Hey everybody.....
We've been home 9 weeks now and have been very busy. We have a new blog at http://kambergerchronicles.blogspot.com
Come a visit us there.
John
Friday, February 16, 2007
Friday, December 15, 2006
Friday, Dec 15 at home
We're on day number 2 home from China. The first night Sarabeth slept well, although she awoke a few times due to her inner time clock being different than CST. Last night, however, was a bit different. Sarabeth has not grieved at all since we left the Civil Affairs office with her on Dec 3. Last night she was crying out and seemed rather disoriented. I ended up sleeping with her to keep her calm. She has been quite afraid of our Golden Retriever puppy - kicking at her and screaming her high shrill scream. She was doing the same thing in her sleep last night. Considering her adaptation to us has been rather seamless so far, this is no big deal - just a glitch to add to my jet lag!
Sarabeth and the "twins", Nate and Juls, have been playing very well together. Juls has showed Sarabeth how to play Mulan on the computer and Sarabeth has shared some DVDs that were sent with her - an exercise one and Tom and Jerry, Chinese style. The 3 of them have gotten along quite well - Sarabeth exploring all the new toys and things to do in the house - the twins re-exploring it all with her after being gone from the house for a couple weeks. Meal times have been smooth - Sarabeth eats very slowly, but has had no real issues. Last night I heated up the crock and attempted to make congee for her - a staple food in China that is loose, over cooked rice in fluid - it can be plain or flavored. I started putting twice as much water in to cook the rice and eventually ended up adding 4 times as much water to get it to a thick consistency. Then I added some loose pork sausage for flavor this morning after it cooked all night in the crock. Sarabeth likes to eat her congee with mashed hard cooked egg, so I added the egg last and hoped it would pass her taste test. She ate most of it and now I have a whole crock of congee for her to eat with meals for the next week!!
Sarabeth and I went out shopping yesterday to buy her some needed shoes and staple clothes - she enjoyed the outing with 'just Mom'. She fell asleep both going and coming home, but I hoped to avoid desired naps until she adjusts to the time change. I ended up napping from 6-7p or so last night - the body just couldn't hold up! You get nervous and shaky and the room seems to start to spin - not to mention the yucky sick to your stomach feeling you get. The nap helped, but then I was up till midnight not feeling ready for bed. Some say it may take a day for every hour time change that has occured - that would mean we wouldn't adjust for 2 weeks!! It usually doesn't take that long.
We've cleaned a spot for the Christmas tree - hope to get it today or tomorrow. I still have some unpacking to finish and still more laundry (that never seems to end!). Sarabeth just went up to Tessa, one of our cats, and petted her all by herself - that is a huge step!! She even touched Maggie (dog) while Caitlin held her. She will adjust to these animals in time.
An appointment has been made for next Thursday to get her teeth evaluated - it will be a huge job to take care of at least the 3 obvious rotten teeth - and who knows what else will be found with the exam and xrays! Poor thing - will probably have to put her under to do the work. We have never had a child with severe oral needs - new experiences to live through!
Well, I'm off to do some errands and more laundry. Thanks so much for all the prayers and support. Adjustment is going well so far! We will see when "the meltdown" happens - if it happens. We were able to have her call her foster parents in China yesterday - she jabbered away in Mandarin. We are so fortunate to be able to keep in touch with them and share Sarabeth's progress over the coming years. What a gift!
Peace,
Mary
Sarabeth and the "twins", Nate and Juls, have been playing very well together. Juls has showed Sarabeth how to play Mulan on the computer and Sarabeth has shared some DVDs that were sent with her - an exercise one and Tom and Jerry, Chinese style. The 3 of them have gotten along quite well - Sarabeth exploring all the new toys and things to do in the house - the twins re-exploring it all with her after being gone from the house for a couple weeks. Meal times have been smooth - Sarabeth eats very slowly, but has had no real issues. Last night I heated up the crock and attempted to make congee for her - a staple food in China that is loose, over cooked rice in fluid - it can be plain or flavored. I started putting twice as much water in to cook the rice and eventually ended up adding 4 times as much water to get it to a thick consistency. Then I added some loose pork sausage for flavor this morning after it cooked all night in the crock. Sarabeth likes to eat her congee with mashed hard cooked egg, so I added the egg last and hoped it would pass her taste test. She ate most of it and now I have a whole crock of congee for her to eat with meals for the next week!!
Sarabeth and I went out shopping yesterday to buy her some needed shoes and staple clothes - she enjoyed the outing with 'just Mom'. She fell asleep both going and coming home, but I hoped to avoid desired naps until she adjusts to the time change. I ended up napping from 6-7p or so last night - the body just couldn't hold up! You get nervous and shaky and the room seems to start to spin - not to mention the yucky sick to your stomach feeling you get. The nap helped, but then I was up till midnight not feeling ready for bed. Some say it may take a day for every hour time change that has occured - that would mean we wouldn't adjust for 2 weeks!! It usually doesn't take that long.
We've cleaned a spot for the Christmas tree - hope to get it today or tomorrow. I still have some unpacking to finish and still more laundry (that never seems to end!). Sarabeth just went up to Tessa, one of our cats, and petted her all by herself - that is a huge step!! She even touched Maggie (dog) while Caitlin held her. She will adjust to these animals in time.
An appointment has been made for next Thursday to get her teeth evaluated - it will be a huge job to take care of at least the 3 obvious rotten teeth - and who knows what else will be found with the exam and xrays! Poor thing - will probably have to put her under to do the work. We have never had a child with severe oral needs - new experiences to live through!
Well, I'm off to do some errands and more laundry. Thanks so much for all the prayers and support. Adjustment is going well so far! We will see when "the meltdown" happens - if it happens. We were able to have her call her foster parents in China yesterday - she jabbered away in Mandarin. We are so fortunate to be able to keep in touch with them and share Sarabeth's progress over the coming years. What a gift!
Peace,
Mary
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Home Sweet Home
We are home - sweet home!
Today has been one very looonnnng day - when you start in China and are ahead of your destination in the way of time zones, you live through many hours over again. We left our hotel room on Dec 13th at 5:10am China time (3:10pm CST on 12/12) - flew out of Guangzhou at 8:30am (6:30pm cst), reconnected in Tokyo with take off towards Minneapolis at 3:30pm Tokyo time (2:30pm china, 12:30am cst). We landed in Minn on Dec 13th, 11:15am ..... but we left Tokyo at 2:30pm china time on Dec 13th ..... 3hours "after" we landed in Minn. That date line thing is fun - today we actually had/have 38 hours to "live" on Dec 13th. Of course we lost that same amount of time when we went to China, but losing it isn't as strange as reliving hours over again on the same date in time.
Now is time for sleep. We will post again tomorrow.
Mary and John
Today has been one very looonnnng day - when you start in China and are ahead of your destination in the way of time zones, you live through many hours over again. We left our hotel room on Dec 13th at 5:10am China time (3:10pm CST on 12/12) - flew out of Guangzhou at 8:30am (6:30pm cst), reconnected in Tokyo with take off towards Minneapolis at 3:30pm Tokyo time (2:30pm china, 12:30am cst). We landed in Minn on Dec 13th, 11:15am ..... but we left Tokyo at 2:30pm china time on Dec 13th ..... 3hours "after" we landed in Minn. That date line thing is fun - today we actually had/have 38 hours to "live" on Dec 13th. Of course we lost that same amount of time when we went to China, but losing it isn't as strange as reliving hours over again on the same date in time.
Now is time for sleep. We will post again tomorrow.
Mary and John
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
On our way home!
It is Tuesday evening in Guangzhou and we are all packed for the trip home early tomorrow morning. We are excited and can't wait for Sarabeth to meet the rest of her family.
Today was a gorgeous day in Guangzhou, sunny, at least 80 degrees and no humidity. We had a very relaxing lunch at an outside table at Lucy's. The Shamian park butts up against Lucy's property, and the park was full of people playing hacky sack and enjoying the warm sun during their lunch breaks.
We had an uneventful trip to the US Consulate where we took the oath, swearing that we told the truth in all our adoption documents. They then gave us Sarabeth's passport with the immigration visa attached and the "sealed brown envelope" which must be turned over to customs upon arriving in the US. Even though we're in a large room with many other families all swearing the same oath, and we've done it twice before, we still get chills when we go through this ceremony. It finally sinks in......we are done (except for the long ride home) and Sarabeth is ours. She will become a US citizen the moment we land in Minneapolis tomorrow afternoon.
We will post again once we get settled in at home. For now, we head to bed thankful for all of your e-mails, comments, thoughts and prayers as we Journeyed to Sarabeth.
Love, Mary and John
Today was a gorgeous day in Guangzhou, sunny, at least 80 degrees and no humidity. We had a very relaxing lunch at an outside table at Lucy's. The Shamian park butts up against Lucy's property, and the park was full of people playing hacky sack and enjoying the warm sun during their lunch breaks.
