We have a son!

We picked up Xin Shagang this morning, and he's wonderful. I was very worried for the first 10 minutes, because he was in shock, quiet, and uncommunicative, and I wondered if he was totally deaf. Nope, he was overwhelmed and anxious, and started coming out of his shell within 2 hours. Playing with his sisters at the mini-playground in KFC and getting chicken nuggets for lunch seemed to be the trick, and I got a full hug that nearly melted my heart.

Robby has definitely started bonding to us, and is asking for us by name and to be held and carried. Too early to rate, but I'm not seeing classic attachment disorder manifestation so far, which was a big concern of ours.

Shagang is currently bouncing Indian-style with both his sisters on our bed and having a tickle fight. We haven't quite figured out several tactical things to communicate aside from pictures, like "I need to use the bathroom" and "I'm hungry", but things seem to be going as well or better than I could have imagined. Things may yet get pretty rough, but he's being a typical kid, and seems very happy. He calls me Ba-ba (Daddy), and Becca Ma-ma (Mommy), and Kayla and Rachael are big sister and little sister to him. So, paperwork is 80% done, and the adoption is finalized -- he's officially our son.

So, a bit more tickling and then off for a walk to a nearby park and some shops, and likely dinner. More pictures soon...

Seven Hours

We have arrived in Urumqi, the birthplace and home of our son, Xin Sha Gang. The moment we have long waited for is now a mere seven and a half hours away. As you prepare for bed on Sunday night EST, we will be preparing to meet our son for the first time.

We are scheduled to arrive at the Civil Affairs Office at 10:00 where Sha Gang will be waiting for us. We are both excited and overwhelmed knowing that tomorrow we will be a family of six. We face tomorrow knowing that we are in exactly where God wants us and He is watching over every aspects of our meeting and becoming a family. We are full of praise that He has allowed us to adopt Sha Gang: children are truly a blessing from God.

Pearls and Chocolate -- What a man!

After our walk through the Summer Palace, we crossed the street to the pearl market. Dan won big points in the husband department at this store! He bought my birthday present: a black pearl and diamond ring and a bracelet to match the necklace and earrings I have from our last trip. Then he boosted his ratings even further by buying me ice cream covered in chocolate. What more could a girl want? :)

THE WALL

All four of us can now say we have officially climbed the Great Wall. And climb we did. There were two sections to the wall where we were today: the steep climb and the moderate climb. Kayla joined a couple other families from our travel group and climbed the steep part. She made it past the three tower and nearly to the fourth, and it was an impressive climb. Good job Kay! Dan and I used Rachael as an excuse to climb the moderate part. In the oppressive heat and humidity, it was plenty steep for us old folks. Rachael was a real trooper climbing a good bit of the way by herself. The steps are very uneven and some of them she literally had to climb, not step up. We rewarded both girls with ice cream and t-shirts after the climb. This section is located in lush green mountains and the views were simply beautiful!!

After leaving the wall, we ate lunch in a Friendship Store, a government run craft shop. There was a demonstration of cloisonné, which is a pretty cool process where copper wire is shaped, hammered onto copper urns/vases/etc. and then enameled, baked, and enameled some more. The resulting product is quite beautiful, and it was impressive to observe the process of creating this art. Naturally, there were plenty of opportunities to separate us from cash for some of these trinkets, but we mostly resisted.

Lunch was pretty interesting, and we again had the same dishes as two years ago, including the inside-out carp that was fried like a blooming onion (and tasted really good). Dan opted for something more adventuresome, so went with Susan, our guide, to the driver and guide lunch room. He got 8-10 interesting traditional Chinese dishes that were more exotic, and some of them quite tasty, particularly the noodles. The rest of us weren't as brave (pronounced "cra-zy"), but still had some pretty good food.

Beijing 2008

We stopped outside one of the stadiums for the 2008 Summer Games, and saw the Birdsnest Stadium, where the opening ceremonies will be held. This is a pretty wild looking structure that is quite an apparent engineering and architectural accomplishment, and shots of this stadium will obviously be a central visual accompaniment to the 2008 games. Granted, none of that imagery will be as cute as Rachael's picture at the right, but you can say you saw it here first! Incidentally, just 398 days left until the opening ceremonies.

If you think that China is oblivious to the fact they're crossed the 400-day threshold, you'd be wrong... feverish preparations for the games seemed at hand nearly everywhere we traveled. It's pretty interesting to see how they're remaking the city. We saw several large apartment buildings or hotel complexes (6-10 large 20-35 story buildings) that were empty, apparently being spun up for the influx of guests and tourists. There are also signs everywhere.

