When my daughter awakened, she was breathing very heavily. We took her to the medical clinic that was located in the hotel. The doctor spoke very little English, but we were able to explain that she had a cough and a runny nose. They took her temperature, but there was no fever, so the doctor gave us the thumbs up sign. She cried when he listened to her heart with the stethoscope.
The doctor called the hotel manager on the telephone so that he could translate the doctor's instructions to us in English. We were given cough syrup, an anti-biotic and chinese herbs. We watched the doctor grind the herbs up with a mortar and pestal. We had to mix the herbs with the anti-biotic and give to the baby three times a fay for two days.
The baby did not like the taste of the medicine and she cried and scremed her head of when it was medicine time. It definitely made her sleepy so she napped quite a bit today. I wanted AR to go to the clinic too because he had a bad sinus infection, but he refused since taking care of the baby was most important.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Guangzhou~The Last Leg
We are finally on the last leg of our trip. Once we have all the U.S. Consualte paperwork done and processed, we can go home! It isn't that we aren't enjoying our time in China. Of course we are, but I want nothing more than to be at home with our baby. I am thankful for this time that we have with her now. It is probably going to be the only time that we will have her completely for ourselves. You know what I mean, right? No one offering advice or telling us what to do, although we are getting some of that from the clothing police, but you know what I mean. We are using this time to bond with her. We need her to know that we are her parents. We are the ones that will feed her, comfort her and take care of her. She is so precious.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Leaving Nanchang
November 13, 2004
We checked out of the Gloria Hotel and went to the airport. The flight to Guangzhou was one hour and 10 minutes. It was exciting because it was Katrina's first plane ride and we had no idea how she was going to react, but also because this is the last part of our trip.
Katrina stayed in the baby carrier that AR was wearing for most of the trip. I took her out and let her look out the window on the airplane so that she could say goodbye to Nanchang. I cried a little because she was leaving the only home that she had ever known. I never forget that the happiness that we feel at having her has come at the expense of someone else's sadness. I hope that she will one day want to return to see Nanchang.
She cried a little, but mostly we kept Katrina occupied by feeding her Cheerios. I gave her a sip of strawberry juice and she seemed to like the taste of it. ATtleast she did not spit it out.
After getting our luggage we headed to a bus that was going to take us to the White Swan Hotel It was an hour bus ride. The White Swan is an enormous hotel that caters to business people and families adopting. We stayed in room 1640 and our friends from NH were in 1638. We had the city view from the window which wasn't as pleasant as the river view that was on the other side of the hotel. The room was nice. It was a little 1980s dated, but clean and big enough for us.
Our travel group planned on meeting for dinner, but we were all so miserable with our colds that we did not go. Katrina had her bottle and just kept crying. She wasn't wet and she couldn't be hungry because she just ate, but we could not get her to stop crying. AR walked her up and down the hallway of the hotel. We were at wits end and did not know what to do.
Our room servie order arrived and Katrina pointed to the food on the table. Could she actually just be hungry??? She ate cheese, rigatoni with vodka sauce and bread. This is one hungry baby and mommy and daddy were too stupid to know that she wanted to eat!
With her belly full, she drifted off to sleep quickly. Mommy and daddy drifted off too nearly as fast too.
We checked out of the Gloria Hotel and went to the airport. The flight to Guangzhou was one hour and 10 minutes. It was exciting because it was Katrina's first plane ride and we had no idea how she was going to react, but also because this is the last part of our trip.
Katrina stayed in the baby carrier that AR was wearing for most of the trip. I took her out and let her look out the window on the airplane so that she could say goodbye to Nanchang. I cried a little because she was leaving the only home that she had ever known. I never forget that the happiness that we feel at having her has come at the expense of someone else's sadness. I hope that she will one day want to return to see Nanchang.
She cried a little, but mostly we kept Katrina occupied by feeding her Cheerios. I gave her a sip of strawberry juice and she seemed to like the taste of it. ATtleast she did not spit it out.