We had an uneventful trip to the US Consulate where we took the oath, swearing that we told the truth in all our adoption documents. They then gave us Sarabeth's passport with the immigration visa attached and the "sealed brown envelope" which must be turned over to customs upon arriving in the US. Even though we're in a large room with many other families all swearing the same oath, and we've done it twice before, we still get chills when we go through this ceremony. It finally sinks in......we are done (except for the long ride home) and Sarabeth is ours. She will become a US citizen the moment we land in Minneapolis tomorrow afternoon.
We will post again once we get settled in at home. For now, we head to bed thankful for all of your e-mails, comments, thoughts and prayers as we Journeyed to Sarabeth.
Love, Mary and John
Monday, December 11, 2006
Guangzhou photos
Sarabeth getting ready for the day
Mary doing her favorite thing!
Daddy and his girl!
Each of our children have been photo'd on this bronze dog outside of Lucy's in Guangzhou (except Jeriah-- Rye, you need to come to China so we can add you to this collection!)
Tuesday Dec 12- Oath Taking at US Consulate
Today is Tuesday, Dec 12. Today we will go to the US Consulate to have our "oath taking", where we swear that all the information we have provided in the adoption process is true. We will then be given Sarabeth's passport back- with the all-important US Visa attached inside! With this, we can officially come home!!! This afternoon, there will also be a group photograph in the red couch area at the White Swan with all of the Heritage families. This evening, we will be ordering in from Danny's Bagel and packing for the trip home.
It has been a wonderful trip thus far. We have maintained our health- very few China gut experiences this time! Sarabeth's chewing and swallowing issues have been MUCH less of a problem than we anticipated. The weather in Guangzhou has been great. We've met some very nice "new" families who are here adopting also. Our main area of concern, which will need to be addressed as soon as we get home is Sarabeth's rotting teeth on the upper right side. These teeth are bothering her a lot and we've been giving her Ibuprofen around the clock the past couple of days. These are still baby teeth, which will most likely need to be pulled. We hope there is no damage to the permanant teeth underneath.
Yesterday, we spent most of the day wandering the island. Mary did the last of her Christmas shopping while Sarabeth and I went to the park. In the evening we went out looking for a place to eat supper and stumbled onto the Rose Garden, which is right next to the White Swan. We ate outside, at a waterfront table on the Pearl River. The waterfront is lit up brightly at night, with many colors of rope lights outlining the bulkhead along the river and many of the buildings on each side lit up in neon. We had Thai style fried rice; a very good beef dish in a cinnamon flavored sauce; mixed vegi's in a garlic sauce and cashew chicken- which came out loaded with chilli peppers. The chicken was too hot for Mary (she enjoyed the cashews, which didn't soak up as much of the hot flavor) but I had no trouble knocking down a large portion of it. I was glad I had a TALL drink to go with it, but it was very tasty. Overall, it was a very enjoyable meal.
Our flights home begin at 8:30am tomorrow (6:30pm Tuesday night Iowa time). We will leave the hotel at 5:30am for the van ride to the airport. The 8:30 flight is to Tokyo, arriving at 1:30pm Japan time (10:30pm CST). We have a 90 minute layover in Tokyo, leaving for Minneapolis at 3pm local time (midnight Wed morning CST). We arrive at MSP at 10:45am. We are so looking forward to seeing the rest of the family at the airport and introducing them to their new sister.
We will try to post again tonight, and then after we arrive home.
John and Mary
It has been a wonderful trip thus far. We have maintained our health- very few China gut experiences this time! Sarabeth's chewing and swallowing issues have been MUCH less of a problem than we anticipated. The weather in Guangzhou has been great. We've met some very nice "new" families who are here adopting also. Our main area of concern, which will need to be addressed as soon as we get home is Sarabeth's rotting teeth on the upper right side. These teeth are bothering her a lot and we've been giving her Ibuprofen around the clock the past couple of days. These are still baby teeth, which will most likely need to be pulled. We hope there is no damage to the permanant teeth underneath.
Yesterday, we spent most of the day wandering the island. Mary did the last of her Christmas shopping while Sarabeth and I went to the park. In the evening we went out looking for a place to eat supper and stumbled onto the Rose Garden, which is right next to the White Swan. We ate outside, at a waterfront table on the Pearl River. The waterfront is lit up brightly at night, with many colors of rope lights outlining the bulkhead along the river and many of the buildings on each side lit up in neon. We had Thai style fried rice; a very good beef dish in a cinnamon flavored sauce; mixed vegi's in a garlic sauce and cashew chicken- which came out loaded with chilli peppers. The chicken was too hot for Mary (she enjoyed the cashews, which didn't soak up as much of the hot flavor) but I had no trouble knocking down a large portion of it. I was glad I had a TALL drink to go with it, but it was very tasty. Overall, it was a very enjoyable meal.
Our flights home begin at 8:30am tomorrow (6:30pm Tuesday night Iowa time). We will leave the hotel at 5:30am for the van ride to the airport. The 8:30 flight is to Tokyo, arriving at 1:30pm Japan time (10:30pm CST). We have a 90 minute layover in Tokyo, leaving for Minneapolis at 3pm local time (midnight Wed morning CST). We arrive at MSP at 10:45am. We are so looking forward to seeing the rest of the family at the airport and introducing them to their new sister.
We will try to post again tonight, and then after we arrive home.
John and Mary
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Monday morning, Dec 11 Consulate Appt
Hi,
Only two more sleeps for us before we board the plane back home! This morning is our consulate appt - we just stay in the room and our guide goes for us. Tomorrow is the oath taking at the consulate and then we're done. We ate at the Cow Bridge Thai restaurant last night with all the families from Heritage - there are 4 special need families and 3 non-special need families here. Our guide is very busy! Glad we have done all of this before and are on our own most of the time. It's a good transition time for us to be with Sarabeth by ourselves. We have had many times when I could not understand what she was saying. She knows "I don't understand" and I say that - but then she gets frustrated with me. Usually we figure it out. She enjoys going over to the playground and trying out all of the "equipment".
I miss the huge buffet for breakfast at the Swan - this buffet is very small but feeds us. Sarabeth eats oh so very slowly - she would rather "people watch" - a real rubber necker! She loves to watch all of the babies - mei meis to her. And takes forever to get around to eating!
Our family granite etching is in process, but I took a look last night - I was a bit dissappointed - only Caitlin and Sarabeth actually look like themselves. They aren't done yet, tho - I told them what I thought - not sure they can change anything. Will keep checking on it. I so wanted it to come out nicely for a forever keepsake.
We met some new families last night - one Mom is here with 4 kids - 3 from home and a new 17mth old! What a brave woman! Sarabeth introduced herself to all of them as "wa Sarabeth"!! It was the first time she referred to herself to outsiders as "Sarabeth". I still use Jingdong to call her - so she will respond but she has a severe case of "selective hearing" - way worse than any of our others at home! LOL
The weather has been nice. Saturday was overcast and cool, but Sunday was beautiful. We went to church at the Shamian Christian Church and then had lunch at Lucy's. After lunch we walked the waterfront and Sarabeth played in the park.
We can't wait to get home (and to sleep in our own bed!). Hope you've had an enjoyable Sunday.
Mary and John
The weather has been nice. Saturday was overcast and cool, but Sunday was beautiful. We went to church at the Shamian Christian Church and then had lunch at Lucy's. After lunch we walked the waterfront and Sarabeth played in the park.
We can't wait to get home (and to sleep in our own bed!). Hope you've had an enjoyable Sunday.
Mary and John
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Saturday in Guangzhou
Hello all!
John has been posting lately so I guess it's my turn. We have finished our first day in Guangzhou. We are staying in the Victory Hotel this time after staying at the White Swan the last two adoptions. We have a two room suite with warm cherry woods and deep blue/maroon colors. A king bed in the bed room with a bath; a sitting room with couch (turned into bed for Sarabeth), two chairs, table and another bath! Each bathroom sink has an R/O tap for clean water!!!! As much as you want, whenever you want. There is also an R/O heated and cold water machine on the bar. Just to be able to brush your teeth and drink the water without a bottle of it on hand is a pleasure. PLUS this is actually cheaper than a regular single room at the Swan. The breakfast buffet in NO way compares to the Swan, tho - but I'll take the Victory! I do miss the little fried pumpkin cakes that look like cocoons, tho - will have to have one of the other families sneak me out some! There is also a full computer in this room - altho we have our own laptop. AND a TV in each room, too.
Jing is busy writing - copying from one of her school books - she is at that age of mastery and is so very proud to show us her accomplishments. I think she will learn oral and written english quickly. We are already working on numbers, letters, colors. I wrote all of our children's names and ages down once for her and she has nearly mastered writing them all ... from memory. She is excellent at copying letters/words that I write or she sees. She is starting to ask "please" and say "thank you" - a big jump! She continues to do quite well chewing and eating, as long as you don't tick her off - she can get peeved big time and throw a bit of a fit, too. One problem she is having tho is at least two of her right upper back teeth have major decay and they really hurt her - she chews only on the left and complains of pain regularly. We tried orajel without results, so we are starting tylenol or advil round the clock for her. We'll be off to the DDS as soon as we get back! These are baby teeth, but her 6 yr molar is adjacent to them and I don't want to lose it.
