Last Day in Nanning

Sorry we missed posting yesterday. We left Nanning and flew to Guangzhou and it was no easy task getting all of us packed, transported, and unpacked. I will say that being in Gunagzhou is like a breath of fresh air; the hotel is wonderful and the city is much more up and coming than Nanning.

Most of the other American families left Nanning on Friday. We stayed until Saturday. We didn't get Fiona's passport until late Friday afternoon when it was ready. The last flight out of Nanning was 6:00 PM so Echo recommended we stay in Nanning the extra day to avoid the stress of rushing to the airport if there were delays with the passport.

We spent Friday morning going to a park in Nanning. It was a beautiful park with temples that we visited -- there were even a couple of wandering monks sprinkled in. Friday was apparently field trip day at the park because there were all sorts of grade school kids on field trips there. Patrick, Quinn, and Regan were treated like rock stars. Everywhere they went, they were greeted with a chorus of "Hello" from all of these kids. We were probably the first Americans that many of them have ever seen and we were quite the sight. It reached the highpoint when we were driving these little boats around the lake and a number of classes spied the kids out on the boats and ran to the shoreline. They literally surrounded half of the lake and waved and shouted "Hello!" Regan and Quinn were also the subjects of a number of "photo shoots" with the local people as well. We told the kids that they better enjoy it now!

We get mixed responses from people with Fiona. We have many Chinese people come up to us and thank us for adopting Fiona and say that she is a lucky girl. There are many others who don't understand why we would adopt her and find her cleft lip and palette to be a curiosity. They also don't know that it all can be repaired. We get a lot of people pointing at us and Fiona and making comments to themselves. Some of the Chinese can be rather rude and intrusive. We just politely smile and move on. The majority of the people are supportive. We just have to realize that an American family with a Chinese baby is a rather unusual sight for many of the Chinese people and we don't let it bother us.

Fiona had her first flight yesterday from Nanning to Guangzhou. We flew on China Southern Air. I didn't think it was possible, but the seats are even closer together than the airplanes in the US. Fiona did pretty well on the flight, but was a bit fussy. We aren't looking forward to the 20 hour flight back home. We are anxious to get home, though.

As I mentioned before, Guangzhou is a much nicer place than Nanning. Although we were staying at the Majestic in Nanning which is supposed to be one of the nicest hotels in Nanning, we were getting tired of it. Things are much nicer and cleaner here in Guangzhou. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Shifu which is right in the heart of Guangzhou. It is not a typical Holiday Inn. It is a new hotel and we have rooms in the Executive level. The rooms are spacious and as nice as any five star hotel in the states. There is a 24 hour lounge on this level that has free soft drinks and food all of the time. The kids are already on a first name basis with the waitresses! We suspect that they will be posting a sign by the end of our stay here that indicates that "This is not an all-you-can-eat buffet." There are also a number of American restaurants just outside of the hotel including KFC, McDonalds, and Papa Johns if we get tired of the Chinese cuisine.

Today is Easter Sunday. Echo found an English speaking Catholic church in Guangzhou so we are going to go to mass this afternoon. The Easter Bunny didn't make it all of the way to China, but we're hoping he made it to our house back home. He probably avoids making too many stops over here otherwise he may end up on the menu!

We'll post again later to let everyone know how our first day in Guangzhou went.

Trip to the Mountains with Fiona

Today was our second day with a lot of free time to take in the sights. Echo had to run some paperwork between government agencies. Other than that, we had some time to make it out into the countryside to do some sightseeing.

Fiona is doing extremely well and is getting used to us and feeling like part of the family. She has started singing and we don't know if it is in Chinese or if it is in her own language. She has also started walking 6 or 7 steps at a time. It is amazing to watch her progress so quickly. The additional attention and stimulus from the environment is doing wonders for her. The trips with the family to various places are really helping her as well.

The big trip for today was to head to the mountains and see the Yiling Cave which is supposed to be one of the 10 largest caves in the world. The cave is situated about an hour from Nanning in a very rural area. It is like stepping back in time with farmers in rice fields with their oxen and small villages literally made from bamboo. We couldn't help but think that these villages must be similar to where Fiona was born. The mountains are beautiful and unlike any mountains we've ever seen before. They are giant rocks jutting out of the earth with a canopy of jungle covering them.

As part of the cave tour, we had a guide take us through traditional buildings and temples with performers dressed in ceremonial garments performing various songs and dances and rituals. We also had to participate by singing, doing a bamboo pole dance, and drinking rice wine. It was a great chance to see the historical life of rural China.

One of the most interesting encounters of the day was with the monkeys that make the hills their home. We purchased bags of small fruits from ladies selling them along the road to feed to the monkeys. After we had purchased the fruit, the lady started calling the monkeys and they came bursting out of the hillside. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by these little guys and one of them decided that he wouldn't mind having a whole bag. He went up Patrick's leg, grabbed his arm and started fighting for the bag. As usual, Echo came to the rescue and sparred with the monkey until it gave up and fled. Echo has many talents! After feeding the monkeys, we went and had lunch at an old amphitheatre outside the cave. The monkeys returned and we had to take turns fending them off as we tried to eat our lunch.