We also saw the Olympic Village today, which also has some unique architecture, representing the indigenous people of China, who all played a part in creating their section of this complex with famous architects of their region.

Nice night for a walk

We went out in the cool of the evening and did some shopping for water, snacks and fruit from the local market and corner fruit vendors, and wandered for a few blocks taking in the sights and sounds.

The streets were filled with vendors grilling and cooking dishes in the open air, and the pungent smells of roasting meat filled the air, mixing with the sounds of laughter, motorcycle horns beeping, disco music in Chinese, and singing. There were some impromptu exercise and singing groups, a very Chinese thing to do. We see these kinds of activities at most parks in the evening, where locals apparently assemble regularly for a particular activity, like fan dancing, sword dancing, Tai Chi, majong, poetry, singing and dancing. (This appears to be a vanishing trend, as the participants are almost always 40+ and most are 60+. Today's Chinese generation seems much more interested in Karaoke. )

Tonight, we observed cheerleading (really!) and dancing. Beijingers were walking their dogs, sitting in groups chatting and enjoying the cool evening, and gathering at local restaurants for a few beers and meat on a stick.

We then had a small dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant, and had some pretty good noodles and wontons. Dan liked all of them, but Kayla had real problems finding something palatable. But, that's what happens when you order dishes by pointing; you're bound to have a few surprises along the way. We staggered back to the hotel room and basically collapsed into bed, still suffering impairment from jet lag.

Hutong Tour

After waking up brutally early this morning, we had a relaxing day, and did a Hutong tour. Hutong means "water well" in Mongolian, and derives from the need of the Chinese people to dig their own wells when they rebuilt the residential areas burned by the invading Mongols. Hutong now means twisty, narrow street.

We took a hutong tour on bicycle rickshaw, and ate at the house of some hutong residents which was very cool. Rachael had the highlight of her hutong tour when she saw a dog doing it's business in the hutong, and she kept on saying, "Dog... poop... pee!" Finally, something she could relate to!

It was interesting to see the change in perception of Kayla, who'd been pitying the hutong district residents in their apparent squaller. However, when we got into a courtyard home, she saw how they had made their home in this ancient place, and it was comfortable, clean and well-cared for. Truly, they'd made a house into a home, and she remarked, "You can't tell a book by it's cover." How true!

The hutong food was traditional Chinese food for Beijing residents and good: rice, pickles, cabbage, roasted peanuts, fresh tomatoes, dumplings, etc. It was delicious, and also had a lot of variety. We had a good discussion with our hosts, with the aid of a translator, and talked about Chinese adoption and our experience, and the influence of the NBA in Chinese culture through Yao Ming.

Our hosts also had a Plexiglas cricket training setup which is apparently common, as we found out that cricket fighting for wagering is popular, and is similar in nature to cock fighting. They had a cricket scale for classing the crickets into weight classes for the fights, as well as tools for feeding, cleaning and training the crickets, including a tiny brush made of mouse whiskers.

We ended the hutong tour with a cool, refreshing walk along a lake in an area that's turned into a pretty tony bar and restaurant area. It was very nice to feel the breeze and experience the charm of the area... very picturesque. After the hot tour and sun, standing along the shoreline in shade and feeling the breeze was very welcome. Did I mention the nice, welcome breeze yet?

As we emerged from the hutong district, we found a Starbucks, and Kayla and I had a Starbucks treat. Her chocolate frappacino was quite delicious, but my iced caramel moccachino was bitter, though still refreshing at the end of a hot morning. The patrons of the Starbucks were a mix of Chinese locals and foreign tourists, with many countries represented, and it made for an interesting experience.

After the hot day, we decided to have a relaxing dip in the pool, in the rather impressive healthclub facilities. We had to wear swim caps, but not that strange once you got used to it. Rachael had lots of fun jumping into Dan and Becca's arms, counting, 1, 2, 3, 5, jump! (We're working on 4).

Traveling notes and Beijing

Since we are in China, all the blogspot commands are in Chinese...I can't figure out how to do most things and Dan is not here....he is getting a massage for his aching feet. I also can't access crickethome, so I have no idea what Dan has already written. That said....

The flight over was, as expected, looooong. Rachael did amazingly well. She cried for several minutes when she was over tired, but other than that, she played and colored. I will say that after about 3 hours of the flight to Tokyo she said "go". I asked her where she wanted to go and she replied "off". I couldn't convince her that we couldn't get off the plane right then. Periodically over the rest of the flight she would look and me and say either "off" or "go". She did much better sleeping last night and didn't wake up until almost 5 this morning, unlike Kayla who was up at 3.

