting the guide took us shopping and we learned Marie won't drink anything cold. So we had a hungry, tired child when we returned 3 hours later. Lets just say that Marie was not the only one crying; thankfully we have some new wonderful friends who have 4 children. They talked us through it and came and helped out. Thank you Mark and Amy!
After nap, we had a plan to do better. Jim has been great with getting the formula, paperwork, baths, etc. Marie is still very frightened by him and he is being so understanding. He said it is ironic that the only child afraid of him is his own. We have tried having him feed her and no way. We will work on it more tomorrow. Needless to say, I had to hold her from 8am to 4pm. My body is tired. We put her in the carrier after her nap and will use it tomorrow. She was much much happier this evening and we hope for a good night.
A lovely little store around the corner collects newspapers and gives parents the original finding ad. This is a tiny advertisement the orphanage must put in the paper when they take in a child with her picture and info so she could potentially be claimed. They gave it to us and made copies too. I left crying at the sweet clerk who helped us. If you ever are in Nanchang, go buy something at Tiffanies. (Not that Tiffany's)

The traffic is unreal. There are no stop signs or stop lights. People drive with no predicability and there are always bikes and scooters barreling down the road. Walking around is scary because of that. Also, people stare so much that it gets really difficult. I know we are white and carrying a chinese baby but from what I can see there are a lot of couples walking around like us- I don't understand the stares. It is not flattering but rather unsettling.

It seems like about 1/3 of the people in the hotel are adopting. There are babies all over. It is interesting to hear where in the world the parents are from by listening to them talk. The hotel rooms have a crib, stroller and baby bath tub. The first night we were here there were only 2 towels and the next day there were 3. At the buffet they have congee which looks like white rice that has been cooked too long using too much water. It is what Marie eats and I am going to have to learn how to make it.

I am off to sleep now that it is 9m. She will want a bottle at 4...that feels soon.

Thank you all so much for the comments. It makes us feel like we aren't half a world away from our family, friends and familiar food.

Here I Am!

What an amazing day! We were told that at 10am we would meet to go over paperwork and we wouldn't get the babies till 10:30-11.
At 10 we go down to the lobby and learn that, as our friend Mick said, "The babies are in the house!" We were hurried into the conference room and lined up along one side. Within 2 minutes, the orphanage director and some workers rushed in with babies- 2 each - and lined them up along the floor. Some immediately started wailing. They had matching polyester outfits that were either blue, green or red. I thought I knew which one was Marie but didn't want to guess and be wrong. There was a little girl on the floor who locked eyes with me across the room 20 feet away and I was hoping that was her. She didn't look away but we just stared at each other. Then our guide Shirley told us that she would call us up and ask us our daughter's Chinese name and birthdate as the orphanage director brought the girl up. Being Whalls, we knew we would be 2nd to last- right before Zimmermans. The first couple went up and we took some polaroids of the family as they got their daughter. As the matching continued, the little one that stared at me sat on the floor waiting and watching. Finally there were 3 left. I knew that the one in red was the Zimmerman baby so I was watching to see which of the other two babies went with the couple before us. As they brought their little girl up, I knew who Marie was and of course, it was the little patient one in green who kept staring at me. Our names were called and we went to the end of the room. I said Lin Yi Hong and 12/03. They handed her to me and she looked at me and nestled in. There she would stay for the next 2.5 hours; crying everytime I tried to set her down. She was clutching a little card, like a business card, with her name written on it and her picture clipped to it. We took a polaroid and I held on to it. She looked at her picture she was holding and the picture I was holding and decided that she liked that. Looking at Jim made her cry at first but we can look at him now without crying. Jim would laugh when her eyes welled up so I guess he is okay with that. He now tries not to laugh as we think that might be scary.
We went back to the room, ate two bowls of cherrios and had some formula. Then Jim ran to the store with some experienced Dads whileMarie went down for a nap. She was trading huge smiles with me from her crib as she was going to sleep so we are doing well. Now we sit and wait for her to awake.

Whall on Wall

Nuff said.

