Tony is Sick

Say some prayers for Tony - he has food poisoning - most likely from his 'interesting' meal he had when he went to visit the orphanage yesterday. He had chicken feet soup, some type of weird large cooked oysters, and some whole fish that was brought to the table were among the dishes. In China, it is considered rude to not at least try the food offered at the table. He was worried about it yesterday, and has kind of felt 'full' and funny all day today - and now it has hit him full force - vomitting, fever etc... we brought good meds with us, but they may take a day or so to help.

Night time from our hotel window

Here is a view from our White Swan hotel window of the Pearl River. It looks like Las Vegas.

Walking through Guangzhou

We walked a long way through Guangzhou today and saw so many interesting sights. Our destination was a long pedestrian shopping area called Xianjiu Lu. During our 2 hour walk, I only saw one other westerner. We saw everything from Chinese pharmacies selling dried mushrooms and rams horns to cute little bakeries. The Chinese in general love retail! Every street is lined with dozens of tiny little shops selling only one category of merchandise -- like a sock shop, pj shop, clothes steamer shops, etc... In the big pedestrian shopping areas, you find more of the department store type retailers mixed in with the single item shops. Aimee did so great walking with us. We bought her some flashing light tennis shoes for about $10 US, and some socks (.50 US). Abbey is getting some cute new boots and Alex will get some fancy tennis shoes as well. We ate lunch at a KFC and Aimee loves fried chicken. KFC chicken in China is a little spicy - but Aimee didn't mind. She ate 4 mini chicken legs, which is the most meat I have seen her eat. We wore Aimee out, and now she is sound asleep taking a nap. Tony just went down to go swimming in the White Swan pool. It has been unusually warm in Guangzhou for this time of year - in the 80s every day. However, they do say a cold front/storm is coming in for the weekend. We are free to shop and discover Guangzhou until Tuesday when we have Aimee's medical appointment. Wednesday is our consulate appt, Thursday we get her passport and visa and Friday we come home. So far, this has been our easiest trip to China, except for leaving our kids at home. Abbey and Alex are doing great with Grandparents, but they are missing us and we are missing them a lot. We skype every day, so that makes it a little easier. We will post again later..

Visiting the orphanage

Gayle and Aimee went shopping today while I visited the orphanage where Aimee spent all but the first four months of her life. It is a Social Welfare Institute, meaning it serves as both an orphanage and a nursing home. The orphanage side is a three-story building, with the top two floors housing 30-40 children.

I met a dozen or so kids as they returned home from their lunch break at the elementary school nearby. Later, on the way back to Guangzhou, our guide told me the rest are severely challenged, and that is why I didn't see them.

We decided not to take Aimee because she is doing great, and we didn't want to cause an emotional setback. I think going back would have been very confusing for her. Our guide told me the orphanage director and his two assistants were disappointed but understood.

After the visit, they took me to a traditional Chinese restaurant, where the dishes are served family style and where Westerners might be a bit squeamish, as I was. The dishes included a broth with chicken feet, oysters that looked unlike any oysters I've ever seen, shrimp that looked more like crawfish, a whole fish and -- at my request -- pork fried rice.

The orphanage director and the two assistants seem to really care about the children, and our guide told me it is among the best he has seen as far as the cleanliness and level of care and love. For that, we are extremely grateful.

Aimee is totally out of her shell. She a live wire and, like her older sister, instantly becomes the center of attention of whatever room she's in. She is picking up English quickly but is chattering quite a bit in an ancient dialect that the locals say is neither Cantonese nor Mandarin. Whew! Guess that lets us off the hook for having to learn either language.

Such a Happy Girl

Aimee has had a great day today. The only time she had any sadness was at the police station. She doesn't like it when we go to those official appointments - most likely she is afraid there will another life change at one of them. Tonight she was a total giggle monster. We have to thank everyone for all their prayers for her little heart, because we believe that has made all the difference. This is a picture of her from a few moments ago in her little bed. She doesn't want to go to sleep tonight, she wants to keep playing. Tony and I both have so much gratitude that she has become our daughter.

Tomorrow, Tony will visit her orphanage with our guide. Originally, the plan was for all 3 of us to go, but we decided we don't want to stir up her grief again with another separation from her nanny and friends. Aimee and I are going to do a little shopping and have some girl time. We will post again tomorrow.

Children's Park video clip

What was that?!?!

