Today, and tomorrow, are travel days. We left China at 12:50 and headed for Seoul, Korea where we had a 3 hour lay over. From Seoul we made the 10 hr. 40 minute flight to LAX. Emma slept probably 8 of the 10 hours, thank gosh. Once in LAX (arriving at 1:40 PM) we tried to get a stand by flight out - we finally left LAX at 12:20 (25th) and headed to St. Paul, Minn. We landed at 6:00 and our connector flight left at 6:35 - luckily we made it. From St. Paul we were finally headed home to Detroit - we landed about 10:20 Christmas Morning. Best Christmas gift of the year was being greeted by Madison, Mom, Dad, Uncle Gary, Michelle and Megan.
It is very good to be home.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Blog: December 24th, Well Sherri was able to get her visa so we can finally leave China, and on time. The smog here is terrible for the last 2 days, you can hardly breath, but it has been about 70 degrees and sunny. We are not looking forward to so many flights and such a long one home with Emma, but we are praying all will go well and she will sleep for most of it. (If not there better be lots of booze on the plane). Looking forward to seeing everyone when we get home. Love Kim, Sherri and Emma
December 22-
Today we did some more site seeing with Ann and the Everitts. We went to White Mountain, which is essentially a park that has different gardens - a rock garden, rose garden, green house, a lake (that is the size of some ponds in St. Clair). It was a nice day here; in the 60's. After the park, we went to an Italian Restaruant for lunch which actually was pretty good. Aunt Kim and I had pizza - fairly safe. After lunch we went back to the White Swan so Emma could get a nap. In the afternoon after Emma's nap we decided to walk to a pedestrian shopping area - it was about a 10 -15 minute walk - would have been a lot shorter but there is a tremendous amount of construction going on everywhere. The pedestrian area means there are no cars so you don't have to worry about getting hit. There were shops here and lots of food spots - we basically just looked around to say we ventured out. On the walk back we stopped at Lucy's to get Emma some noodle soup for dinner and I can a nice, cold Coors Light. Emma was the only baby that through a fit during dinner; once she starts eating it is hard to stop her. If she is not full she throws a fit and cries - a great habit we will have to break soon. After dinner we walked around the White Swan once again enjoying the nice evening before we come home to snow - 2 days - yeah!!!
Today we did some more site seeing with Ann and the Everitts. We went to White Mountain, which is essentially a park that has different gardens - a rock garden, rose garden, green house, a lake (that is the size of some ponds in St. Clair). It was a nice day here; in the 60's. After the park, we went to an Italian Restaruant for lunch which actually was pretty good. Aunt Kim and I had pizza - fairly safe. After lunch we went back to the White Swan so Emma could get a nap. In the afternoon after Emma's nap we decided to walk to a pedestrian shopping area - it was about a 10 -15 minute walk - would have been a lot shorter but there is a tremendous amount of construction going on everywhere. The pedestrian area means there are no cars so you don't have to worry about getting hit. There were shops here and lots of food spots - we basically just looked around to say we ventured out. On the walk back we stopped at Lucy's to get Emma some noodle soup for dinner and I can a nice, cold Coors Light. Emma was the only baby that through a fit during dinner; once she starts eating it is hard to stop her. If she is not full she throws a fit and cries - a great habit we will have to break soon. After dinner we walked around the White Swan once again enjoying the nice evening before we come home to snow - 2 days - yeah!!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
December 21 -
Today was an important day...everything became finalized. This morning we had to wait in the room for a call from Ann, our guide. She took all of the paper work to the consulate to do whatever they do. We got the call that told us everything was okay. From there, our
oath ceremony was moved to this afternoon instead of Tuesday. So, in the afternoon we headed to the U.S. Consulate with many other families for the ceremony. Once at the consulate office, we waited for our name to be called up so we could sign some more documents-I brought a lot of paperwork with me that was required, I'm bringing twice as much home. After all the families signed their documents, so lady from the consulate talked to us about what their job was in each country. Learned an important fact I wanted to pass on to everyone. Before traveling out of the U.S., go to the website travels.state.gov and give your travel information. By doing this, if an emergency occurred while you were a different country, the U.S. Consulate would be able to locate you and evacuate you. Very interesting, only 1 couple in the room had done this. Would like to have known this before hand. So after the lady explained what the consulate does, all the parents stood up, raised our right hands and took an oath, making everything official. From this point, we wait for
Emma's visa which will be ready on Wednesday, along with mine, and I'll received a brown, sealed envelope with documents that I will present to immigrations when we land in L.A. At this point, Emma will officially become a U.S. citizen, at our point of entry, and the government will send a certificate of citizenship and I'll be able to register her for a social security number. After that, I'll just have to apply for a birth certificate in Michigan.