John and I just want to mention that all of China is decorated for Christmas. Everywhere you look there are decorations, waitresses dressed in Santa hats, etc. The one thing that is so amazing is NO where do we ever see "happy holidays"!!!! In this communist, non-Christian society every saying is "Merry Christmas" - as it should be! The White Swan is totally lit up with Merry Christmas upteen stories high. How politically incorrect!?! LOL!
Jing had her medical this morning and all went well, except for a question on her original medical. The docs couldn't understand why she never had surgery for the tightened valve exiting her stomach (as we are, too) - but then she wouldn't have a special need and wouldn't be our daughter. We were strongly encouraged to make sure we had a full evaluation in the states ... well, duh!
I was able to do a bit of shopping today - to John's dismay! Oh, well, how often do you get to China? Well, besides the fact that this is our 3rd trip in, what, 27 months?? Jing absolutely loves to watch the artists doing the granite etchings - even tried to do some herself ... without permission! Woops! We encountered a young group of artists painting in an obvious "class" of some sort - she wanted to stop and paint, too. We were told she loves to paint and draw - will have to allow this to blossom for her.
We hit the playground - Jing enjoyed this, too. Running from one apparatus to another - even see-sawing with another little girl. We then ventured to a different Chinese restaurant - known for their fried pidgeon and coconut milk with frog guts!! We tried neither of those, but had a nice meal. We had beef and chicken satays (meat on sticks) that had a sweet curry flavor; fried thin noodles with pork strips and mixed vegies in coconut milk - delicious!! John always gets a pepsi or coke - and Jing likes a bit of pop, too - but, me, I only get my iced tea at one place ... Lucy's. So after dinner, we stopped at Lucy's for my iced tea - to make it "to go" they had to put it into 2 soup bowls!! Guess they don't make it to go very often! It hit the spot ... but John told Jing she had a crazy Mommy!
Jing is now reading (in Chinese) from her school book - out loud - to no one in particular ... with her new crazy yellow tinted sunglasses that she just HAD to have!! What a stinkin' weasel! She'll fit right in with our other stinkin' weasels at home!!
We miss you all!!! Hugs and kisses to all the kids. Jeriah, you should be headed into finals next week, right - study hard and pray! Cait - still sad we missed your big night in concert - hope we find a video somewhere - keep asking...maybe one of the kids' parents took one. Grace - glad you are feeling so much better - are you playing with Maggie? Bet she's growing! Nate - hey, you stinkin' weasel, we miss your snuggles! Juliana banana - we sure need some sugar - be really good for Mamichelle! We love you all the way to Pluto ... even if it isn't a planet anymore!
Mary et al XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO
John has been posting lately so I guess it's my turn. We have finished our first day in Guangzhou. We are staying in the Victory Hotel this time after staying at the White Swan the last two adoptions. We have a two room suite with warm cherry woods and deep blue/maroon colors. A king bed in the bed room with a bath; a sitting room with couch (turned into bed for Sarabeth), two chairs, table and another bath! Each bathroom sink has an R/O tap for clean water!!!! As much as you want, whenever you want. There is also an R/O heated and cold water machine on the bar. Just to be able to brush your teeth and drink the water without a bottle of it on hand is a pleasure. PLUS this is actually cheaper than a regular single room at the Swan. The breakfast buffet in NO way compares to the Swan, tho - but I'll take the Victory! I do miss the little fried pumpkin cakes that look like cocoons, tho - will have to have one of the other families sneak me out some! There is also a full computer in this room - altho we have our own laptop. AND a TV in each room, too.
Jing is busy writing - copying from one of her school books - she is at that age of mastery and is so very proud to show us her accomplishments. I think she will learn oral and written english quickly. We are already working on numbers, letters, colors. I wrote all of our children's names and ages down once for her and she has nearly mastered writing them all ... from memory. She is excellent at copying letters/words that I write or she sees. She is starting to ask "please" and say "thank you" - a big jump! She continues to do quite well chewing and eating, as long as you don't tick her off - she can get peeved big time and throw a bit of a fit, too. One problem she is having tho is at least two of her right upper back teeth have major decay and they really hurt her - she chews only on the left and complains of pain regularly. We tried orajel without results, so we are starting tylenol or advil round the clock for her. We'll be off to the DDS as soon as we get back! These are baby teeth, but her 6 yr molar is adjacent to them and I don't want to lose it.
John and I just want to mention that all of China is decorated for Christmas. Everywhere you look there are decorations, waitresses dressed in Santa hats, etc. The one thing that is so amazing is NO where do we ever see "happy holidays"!!!! In this communist, non-Christian society every saying is "Merry Christmas" - as it should be! The White Swan is totally lit up with Merry Christmas upteen stories high. How politically incorrect!?! LOL!
Jing had her medical this morning and all went well, except for a question on her original medical. The docs couldn't understand why she never had surgery for the tightened valve exiting her stomach (as we are, too) - but then she wouldn't have a special need and wouldn't be our daughter. We were strongly encouraged to make sure we had a full evaluation in the states ... well, duh!
I was able to do a bit of shopping today - to John's dismay! Oh, well, how often do you get to China? Well, besides the fact that this is our 3rd trip in, what, 27 months?? Jing absolutely loves to watch the artists doing the granite etchings - even tried to do some herself ... without permission! Woops! We encountered a young group of artists painting in an obvious "class" of some sort - she wanted to stop and paint, too. We were told she loves to paint and draw - will have to allow this to blossom for her.
We hit the playground - Jing enjoyed this, too. Running from one apparatus to another - even see-sawing with another little girl. We then ventured to a different Chinese restaurant - known for their fried pidgeon and coconut milk with frog guts!! We tried neither of those, but had a nice meal. We had beef and chicken satays (meat on sticks) that had a sweet curry flavor; fried thin noodles with pork strips and mixed vegies in coconut milk - delicious!! John always gets a pepsi or coke - and Jing likes a bit of pop, too - but, me, I only get my iced tea at one place ... Lucy's. So after dinner, we stopped at Lucy's for my iced tea - to make it "to go" they had to put it into 2 soup bowls!! Guess they don't make it to go very often! It hit the spot ... but John told Jing she had a crazy Mommy!
Jing is now reading (in Chinese) from her school book - out loud - to no one in particular ... with her new crazy yellow tinted sunglasses that she just HAD to have!! What a stinkin' weasel! She'll fit right in with our other stinkin' weasels at home!!
We miss you all!!! Hugs and kisses to all the kids. Jeriah, you should be headed into finals next week, right - study hard and pray! Cait - still sad we missed your big night in concert - hope we find a video somewhere - keep asking...maybe one of the kids' parents took one. Grace - glad you are feeling so much better - are you playing with Maggie? Bet she's growing! Nate - hey, you stinkin' weasel, we miss your snuggles! Juliana banana - we sure need some sugar - be really good for Mamichelle! We love you all the way to Pluto ... even if it isn't a planet anymore!
Mary et al XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO
Friday, December 8, 2006
Friday, Dec 8 in Guangzhou
We have arrived in Guangzhou, and what a blessing it is. We arrived at about 5:30pm and while walking up the ramp from the plane we began shedding layers! In Nanchang, the "clothes police" (the old Chinese women who berate Americans for not dressing their new children warmly enough) would be having fits over what they would see here. Honestly, they go absolutely wild when it comes to dressing children in the colder weather. When we got Sarabeth, she had 2 shirts, 3 heavy sweaters and a winter coat. She was roasting! Her cheeks were beet red. The best sight in Nanchang was when we'd see a child with multiple layers---and then be wearing split pants, thus allowing a cold draft to hit their nether regions!
Sarabeth enjoyed her first airplane flight and seeing the clouds from above. She was excited the whole day. She fell asleep as soon as we hit the van enroute to the hotel. By dinner time, she was ready to go again. We had dinner at Lucy's shortly after arriving- at an outside table! Lucy's is a favorite of the Americans here. We have been eating Chinese food at every meal for most of the last week, and thoroughly enjoying it. At Lucy's, we had fettucini alfredo w/chicken (Mary) and a double cheeseburger w/fries (John). Sarabeth LOVES fries with ketchup. It was apparently a treat for her to go to KFC in Nanchang with the fosters for FF and Coke. Again, she is having no trouble eating or swallowing. What a relief and an answer to prayer.
Tomorrow morning, we have Sarabeth's medical exam, which is a requirement of the US Immigration process. We will also have her photo taken for her US Visa. The rest of the day is free. We need to have laundry done and some gifts to buy, so I'm sure we'll be visiting many of the shoppes here on Shamian Island. There are several other families from Heritage Adoption that are funneling into Guangzhou this weekend. There are plans for us to have a group dinner at the Cow Bridge (an excellent Thai restaurant just down the street from our hotel) either tomorrow or Sunday evening. I'm already looking forward to it!
