Praise be to God we made it back safely last night. I was so grateful when we touched down in St. Louis. We are all a little exhausted and could probably sleep for the next 24 hours but that's not going to happen. Eventually, we'll catch up. Hopefully, I'll have time to post more about our experiences in China during my time off from work.
We are picking up our boys later. I miss them so much. Once I get them in my arms they may need to work real hard to get themselves back out.
We are grateful for your prayers.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Changsha Update
I keep meaning to update my blog at night but tend to fall asleep when Maggie does at 8:30 p.m. I have her crib next to my bed and try to hold her hand through it. A half hour later I wake up and realize that I'm too drained to attempt to make sense on the blog.
Some updates...
On Wednesday evening we went to one of my dad's favorite restaurants - Pizza Hut! And it was much better than back in the states - less sauce, more cheese. Dad, I told you to join us. :)
On Thursday we headed to Martyr's Park a place dedicated to the revolutionists. We saw demonstrations of tai chi, women singing, koi fish and beautiful bridges. Afterwards, we went to the Hunan Embroidery Research Institute China Hunan Embroidery Museum. Embroidery goes back 2000 years in China. They do amazing work at the museum. They can embroider two different images (front and back) on one piece of silk. We bought a small embroidery piece with koi fish for Maggie. Her province is famous for its embroidery work and I wanted to make sure we took something home for her. Of course, the boys will love to see the koi fish too.
In the afternoon, we received Maggie's birth certificate and an official sheet with her finding spot information. Last night, Mike and another dad from our group ventured out to buy food at an authentic Chinese restaurant. We had received order information in Chinese from our guide. They showed this to the staff and they laughed. Then they were directed to a lower scale Chinese restaurant that Mike compared to a Burger King. They also laughed but ended up with some food - some beef that didn't look like beef that we didn't eat. Mom ended up eating plain rice while I ate the rice and spicy broccoli. The boys also picked up a delicious cranberry cake.
Today, we will meet with a calligraphy expert who will create a document with Maggie's Chinese name at the hotel. Later we will receive Maggie's passport and head to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou. In a week we will be back in St. Louis. I can't wait to see my boys again and for them to meet their baby sister!
Some updates...
On Wednesday evening we went to one of my dad's favorite restaurants - Pizza Hut! And it was much better than back in the states - less sauce, more cheese. Dad, I told you to join us. :)
On Thursday we headed to Martyr's Park a place dedicated to the revolutionists. We saw demonstrations of tai chi, women singing, koi fish and beautiful bridges. Afterwards, we went to the Hunan Embroidery Research Institute China Hunan Embroidery Museum. Embroidery goes back 2000 years in China. They do amazing work at the museum. They can embroider two different images (front and back) on one piece of silk. We bought a small embroidery piece with koi fish for Maggie. Her province is famous for its embroidery work and I wanted to make sure we took something home for her. Of course, the boys will love to see the koi fish too.
In the afternoon, we received Maggie's birth certificate and an official sheet with her finding spot information. Last night, Mike and another dad from our group ventured out to buy food at an authentic Chinese restaurant. We had received order information in Chinese from our guide. They showed this to the staff and they laughed. Then they were directed to a lower scale Chinese restaurant that Mike compared to a Burger King. They also laughed but ended up with some food - some beef that didn't look like beef that we didn't eat. Mom ended up eating plain rice while I ate the rice and spicy broccoli. The boys also picked up a delicious cranberry cake.
Today, we will meet with a calligraphy expert who will create a document with Maggie's Chinese name at the hotel. Later we will receive Maggie's passport and head to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou. In a week we will be back in St. Louis. I can't wait to see my boys again and for them to meet their baby sister!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Changsha Update
It's Wednesday morning in Changsha and my intentions to keep this blog updated have not gone as planned. Besides the technical issues, I am worn out by the end of the day when Maggie Rose or Qing Qing, her nickname, goes to bed. I lay in one of our hard beds and put my hand through her crib to let her know that I am not far away.
We got our girls on Monday. That was an amazing emotional experience. We walked into a room that smelled old where a couple of families where already waiting and saw three members of Maggie's orphanage staff. One of them was holding our precious girl. We were besides ourselves - was that her? She looked so tiny, much tinier than in her updated pictures. We were taking pictures and video from afar. Then the rest of our group's precious girls arrived. Paperwork was checked which took a while, passports examined. Then, we were the first to receive our baby girl. We asked the orphanage staff questions about our little girl and took pictures with them. It was hot in the reception room and Maggie was wearing a strawberry sweatshirt. She was sweating profusely. After we left, we went to a store to buy formula, crackers and water.