After the ceremony we had dinner at Lucy's again - can't wait to get home and eat mom's food.
Emma did very well through everything today; she seems to be shaking her cold, her temperature is gone and she seemed happier today. We don't have many pictures of her smiling because she is not a fan of the camera. We looked for the infamous red couch
that everyone gets their picture on, but there were about 6 red couches so we choose one and took Emma's picture. Until tomorrow...
Today was an important day...everything became finalized. This morning we had to wait in the room for a call from Ann, our guide. She took all of the paper work to the consulate to do whatever they do. We got the call that told us everything was okay. From there, our
oath ceremony was moved to this afternoon instead of Tuesday. So, in the afternoon we headed to the U.S. Consulate with many other families for the ceremony. Once at the consulate office, we waited for our name to be called up so we could sign some more documents-I brought a lot of paperwork with me that was required, I'm bringing twice as much home. After all the families signed their documents, so lady from the consulate talked to us about what their job was in each country. Learned an important fact I wanted to pass on to everyone. Before traveling out of the U.S., go to the website travels.state.gov and give your travel information. By doing this, if an emergency occurred while you were a different country, the U.S. Consulate would be able to locate you and evacuate you. Very interesting, only 1 couple in the room had done this. Would like to have known this before hand. So after the lady explained what the consulate does, all the parents stood up, raised our right hands and took an oath, making everything official. From this point, we wait for
Emma's visa which will be ready on Wednesday, along with mine, and I'll received a brown, sealed envelope with documents that I will present to immigrations when we land in L.A. At this point, Emma will officially become a U.S. citizen, at our point of entry, and the government will send a certificate of citizenship and I'll be able to register her for a social security number. After that, I'll just have to apply for a birth certificate in Michigan.
After the ceremony we had dinner at Lucy's again - can't wait to get home and eat mom's food.
Emma did very well through everything today; she seems to be shaking her cold, her temperature is gone and she seemed happier today. We don't have many pictures of her smiling because she is not a fan of the camera. We looked for the infamous red couch
that everyone gets their picture on, but there were about 6 red couches so we choose one and took Emma's picture. Until tomorrow...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
December 20 -
Today we went on a city tour with Ann, our local guide, and the Everett Family from Texas. We first went to a Buddist Temple that was very old, yet nice culture to see. Emma had a blessing done, along with other babies that have been adopted. From the temple we went to a folk art musuem that consisted of 19 rooms displaying art and courtyards. Apparently the musuem used to belong to the Chen Family and then some time ago they gave it to the government who made it into this musuem. From there we went to a government run store where we actually bought nothing - too expensive. We then all shared an authentic Chinese lunch - the first plate they brought out was roasted duck, followed by sticky white rice, seafood papaya, brocolli, green beans with beef, noodles, fried rice, a stir fried beef and pumpkin dim sum. We even gave it our all and tried to eat with chopsticks; Aunt Kim did fine, I resorted to a good American fork for the little that I ate. Needless to say, we ended up ordering Papa Johns for dinner again tonight (at least it is not peanut butter crackers.) Emma was a bit under the weather today, she has a cold and is all stuffed up; hopefully we can shake it before we fly on Thursday. That's it for today - 3 more nights, but who is counting...
Today we went on a city tour with Ann, our local guide, and the Everett Family from Texas. We first went to a Buddist Temple that was very old, yet nice culture to see. Emma had a blessing done, along with other babies that have been adopted. From the temple we went to a folk art musuem that consisted of 19 rooms displaying art and courtyards. Apparently the musuem used to belong to the Chen Family and then some time ago they gave it to the government who made it into this musuem. From there we went to a government run store where we actually bought nothing - too expensive. We then all shared an authentic Chinese lunch - the first plate they brought out was roasted duck, followed by sticky white rice, seafood papaya, brocolli, green beans with beef, noodles, fried rice, a stir fried beef and pumpkin dim sum. We even gave it our all and tried to eat with chopsticks; Aunt Kim did fine, I resorted to a good American fork for the little that I ate. Needless to say, we ended up ordering Papa Johns for dinner again tonight (at least it is not peanut butter crackers.) Emma was a bit under the weather today, she has a cold and is all stuffed up; hopefully we can shake it before we fly on Thursday. That's it for today - 3 more nights, but who is counting...