After getting our luggage we headed to a bus that was going to take us to the White Swan Hotel It was an hour bus ride. The White Swan is an enormous hotel that caters to business people and families adopting. We stayed in room 1640 and our friends from NH were in 1638. We had the city view from the window which wasn't as pleasant as the river view that was on the other side of the hotel. The room was nice. It was a little 1980s dated, but clean and big enough for us.
Our travel group planned on meeting for dinner, but we were all so miserable with our colds that we did not go. Katrina had her bottle and just kept crying. She wasn't wet and she couldn't be hungry because she just ate, but we could not get her to stop crying. AR walked her up and down the hallway of the hotel. We were at wits end and did not know what to do.
Our room servie order arrived and Katrina pointed to the food on the table. Could she actually just be hungry??? She ate cheese, rigatoni with vodka sauce and bread. This is one hungry baby and mommy and daddy were too stupid to know that she wanted to eat!
With her belly full, she drifted off to sleep quickly. Mommy and daddy drifted off too nearly as fast too.
Friday, November 12, 2004
We Speak English Restaurant
November 12, 2004We wandered around town and came across this restaurant. The sign out front said "We speak English," and so that is what we call the place. We stood outside and debated whether we should eat there or not. I could hear the clattering of dishes and the loud din of Madarin. It must be a great place since it seems packed. We decided to eat lunch here.
We walked in with Katrina and every head in the place whipped around to take a look at us. The room quieted down and you could hear a pin drop. It was unsettling, but the manager came to take us to a table. Suddenly there were choruses of "Hello" as we passed every table to get to ours. I think we actually were greeted by every person in the joint!
We ordered dumplings, noodles and soup. When the food arrived it filled the table. The serving dishes were enormous. Back home when we order dumplings, we get six of them. In China, we were brought a bowl with 30 dumplings! We were hungry, but not that hungry! Katrina happily ate her noodles. She knew just how to slurp them up.
At 3 pm we met the group to do more paperwork. This time the paperwork was for the U.S. Consulate. We were preparing it in advance so it will be ready before we need it in Guangzhou. We finished at 5:30.
We went out to dinner with our friends from NH and took them to the same We Speak English restaurant. It was super crowded for dinner, but they gave us a private room. We ordered steamed egg for the kids and they ate it like they had never eaten before in their lives. I ordered veggie fried rice and the fired rice was white rice, not like the kind that we get back home. It was very tasty, but so odd that the rice was white.
When we got back to the hotel, Katrina stil drank her botle and then went to bed. She is one hungry baby.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Department Store
November 11, 2004 AR's sinus infection is getting worse. He elt so miserable that he just wanted to stay in bed all day. We are waiting for Katrina's Chinese Passport, so we still do not have any official adoption paperwork to do today.
Another adoptive mom in our group was itching to get out of the hotel. I told her that I wanted to get out too, so we met up with the babies and walked to a local department store. It was a big marketplace and since it is mainly used by the locals, we attracted a lot of attention. My mission was to go in and try to find some sort of medication for AR.
I walked up and down every aisle and finally found some meds. Of course, none of these meds were ones that I would buy at home, but there was not a big variety to choose from. I bought Contact cold meds for AR. I know he had a sinus infections, but I couldn't find anything for that at all.
The mom I went out with made the trip with her mom. Her husband was afraid to fly. She was definitely disappointed that he was not experiencing what she was being in China, but she couldn't force him. She was grateful to have her mom along for the help. I know people have adopted a child without their spouse or another adult accompanying them on the trip, but I don't know how they do it! What if AR came and I didn't? How would he handle the baby when he was so sick? I am glad that we came together and are experiencing the culture first hand.
At night I looked over the paperwork tha the notary and registrar prepared for us earlier in the week to ensure there were no typos. Everything was spelled correctly.
We ordered dinner from room service. Katrina napped so much during the day thats he did not want to sleep at night. She cried and cried and cried. AR cannot bear to hear his sweet baby cry and so he picked her up and walked her up and down the hallway. I gave her a bottle of formula which she gulped down quickly. She finally fell asleep at 9 pm and we fell asleep shortly thereafter.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Sick and Bonding
November 10, 2004
Katrina has a cold. Her nose is running. I am sure it is because of the air conditioning in the hotel. We are trying to keep the temperature warm, but it is also 80+ degrees out so we are attempting to strike a nice balance for all of us, but apparently we have failed. We bought more cold meds in Walmart for her to see if they will help. I should have bought more cold meds for everyone from home. AR is sick too. He has a sinus infection and is feeling pretty miserable. So far, I am not sick, but I am sure I will get something before we get home.