Tomorrow is our last day in Nanning. We are heading back to the mountains to do some more sightseeing in the morning and then getting Fiona's passport in the afternoon. Nanning has been nice, but we are ready to leave. We'll be flying from Nanning to Guangzhou on Saturday where we'll begin the immigration process for Fiona.

Day 2 With Fiona

We've had another great day with Fiona. Sue ventured out with Fiona and Echo this morning and did some shopping. It is great to have Echo on this trip. She translates for us and keeps us out of harm's way. She is the Chinese ISS worker that is assigned to us and spends her time either helping us out or navigating the way through the maze of paperwork and government bureaus here in China.

Nanning is a much more traditional Chinese city than Beijing. The hotel staff does speak some English, but it is rough at best. Outside of the hotel, English speaking people are few and far between. For example, we ordered prawns for dinner tonight and got fried rice with pork (we think). We're not sure quite how that happened; and this was in the hotel with the English speaking staff. It is always an adventure to call the front desk and ask them a question. Their motto is "when confused, have another person talk to them." Sometimes it takes 4 or 5 staff members to piece together what we're asking. If we really have a problem, we can always count on Echo to come to the rescue. You can only imagine how many staff members it took for us to get a 110 volt electrical transformer with a three prong adapter for our laptop (this was in done before Echo had arrived).

There are a number of families staying in the hotel who are adopting. We were the first to check into the hotel. We seemed to have come a day earlier than the rest. The other families all showed up Sunday and we met them down in the hotel restaurant on Monday morning before we all went to the Civil Affairs Office for the adoption ceremonies. We decided that the hotel restaurant staff must wonder what in the world is going on when all of a sudden all of these American families are in the hotel one day and then the next day they come back with Chinese kids in tow. It is nice in the mornings to catch up with the other families and talk to them. Fortunately, the hotel is pretty kid friendly and they cater to adoptive families. They even have a section in the gift shop that carries all sorts of supplies such as formula, bottles, clothes, etc. That store carries pretty much everything we need and is unbelievably cheap.

The big event for today was a trip to the Nanning zoo. It was a gorgeous zoo with very few people. Fiona had her first experience with a stroller and being out and about with her new family. She went right along with it and had a great time. Everything is so new to her. She tends to like to take things and keep them with her. By the time we were done at the zoo, she had 3 water bottles, a camera bag, 4 toys, and 2 maps all nicely tucked around her in the stroller.

The zoo also had a lake that had an attraction that we'd never seen before. You could basically rent a clear rubber bubble and go inside and maneuver it across the lake. Patrick, Quinn, and Regan gave this a try and had a blast. You could also rent these motorized inner tubes with seats and drive all over the lake. It was a nice afternoon at the zoo.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to some caves out in the country. We are looking forward to seeing the countryside around here. It seems to be mountainous with a tropical jungle like climate. We also saw a lot of rice fields in the flat lands when we flew in. We will have Echo leading the way.

To wrap up this post, here are a few items from the local restaurant menu that are rather intriguing. I don't think we'll be adventurous enough to give these a try.

• stewed shark's fin with chicken and sea cucumber
• cabbage with salted pig fore shank
• boiled fish lips with leaf mustard
• deep fried spring pigeon

I do have to admit that we had some seafood fried rice with squid and other various unidentified sea creatures that was quite tasty.

First Day With Fiona

We had such a wonderful first day with Fiona. She has begun to bond with all of us and seems happy. It's interesting to see how she reacts to her new environment. During the car rides to various meetings, her head turned every which way as she took in all the new sights. She loves every new toy that we give to her and especially loves the T.V. I'm not sure if she's never seen T.V. or if she finds comfort in hearing Chinese spoken on T.V.

Even though she is twenty months she is at the developmental level of a one year old. She has great fine motor skills, but lacks in large motor development. In between meetings, we spent our wait time in the hallways practicing walking. By the end of the day, she was actually taking a few steps. I think she'll catch up quickly.

She loves to eat! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to figure out how to feed her but it has been quite easy. She still takes formula, which I squirt into the back of her throat with a squirt bottle. She loves rice cereal, scrambled eggs, congee (Chinese cream of wheat), mushed fruit, and anything soft. I bought Chinese baby food for her in the hotel gift shop. Her favorite is mashed mackerel fish. We may have a hard time finding that back in the states!

She sleeps great. I'm sure she was on a strict routine in the orphanage. All I do is put her in her crib and turn out the lights. She doesn't make a peep until I get her out the next morning. I'm wondering how she'll adjust to the time change when we return home.

Fiona loves the kids. Every time they walk into the room her whole face lights up. I think having the kids here has helped her feel comfortable with us. Yesterday, we met with her caregivers for an hour. We were able to get information of her childhood including a photo album of her in the orphanage. During the meeting, I could tell that she was happy to see them, but she preferred to stay on our laps. She waved goodbye when they left but didn't cry at all. So far, she seems very content.