Saturday, December 19, 2009
December 19-Happy 18th Birthday Megan,
Today started with another stellar breakfast... chocolate bread, crackers and cheese, and tea... yeah! We took Emma for her exit physical and photo for her visa. The physical was at a sort of clinic and had 3 main stations. The first station was for sight and hearing. The doctor turned on a loud play keyboard and watched to see if Emma turned her head (real technical) then he used a squeeky toy on the other side. The 2nd station was for height and weight, She weighs 21.6 pounds fully clothed and is 73cm long (not sure how tall that is yet we will have to figure that out). The third station they listened to her heart, looked over her medical records and Sherri had to sign a bunch of documents. She got the o.k. so that was good. Emma has a cold so she took about a 3 hour nap then we walked around the island where our hotel is located. It was nice out today about 60 degrees and sunny, so the walk was nice. When we got back I decieded it was time to go on an adventure, we took a cab by ourselves to McDonalds. ... There is only so much crappy food a girl can take and I have reached mine. The bell boy put us in the cab and told him to take us to McDonalds. He took us to a place called Walking Street, name that because there are no cars allowed. There must have been thousands of people there, unbelievable. We found Mickey D's and luckily they had a picture menu to order off of. The food tasted almost like home, yummy. Emma liked the french fries (who wouldn't). Sherri was pretty nervous leaving the hotel by ourselves, but it was o.k. It took us 2 cab drivers before we found someone who would take us back to the hotel. I had a card the hotel gave me that said "Take me back to the White Swan Hotel". Thats how we got back!! It worked. Tomorrow we have a 1/2 day tour.. I hope Emma likes it or i'm sure she will let us know. We will write tomorrow. Thanks for following us on our adenture...Kim, Sherri, and Emma
Today started with another stellar breakfast... chocolate bread, crackers and cheese, and tea... yeah! We took Emma for her exit physical and photo for her visa. The physical was at a sort of clinic and had 3 main stations. The first station was for sight and hearing. The doctor turned on a loud play keyboard and watched to see if Emma turned her head (real technical) then he used a squeeky toy on the other side. The 2nd station was for height and weight, She weighs 21.6 pounds fully clothed and is 73cm long (not sure how tall that is yet we will have to figure that out). The third station they listened to her heart, looked over her medical records and Sherri had to sign a bunch of documents. She got the o.k. so that was good. Emma has a cold so she took about a 3 hour nap then we walked around the island where our hotel is located. It was nice out today about 60 degrees and sunny, so the walk was nice. When we got back I decieded it was time to go on an adventure, we took a cab by ourselves to McDonalds. ... There is only so much crappy food a girl can take and I have reached mine. The bell boy put us in the cab and told him to take us to McDonalds. He took us to a place called Walking Street, name that because there are no cars allowed. There must have been thousands of people there, unbelievable. We found Mickey D's and luckily they had a picture menu to order off of. The food tasted almost like home, yummy. Emma liked the french fries (who wouldn't). Sherri was pretty nervous leaving the hotel by ourselves, but it was o.k. It took us 2 cab drivers before we found someone who would take us back to the hotel. I had a card the hotel gave me that said "Take me back to the White Swan Hotel". Thats how we got back!! It worked. Tomorrow we have a 1/2 day tour.. I hope Emma likes it or i'm sure she will let us know. We will write tomorrow. Thanks for following us on our adenture...Kim, Sherri, and Emma
Friday, December 18, 2009
December 18 -
Today was a calm, casualy day. We ate breakfast once again in the hotel; Emma loves the porridge - I think whe would eat contiously if we let her. After breakfast we met Ann, our awesome local guide, who took us to a "market", which was like a huge WalMart; we needed to get some more food supplies for Emma. It is a very interesting set up; you take an escalator down and they have different floors for goods - you encounter like a department store first (like in the Walmart) and then you take an escalator down again and get to the food. After lunch Emma took a brief nap so that allowed time for us to venture out once again into the area around the White Swan (which during Emma's nap Aunt Kim went and scoped out the shopping.) We hit some little shops and bought some goods to bring home - hit the jackpot on the little squeaky shoes for the girls. The evening was uneventful as we stayed in our room and order up Jets Pizza for dinner - was almost like home!