We are enjoying China and experiencing the culture. Kay is longing for a hamburger, but doing great with the culture shock so far. Rachael is just along for the ride. She is making all kinds of friends with her wonderful smile. She did approach one little girl at the park yesterday to look at the bubbles the girl was blowing. The girl, age3 3-4, did not want Rae near her bubbles. No matter how much the Mom tried to get her to share, she wouldn't and just cried. Other than that Rachael and Kayla are diplomatic successes.

Kayla just got back from a back massage. She said it felt wonderful. She is laughing because the person doing the massage sent a text message while doing the massage. Most likely telling their friend they were massaging an American girl.
Off to breakfast now. I will write more when I can read what Dan has posted.

Pics added and updates

We've backfilled several pictures, so you might want to scroll down to check out past postings.

Sorry for the delay in pictures... Google apparently thinks everyone connecting from China can read Simplified Chinese, so all the Blogger controls are in Simplified Chinese, as you can see...

Hot Day at Temple of Heaven

We walked down the street in front of our hotel, and about a mile down the road is the Temple of Heaven. It was interesting to see the gawking... for Chinese, seeing a blonde girl is strange enough, let alone Becca's curly brown hair, and my red hair and beard, accompanied by a Chinese girl that (strangely) doesn't speak Chinese. There were several kind-hearted people we spoke with, and got to chat with several of them, but mostly got out-and-out stares and gawking. I'd love to know what they were saying.

We got into the Temple of Heaven for 105RMB and walked around, checking out some of the alters and shrines. We got to watch a small (impromptu??) choir practicing with some instruments, while Rachael danced and laughed. Lots more to tell about today, including a minor slip and fall while carrying the stroller (with Rachael in it) down stairs, and the noodle shop "fast food" restaurant for lunch. We're not sure what some of it was, including "meat on a stick" that we hope was pork, but could have been about anything. Kayla said, "Mmmmm... good cat!" After lunch, we came back to the hotel, showered and crashed for a good 2 hour nap.

Tonight, I attended Toastmasters at a growing, strong club in Beijing, which was very interesting. The structure was all the same and familiar, but they did a few things differently, which permitted some good idea exchange. It was a two-hour meeting, and most of the participants were there to work on English (and their English was pretty darn good).

Leaving the training room where the meeting was held, I was traveling by myself, walking back to the nearby hotel to catch a cab back to our hotel. Apparently I looked lonely, as several pimps and mama-sans offered services, rather persistently. Their English was also very good, and they apparently are paid to troll for customers -- I wonder how many of them were also working a con for ripping tourists off. Telling them emphatically "Bu shang, Bu shang!" (don't want!) didn't seem to dampen their spirited offers, but jumping into a cab finally gave them the picture that I was high-tailing it out of there. After a 45-minute cab ride in traffic, I made it back to the hotel for some blogging and quick dinner of Chinese buns and rolls we'd purchased, along with some green tea... $1.15 for the meal.

Now off to bed. Everyone is very tired, and we have some more walking tomorrow.

Up at 3!

Rachael was up shortly after 3 this morning, apparently for good, seeing her 3 hour rest as nap, not sleep. So, we're up, and likely going to hit breakfast by 7:15 local, after nice long showers to wash off 25 hours of travel. Then, it's off to the Temple of Heaven.

Internet acting up

Our blogging may be somewhat restricted over the next couple of days... We can't see our blog, just the posting site, and all the buttons are in Simplified Chinese. Apparently, Blogger.com presumes that, if you're connecting from China, you read Chinese, and they don't even provide an "English" button. Some of our sites we use to manage accounts and pictures are blocked, kinda par for the course for Beijing.

In Beijing and Safe

After a Loooong flight, we're in Beijing and everything is good. Rachael had a few rough times on the long flight from Detroit to Tokyo, and I held her for 45 minutes where she sobbed and hovered on the edge of sleep, incredibly over-tired. Once she dropped off, she was fine, and woke up a happy and refreshed kid. Nothing really out of the ordinary to report about the long journey.



Tokyo was Just-Another-Airport, but with obviously different currency, more languages, and a bookstore that sold virtually nothing in English. Oddly enough, we couldn't find bottled water or soda in the airport, just McDonalds fountain drinks. Since we aren't sure about drinking the water in Japan, the ice is therefore suspect, so we passed on the sodas, and instead tried some rice cake sweets. They were interesting and chewy.

I was fortune to sit next to Toshikata Amino, Executive-in-Residence at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. He is a retired Honda executive that was in charge of building the Honda plant in Marysville, Ohio (!!), and now teaches at OSU and a university in Osaka, Japan. He and I had many interesting conversations over the course of the 12 hours, and it was a delight.