Later at the hotel, our guide showed us Maggie's finding announcement which is a black and white copy of the original. You can't even see her face but our guide was able to translate it for us. It is another piece of the puzzle to Maggie's identity. At 3 in the conferenc room of our hotel we filled out paperwork in preparation for our appointment at the CAB the next day.
On Tuesday, we met in the hotel lobby around 9 and arrived at the CAB around 9:30. We were there to fulfill the paperwork of Maggie's adoption. We promised to give her a good education and never abandon her. Were we happy with our referral - OF COURSE! Maggie had her right foot stamped, we paid the necessary fees and then we were done. Maggie is our's!!
Now we can rest a little easier until we leave for Guangzhou later this week. We will receive Maggie's passport this week. Mike has been out with members of our group to explore areas around the hotel. Today (Wednesday), we are going to a local Walmart which should be a very interesting experience.
We love our precious baby girl. I can't say enough just how tiny she is. She is also delayed which is to be expected. She is 7 months old but acts more like a 3 to 6 month old baby. Her paperwork stated that Maggie could crawl but she has little neck muscle. I wonder about their definition of the word crawl. She wears 3 to 6 month old clothing.
On Thursday, we hope to go to Martyr's Park. I'm sorry that I have not been able to post pictures. Mike has been tagging me on pictures in Facebook so hopefully some of you have seen Maggie's precious face.
Thank you for all of your prayers. They go with us everywhere we go.
We got our girls on Monday. That was an amazing emotional experience. We walked into a room that smelled old where a couple of families where already waiting and saw three members of Maggie's orphanage staff. One of them was holding our precious girl. We were besides ourselves - was that her? She looked so tiny, much tinier than in her updated pictures. We were taking pictures and video from afar. Then the rest of our group's precious girls arrived. Paperwork was checked which took a while, passports examined. Then, we were the first to receive our baby girl. We asked the orphanage staff questions about our little girl and took pictures with them. It was hot in the reception room and Maggie was wearing a strawberry sweatshirt. She was sweating profusely. After we left, we went to a store to buy formula, crackers and water.
Later at the hotel, our guide showed us Maggie's finding announcement which is a black and white copy of the original. You can't even see her face but our guide was able to translate it for us. It is another piece of the puzzle to Maggie's identity. At 3 in the conferenc room of our hotel we filled out paperwork in preparation for our appointment at the CAB the next day.
On Tuesday, we met in the hotel lobby around 9 and arrived at the CAB around 9:30. We were there to fulfill the paperwork of Maggie's adoption. We promised to give her a good education and never abandon her. Were we happy with our referral - OF COURSE! Maggie had her right foot stamped, we paid the necessary fees and then we were done. Maggie is our's!!
Now we can rest a little easier until we leave for Guangzhou later this week. We will receive Maggie's passport this week. Mike has been out with members of our group to explore areas around the hotel. Today (Wednesday), we are going to a local Walmart which should be a very interesting experience.
We love our precious baby girl. I can't say enough just how tiny she is. She is also delayed which is to be expected. She is 7 months old but acts more like a 3 to 6 month old baby. Her paperwork stated that Maggie could crawl but she has little neck muscle. I wonder about their definition of the word crawl. She wears 3 to 6 month old clothing.
On Thursday, we hope to go to Martyr's Park. I'm sorry that I have not been able to post pictures. Mike has been tagging me on pictures in Facebook so hopefully some of you have seen Maggie's precious face.
Thank you for all of your prayers. They go with us everywhere we go.
Changsha Update
It's Wednesday morning in Changsha and my intentions to keep this blog updated have not gone as planned. Besides the technical issues, I am worn out by the end of the day when Maggie Rose or Qing Qing, her nickname, goes to bed. I lay in one of our hard beds and put my hand through her crib to let her know that I am not far away .