Emma's personality is showing more and more each day. She pulled herself up today on her own, rolled over on to her stomach and then didn't know what to do, is starting to scoot, and she wants to test her shoes out walking. I don't think it will take that long for
her to catch up developmentally physcially, and mentally she may be to smart for her own good. She does have somewhat of a temper that has shown through when she doesn't get her way. As I said earlier, she would eat non stop if we let her; this should change when we get her home and she knows she is going to eat on a regular basis. That's it for today - to all my teachers - start enjoying your 2 weeks off, and to everyone else, only 6 days until Christmas so you better get your shopping done!
Today was a calm, casualy day. We ate breakfast once again in the hotel; Emma loves the porridge - I think whe would eat contiously if we let her. After breakfast we met Ann, our awesome local guide, who took us to a "market", which was like a huge WalMart; we needed to get some more food supplies for Emma. It is a very interesting set up; you take an escalator down and they have different floors for goods - you encounter like a department store first (like in the Walmart) and then you take an escalator down again and get to the food. After lunch Emma took a brief nap so that allowed time for us to venture out once again into the area around the White Swan (which during Emma's nap Aunt Kim went and scoped out the shopping.) We hit some little shops and bought some goods to bring home - hit the jackpot on the little squeaky shoes for the girls. The evening was uneventful as we stayed in our room and order up Jets Pizza for dinner - was almost like home!
Emma's personality is showing more and more each day. She pulled herself up today on her own, rolled over on to her stomach and then didn't know what to do, is starting to scoot, and she wants to test her shoes out walking. I don't think it will take that long for
her to catch up developmentally physcially, and mentally she may be to smart for her own good. She does have somewhat of a temper that has shown through when she doesn't get her way. As I said earlier, she would eat non stop if we let her; this should change when we get her home and she knows she is going to eat on a regular basis. That's it for today - to all my teachers - start enjoying your 2 weeks off, and to everyone else, only 6 days until Christmas so you better get your shopping done!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
December 17 -
Today was an uneventful day, thank goodness. We had breakfast once again in the hotel - this is a safe, good meal to eat. After breakfast we ventured out into the area around the White Swan Hotel. We walked in the streets and checked out the shops...found a store called Emma's which carry's the squeaky shoes that all the kids are wearing hear and Karyn Alley told me to look for. I must say, the shoes are adorable and, the squeaky can be taken out when you get tired of it. So, we bought Emma a couple pairs of shoes and Madison matching shoes and will definietly be back to more - probably 1 in each design!!! We also found matching kimono outfits for the girls - thought I should buy something authentic for them. Checked out other shops to go back to...now that we can relax a little there is shopping to do. For dinner we went to Lucy's, which is a restaurant the Shorkey's and Casparian's plus everyone here suggest you go to...it serves American (like) meals. I decided it would be a good idea to have a Coors Light with my dinner.
Emma's personality is coming through more and more each day. She still isn't to keen on the bath yet, hopefully by the time we go home we can accomplish this task without tears. She is a very strong willed child; lucky me, I will have 2 strong headed children!!! She is laughing, is very ticklish, is very bright. When we put her new shoes on her she kept looking at them and touching them. We got her up walking in them and she loved them...she wanted to keep walking even though is was quite the effort since she probably has had very little exercise. She is a good sleeper; sleeping through the night from between 7/8ish to 6/7ish - good sleeper like Madison. Now all we will need to do is get her adjusted to our time at home so I can sleep when I get home. Aunt Kim and I both fall asleep around 8/9ish here, and that is a late night. Then we wake up about 3/4 in the morning and that is when we check our emails and browse the internet. Thank gosh I have this netbook with us.
Friday we will meet Hal and Susan Everett and their family of now 5 kids (they are from Texas and are the other ASIA family here this week.) And we plan to venture out to do more shopping. Until tomorrow...