So we're leaving the breakfast buffet, where all the adopting families congregate each morning, when we run into a family from Alabama. We were saying goodbyes when out of nowhere, Aimee says, in perfect English, "See you tomorrow."

WHAT??? Where did that come from? Neither I nor the Alabama folks used that term.

We've pretty well decided Aimee is ready for kindergarten come August, after all. We were going to hold her back to help her adjust. Now I'm not so sure that's in her best interest.

Yeah Smiles!!

After some solemn times and some tears today, we got some great smiles from Aimee after dinner tonight. We had dinner at Lucy's and afterwards we went for a walk along the Pearl River. We walked under a big tree with big green spotlights pointing up at the leaves -- it was so beautiful and Aimee noticed. She lit up and repeated "beautiful" after I said it. After that she actually smiled for a bunch of pictures for the first time. We are so grateful for this little breakthrough. Going through the process of grief with a child is very emotional -- especially when you know you 'caused it'. Today, when she and I were alone for awhile, I had her sit on my lap while I hugged her. Doing this caused her to cry such a deep soul cry, I cried with her. We know that all of this is just part of the process, but that doesn't make it easier. Tonight at dinner Tony said we just need to 'trust the process' and I said "I do, when I'm not 'in' the process" -- isn't that the way it always is!! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love. We can definately feel God's love and peace as we walk through this with Aimee.

We are having a little trouble uploading images to the internet - the last several times we have tried they didn't upload. I got a few here and I will put more on shortly.

thanks!!

Her first English

Within a few hours after she became ours, Aimee was saying her first words in English -- ant, baby, orange, banana, strawberry -- as Gayle pointed to them in a picture book. Her delivery was great on each word. She is eager to learn, and you can tell she's had quite a bit of schooling in the orphanage, which will serve her well. She also used a crayon to draw and to write numbers. Without coaching, she made the numbers 1 through 8. We were so impressed!

Later, she went on a short walk with her new daddy (me) to get a Coke for her mama. She wanted to be held most of the time, which I took as an indication that she is more afraid of the outsde world than of me, which is progress. Holding her was wonderful, but I quickly learned that she is not the pint-size thing that her older sister is. Aimee is taller and heavier than Abbey.

A couple times tonight, she put her shoes and socks back on, then grabbed her backpack and spoke to us in Cantonese. I'm pretty sure she was telling us to open the dor so she could go back "home." Also, she rapidly shook her head "no" when Gayle asked if Aimee wanted to sleep in our bed.

She does not feel safe yet. But she will. I'll know it when that frown disappears.

We have Aimee!

What a sweet girl! Aimee did okay at first when we met her at the Civil Affairs office, but after a few minutes she figured out what was happening and she cried very hard. She yelled very loud as we carried her out of the room to go to the car. But after a few minutes in the car she settled down. Now she is laying in her little bed in our room looking at the two of us. I gave her a Groovy Girl that has a purse. She liked the little purse and said something to me in Cantonese - so cute. i put some little cookies in the purse and she tucked it away. I look over now and she has closed her eyes to sleep - Tony is lying on the bed next to her. Aimee is a little bigger than Abbey. She has broader shoulders and a little more meat on her. The orphanage director says she is shy and quiet. Before, her papers had said she was very talkative. I think she must be talkative with her friends.

I'll post more pictures in a few minutes.

Gayle and Tony outside the White Swan

In just 22 hours ...

... We will see our new daughter for the first time. And she will see us, no doubt more than a little terrified of the unknown that awaits her. We have the luxury of knowing she is coming to loving parents who chose her, and to a brother and sister who eagerly await her arrival back home. She has no reason to hold such beliefs. We don't know what is in that little mind and in her heart. Is she excited about what lies ahead? More likely, she is scared to death. We assume by now that her caretakers have told her that a car will drive her away from the orphanage tomorrow, perhaps for the first time. Our most fervent prayer has been -- and continues to be -- that God is preparing her heart for us. We know most assuredly that he has prepared ours.

Will she cling to us, or will her heart be in such a state of protection that she remains silent, preferring not to hold our hand or make eye contact? "Should we get her a roll-away bed?" Gayle just asked. We have no way of knowing such things yet. To a large extent, we will have to let her behavior be our guide.