We've not been taking many pictures the past few days. We'll try to rectify that tomorrow and get some more shots uploaded onto the blog. For now, good night and we'll blog again tomorrow.
John and Mary
Sarabeth enjoyed her first airplane flight and seeing the clouds from above. She was excited the whole day. She fell asleep as soon as we hit the van enroute to the hotel. By dinner time, she was ready to go again. We had dinner at Lucy's shortly after arriving- at an outside table! Lucy's is a favorite of the Americans here. We have been eating Chinese food at every meal for most of the last week, and thoroughly enjoying it. At Lucy's, we had fettucini alfredo w/chicken (Mary) and a double cheeseburger w/fries (John). Sarabeth LOVES fries with ketchup. It was apparently a treat for her to go to KFC in Nanchang with the fosters for FF and Coke. Again, she is having no trouble eating or swallowing. What a relief and an answer to prayer.
Tomorrow morning, we have Sarabeth's medical exam, which is a requirement of the US Immigration process. We will also have her photo taken for her US Visa. The rest of the day is free. We need to have laundry done and some gifts to buy, so I'm sure we'll be visiting many of the shoppes here on Shamian Island. There are several other families from Heritage Adoption that are funneling into Guangzhou this weekend. There are plans for us to have a group dinner at the Cow Bridge (an excellent Thai restaurant just down the street from our hotel) either tomorrow or Sunday evening. I'm already looking forward to it!
We've not been taking many pictures the past few days. We'll try to rectify that tomorrow and get some more shots uploaded onto the blog. For now, good night and we'll blog again tomorrow.
John and Mary
Thursday, December 7, 2006
On to Guangzhou- Hooray!
Today is Friday and we expect to receive Sarabeth's passport at 10:30 this morning and then its off to Guangzhou at 4:20 this afternoon. We can't wait to get there. It will be warmer (we hope) as the weather in Nanchang has been very dreary- overcast, misty and cold every day. Guangzhou is in the far southeast corner of China, near Hong Kong- with (hopefully) Florida type weather!
Yesterday, we went to see Sarabeth's "finding spot" as they say in China (rather than "abandonment site"). I think its an excellent idea to use that site as a positive in her life (finding) rather than as a negative (abandon).
We went out for dinner on our own last night, to the same restaurant as the family dinner Wednesday evening. The food was again very good, and also very economical compared to the hotel buffet. The 3 of us filled ourselves on beef and beans, rice, dumpling/mushroom soup, garlicy broccoli and watermelon for 65 yuan (about $7). Not too bad!
We'll post again once we get to Guangzhou. Only 5 more days till we come home!!!
John, Mary and Sarabeth
Yesterday, we went to see Sarabeth's "finding spot" as they say in China (rather than "abandonment site"). I think its an excellent idea to use that site as a positive in her life (finding) rather than as a negative (abandon).
We went out for dinner on our own last night, to the same restaurant as the family dinner Wednesday evening. The food was again very good, and also very economical compared to the hotel buffet. The 3 of us filled ourselves on beef and beans, rice, dumpling/mushroom soup, garlicy broccoli and watermelon for 65 yuan (about $7). Not too bad!
We'll post again once we get to Guangzhou. Only 5 more days till we come home!!!
John, Mary and Sarabeth
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Thursday morning in Nanchang
It is 8:15 am in Nanchang and we are off to breakfast. It is raining today. The weather has been dreary for our entire visit here!
Today, we will go to take some pics at Jing Dong's abandonment site and in the afternoon, our guide will go to the notary office and get all the notary documents. Tomorrow, we will get Jing's passport and HOORAY, off to Guangzhou.
Last night, we got our FIRST HUGS after a tickle-fest on the hotel bed and also our first GOODNIGHT KISSES! We are making slow progress in the bonding arena.
We were unable to post any pics last night as e-blogger just would not upload them. This morning, everything was working fine again, so here they are!
John and Mary
Today, we will go to take some pics at Jing Dong's abandonment site and in the afternoon, our guide will go to the notary office and get all the notary documents. Tomorrow, we will get Jing's passport and HOORAY, off to Guangzhou.
Last night, we got our FIRST HUGS after a tickle-fest on the hotel bed and also our first GOODNIGHT KISSES! We are making slow progress in the bonding arena.
We were unable to post any pics last night as e-blogger just would not upload them. This morning, everything was working fine again, so here they are!
John and Mary
"Empress" Jing Dong and the Teng Wang Pavillion
She loves this headdress!
Sarabeth in the garden at the Teng Wang Pavillion in Nanchang
Mary has climbed the first of many steps at the pavillion....Sarabeth and our guide Cindy follow behind.
Wed night in Nanchang
Another cloudy, cool day in Nanchang. We went to the Tengwang Pavilion today - Jing had never been there even though she's always lived in Nanchang. That's sort of like living in DC and never seeing the Washington Monument or such. It was only a short walk to get there from the hotel. It's 6 stories of immense architecture - on the top floor there is a group of musicians that plays and sings traditional Chinese music. Jing loved it! There are also Chinese gardens all around it with pools of water containing coy fish. Jing was constantly running ahead of us and never listening when we called out. She doesn't seem to have ever been disciplined much or just doesn't respond to it at all ... except to get mad.
We were to meet with the foster parents and directors of the orphanage tomorrow afternoon, but due to the directors' conflicting engagements, we ended up meeting with them today ... for dinner. We were very tentative about having dinner with the fosters since they have been so particular about how, what and when Jing needs to eat. And she has NOT been following that protocol at all since she has been with us. It ended up being a very pleasant evening. We had a private room at a nice restaurant nearby the hotel - 3 directors, their driver, us and our guide, and the foster parents sharing a lazy susan chinese meal of a dozen entrees. The food was very good and Jing had only acouple different things - mostly meat dumplings. The conversation was informative, cordial and warm. We were very relieved that no "issues" came up. Of course the fosters wanted to meet yet again to give us some of Jing's clothes - we truly don't have much room to take much of a wardrobe home, but will end up taking just a few of her favorites. Our guide arranged to meet with them herself and not have Jing see them yet again. Jing did some acting out behavior but that is sort of normal for a 6 yr old at a table of adults.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Jing's abandonment site. Jing is so full of questions - what time is it in America? Why is it different than here? What time does Juliana and Nathan wake up? When do we go to America .... Friday? No, unfortunately not until next Wed dear Jing. She has drawn and colored much today. She has a cold with a really stuffy nose - constantly snuffling AND grinding her teeth. Argghh! Constant (well not actually constant) grinding.Like nails on a chalk board!
We are getting tired of just waiting. Not much to do otherwise.Can't wait to get to Guangzhou!
Hope all is well with you all - especially Cait, Grace (how's that nasty cold?), Nate and Juls .... and ornament eating puppy Maggie - many, many thanks to the Cox's and Stephensons as they care for the rest of our brood!You all are such a blessing to us!
Good night!
Mary
We were to meet with the foster parents and directors of the orphanage tomorrow afternoon, but due to the directors' conflicting engagements, we ended up meeting with them today ... for dinner. We were very tentative about having dinner with the fosters since they have been so particular about how, what and when Jing needs to eat. And she has NOT been following that protocol at all since she has been with us. It ended up being a very pleasant evening. We had a private room at a nice restaurant nearby the hotel - 3 directors, their driver, us and our guide, and the foster parents sharing a lazy susan chinese meal of a dozen entrees. The food was very good and Jing had only acouple different things - mostly meat dumplings. The conversation was informative, cordial and warm. We were very relieved that no "issues" came up. Of course the fosters wanted to meet yet again to give us some of Jing's clothes - we truly don't have much room to take much of a wardrobe home, but will end up taking just a few of her favorites. Our guide arranged to meet with them herself and not have Jing see them yet again. Jing did some acting out behavior but that is sort of normal for a 6 yr old at a table of adults.
Tomorrow we plan to visit Jing's abandonment site. Jing is so full of questions - what time is it in America? Why is it different than here? What time does Juliana and Nathan wake up? When do we go to America .... Friday? No, unfortunately not until next Wed dear Jing. She has drawn and colored much today. She has a cold with a really stuffy nose - constantly snuffling AND grinding her teeth. Argghh! Constant (well not actually constant) grinding.Like nails on a chalk board!
We are getting tired of just waiting. Not much to do otherwise.Can't wait to get to Guangzhou!
Hope all is well with you all - especially Cait, Grace (how's that nasty cold?), Nate and Juls .... and ornament eating puppy Maggie - many, many thanks to the Cox's and Stephensons as they care for the rest of our brood!You all are such a blessing to us!
Good night!
Mary
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Dec 5, Tuesday pm - day of just waiting
Today was just a waiting day - free to do whatever. This morning Mary got Jing dressed, giving her choices of what to wear - she was all smiles at the new jeans and shirts. Then I did her hair and after a few adjustments, she was out of the bathroom to show Baba her new "doo". She couldn't wait to get out the door for breakfast and "strut her stuff". She continues to eat well and is having no swallowing issues ... thank the Lord.