Today was an uneventful day, thank goodness. We had breakfast once again in the hotel - this is a safe, good meal to eat. After breakfast we ventured out into the area around the White Swan Hotel. We walked in the streets and checked out the shops...found a store called Emma's which carry's the squeaky shoes that all the kids are wearing hear and Karyn Alley told me to look for. I must say, the shoes are adorable and, the squeaky can be taken out when you get tired of it. So, we bought Emma a couple pairs of shoes and Madison matching shoes and will definietly be back to more - probably 1 in each design!!! We also found matching kimono outfits for the girls - thought I should buy something authentic for them. Checked out other shops to go back to...now that we can relax a little there is shopping to do. For dinner we went to Lucy's, which is a restaurant the Shorkey's and Casparian's plus everyone here suggest you go to...it serves American (like) meals. I decided it would be a good idea to have a Coors Light with my dinner.
Emma's personality is coming through more and more each day. She still isn't to keen on the bath yet, hopefully by the time we go home we can accomplish this task without tears. She is a very strong willed child; lucky me, I will have 2 strong headed children!!! She is laughing, is very ticklish, is very bright. When we put her new shoes on her she kept looking at them and touching them. We got her up walking in them and she loved them...she wanted to keep walking even though is was quite the effort since she probably has had very little exercise. She is a good sleeper; sleeping through the night from between 7/8ish to 6/7ish - good sleeper like Madison. Now all we will need to do is get her adjusted to our time at home so I can sleep when I get home. Aunt Kim and I both fall asleep around 8/9ish here, and that is a late night. Then we wake up about 3/4 in the morning and that is when we check our emails and browse the internet. Thank gosh I have this netbook with us.
Friday we will meet Hal and Susan Everett and their family of now 5 kids (they are from Texas and are the other ASIA family here this week.) And we plan to venture out to do more shopping. Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 16
Don't ever, ever, ever, EVER loose your passport.
Today we got up and were able to SKYP with Mom, Dad, Madison and Michelle. From there we had the emotional task of giving Emma a bath; hopefully she will be used to it by next week. After that, we made our way down to the cafe to have a breakfast; very good breakfast, similar set up to the River Crab. Lots of adopted babies everywhere!!!
From breakfast, we met a local guide who took us to the office to get a visa so I can exit China. We thought we had all the paper work we were going to need but found out that if we had a copy of our airline tickets that maybe they would expedite the service. We had to go back to the hotel to get this paper work and then wait until 2:00 to go back and get things processed because offices close for lunch. Went back to the office, went from person to person to person, eventually got the visa processed, BUT - it will not be ready until 12-23 so I sure hope it is ready like they say so I can leave this country on the 24th.
Emma is coming along - she is friendly to Aunt Kim in the hotel room, but when I had to pass her off at the visa office she screamed!!! She is becoming more active today, starting to move her legs a little more. We have been practicing standing up and walking with assistance - her legs are just so weak right now from not being used. We will keep practicing everyday because she will need to run from her sister when we get home. Karyn Alley - I believe we heard some kids with the squeaky shoes you were referring to - the Becker household will not be getting squeaky shoes. Yes, they are cute but we don't need anymore noise. Tomorrow we are going to finally venture out and see the area around the White Swan Hotel. We met another couple who is here through ASIA (the adoption agency) who adopted a boy; they are from Tennessee (They have adopted 2 girls from China and have a total of nine kids from a blended family.) They were very informative as to where to go, what shops to look out for and restaurants to eat in. So, tomorrow we see the sights and try not to worry about the passport/visa situation until next Wednesday since it is out of our hands now. Everyone say a pray that everything is processed on time and I get to leave next Thursday. Until tomorrow...
Don't ever, ever, ever, EVER loose your passport.
Today we got up and were able to SKYP with Mom, Dad, Madison and Michelle. From there we had the emotional task of giving Emma a bath; hopefully she will be used to it by next week. After that, we made our way down to the cafe to have a breakfast; very good breakfast, similar set up to the River Crab. Lots of adopted babies everywhere!!!
From breakfast, we met a local guide who took us to the office to get a visa so I can exit China. We thought we had all the paper work we were going to need but found out that if we had a copy of our airline tickets that maybe they would expedite the service. We had to go back to the hotel to get this paper work and then wait until 2:00 to go back and get things processed because offices close for lunch. Went back to the office, went from person to person to person, eventually got the visa processed, BUT - it will not be ready until 12-23 so I sure hope it is ready like they say so I can leave this country on the 24th.