I write this from the 17th floor of the White Swan Hotel, our home for the next 13 days. It is just as I remembered it. The hotel is on Shamian Island, a small riverfront territory, but not really an island, that the Chinese ceded to the British during the Opium Wars of the 1800s. (It eventually was returned to Chinese control.) There's a reason adopting parents refer to this hotel and this island as an oasis. Amid the pollution and the poverty of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton), Shamian Island is reminiscent of the French Quarter. Our 35-minute trip here from the airport was our third, but the first one we've made during daylight. We saw countless skyscraper apartment buildings, each dingy from smog and the burning of unfiltered coal -- even the ones still under construction.

We plan to be a bit more adventurous in Guangzhou this time around because:
(1) We're here for the duration of our trip.
(2) We don't have an infant or toddler with us this time.
(3) Who knows if we'll ever get to Guangzhou again.

Still, this hotel is a good place to be. It has become almost like a second home.

Shanghai and on to Guangzhou

We made it to China on an easy flight to Shanghai yesterday afternoon. 13+ hours on a plane - but it was really pretty comfortable. I don't sleep on planes very well, so I tried to stay busy. Tony slept a little more than I did. Thankfully, I slept 10 hours last night - so I feel caught up on my sleep. We leave in an hour to go back to the Shanghai Pudong Airport for our flight to Guangzhou. We get in around 3:30 pm there and we will then check in to the White Swan. Our guide will pick us up at around 2:30 pm tomorrow (Monday) to take us to the Civil Affairs office to get Aimee. Her chinese name is Hui Ying and that will be her name until she is ready to change to her American name. Tomorrow is also the day of the Lantern Festival in China and we are hoping there might be some festivities around Shamian Island. (if Aimee is up for it).

Take care and we will post again soon.

Packing, etc...

An adoption trip is like a regular overseas trip "on steroids". Many of you know what I am talking about! Packing includes clothes for me, Tony and Aimee, medicines for all of us -- and those need to cover any type of malady you could possible conceive of -- because you don't want to have to even buy Tylenol at the Chinese pharmacy on Shamian Island, Guangzhou (they sell many interesting 'medicines' at the shop, but not Tylenol). I've got all of the paperwork and documents organized into a zipper closing binder - so hopefully that should all be in order. We also have to pack small gifts for all the Chinese officials, nannies etc.. involved in the adoption. I'm also packing quite a few snacks - mostly for the air travel times over and back - and for those times late at night when your clock is still off and you don't want to trek around the White Swan hotel looking for a midnight snack. We did decide to stay at the White Swan again, and Tony - being as charming as he is -- got on the phone and negotiated a great deal for us there! I had actually bet him he couldn't get the price he got for us! Mostly, we wanted to stay there for the awesome breakfast buffet they have. All other meals for us are usually not purchased at the White Swan -- dinner can run $30 per person.

We have found out that we will receive Aimee at the Civial Affairs office in Guangzhou on Monday afternoon at 3 pm. We are so excited and so ready to get her. I have packed a lot of little activities for us to do in the room - so we can maybe take some focus off of her grief if she gets too upset. What girl won't feel a little better if she gets to paint her nails or fix her hair up? We hope activities will be a good way to break the ice a little and for her to feel comfortable.

Abbey and Alex are doing pretty good - but Abbey has been having some seperation anxiety, which is very expected. Alex doesn't quite understand yet that we will be going and for how long, but he will probably have some trouble at bedtime and in the mornings while we are in China. They are set up on a great schedule with both grandparents and they will have a great time while we are gone. We plan to Skype video with them each day to keep in touch - and for them to meet their new sister.

We leave first thing early on Friday morning on United -- Okc -- Chicago -- Shanghai. We are spending the night Saturday night in Shanghai -- at a Ramada Inn! The International airport is very far out of town, and there aren't many hotels around. The Ramada will look pretty good to us at 1 am Oklahoma time:) Then, on Sunday we take an afternoon flight to Guangzhou on China Southern. Really, it is a pretty easy trip -- and the weather looks like it will be good all the way there. Temperatures in Guangzhou this time of year are in the mid 70's - so we are pretty happy about that too.

thanks so much to all of you for your friendship, love and prayers. You all are so awesome to us!!

Many blessings -- Gayle

We leave for China Feb. 6!

We received our U.S. consulate appointment this morning. We leave OKC at 6:39 a.m. next Friday (Feb. 6) and arrive in Guangzhou at 11 p.m. the following night. That gives us a full day in China to rest and get over the jetlag.