We were going to go to an amusement park, but decided against it - windy, cool and a bit rainy. Instead, John found Monday night football to be on this morning - live of course - and decided to stay in the hotel. Mary, Jing and Cindy (guide) hit the streets walking to do a bit of shopping. Jing mostly kept saying, "buy toys" - whenever we stopped at another clothing shop. We walked and walked. Jing jabbers away in chinese with Cindy translating. She is quiet as a mouse with us - just wait till she picks up english!! We finally reached the "wholesale market" - wall to wall vendors of every kind. Cobblestone floors with very old steps. Nothing like it in America! We bought several items - playdoh, pens, math book, sticker dress up book ..... but we still didn't hit the "toys" as far as Jing was concerned. She had obviously been to this market before - wanting to head off in front of us. She wanted large items that had lots of little parts - not good for packing and such. Finally she settled on a sand art picture and two small phones - battery operated kind. I thought they were nice and small and never gave a thought to the sound they would make! Well after 30min of way too loud chinese chatter and singing and bleeps, I bandaided up the small speaker on the toy cell phone!! It is much more tolerable now.
After a bit of rest in the room, we headed down for lunch - John wouldn't get to finish his game, but oh, well!! Jing now asks for "coca cola" after watching John drink it at every meal. She ate several veggies, loved the potatoes and said the meat was "yummy" - so glad we didn't force her to eat the formula/rice cereal gruel she has been eating 3 times a day for all of her life. She asks for and tries new things at every meal and hasn't had a gagging problem yet!!! We are very, very happy about this! Her foster parents would be quite upset, but I can plainly see that she is having no trouble and is now enjoying her meals.
We had quite an enjoyable time back in the room in the afternoon - playing volleyball with a punch balloon or tickle monster with Daddy - she gave us lots of laughs and showed how a 6 yr old can easily get the giggles! When John and I rest or are busy on the computer/with a book in the room, Jing occupies herself very well - with small toys or writing/drawing - not constantly in need of attention. How nice!!
For dinner we ventured to Pizza Hut and Jing ate spaghetti with tiny meat chunks/balls. She said it was "yummy" and ate a good helping. After arriving back to the room, we put on Mulan for her. Fortunately John remembered it had a language option and she was zoned to the screen as Mulan played on in Mandarin. A shift in the story from Mulan to Mushu made her think the movie was over and she popped it out of the laptop - she learns things quickly. She seemed tired so I didn't try to have her watch it anymore. Instead I drew her up a warm bubble bath. Jing has only had shower baths at her foster home and she was not so certain about climbing into all that white foam! I brushed away the bubbles to show her the water and helped her in. We blew bubbles up in the air to her amusement and then she used empty water bottles and small shampoo tubes to play with. I went out of the bathroom and we could hear her giggling as she mastered getting water in the tubes and squirting it up on the tile. How sweet to hear my first, "mama" as she showed me how she had learned to squirt! Ahhh, the simple things of life!
She is now asleep - a sleeping beauty. Gazing at her today, my heart is slowing taking her in as "my daughter" - adopters know what I mean. She is 'really my daughter' and my heart is filling over with yet another child the Lord has given me - my 6th - my quiver is truly full! Thank you Lord for yet another life to raise for You - may she one day come to a full understanding of Your love and grace towards her!!
Good night - "wan an" until tomorrow!
Mary (and John and Jing)
We were going to go to an amusement park, but decided against it - windy, cool and a bit rainy. Instead, John found Monday night football to be on this morning - live of course - and decided to stay in the hotel. Mary, Jing and Cindy (guide) hit the streets walking to do a bit of shopping. Jing mostly kept saying, "buy toys" - whenever we stopped at another clothing shop. We walked and walked. Jing jabbers away in chinese with Cindy translating. She is quiet as a mouse with us - just wait till she picks up english!! We finally reached the "wholesale market" - wall to wall vendors of every kind. Cobblestone floors with very old steps. Nothing like it in America! We bought several items - playdoh, pens, math book, sticker dress up book ..... but we still didn't hit the "toys" as far as Jing was concerned. She had obviously been to this market before - wanting to head off in front of us. She wanted large items that had lots of little parts - not good for packing and such. Finally she settled on a sand art picture and two small phones - battery operated kind. I thought they were nice and small and never gave a thought to the sound they would make! Well after 30min of way too loud chinese chatter and singing and bleeps, I bandaided up the small speaker on the toy cell phone!! It is much more tolerable now.
After a bit of rest in the room, we headed down for lunch - John wouldn't get to finish his game, but oh, well!! Jing now asks for "coca cola" after watching John drink it at every meal. She ate several veggies, loved the potatoes and said the meat was "yummy" - so glad we didn't force her to eat the formula/rice cereal gruel she has been eating 3 times a day for all of her life. She asks for and tries new things at every meal and hasn't had a gagging problem yet!!! We are very, very happy about this! Her foster parents would be quite upset, but I can plainly see that she is having no trouble and is now enjoying her meals.
We had quite an enjoyable time back in the room in the afternoon - playing volleyball with a punch balloon or tickle monster with Daddy - she gave us lots of laughs and showed how a 6 yr old can easily get the giggles! When John and I rest or are busy on the computer/with a book in the room, Jing occupies herself very well - with small toys or writing/drawing - not constantly in need of attention. How nice!!
For dinner we ventured to Pizza Hut and Jing ate spaghetti with tiny meat chunks/balls. She said it was "yummy" and ate a good helping. After arriving back to the room, we put on Mulan for her. Fortunately John remembered it had a language option and she was zoned to the screen as Mulan played on in Mandarin. A shift in the story from Mulan to Mushu made her think the movie was over and she popped it out of the laptop - she learns things quickly. She seemed tired so I didn't try to have her watch it anymore. Instead I drew her up a warm bubble bath. Jing has only had shower baths at her foster home and she was not so certain about climbing into all that white foam! I brushed away the bubbles to show her the water and helped her in. We blew bubbles up in the air to her amusement and then she used empty water bottles and small shampoo tubes to play with. I went out of the bathroom and we could hear her giggling as she mastered getting water in the tubes and squirting it up on the tile. How sweet to hear my first, "mama" as she showed me how she had learned to squirt! Ahhh, the simple things of life!
She is now asleep - a sleeping beauty. Gazing at her today, my heart is slowing taking her in as "my daughter" - adopters know what I mean. She is 'really my daughter' and my heart is filling over with yet another child the Lord has given me - my 6th - my quiver is truly full! Thank you Lord for yet another life to raise for You - may she one day come to a full understanding of Your love and grace towards her!!
Good night - "wan an" until tomorrow!
Mary (and John and Jing)
Monday, December 4, 2006
An early morning post about a late evening dinner
After shopping yesterday, we returned to the room and rested while Sarabeth played with her new doll. A bit later it was time to go down to dinner. As we walked down the hallway toward the elevator, we heard a lot of talking in chinese. We turned to corner to the elevator lobby and there- to our shock-were the foster parents!
They came bearing gifts for Jing Dong, mostly a large bags of treats. They also gave us an old newspaper article, which our guide later translated to us as an article about their love of children and how they have fostered several others. The article was from 2001 and showed a picture of the foster mom and a very young Jing Dong. Then out of nowhere, one of their older daughters (Jing Dong's foster sister) came around the corner and joined us.
This was occurring AFTER our guide had already told them on the phone earlier in the day that we would meet with them on Thursday.
You could tell Sarabeth was very confused. She was trying to hit her foster dad when he attempted to hug her. They wanted her to also show them which room we were staying in- Mary said NO to them. We were polite, but had to make certain they knew it wasn't in Sarabeth's best interests that this keep happening. We made the "loco" sign and pointed at Sarabeth and said you're confusing her! They "ahhh"d and shook their heads yes. We communicated we would see them on Thursday and they left as I took the gift bag down to the room.
Down in the restaurant on the first floor, another adoptive family came right up and said "there's a family looking for you!". She said they were walking all over the 12th floor (we're on the 13th), and also in the restaurant. She said they had been there for over an hour! They were showing pictures of us (they kept the photo album of our family that we had sent Jing, and gave us a photo album of them with Jing) and asking if we had been seen. This was getting serious.
Our guide was in the restaurant and we told her what was going on. She immediately phoned the fosters and told them to STAY AWAY until Thursday. She also told the hotel manager to keep them away. We'll see if this works. Our only other option is to change hotels for the next few days. If there are any other sightings.....we're outta here! We don't want to have bad feelings with the fosters. It is obvious they love Jing Dong and want the best for her. We even have a gift for them for when we see them on Thursday and have exchanged addresses with them to keep in touch after we go home. BUT, Sarabeth needs time to bond to her new parents. They must understand that, and hopefully Cindy (our guide) expressed that clearly.