Emma is coming along - she is friendly to Aunt Kim in the hotel room, but when I had to pass her off at the visa office she screamed!!! She is becoming more active today, starting to move her legs a little more. We have been practicing standing up and walking with assistance - her legs are just so weak right now from not being used. We will keep practicing everyday because she will need to run from her sister when we get home. Karyn Alley - I believe we heard some kids with the squeaky shoes you were referring to - the Becker household will not be getting squeaky shoes. Yes, they are cute but we don't need anymore noise. Tomorrow we are going to finally venture out and see the area around the White Swan Hotel. We met another couple who is here through ASIA (the adoption agency) who adopted a boy; they are from Tennessee (They have adopted 2 girls from China and have a total of nine kids from a blended family.) They were very informative as to where to go, what shops to look out for and restaurants to eat in. So, tomorrow we see the sights and try not to worry about the passport/visa situation until next Wednesday since it is out of our hands now. Everyone say a pray that everything is processed on time and I get to leave next Thursday. Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Today is Tuesday, December 15th. What a stressful day. We left Nanchang to come to Guanghou three days early so we could go to the us embassy to get sherri a new passport. No one knew if they would let us fly out of Nanchang without a real passport for Sherri, even if we had a police report and a copy of her passport. We didn't sleep all night and didn't eat. When we got to the airport we were on pins and needles. Our guide Helen was a great help. She talked to the guard at the gate and explained everything. They looked everything over for a few minutes, which seemed like hours, and then let us through. If they wouldn't have let us on an airplane we were told we would have to take a train to Guanghou which would take a day... HORRIBLE THOUGHT...Once we arrived in Guanghou we went to our hotel and then directly to the embassy. We sat there for 3 hours but were able to get Sherri a new temporary passport. Tomorrow we have to go get her a new China exit visa. On an Emma note, she is doing better and better every day. She has the sweetest smile and big brown eyes that you just fall in love with. She is getting more of a personality and really warming up to us. She does have a bit of a temper, she should fit in just fine with the rest of us. She already is a momma's girl and will cry when Sherri is not around. Here are a few pictures. We will try to get more as we are hoping for a much more relaxed week... there is always hope. Kim, Sherri, and Emma
Monday, December 14, 2009
STRESS
December 14 -
THANK GOD TODAY IS OVER!!!!
Talk about a stressful day. It started out okay this Monday morning as we ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant and were surrounded by about a dozen families that all got their babies yesterday. Emma ate a bit of food and seemed to like being around the people. Aunt Kim and I ate very little...that seems to be a trend as we have decided our crackers in the evening are quite the delicacy. From breakfast we ran upstairs to Skype with the Becker's and Burkart's and Gram - they could see us but we couldn't see them...we were able to talk - maybe we will be able to see them next time. From there we went to process the paperwork to finalize the adoption - talk about pure craziness. We took another - life in jeopardy - taxi ride to the Jiangxi Provincial Building where we went to 3 different rooms: first room was to get a picture of Emma and I for some official document, 2. we went to pay out all the money - have never been so releaved to get rid of cash before, and 3. I had to go before some official for an interview of general questions such as my age, occupation, why I wanted to adopt, etc. Got through this no problem and then went into a big room where about at least 30 other families were there finalizing their adoptions as well. You need to understand something - everything is done in a hectic, get out of my way format here, so you need to practically run to get in front of someone - pure craziness. So from this office we took a short cab ride over to the notary's office where I once again was interviewed with basically the same questions, signed some paperwork, and then proceeded back to the hotel. This is where things REALLY GOT INTERESTING!!! As we were unpacking things to re-organize, we discovered that my passport was lost. Somehow from Helen passing the official document and my passport to Aunt Kim, Aunt Kim placing both in the plastic envelope and placing it in the backpack, to the cab ride back to the hotel the passport is gone. Needless to say, sheer panic set in as we tore everything apart - NO PASSPORT. Called Helen right away, she came up to the room and looked, started making calls, Mary her supervisor showed up - Mary called Susan, our ASIA rep in Guangzhou, and Aunt Kim and I - me especially - are freaking out - I can't leave the country without this thing. So, Helen and I walked to the local Police Station to get some document I need so I can fly to Guangzhou; Mary and Susan coordinated so we can leave for Guangzhou on Tuesday morning, for in Guangzhou is the U.S. Consulate that we need to go to immediately to file for an emergency passport so in turn we can get a visa so I can get out of this country. By the way, Emma is slowly warming up to us - to add more stress today I gave her her first bath, probably of her life, in which she cried most of the time. She did eat people food - even feeding herself with a spoon. We got her to drink a couple of bottles today - and we got some laughs out of her today. To say the least, Emma's day was better then ours. Can't wait to be on U.S. land!!! You'll find me in St. Clair for a while after this trip. Check in for tomorrow's adventures....