Last night we had noodles in our hotel at the noodle restaurant. They were handmade and fresh, and served in enormous bowls. Interesting and filling, and probably just the ticket for our tired bodies and in our sleepy state. Then, off to bed, collapsing quickly and dropping off. Tomorrow, the real adventure begins!

Packed, ready and anxious

The last task is done... back from Kinkos to make copies of the medical authorization forms for Emily, and I think we're ready. Sure, there are several more things we could do (heck, is housework really ever "done"?), but it's time to call it complete, and execute the plan. We've been packed for a day, and have thought of 1/2 dozen last minute things we forgot to add, but no last-minute shopping trips. Sure, I never found sunglasses I liked, or a mini umbrella, but I'll make it without. Like as not, we'll have forgotten several things, but all the major stuff is ready to go.

This is thrilling, exhilarating, exhausting, and beyond belief. I'm both tickled pink and so tired I'm numb. Called that tickled pinkish numb. Whatever. I'm too tired to think coherently, so will now collapse into bed for 7 hours, then... OFF TO BEIJING!

Freakin' hot

Yikes. The weather forecast for Beijing while we're there is 102, 96, 97, 98 and 101 degrees, and that's with showers and high humidity -- likely little wind and fog. I've not experienced 100-degree fog before, this should be, um, interesting!

Sunday we're going to go to church, then (amongst other stops) tour the Forbidden City. I can't imagine touring the Forbidden City in 101 degree heat with a toddler. The freakin' thing already seems to go on forever, even in normal temperatures... sure, it's beautiful, but it's not a great place to be when the weather doesn't cooperate, because it's gigantically enormous, and you know you're going to be walking in the Forbidden City for at least 2-3 hours. In 101 degrees with our 2-year-old, the Forbidden City certainly seems Foreboding.

Remember us in your prayers, that we can beat the heat and feel no ill health effects from this extreme weather.

Lost tickets

Our tickets went missing today, and we couldn't find them... still can't. After a frantic two hour search behind book-cases and the refrigerator, and tearing things apart, we called Northwest Airlines, dreading the discussion.

I'll cut to the chase and eliminate the tension. Although the tickets we'd received looked like paper tickets, they were just receipts for e-tickets. So, our discussion with Northwest was some of the best news I'd received in awhile. I could have done without that stress, but I'm glad we got the tickets all straightened out, and really glad they're e-tickets.

FAQ Upated

Many folks have questions about our adoption, so we compiled a FAQ - "Frequently Asked Questions" list, with a ton of links and info. If you have questions, check out the FAQ by clicking here. If you have questions that aren't on the FAQ, please leave a comment, and we'll answer it. :-)

Pressure Valve & Decompression

I can't tell you enough what a relief it is that Emily has care now while we were gone. That was a big burden on my mind, and I'm so glad we found trustworthy, caring people to watch her and help us make this adoption possible. Praise God for working this out!!! It came about through circumstances that were seemingly coincidental, but we see that it's Providence, not coincidence. We can now shake out lots of stress and focus on getting ready to go.

Speaking of decompression... Fortunately the loan came through today, and will hit the account tomorrow, since all the purchases, tickets and travel fees have totally tapped us out... It's mac-n-cheese for awhile, but worth it to bring home a son. Sorry Dave Ramsey. Our accounts are deflated, but our spirits are bouyed.

SAINTS

Our favorite people right now are Karla/Kenny, Beth/Mike, Jenny/Ed and Terri/Drew. These wonderful people have stepped forward to watch Emily while we are gone. They are earning jewels for their heavenly crowns! This takes such a burden off of our shoulders; now we can focus on getting the other 100 things done that we need to accomplish before we leave!
Okay, I can't leave out Taylor, she is in charge of the cats and the grass while we are gone. She gets the 'wonderful' job of giving Romeo his meds and cleaning out the litter box, not to mention mowing the grass as needed.

A great big THANKS to all of you!!!

More about Robby

Many of you know that the older children adopted from China often have special needs and you may be curious about Robby. He has a condition called atresia-microtia. What this means is his ears did not form normally. We know that he is missing the upper half of his right external ear and some or all of his left ear. Additionally, both his ear canals are closed.

While he does have some hearing loss we know that he can hear, although you have to speak louder than normal conversational tones. We also know that he is able to talk and carry on conversations (of course they are all in Mandarin), and he knows over 300 words, and sings. Once we return to the States, we will have his hearing tested and see if he is a canidate to have his ear canals opened. This would increase his ability to hear. We have also looked into having his outer ears reconstructed and know that this is a possibility for the future.