We met our girls on Monday. That was an amazing emotional experience. We walked into a room that smelled old where a couple of families where already waiting and saw three members of Maggie's orphanage staff. One of them was holding our precious girl. We were besides ourselves - was that her? She looked so tiny, much tinier than in her updated pictures. We were taking pictures and video from afar. Then the rest of our group's precious girls arrived. Paperwork was checked which took a while, passports examined. Then, we were the first to receive our baby girl. We asked the orphanage staff questions about our little girl and took pictures with them. It was hot in the reception room and Maggie was wearing a strawberry sweatshirt. She was sweating profusely. After we left, we went to a store to buy formula, crackers and water.
Later at the hotel, our guide showed us Maggie's finding announcement which is a black and white copy of the original. You can't even see her face but our guide was able to translate it for us. It is another piece of the puzzle to Maggie's identity. At 3 in the conferenc room of our hotel we filled out paperwork in preparation for our appointment at the CAB the next day.
On Tuesday, we met in the hotel lobby around 9 and arrived at the CAB around 9:30. We were there to fulfill the paperwork of Maggie's adoption. We promised to give her a good education and never abandon her. Were we happy with our referral - OF COURSE! Maggie had her right foot stamped, we paid the necessary fees and then we were done. Maggie is our's!!
Now we can rest a little easier until we leave for Guangzhou later this week. We will receive Maggie's passport this week. Mike has been out with members of our group to explore areas around the hotel. Today (Wednesday), we are going to a local Walmart which should be a very interesting experience.
We love our precious baby girl. I can't say enough just how tiny she is. She is also delayed which is to be expected. She is 7 months old but acts more like a 3 to 6 month old baby. Her paperwork stated that Maggie could crawl but she has little neck muscle. I wonder about their definition of the word crawl. She wears 3 to 6 month old clothing.
On Thursday, we hope to go to Martyr's Park. I'm sorry that I have not been able to post pictures. Mike has been tagging me on pictures in Facebook so hopefully some of you have seen Maggie's precious face.
Thank you for all of your prayers. They go with us everywhere we go.
We met our girls on Monday. That was an amazing emotional experience. We walked into a room that smelled old where a couple of families where already waiting and saw three members of Maggie's orphanage staff. One of them was holding our precious girl. We were besides ourselves - was that her? She looked so tiny, much tinier than in her updated pictures. We were taking pictures and video from afar. Then the rest of our group's precious girls arrived. Paperwork was checked which took a while, passports examined. Then, we were the first to receive our baby girl. We asked the orphanage staff questions about our little girl and took pictures with them. It was hot in the reception room and Maggie was wearing a strawberry sweatshirt. She was sweating profusely. After we left, we went to a store to buy formula, crackers and water.
Later at the hotel, our guide showed us Maggie's finding announcement which is a black and white copy of the original. You can't even see her face but our guide was able to translate it for us. It is another piece of the puzzle to Maggie's identity. At 3 in the conferenc room of our hotel we filled out paperwork in preparation for our appointment at the CAB the next day.
On Tuesday, we met in the hotel lobby around 9 and arrived at the CAB around 9:30. We were there to fulfill the paperwork of Maggie's adoption. We promised to give her a good education and never abandon her. Were we happy with our referral - OF COURSE! Maggie had her right foot stamped, we paid the necessary fees and then we were done. Maggie is our's!!
Now we can rest a little easier until we leave for Guangzhou later this week. We will receive Maggie's passport this week. Mike has been out with members of our group to explore areas around the hotel. Today (Wednesday), we are going to a local Walmart which should be a very interesting experience.
We love our precious baby girl. I can't say enough just how tiny she is. She is also delayed which is to be expected. She is 7 months old but acts more like a 3 to 6 month old baby. Her paperwork stated that Maggie could crawl but she has little neck muscle. I wonder about their definition of the word crawl. She wears 3 to 6 month old clothing.
On Thursday, we hope to go to Martyr's Park. I'm sorry that I have not been able to post pictures. Mike has been tagging me on pictures in Facebook so hopefully some of you have seen Maggie's precious face.
Thank you for all of your prayers. They go with us everywhere we go.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Changsha
We made it to Changsha after a gate mix-up and extra hour wait tonight. We flew China Air and the service was better than we experienced on our long United flight from the U.S.
We are at The Dolton Hotel. We learned that Maggie Rose is in Changsha already! The Daoxian orphanage staff brought her to the city a day early because the SWI is approximately six hours away and we are meeting her at 10:30 tomorrow morning! I doubt if she is in this hotel because it's a bit ritsy but it's amazing to think that my little girl is almost here.