Numbers

Everyone looks for connections with their daughters beforehand...and they so often do exist. The family we sat next to on the plane has 3 children already. They all were large babies and, we saw pictures, they have lots of hair. Their middle child at age 10 grows hers to donate to Locks of Love. And sure enough, their new daughter weighs a lot and is one of the few babies with just a ton of hair!
Ironically enough, I see the connections in numbers. You know that Marie's medical report was written on Jim's birthday, the referral paperwork is dated on Heidi's birthday and we got the referral on Guido's birthday. We left for China on the day in between her cousins' birthdays. The day our paperwork was officially logged in here in China is the same as our voicemail code. It goes on...

The best is in the month since we received our referral, I have been waking up most days at 4am, on the dot. Many of you have heard me share this frustrated and perplexed. When we got to the hotel here in Beijing, we had a note waiting for us with our itinerary in Nanchang and some info on our girl's schedule. Marie wakes at 6am, goes to sleep at 6:30pm and has one nighttime feeding...at 4am.

Amazing!

A Few More Pictures

Dinner with No Forks

and a view of the

Temple of Heaven

Day Two

Here we are at the Temple of Heaven. It was amazing; a quartermile long stretch of parks and walkways leading up to this temple. We took a cab with another couple and had an adventure getting there and back! The air is so bad; a thick haze enveloped the city all day long. Then in the afternoon we went to the SilkMarketplace. Bought no silk but bartered and bought some squeaky shoes for Marie. We also figured out the food court and ate some noodles while using only chopsticks. In the evening we went to the acrobatic show and also met the rest of the group. I was pleased that I could understand the cab driver and the sales clerks with the tiny amount of mandarin we learned. We also have figured out the money. Again, we are exhausted. Tomorrow morning we go to the Great Wall and the cloisonne factory. I think we will sleep a little on the bus. One and a half days left in Beijing!

Wiped Out

I have never been so tired - ever. It is now 9:30 Wed night here- exactly 12 hours later than in Michigan.
We woke up at 4am Tuesday morning for our 6am flight to Chicago (of course, didn't get more than 3 hours of sleep). The flight to Beijing left around 12:30 and we were in the air for 12.5 hours. There were about 9 couples on the flight who were adopting. We were sharing pictures in the airport. The flight was forever. At one point, Jim asked me how long we'd been in the air. 4 hours at that point - 8 to go. We watched Band of Brothers DVD and read and tried to sleep. They did feed us 2 small meals and a bowl of noodles. The best part was flyinig over the North Pole and seeing the ice sheets below. We got through customs fine; Jim was asked if he was a boxer. Then had a bus ride to the hotel and saw parts of Beijing. Beijing is under construction - the entire city I think.We were told that the Forbidden City tour would be very disappointing asmany parts are being fixed up for the Olympics and are not open to public. Every place you look an old building is being torn down and a new high rise is going up. Signs for the Olympics are very common.

Tomorrow is a bit of a free day; we don't have anything till 4. We think we will take a cab to the Temple of Heaven and do some sightseeing.

It was very emotionally overwhelming to be in the airport and on the way to the hotel. First to be here in China is very exciting. But then to realize what is happening in 4 days is breathtaking. We feel so excited and grateful all at the same time. And tired. That flight home will be interesting. We are both a little scared, I think.

We've Arrived!!!

We got in about 2;20 local time. Which, conveniently, is 2:20am your time. We'll update you with more news once we get some rest.

da Plane!

We are almost there - there being on the plane. Friday was our last day at work. I handed over my classes to the guest teacher with tears; walked around school during the last class to soak it all in. The staff said a nice goodbye at the end of the day too. Today I am sitting here wondering what my sub is doing. AWWWW - no control! I guess that is good for me.
Jim strategically went in yesterday (Sunday) to do last minute things uninterrupted. Today we slept in. Evidently we won't do that for a few years.

We depart Traverse City at 6am Tuesday the 12th. Arrive in Chicago and fly directly from there to Beijing. Several other adoptive families are on that flight. Arrive in Beijing at 2:30pm on the 13th. We stay in Beijing till the 16th. Marie joins us Sunday morning 9/17 at 10am. They are bringing her to the hotel and she will remain with us from then on. We begin our journey home on the 23rd when we go to Hong Kong for the night. Leave for home at 1pm from Hong Kong with a long layover in Chicago. Back in TC at 9:30 pm on the 24th.