THANK GOD TODAY IS OVER!!!!
Talk about a stressful day. It started out okay this Monday morning as we ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant and were surrounded by about a dozen families that all got their babies yesterday. Emma ate a bit of food and seemed to like being around the people. Aunt Kim and I ate very little...that seems to be a trend as we have decided our crackers in the evening are quite the delicacy. From breakfast we ran upstairs to Skype with the Becker's and Burkart's and Gram - they could see us but we couldn't see them...we were able to talk - maybe we will be able to see them next time. From there we went to process the paperwork to finalize the adoption - talk about pure craziness. We took another - life in jeopardy - taxi ride to the Jiangxi Provincial Building where we went to 3 different rooms: first room was to get a picture of Emma and I for some official document, 2. we went to pay out all the money - have never been so releaved to get rid of cash before, and 3. I had to go before some official for an interview of general questions such as my age, occupation, why I wanted to adopt, etc. Got through this no problem and then went into a big room where about at least 30 other families were there finalizing their adoptions as well. You need to understand something - everything is done in a hectic, get out of my way format here, so you need to practically run to get in front of someone - pure craziness. So from this office we took a short cab ride over to the notary's office where I once again was interviewed with basically the same questions, signed some paperwork, and then proceeded back to the hotel. This is where things REALLY GOT INTERESTING!!! As we were unpacking things to re-organize, we discovered that my passport was lost. Somehow from Helen passing the official document and my passport to Aunt Kim, Aunt Kim placing both in the plastic envelope and placing it in the backpack, to the cab ride back to the hotel the passport is gone. Needless to say, sheer panic set in as we tore everything apart - NO PASSPORT. Called Helen right away, she came up to the room and looked, started making calls, Mary her supervisor showed up - Mary called Susan, our ASIA rep in Guangzhou, and Aunt Kim and I - me especially - are freaking out - I can't leave the country without this thing. So, Helen and I walked to the local Police Station to get some document I need so I can fly to Guangzhou; Mary and Susan coordinated so we can leave for Guangzhou on Tuesday morning, for in Guangzhou is the U.S. Consulate that we need to go to immediately to file for an emergency passport so in turn we can get a visa so I can get out of this country. By the way, Emma is slowly warming up to us - to add more stress today I gave her her first bath, probably of her life, in which she cried most of the time. She did eat people food - even feeding herself with a spoon. We got her to drink a couple of bottles today - and we got some laughs out of her today. To say the least, Emma's day was better then ours. Can't wait to be on U.S. land!!! You'll find me in St. Clair for a while after this trip. Check in for tomorrow's adventures....
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Emma is here!
Its 6:25 PM here - 5:25 AM there - Emma was brought up to our room about 4:30 by Helen, our guide, the nanny and orphanage director. She cried a bit at first, then she calmed down as we gave her toys and books to play with - she liked the picture book I put together - Aunt Kim had her laughing a bit while I was filling out paper work. It was a bit dramatic changing her the first time - once I got through all the layers they had her in. She didn't seem to want the bottle we made for her - she is good at saying no already. She did snack on some little crackers we got for her. We decided it would be best not to bath her tonight - she has had enough changes for today. We need to meet Helen between 8:30 and 9:00 Monday morning to go to the offices to do all the paper work and start dishing out the money. We will upload pictures tomorrow.
Aunt Kim and I are both sitting here looking at each other wondering what to do since we don't want to freak Emma out - its like we are new parents who have never been around kids before.
P.S. Went to an authentic, local Chinese restaruant for lunch. Ordered our meal from pictures - one had a real bird head in it. Shared table with another Chinese family - they eat family style with a lazy suzan in the middle - very interesting...we both attempted to eat with chop sticks - thank goodness for forks. We are bothing looking forward to our gourmet dinner of crackers for dinner once again - I can't wait to get home and eat mom's cooking.
Aunt Kim and I are both sitting here looking at each other wondering what to do since we don't want to freak Emma out - its like we are new parents who have never been around kids before.