I am not sure if I will be able to post pictures. I am so disappointed. We need to go through our connection at home and I shut that down last night (unknowingly) when I shut Mike's laptop down because the power was low.
We have already witnessed some crazy Chinese driving tonight. I am not too worried since we are being transported in a nice van. Sadly, it's almost entertaining to see how people get around here. However, the honking outside right now from my 30th floor window is not so entertaining.
We have a crib in our room and a Hello Kitty baby tub in our bathroom.
We are at The Dolton Hotel. We learned that Maggie Rose is in Changsha already! The Daoxian orphanage staff brought her to the city a day early because the SWI is approximately six hours away and we are meeting her at 10:30 tomorrow morning! I doubt if she is in this hotel because it's a bit ritsy but it's amazing to think that my little girl is almost here.
I am not sure if I will be able to post pictures. I am so disappointed. We need to go through our connection at home and I shut that down last night (unknowingly) when I shut Mike's laptop down because the power was low.
We have already witnessed some crazy Chinese driving tonight. I am not too worried since we are being transported in a nice van. Sadly, it's almost entertaining to see how people get around here. However, the honking outside right now from my 30th floor window is not so entertaining.
We have a crib in our room and a Hello Kitty baby tub in our bathroom.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
We are in Hong Kong!
We landed in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon after flying more than 15 hours from Chicago. Boy, that was a brutal flight, especially towards the end when it seemed to slow down even more as I stared at the computer screen counting down the last hour
When I got off the plane, I said, "We're in Hong Kong" as if to remind myself of reality. So much of this is still a bit surreal. Our guide Matthew was waiting for us at the airport. Today, we took a tour with Paul, Shelley and their son from our agency travel group and everal people from Holland. We visited an over priced jewelry store and enjoyed the view from Victoria's Peak. Mike took a sampan boat tour. Mom and I passed on the boat ride. We don't do very well on choppy water so we stayed in the air conditioned bus. I think there is probably enough pollution in the water. I don't need to be adding to it.
We are staying at the Hyatt Regency in Sha Tin and it is a beautiful hotel. We will fly to Hunan, Maggie's province tomorrow afternoon. We get our girls sometime on Monday.
Hong Kong is beautiful but the curvy roads got to me afer a while. We are a bit disappointed that because of our small group size we were not taken to a dim sum meal. Sorry, no pictures right now. We hope to post some tomorrow
When I got off the plane, I said, "We're in Hong Kong" as if to remind myself of reality. So much of this is still a bit surreal. Our guide Matthew was waiting for us at the airport. Today, we took a tour with Paul, Shelley and their son from our agency travel group and everal people from Holland. We visited an over priced jewelry store and enjoyed the view from Victoria's Peak. Mike took a sampan boat tour. Mom and I passed on the boat ride. We don't do very well on choppy water so we stayed in the air conditioned bus. I think there is probably enough pollution in the water. I don't need to be adding to it.
We are staying at the Hyatt Regency in Sha Tin and it is a beautiful hotel. We will fly to Hunan, Maggie's province tomorrow afternoon. We get our girls sometime on Monday.
Hong Kong is beautiful but the curvy roads got to me afer a while. We are a bit disappointed that because of our small group size we were not taken to a dim sum meal. Sorry, no pictures right now. We hope to post some tomorrow
Friday, September 9, 2011
Countdown to China
We are so blessed that Jack's and Liam's daycare provider is going to take care of our boys while we are in China. She is a very sweet woman who loves our little stinkers. To help Jack get a better idea of how long we'll be gone, I created a chain for each day that we're away. Each chain either says where we are or what we're doing that day or contains an interesting fact about the places we visit.
For example, did you know that Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbour for the amount of incense that came through the area? I gave the boys' daycare provider an incense stick that they can see and smell. Do you know which animal you are in the Chinese zodiac? Jack's and Liam's friends will soon discover their zodiac animal.
We are blessed to have the loving support of family and friends while we are gone. Please continue to pray for us - for safe travels and for Maggie to be able to adjust to her new family and eventually bond with us.
Scenes from a Hospital
If they don't do good in restaurants, you probably shouldn't take them to a hospital.
Next image blurred to protect juvenile's identity. (:
Welcome Alexander!
My brother Doug and his wife are proud parents of a baby boy. They delivered their precious bundle of joy last week. Congratulations Doug and JeNae!
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