We understand that we have internet access from hotels so we can update then. I will post some picts too. If you know my ofoto info, you can check there too for more.

We want to say Thank You so much for the million different ways you have helped us. Love to all of you!

Travel!

Today Jim and I were given tentative travel dates.
We leave for Beijing on the 12th. Our consulate appointment is on the 21st of September. We will be home a few days after that!

WOW! We are very very close to Marie!!!

The 12th!

We heard today that we will leave for Beijing on September 12th.
Yes, that is very very soon!

Stupid, adorable old pets!!!

Zoot has a torn ACL. Doggone it! I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Today's dose is bad. She is in pain and there aren't any feasible options. How do you explain rehab to a 12 year old dog? Well, we have been blessed with her company for a long time. She and Jim will spend the weekend together, as Jim says, "Eating nothing but bacon" and then sometime next week we will be without her. Now I need kleenex.

Almost there!

I hear with pretty good confindence that we will begin making travel arrangements next week!!!
WOW!!!!!

Thank you...whoever you are!

I am crying and can hardly type.

Whoever you are...thank you.

We just received a phone call from our agency. Our social worker said to me, "Someone in your life, who wants to remain anonymous, just donated xx dollars towards your adoption. "

Jim and I are so blessed already and now this! Thank you so much! We know we are loved and that Marie is the most loved child in northern Michigan. Can't wait till she knows it too!

Thank you Thank you Thank you! You are in our prayers!

Surprise!

We see on the boards today that people are starting to get their TA's (travel invitations)!!! That means travel plans aren't far behind. If this is true, then we could travel sooner than expected! Wow!
Canning peaches just got put on hold for a celebratory dinner tonight!

Zai jin! (good bye!)

Here is a link to the province where Marie is. She is southeast of the capital Nanchang. Jim and I will go to Nanchang and maybe travel more from there.
Marie's Province
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/jiangxi/index.htm

We will stay at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
http://www.gloriahotels.com/gloria_en/plaza/nanchang.asp

We will stay there soon!!!

Some Travel Info...

Part of an informative email from Bethany Christian Services:
"When families travel to China to meet their child and complete the adoption process, they generally travel in a group with other Bethany families. Every Bethany-China family follows the same adoption process. These families are from all across the U.S! These families receive referrals together and generally will travel together. "

Before travel, we need to 1) get visas for travel 2) receive a travel invitation from China 3) have our consulate appointment scheduled 4) complete paperwork in the US. Once we receive the travel invitation (in 3-4 weeks), then the US consulate appointment is arranged and we can go ahead and make travel arrangements.

We are using a travel agency that works with Bethany Christian Services to arrange our travel. There are 9 families in our travel group. Unfortunately, they do not seem to be "on-line" like many other adoptive parents so we have not met them yet. Bethany will release their info to us, providing they agree, a few weeks before travel.

Our Child Has a Big Head

Looking at a Chinese Growth Chart for Girls, Marie at 5 months was in the 50th percentile for length, 75th for weight and...90th for head circumference.

Using the chart as a predictor, she will be about 18 pounds when we get her and 71cm long. We won't discuss head size.

But it would seem that she is healthy!

one photo

Here is the photo we were given first. We think she is younger here.
(I have tried repeatedly to load the others but can't do it now)

Marie Kathleen!

(I can't seem to post pictures now but will retry later.)

Whew...coming down after our whirlwind few days!
Monday was the hottest day this summer. I spent it at home, waiting by the phone. We knew that the referrals had arrived in Grand Rapids at 11:5 (thank you internet) so we were waiting for them to be translated and forwarded on to our caseworker. Needless to say, by 3 I was in tears. Jim called and found out that we wouldn't hear that day. And I could've been at the beach! Oh well..so we knew for sure it would be Tuesday!