We receive Aimee on Feb. 9, which is almost exactly one year to the day from when Gayle put a "hold" on her file. We'll have 10 days together as a family, and then we go to the American consulate on Feb. 18. Her American paperwork is finalized the next day, and we leave Guangzhou on Feb. 20. We arrive in OKC at 8:12 p.m. that night.

Ya-Hoo!

We have 1800 & Happy Chinese New Year!

Today our I800 approval was faxed to our adoption agency! So, the agency is asking for one of these dates for our Consulate appointment -- Feb. 17, 18 or 24. So - if we get Feb. 17 or 18 then we will leave on Feb. 6 or 7. We are so excited to go! I have a big pile of stuff to pack now. I've gotten into that 'we are going' mode and last night I was up late going through Abbey's closet for clothes for Aimee (Abbey is a heavy sleeper:) We won't know our Consulate appointment date until this Thursday or Friday, since the offices are closed in China for a few days for Chinese New Year which is today.

Say a prayer for us as we book our travel this Friday.

Happy New Year!!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!! (in Mandarin)

Gayle

Hurry Up and Wait

We're in a holding pattern for at least the next nine days, thanks to Chinese New Year. However, we're still hopeful of getting a consulate appointment in China on Feb. 17-19, which would mean leaving Oklahoma around Feb. 6.

Our I-800, a new document required by countries that are part of the Hague Convention on Adoptions, is stuck at a federal agency. The U.S. consulate in Guangzhou won't schedule an appointment with an adopting family until that document is approved. We were hoping it would be approved by yesterday (Thursday) so that it could be faxed as verification to the consulate. That didn't happen, and now, because China is 14 hours ahead of us, the consulate has already closed shop until Feb. 2 to celebrate Chinese New Year.

We're told that the I-800 should be approved by early next week. Then it would be faxed to the consulate, so conceivably, the consulate could schedule an appointment on its first day back from hiatus. If our wish comes true, we would have three days to make travel arrangements and pack. We've been through timing snags on both previous adoptions. I don't know why I thought this time would be different.

Meanwhile, we wonder how our daughter is holding up during the wait. Is she excited about getting a family, or is she scared to death of leaving the only home she's ever known? Or both? We also wonder if she will accept our explanation that we came as fast as we could -- that the delay wasn't of our making.

Travel Approval is Here!

We received travel approval this afternoon and could be leaving for China as soon as Jan. 31, a week earlier than we expected!

Our contact in Guangzhou, who also will be our guide/translator for the entire trip, is checking to see whether the U.S. consulate has any openings for Feb. 10-12. If so, and assuming we can get the visa approved in time, we will fly to Chicago and then on to either Shanghai or Beijing before ending up in Guangzhou the night of Feb. 1. After a sleepless night, we would receive Aimee on Feb. 2 under that scenario.

If those dates don't work out, we would leave Oklahoma City around Feb. 7 for a consulate appointment around Feb. 18-19.

This is amazing! Please join us in our joy as the reality of our daughter coming home finally starts to sink in! Thank you for all of your prayers.

Tony

Waiting for Travel Approval

We are still waiting on our TA, but we are hopeful it will arrive in the next week. We are so happy that travel is coming soon - we cannot wait to get Aimee into our arms. We are hoping we can leave around Feb. 7th and receive Aimee on the 9th. We will spend our entire time in Guangzhou since Aimee is in Guangdong province. This makes the trip very easy. Aimee lives in Huizhou City, which is about 30 minutes NE of Hong Kong. We will most likely visit her orphanage with her several days after we get her. Sometimes these visits go smoothly, but you also hear of visits with lots of tears and anxiety. It has to be an extremely emotional time for any child making this huge transition. And at 4 1/2 Aimee is very capable on knowing what is going on. I cannot imagine how scary that would be. There she will be, leaving all that she has ever known, leaving the only family she has ever known, and going with these strange new people. We have sent her a photo book and some small presents, so at least she will know what we look like, and hopefully will be a little accustomed to our faces. But that still can't make up for all the concerns she will likely feel in her heart. Can you imagine trusting a new set of parents to take you away and take care of you at her age? This is when we will surely be relying on God to give her peace.

We are not taking Abbey and Alex with us on this trip. We felt we needed to have some alone time with Aimee -- and we also know we are just not energetic enough to wrestle 3 pre-schoolers in China:) The kids grandparents will be keeping Abbey and Alex and we are very grateful for their help.

Attached is a picture of Aimee that we received awhile back. She is so adorable. We hope to see smiles on that cute face not long after we get her.

Take care and thanks for your love!