So, after all that, we had a late dinner (this encounter pushed us back at least 45 min) and came back to the room. We all slept very well- for a change! Our plan today is to do some sightseeing. We are in the hardest phase of the adoptive process-- waiting, waiting and more waiting for the paperwork to come through so we can go on to the next step in Guangzhou.
We'll keep in touch. You all do the same. J,C,G,J & N- we love and miss you.
John and Mary
They came bearing gifts for Jing Dong, mostly a large bags of treats. They also gave us an old newspaper article, which our guide later translated to us as an article about their love of children and how they have fostered several others. The article was from 2001 and showed a picture of the foster mom and a very young Jing Dong. Then out of nowhere, one of their older daughters (Jing Dong's foster sister) came around the corner and joined us.
This was occurring AFTER our guide had already told them on the phone earlier in the day that we would meet with them on Thursday.
You could tell Sarabeth was very confused. She was trying to hit her foster dad when he attempted to hug her. They wanted her to also show them which room we were staying in- Mary said NO to them. We were polite, but had to make certain they knew it wasn't in Sarabeth's best interests that this keep happening. We made the "loco" sign and pointed at Sarabeth and said you're confusing her! They "ahhh"d and shook their heads yes. We communicated we would see them on Thursday and they left as I took the gift bag down to the room.
Down in the restaurant on the first floor, another adoptive family came right up and said "there's a family looking for you!". She said they were walking all over the 12th floor (we're on the 13th), and also in the restaurant. She said they had been there for over an hour! They were showing pictures of us (they kept the photo album of our family that we had sent Jing, and gave us a photo album of them with Jing) and asking if we had been seen. This was getting serious.
Our guide was in the restaurant and we told her what was going on. She immediately phoned the fosters and told them to STAY AWAY until Thursday. She also told the hotel manager to keep them away. We'll see if this works. Our only other option is to change hotels for the next few days. If there are any other sightings.....we're outta here! We don't want to have bad feelings with the fosters. It is obvious they love Jing Dong and want the best for her. We even have a gift for them for when we see them on Thursday and have exchanged addresses with them to keep in touch after we go home. BUT, Sarabeth needs time to bond to her new parents. They must understand that, and hopefully Cindy (our guide) expressed that clearly.
So, after all that, we had a late dinner (this encounter pushed us back at least 45 min) and came back to the room. We all slept very well- for a change! Our plan today is to do some sightseeing. We are in the hardest phase of the adoptive process-- waiting, waiting and more waiting for the paperwork to come through so we can go on to the next step in Guangzhou.
We'll keep in touch. You all do the same. J,C,G,J & N- we love and miss you.
John and Mary
Shopping Day after Civil Affair
We have completed the work at the Civil Affairs office and with the Notary (lawyer). We then went back to the room and Sarabeth and Mary rested - John read. We freshened up, went downstairs for the lunch buffet. JingDong ate well again, but not as much as at breakfast - after she was done, she said "I am full" in english. She has learned many such phrases and it helps immensely! We then went to town to do some shopping - she loves to shop! We hit a 6 level department store looking for a pair of boots or shoes that she could wear with dresses and such. When she saw a pair of red suede "sock boots", that was it! She loved them and wore them the rest of the trip. We then hit Walmart, China style - what a cacophony of loudness!! We picked up a few things - even I (mary) couldn't stay in this Walmart for long. Jing found a new dolly altho she really wanted a pair of roller blades or a bike!! Now I know what Jeriah will give her for Christmas - roller blades! She calls them "shoe skates".
Jing is fighting a bit of a cold and doesn't know how to blow her nose - so she is always snuffling, poor thing. Wish I had one of those dreaded 'snot suckers'!! Think we will rest again - Jing keeps rubbing her eyes - none of us rested very well last night.
Oh, Jing also asked "I want to call my Mama" - and we dialed her foster Mom - she spoke with her and our guide spoke with her, too. She and the family want to meet again, but I think we will put it off until Thursday, lest we end up "running in to them" at the hotel everyday. They love her so.
We are so encouraged by how Jing is trying new foods and does well chewing - she even chewed gum today .... something I encouraged when she persistently kept grinding her teeth. It looks like she will need some extra dental work - oh, joy!
Please keep "commenting" - it encourages us while we are far away!
Peace,
Mary, John and Jing Dong
Jing is fighting a bit of a cold and doesn't know how to blow her nose - so she is always snuffling, poor thing. Wish I had one of those dreaded 'snot suckers'!! Think we will rest again - Jing keeps rubbing her eyes - none of us rested very well last night.
Oh, Jing also asked "I want to call my Mama" - and we dialed her foster Mom - she spoke with her and our guide spoke with her, too. She and the family want to meet again, but I think we will put it off until Thursday, lest we end up "running in to them" at the hotel everyday. They love her so.
We are so encouraged by how Jing is trying new foods and does well chewing - she even chewed gum today .... something I encouraged when she persistently kept grinding her teeth. It looks like she will need some extra dental work - oh, joy!
Please keep "commenting" - it encourages us while we are far away!
Peace,
Mary, John and Jing Dong
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Monday morning, Dec 4
We had a restless night. Sarabeth slept fitfully, and therefore so did we. We discovered that she is a teeth grinder and occasionally a thumb sucker. She tossed and turned quite a bit. With the combination of excitement over the gotcha, Sarabeth's restlessness and still being jet lagged, we each got only a few hours sleep.
Today, we have our appointments at the provincial adoption office to sign all the papers and also our notary interview, where we will have to promise never to abandon or mistreat our new daughter. After that, we plan to visit the local shopping establishments so we can stock up on Sarabeth's wardrobe. We only brought a few things for her because we weren't too sure of her sizes, so today we will get her a few more things to wear.
Sarabeth had a very good breakfast. She, in fact, can chew! What a relief. She takes very small bites and occasionally gags. She has a difficult time with anything crunchy and appears to have a swallowing defect of some kind. All these things will be worked out once we get home. For breakfast, she had 2 pieces of watermelon, a slice of pear, some soggy cheerios and a bowl of congee with ground pork.
Have a wonderful Sunday night as we begin our Monday. Keep in touch via the comments link! We enjoy hearing from you all.
John and Mary
Today, we have our appointments at the provincial adoption office to sign all the papers and also our notary interview, where we will have to promise never to abandon or mistreat our new daughter. After that, we plan to visit the local shopping establishments so we can stock up on Sarabeth's wardrobe. We only brought a few things for her because we weren't too sure of her sizes, so today we will get her a few more things to wear.
Sarabeth had a very good breakfast. She, in fact, can chew! What a relief. She takes very small bites and occasionally gags. She has a difficult time with anything crunchy and appears to have a swallowing defect of some kind. All these things will be worked out once we get home. For breakfast, she had 2 pieces of watermelon, a slice of pear, some soggy cheerios and a bowl of congee with ground pork.
Have a wonderful Sunday night as we begin our Monday. Keep in touch via the comments link! We enjoy hearing from you all.
John and Mary
We have Sarabeth-- Finally!!
Well, for the first time during a China adoption, we experienced BIG surprises this afternoon during our Gotcha time. We knew going in that Sarabeth has been with a foster family for most of her life and that the transition to our family would be difficult not only for her, but for her foster family here in China as well.
We were told to be at the Jiangxi Province Adoption Center by 4:30 today. When we arrived, there were two other families there waiting. Their children quickly arrived, but no Sarabeth. The director of the Nanchang City Social Welfare Institute (the orphanage in Nanchang that placed Sarabeth) gave another family their 3 year old, then came over to us and said that we would have to wait until tomorrow because the foster family thought it was too late in the day and Sarabeth takes a long time to eat.
While I was digesting this, Mary (as I'm sure you all can imagine)- shall I say "expressed" her dissatisfaction with this information. "The string has to be cut sometime, and we are here now!" The director immediately phoned the foster family, had a rather loud conversation, and left the building.
3 hours later, after numerous phone calls between our guide, the director, the director's assistant who stayed with us, the foster family etc and several false alarms of "they are almost here", we were told the foster family had Sarabeth downstairs, and had been there for quite awhile but didn't want to bring her up because they didn't trust us to take good care of her. The director was talking to them and we were told they would be up within 5 minutes.
All this time, Mary and I are absolutely freezing! The office was on the 26th floor of an office building and the heat was OFF for the weekend. We were sitting there for over 3 hours and getting colder by the minute.
A few minutes later, the whole foster family walks in with Sarabeth. It was painfully obvious that this family LOVES this little girl to death. The foster mother and father, their 2 older daughters, a son-in-law and a grandson all came with Sarabeth. There were greetings and smiles all around and much talking in Chinese as the family tried to explain her complicated diet to our guide/translator. They brought several of Sarabeth's favorite things and the photo album that Mary had sent several months ago. Sarabeth was able to name all of us as she pointed us out in the photos. She especially loves to say "Juliana"! The foster mother also gave us the most precious gift imaginable, a photo album of Sarabeth from her early months up to today. We also were "snuck" an address and phone number so we can keep them updated about how she is doing- which is a rare opportunity for an adoptive family.