Patrick, Nyle, and Echo ventured out yesterday afternoon in search of some deals in electronics. After heading through some back alleyways, and hitting a couple of more "traditional" stores, they ended up at a 6 story electronics market that had every type of electronic gadget imaginable. The 6th floor contained "deals" on software and hardware that may be just a little too good to be true. Fear not, no copyrights were violated.

We are all doing fine. Regan has had some stomach trouble. I think she might have ingested some bacteria. I'm treating her with antibiotics and she seems to be improving. This morning we'll stick close to the hotel to make sure she is better. In the afternoon we might visit a nearby zoo or park. It is so beautiful here-the gardens are amazing.

I can't tell you how much we look forward to your comments. They are the first thing we read every morning! Now that we have Fiona all we want to do is come home and share her with everyone. We'll post more photos this afternoon.

Fiona Joins the Family!!

The day finally arrived. After 3 years of completing documents and background checks and fingerprints and one hurdle after another, the day finally came. Fiona came home...

We spent most of the day in nervous anticipation of our meeting to get Fiona. The feeling was very much like the anticipation of the birth of your child during labor (minus the contractions and breathing). We left for the Civil Affairs Office around 2:40 with Echo for our appointment at 3:00. When we got there, we were put in a room with 5 or 6 other families who were getting their children at the same time as well. There were a number of rooms with families in them. Echo said that she thought there were 17 families in total.

We caught our first glimpse of Fiona as we were heading down the hallway to our room. We saw a little girl playing tug of war with a caretaker in another room and we immediately recognized her. For the next 45 minutes we visited with the other families and compared war stories of the trials and tribulations of the adoption process. We discovered that we all pretty much hit the same snags along the way. Every time we heard footsteps coming into the room, we all stopped talking and thought they were bringing in the kids. The wait seemed endless. Finally a crowd of caretakers came into the room and Fiona's name was announced. She was the first one to be united with her new parents. She was handed to Sue and then pictures were taken and the next child was announced.

After 6 months of looking at Fiona's baby picture, we weren't sure really what she would look like. We were struck by how pretty she is and how much hair she has! She really is a beautiful baby. She immediately seemed like part of the family.

We were also amazed that all 6 of Fiona's caretakers made the trip to deliver Fiona. You can tell that they had a special bond with her and that they cared for her. We could also sense that they were happy for her and knew that she was going to a good home. When we left the building, they were ahead of us and they kept turning around and waving at Fiona. Fiona would smile and wave back. It is comforting to know that Fiona received good care at the orphanage.

On our ride back to the hotel from the Civil Affairs Office, Fiona did the natural thing that our family does to celebrate special events...she took a nap. We knew for sure at that point that she fit right in. She slept for about an hour in our hotel room with the kids constantly fussing over her and jockeying for position right next to her. We can already tell that we are going to have some great help with Fiona.

When she finally did wake up, it hit her that she was in a foreign place without her caretakers. She cried for about 2 hours and would search the room looking for someone or something familiar. If one of us left the room, it would get her stirred up again and send her into crying fits. We finally decided that she needed to eat and have some quiet time. Sue fed her and got her ready for bed while I took the other kids and we went to do the real activity that we travelled 17,000 miles to do...play ping pong and eat chocolate cake.

When we returned, Fiona was all quieted down and happy to see all of us again. After a few minutes of bouncing around with the kids and laughing as hard as she could, we put her back down and she fell asleep.

We did find out that we've been pronouncing her Chinese name wrong. It is pronounced Fu (Foo) Ye (Yae with a long a sound instead of a long e). She also is called YeYe by her caregivers and we learned that her name means "Lucky Leaf." I'm sure she hasn't heard the end of that!

It was quite an emotional day and everyone is exhausted and asleep. Tomorrow is going to be spent signing paperwork and meeting with officials. We'll keep you posted as to how our first full day with Fiona goes.

Countdown to Meet Fiona: 20 Hours

We met Echo this evening and got all the paperwork and details arranged for meeting Fiona tomorrow. We'll be heading to the Civil Affairs Office where the Director of the Orphanage and her caretakers will be bringing her to join our family. We are very excited!

We spent today getting acclimated to Nanning. The kids went swimming and discovered a ping pong table in the hotel and have decided that this is the greatest game ever. The hotel had to go out and get some more ping pong balls just for the kids. We also ventured out and went to a place that we thought would be familiar to us...Walmart. Much like everything else in China, the Walmarts in China are quite different and are truly "Chinese" stores. It was quite an experience. It was 3 stories tall and in the center of Nanning. Walmart even had escalators -- with conveyor belts to take your cart with you when you went up the levels. Nothing like seeing the large smiley face over a price drop on bulk rice and seaweed!

We've attached some photos from today's adventures. We'll post another update once Fiona has joined us.