P.S. Went to an authentic, local Chinese restaruant for lunch. Ordered our meal from pictures - one had a real bird head in it. Shared table with another Chinese family - they eat family style with a lazy suzan in the middle - very interesting...we both attempted to eat with chop sticks - thank goodness for forks. We are bothing looking forward to our gourmet dinner of crackers for dinner once again - I can't wait to get home and eat mom's cooking.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
December 13 -
Got a good night's rest last night, 12 hours, on a very HARD bed - but it was better then an airplane seat. Talked to mom, dad and grandma this morning using Skype - a web program - so we were able to see each other and talk. We ate our first meal here in China, breakfast, that was similar to ours, consisting of different types of eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast, ham, bacon, cereal, plus some Chinese dishes of noodles, rice, and other stuff.
Today's events will consist of doing a quick shopping trip to the market to get a few items for the baby, having lunch with our guide Helen, and then getting Emma about 4:00 PM our time - 3:00 AM your time. Have a good Sunday everyone; next time I post I will be a mother of 2 girls who are 3 months apart!!!
P.S. One very big surprise here so far is the Christmas decorations and music everywhere...I didn't expect them to celebrate Christmas here for some reason. When we asked, Helen, our guide, said a lot of the younger people are Christian.
Got a good night's rest last night, 12 hours, on a very HARD bed - but it was better then an airplane seat. Talked to mom, dad and grandma this morning using Skype - a web program - so we were able to see each other and talk. We ate our first meal here in China, breakfast, that was similar to ours, consisting of different types of eggs, pancakes, waffles, french toast, ham, bacon, cereal, plus some Chinese dishes of noodles, rice, and other stuff.
Today's events will consist of doing a quick shopping trip to the market to get a few items for the baby, having lunch with our guide Helen, and then getting Emma about 4:00 PM our time - 3:00 AM your time. Have a good Sunday everyone; next time I post I will be a mother of 2 girls who are 3 months apart!!!
P.S. One very big surprise here so far is the Christmas decorations and music everywhere...I didn't expect them to celebrate Christmas here for some reason. When we asked, Helen, our guide, said a lot of the younger people are Christian.
December 3
December 3: Finally arrived in Nanchang, China - only took us 44 hours of traveling. We left from Detroit at 12:50 PM and arrived in LAX. We left LAX at 12:30 AM and arrived in Seoul, Korea at 7:00 AM their time, where we the left at 8:50 for Guangzhou. We stayed in Guangzho until 2:50 PM, and then finally landed in Nanchang at 4:20, were picked up by Helen, our local guide, who then took us to our hotel (we are 22 hours ahead of you.) It was a very interesting ride to the hotel, for they do not believe in honoring the lines that are painted on the road, they just believe in honking to let people know to get out the way. The good news we received on the car ride is that we will be geting Emma on Sunday at 4:00 instead of on Monday! The bad news...I cannot log on to my website in China so I am sending this via Michelle who will then post. Talk to everyone soon!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Getting ready to travel
On Monday, Novemer 30, the word finally came that it was time to travel and bring Emma home to her forever family. From that moment on, craziness has been the constant state. Plans have been made to fly over to China, for Aunt Kim and I will be leaving on Thursday, December 10, stopping in L.A. for some hours, and then continuing our journey through Seoul and finally landing in Guangzhou on Saturday, December 12. From Guangzhou we will take a short flight to the city of Nanchang, which is in the province on Jiangxi where Emma is from. We will be met at the airport by a guide who will stay with us during our stay in Nanchang. On Monday, December 14 I will finially get to hold Emma Xin Grace.
Thank you to all family and friends who have been overwhelmingling supportive during this long endeavor. Emma started as this abstract "thing" I was doing, and now she is finally a person, an older sister, a granddaughter, my daughter -and I don't think I could have done it without everyone. So here we go...let the game begin, and as Steve told me in his wise, OLD, words - I am now going to be out numbered in the house.
Thank you to all family and friends who have been overwhelmingling supportive during this long endeavor. Emma started as this abstract "thing" I was doing, and now she is finally a person, an older sister, a granddaughter, my daughter -and I don't think I could have done it without everyone. So here we go...let the game begin, and as Steve told me in his wise, OLD, words - I am now going to be out numbered in the house.
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