Now- about Sarabeth. She is speaking fluent chinese and knows quite a few english words and phrases. It is very obvious that she is VERY intelligent. She is reading a lot of chinese characters and can write several things- her name and her foster father's name for example- in chinese.
At first, Sarabeth would not come to either one of us. In fact, she tried to hit Mary when she first arrived. While we did all the talking and exchanging of gifts, Sarabeth just ran around and played with her big sisters, avoiding us as much as possible. Finally, when it was time to leave, I put my hand down for her to hold and she pulled away. I said "Jing Dong, qing" (qing is pronounced ching, which means please) and she immediately took my hand as we walked to the taxi.
Once we hit the hotel, she's been a different child. She is very inquisitive and is investigating everything in the room. She sat on my lap at the computer to look at pictures of the family and she allowed Mary to bathe her while I was typing this post. She is certainly not underfed, even with her eating disorder. The foster family took GREAT care of her and we expressed our appreciation to them.
So, as we get ready for bed we ask you to pray that Sarabeth will continue to grow in her trust of us, that we will be able to meet her needs in terms of feeding her appropriately, and that all the paperwork tomorrow will go smoothly. We also ask for prayer for her foster family, as they are certainly grieving her leaving their home.
Looking forward to bringing Sarabeth home for you all to meet. John and Mary
We were told to be at the Jiangxi Province Adoption Center by 4:30 today. When we arrived, there were two other families there waiting. Their children quickly arrived, but no Sarabeth. The director of the Nanchang City Social Welfare Institute (the orphanage in Nanchang that placed Sarabeth) gave another family their 3 year old, then came over to us and said that we would have to wait until tomorrow because the foster family thought it was too late in the day and Sarabeth takes a long time to eat.
While I was digesting this, Mary (as I'm sure you all can imagine)- shall I say "expressed" her dissatisfaction with this information. "The string has to be cut sometime, and we are here now!" The director immediately phoned the foster family, had a rather loud conversation, and left the building.
3 hours later, after numerous phone calls between our guide, the director, the director's assistant who stayed with us, the foster family etc and several false alarms of "they are almost here", we were told the foster family had Sarabeth downstairs, and had been there for quite awhile but didn't want to bring her up because they didn't trust us to take good care of her. The director was talking to them and we were told they would be up within 5 minutes.
All this time, Mary and I are absolutely freezing! The office was on the 26th floor of an office building and the heat was OFF for the weekend. We were sitting there for over 3 hours and getting colder by the minute.
A few minutes later, the whole foster family walks in with Sarabeth. It was painfully obvious that this family LOVES this little girl to death. The foster mother and father, their 2 older daughters, a son-in-law and a grandson all came with Sarabeth. There were greetings and smiles all around and much talking in Chinese as the family tried to explain her complicated diet to our guide/translator. They brought several of Sarabeth's favorite things and the photo album that Mary had sent several months ago. Sarabeth was able to name all of us as she pointed us out in the photos. She especially loves to say "Juliana"! The foster mother also gave us the most precious gift imaginable, a photo album of Sarabeth from her early months up to today. We also were "snuck" an address and phone number so we can keep them updated about how she is doing- which is a rare opportunity for an adoptive family.
Now- about Sarabeth. She is speaking fluent chinese and knows quite a few english words and phrases. It is very obvious that she is VERY intelligent. She is reading a lot of chinese characters and can write several things- her name and her foster father's name for example- in chinese.
At first, Sarabeth would not come to either one of us. In fact, she tried to hit Mary when she first arrived. While we did all the talking and exchanging of gifts, Sarabeth just ran around and played with her big sisters, avoiding us as much as possible. Finally, when it was time to leave, I put my hand down for her to hold and she pulled away. I said "Jing Dong, qing" (qing is pronounced ching, which means please) and she immediately took my hand as we walked to the taxi.
Once we hit the hotel, she's been a different child. She is very inquisitive and is investigating everything in the room. She sat on my lap at the computer to look at pictures of the family and she allowed Mary to bathe her while I was typing this post. She is certainly not underfed, even with her eating disorder. The foster family took GREAT care of her and we expressed our appreciation to them.
So, as we get ready for bed we ask you to pray that Sarabeth will continue to grow in her trust of us, that we will be able to meet her needs in terms of feeding her appropriately, and that all the paperwork tomorrow will go smoothly. We also ask for prayer for her foster family, as they are certainly grieving her leaving their home.
Looking forward to bringing Sarabeth home for you all to meet. John and Mary
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Nanchang - It's Gotcha Day!
It is 7:30am, Sunday here in Nanchang while you all are preparing to eat your Saturday evening dinners. We arrived in Nanchang yesterday and moved into The Gloria Hotel by 2:30pm. The room is small, but adequate and the bed is ... hard. Boy do my hips and shoulders ache this morning! We had hoped to receive Sarabeth by 1-2pm today, but will not go to Civil Affairs until 4:30 this afternoon to join our new daughter. It will be a very long day, I think.
We perused the back streets yesterday afternoon after arriving and took in the local village feel. Children ran by us, one girl about Sarabeth's age spinned by us on roller blades, shyly saying, "hello" in english. We replied Nihao while my heart pounded. Sarabeth will be so tall and "grown up" compared to when we rec'd Juls and Nate. May God soften her heart to accept us. I slept poorly - awakened every 2 hrs or so to stare at the clock. John slept better than I.
We ate here at the hotel buffet last night. There is a group of 10 adoptive parents here with another agency. One family rec'd a "double" blessing of twin girls!! How adorable - most of these nonspecial needs girls were under 10mths of age - CCAA must be processing them faster!
Hey, Steve - you would have loved the selections I chose for dinner last night - what I mistook for "another" seasoning in two of my vegetable sides was actually sliced red hot chili peppers - the really thin, REALLY hot ones! Yawza!! And you don't have water at the table!! I ran for some bread and more fried rice!! John, wouldn't even try them ... the weanie. We just spoke with Cait and Grace on our Panda phone - perfectly clear reception, but you all and the twins weren't home.
We will be posting more later today - hopefully with some pictures - but that will be when you all are sleeping. Catch up with us first thing on Sunday! Continue to pray that Sarabeth's transition will be smooth. We so appreciate all of your prayers!
Peace,
Mary and John
We perused the back streets yesterday afternoon after arriving and took in the local village feel. Children ran by us, one girl about Sarabeth's age spinned by us on roller blades, shyly saying, "hello" in english. We replied Nihao while my heart pounded. Sarabeth will be so tall and "grown up" compared to when we rec'd Juls and Nate. May God soften her heart to accept us. I slept poorly - awakened every 2 hrs or so to stare at the clock. John slept better than I.
We ate here at the hotel buffet last night. There is a group of 10 adoptive parents here with another agency. One family rec'd a "double" blessing of twin girls!! How adorable - most of these nonspecial needs girls were under 10mths of age - CCAA must be processing them faster!
Hey, Steve - you would have loved the selections I chose for dinner last night - what I mistook for "another" seasoning in two of my vegetable sides was actually sliced red hot chili peppers - the really thin, REALLY hot ones! Yawza!! And you don't have water at the table!! I ran for some bread and more fried rice!! John, wouldn't even try them ... the weanie. We just spoke with Cait and Grace on our Panda phone - perfectly clear reception, but you all and the twins weren't home.
We will be posting more later today - hopefully with some pictures - but that will be when you all are sleeping. Catch up with us first thing on Sunday! Continue to pray that Sarabeth's transition will be smooth. We so appreciate all of your prayers!
Peace,
Mary and John
Friday, December 1, 2006
In Beijing
Hi! We arrived in Beijing after 10p last night and were very tired. Slept well on a soft bed (first soft one we have had in all our trips to China!) We are now refreshed and ready to head on to Nanchang. $30 for buffet breakfast this morning seemed a bit high, so we opted to get room service - first time we've known room service to be more economical! There was fresh fruit in our room when we arrived and Mary has enjoyed every last piece! Temple oranges, crisp apple and banana - have to keep those vitamins strong!
Hey Cait and Grace - I (mom) got to see PofC 2 last night on the way from Tokyo to Beijing - it was good - but you were right it sort of leaves you hanging! Glad I didn't have any nightmares last night with squirmy snakes on my face - yuck! Hope you two are having a great time at the party!
Steve - got your note - glad Nate and Juls are doing well. Don't spoil them, though! We should arrive in Nanchang after 2pm today (saturday) and have the day to ourselves. Keep praying for soft tender hearts for us and Sarabeth - and that she is well prepared for this new step in her life! Less than 30 hours to go before we meet her face to face!
Blessings and thanks for all your prayers!
Mary and John
Hey Cait and Grace - I (mom) got to see PofC 2 last night on the way from Tokyo to Beijing - it was good - but you were right it sort of leaves you hanging! Glad I didn't have any nightmares last night with squirmy snakes on my face - yuck! Hope you two are having a great time at the party!