Tuesday was an amazing day! From getting the call, to getting our pictures, to celebrating with family and friends. Marie received some clothes from "Aunt" Kate and "Aunt" Kerry - a fall outfit - and balloons and artwork from cousins Henry and George and their Mommy. The day ended with our waiting in line outside to see a film we had tickets to (the Traverse City Film Festival is this week), getting downpoured on while waiting and then the film starting 20 minutes late! We got home at about 1am, and yes, the movie was good. It was quite the day!

So what we know:
Lin Yi Hong (last, middle, first name) was born 12/3/05. She was placed in foster care on 12/12. Her last name is the name of the orphanage director. Her first and middle together mean "Great Joy" (or enlarged harmony - a slightly different translation - but you get the gist). We are still in discussion about whether we will incorporate this as part of her name.

She is said to be a deep sleeper (good girl), and likes her foster mom to look face-to-face with her while she bounces on her knees. Her favorite activity is looking at picture books. She likes pork soup(?), yolk and rice cereal. Yummy!

We are sending a care package with a photo album, a stuffed animal, and a disposable camera. There are no guarantees that she will get it but others have had success.

We will get our travel invitation in about 4 weeks. After that, our agency will set our consulate appointment. Then we can make travel plans. We will likely travel around the end of September. We will go to Beijing for a few days, then Nanchang and last to Guangzhou. We will get Marie either the first or second day we are in Nanchang and she will remain with us from then on! Guangzhou is where the US Consulate is - all Americans must go through there.

Thanks for following this with us!

Using Our Time

Thought I'd show you a picture of what we have been up to...

The dresser is Jim's Dad's. We painted it white and painted the handles black. Jim wanted to keep it and re-use it as he likes reminders of his Dad around, of course! The teddy bear is from Christine Tenaglia; it is a Welcome Home bear she gave us. The signs are my "artwork." They are stencils of Chinese symbols for Love, Happiness and Peace.

We have had fun putting all this together. Eventually we will have to do the less fun stuff too, I guess!

Missed by One Day!

Well, a good news/bads news day.
Good news - this month's batch of referrals have been sent!
Bad news - the cut-off was for those logged in 6/28/05...our dossier was logged in 6/29/o5.
So while we miss out this month I guess we for sure will get our referral next month.

One month till we see a picture of our little one!
Travel occurs 6-8 weeks after that, usually. So I guess in 12 weeks we will be in China, if all goes well.

School's Out!

So it is now officially summer...and we are approaching 1 year of waiting while our dossier sits in a pile someplace in China. We have painted the trim, doors and dresser in "the baby room." Yesterday, a big package arrived on the front porch in the form of a car seat. So we know can drive the baby home from the airport and we have a place for her or him to sleep. One thing is missing...

On a different note, we should remind you and ourselves that we do not know the age or gender. We requested a child as young as possible. Another couple we read about requested a girl AYAP and were referred a 28 month-old boy! So we need to keep an open mind to whatever child is perfect for our family. The one thing we have learned is just when Jim and I think we have everything planned out perfectly in our heads, we are surprised by the actual events. So who knows what this s-l-o-w stork may bring us.

April

All right! My beloved girlfriends who do read this have told me it's time to update. Thanks to all of you; I feel like there is someone out there who's waiting with me when I know that you are checking this.

So, for many reasons China seems to have decided that the wait time for adoptions should be 12 months. This means that from the official date of their receiving our dossier, we have to wait 12 months before they will send us a referral. When we started this process, we were told 6 months. Everyone was told this no matter what agency - that was standard practice. So December/January is long gone...we now feel fairly sure we will be matched with our child the end of June. The one good thing is that China is now more prosperous as a country and more Chinese are adopting children. This is great news but doesn't do much to make the wait go faster. But more children have families!

So...we wait.

In the meantime, it has been a rollercoaster with many lessons. A few in a nutshell: Enjoy what you have today...do not worry about things you can't control...complaining and unhappiness gets you no where.

That's my update. Not much but there isn't much that's "news worthy" except I now have an I-Pod for the long plane ride and my godchild's name is Charlotte James (not Charlotte Grace as previously erroneously stated)! There, Nollers.
Love,
Whalls