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.