Steve - got your note - glad Nate and Juls are doing well. Don't spoil them, though! We should arrive in Nanchang after 2pm today (saturday) and have the day to ourselves. Keep praying for soft tender hearts for us and Sarabeth - and that she is well prepared for this new step in her life! Less than 30 hours to go before we meet her face to face!
Blessings and thanks for all your prayers!
Mary and John
In Tokyo
We have arrived in Tokyo and are waiting to board our flight to Beijing. The flight from Minneapolis was good, but VERY long and the sun was out for the whole flight.
It was a wierd experience, as we left Minnesota at 1pm on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Japan at 4pm on Friday afternoon, and we never went thru the night. It was light for the entire flight.
Neither of us slept much on the flight, so I expect we'll be exhausted when we reach Beijing. We're looking forward to that bed!
Only 45 more hours to Sarabeth!! Keep us in your prayers.
Mary and John
It was a wierd experience, as we left Minnesota at 1pm on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Japan at 4pm on Friday afternoon, and we never went thru the night. It was light for the entire flight.
Neither of us slept much on the flight, so I expect we'll be exhausted when we reach Beijing. We're looking forward to that bed!
Only 45 more hours to Sarabeth!! Keep us in your prayers.
Mary and John
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Only 5 days before we leave!
Thanksgiving is over and we are all still stuffed! Bags are being packed and plans are being completed - we leave in 5 days .... actually 4 1/2! The jitters have set in - I am never nervous until things actually happen. Now the doubts creep in .... will she like us? What if she truly doesn't want to leave her foster family? What if she kicks and screams and spits on us?
All this is very typical with an older adoption, so I need not be surprised. She will need time to adjust, to grieve, to heal, to bond. I will try my best to keep my eyes on the Lord and watch Him work His miracles - as He has done already with child after child. A week tomorrow, Jing Dong will become part of our family .... forever ... "till death parts us; for better or worse, in sickness and health, in good times and in bad." She will change; we will change - we will become a "new" family as one more adds her dimension, her personality, her flavor to our life. Our home will never be the same.
I am ready - as the Lord beckons us to come, to complete what has been started .... what HE has started.
Wrap us in Your peace, Father, and keep us calm - calm in Your assurance of Jing's place in our family. The Red Thread is being drawn, shortened and we will soon meet the daughter that You have prearranged for us since the beginning of time.
Thank You, Lord!
Mary
All this is very typical with an older adoption, so I need not be surprised. She will need time to adjust, to grieve, to heal, to bond. I will try my best to keep my eyes on the Lord and watch Him work His miracles - as He has done already with child after child. A week tomorrow, Jing Dong will become part of our family .... forever ... "till death parts us; for better or worse, in sickness and health, in good times and in bad." She will change; we will change - we will become a "new" family as one more adds her dimension, her personality, her flavor to our life. Our home will never be the same.
I am ready - as the Lord beckons us to come, to complete what has been started .... what HE has started.
Wrap us in Your peace, Father, and keep us calm - calm in Your assurance of Jing's place in our family. The Red Thread is being drawn, shortened and we will soon meet the daughter that You have prearranged for us since the beginning of time.
Thank You, Lord!
Mary
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Travel dates arrive!
We have received our travel dates and are pleased to announce that we will be traveling next Thursday!!
To China: Nov 30-Dec 1
Stay in Beijing Dec 1-2 overnight
To Nanchang, Jiangxi Dec 2 (staying at The Gloria)
Family Day!! Meet Sarabeth Dec 3 in afternoon
Adoption paperwork in Nanchang Dec 4-8
Fly to Guangzhou Dec 8 (staying at The Victory)
Medical Dec 9
Consulate Appt Dec 11
Oath taking and receive Sarabeth's Visa Dec 12
Fly Home Dec 13
The timing is absolutely perfect and we are thrilled that Heritage Adoption Services has so quickly compliled our entire itinerary!
Tomorrow will truly be a day of Thanksgiving! The Lord has filled our cup to overflowing - well, He has filled our HOME to overflowing. Sarabeth is our 6th child - 5 will be at home when we return. What a full and wonderful Christmas this will be! All thanks to the Lord for His grace and mercy towards us.
Off to bake some pies!
Mary
To China: Nov 30-Dec 1
Stay in Beijing Dec 1-2 overnight
To Nanchang, Jiangxi Dec 2 (staying at The Gloria)
Family Day!! Meet Sarabeth Dec 3 in afternoon
Adoption paperwork in Nanchang Dec 4-8
Fly to Guangzhou Dec 8 (staying at The Victory)
Medical Dec 9
Consulate Appt Dec 11
Oath taking and receive Sarabeth's Visa Dec 12
Fly Home Dec 13
The timing is absolutely perfect and we are thrilled that Heritage Adoption Services has so quickly compliled our entire itinerary!
Tomorrow will truly be a day of Thanksgiving! The Lord has filled our cup to overflowing - well, He has filled our HOME to overflowing. Sarabeth is our 6th child - 5 will be at home when we return. What a full and wonderful Christmas this will be! All thanks to the Lord for His grace and mercy towards us.
Off to bake some pies!
Mary
Monday, November 20, 2006
TA has arrived!
Today we received the call we have been waiting for! Travel Approval arrived and we are hoping to travel Nov 30 through Dec 13/15 depending on what date we get for our Consulate Appt. Flights are booking up fast so our flights are on hold. We won't know for sure what our travel dates will be until late tomorrow or Wed. We are hoping to receive Sarabeth on Sunday Dec 3 - that is less than 2 wks from now!
Please pray for Sarabeth's transition, bonding, openness with us - at 6, almost 7 yrs of age, it will be quite traumatic for her. She has lived with the same foster family since she was 4mths old. Pray for the foster family, too - I'm sure they will be grieving after caring for her so long.
Will post more as we get our plans together!
Rejoicing,
Mary and John
Please pray for Sarabeth's transition, bonding, openness with us - at 6, almost 7 yrs of age, it will be quite traumatic for her. She has lived with the same foster family since she was 4mths old. Pray for the foster family, too - I'm sure they will be grieving after caring for her so long.
Will post more as we get our plans together!
Rejoicing,
Mary and John
Friday, November 17, 2006
The beginning...
Our journey started last Spring as Mary began to look at Waiting Children lists yet again! This will be our 3rd trip to China in 27 months! Our first trip was for Juliana who is now 3 - her family day was 9/26/04 when they handed us a frail, cyanotic Yi Li Man at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Two open heart surgeries later, Juls is vibrant and quite the chatterbox! All praise to the God who has prompted our hearts to adopt these lost children of China! Next, we traveled for Nathan FuJun, who is also now 3 (virtual twins that are just 2 weeks apart in age) - his family day was 8/21/05 at Langfang Children's Village near Beijing. We traveled to Nate's home province of Henan to do the adoption paperwork.
We are now on journey number 3 and so ready for Travel Approval (TA) to arrive! Sarabeth, Hong Jing Dong, is from Nanchang, Jiangxi and is 6 years old. We are using Heritage Adoption Services this time around (3rd agency in 3 adoptions). We sent LOI (letter of intent) 5/8; rec'd PA (preapproval) 6/12; were DTC (dossier to China) 8/9 and didn't get LID (log in date) until 9/5. We are now waiting for TA to arrive sometime next week!! Or so we've been told by our agency.
For those who may not know our family well, we have 6 children. Jeriah is 20 (domestic adop at age 4 days) who is an assistant/youth pastor while he continues to study at Faith Baptist Bible College. Caitlin is 14(bio) loves the piano and hopes to be a pilot someday. Grace is 12 (bio) and knows way too much trivia about Star Wars! Nathan and Juliana are both 3 as stated above. And we await the arrival of Sarabeth into our family!
Will blog more later! Follow us on our journey! Catch the adoption spirit! There are way too many children without a Mom and Dad in this world!!
Peace,
Mary
We are now on journey number 3 and so ready for Travel Approval (TA) to arrive! Sarabeth, Hong Jing Dong, is from Nanchang, Jiangxi and is 6 years old. We are using Heritage Adoption Services this time around (3rd agency in 3 adoptions). We sent LOI (letter of intent) 5/8; rec'd PA (preapproval) 6/12; were DTC (dossier to China) 8/9 and didn't get LID (log in date) until 9/5. We are now waiting for TA to arrive sometime next week!! Or so we've been told by our agency.
For those who may not know our family well, we have 6 children. Jeriah is 20 (domestic adop at age 4 days) who is an assistant/youth pastor while he continues to study at Faith Baptist Bible College. Caitlin is 14(bio) loves the piano and hopes to be a pilot someday. Grace is 12 (bio) and knows way too much trivia about Star Wars! Nathan and Juliana are both 3 as stated above. And we await the arrival of Sarabeth into our family!
Will blog more later! Follow us on our journey! Catch the adoption spirit! There are way too many children without a Mom and Dad in this world!!
Peace,
Mary
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