We have been staying in at night and not going out with the others. We are also insulating ourselves to bond with her and she is responding. Since the phone book and her hairbrush are by far her favorite "toys" I put them at the opposite end of the room and tell her she has to crawl if she wants them. The first few times she dragged herself to the phonebook, I actually felt terrible about making her do it, but then I saw that she was getting faster and stronger. She was learning to crawl.
She seems like a happy baby most of the time and is sleeping through the night. She is also eating everything in sight. We are breaking every baby food rule in the book. We have given her a little bit of everything so far and one of her favorite things to eat is steamed egg. Here is a recipe: http://www.china.org.cn/english/food/72992.htm The pediatrician back home would have a stroke!
Katrina has a cold. Her nose is running. I am sure it is because of the air conditioning in the hotel. We are trying to keep the temperature warm, but it is also 80+ degrees out so we are attempting to strike a nice balance for all of us, but apparently we have failed. We bought more cold meds in Walmart for her to see if they will help. I should have bought more cold meds for everyone from home. AR is sick too. He has a sinus infection and is feeling pretty miserable. So far, I am not sick, but I am sure I will get something before we get home.
We have been staying in at night and not going out with the others. We are also insulating ourselves to bond with her and she is responding. Since the phone book and her hairbrush are by far her favorite "toys" I put them at the opposite end of the room and tell her she has to crawl if she wants them. The first few times she dragged herself to the phonebook, I actually felt terrible about making her do it, but then I saw that she was getting faster and stronger. She was learning to crawl.
She seems like a happy baby most of the time and is sleeping through the night. She is also eating everything in sight. We are breaking every baby food rule in the book. We have given her a little bit of everything so far and one of her favorite things to eat is steamed egg. Here is a recipe: http://www.china.org.cn/english/food/72992.htm The pediatrician back home would have a stroke!
A Stranger in the Park 11/10/2004
November 10, 2004
Today was another easy breezy day. We had breakfast and Katrina ate her own buffet of steamed egg, congee and watermelon. We dressed her in a long sleeved outfit and added a blue hooded sweater for our trip to the park. It was grey, damp and overcast and since she already had a cold, we did not want it to get any worse.
We walked a few blocks to Teng We Temple. There was a beautiful park that you had to walk through to get to the temple. We sat down to have a drink of tea. People walked by and admired Katrina. An older women was quite taken with Katrina and us. She seemed to really want to know what we were doing there.
I had purchased vocabulary cards http://www.chinaconnectiononline.com/vocabcd.htm that had phrases on it written in Mandarin & pinyin. One said:
"We come to China to adopt a little Chinese girl. We will always love her and will teach her about beautiful China."
I took this card and handed it to the old woman. She read it carefully and when she finished she looked up, grinned from ear to ear and gave us a huge thumbs up! It was the one of the fondest moments that I have from China. This woman was so happy for us and our baby. You could tell that she thought adoption was a great idea.
It seemed as if we walked up a billion stairs today carrying Katrina in the stroller. We went to the 6th floor of the temple to watch a traditional song and dance performance by Chinese people in ancient costumes. Then we had to walk all the way down those billions of stairs.
We stopped at a little Chinese bodega and purchased diet coke, soup noodles and potato chips which is going to be our dinner tonight. We decided to eat dinner in our room since we are now all have colds.
As for lunch, our guide ordered all of us Pizza Hut pizza. We ordered a veggie pizza and it had pineapple on it. Yuck! Even so, the pizza was still good because it reminded us of home, which seemed so far away.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
A trip to Walmart
November 9, 2004
Well there is nothing like a trip to Walmart to counter a trip to a poverty stricken village, right? After the village we did take the bus to a Walmart so that we could buy some baby supplies that we needed. For $24 U.S. dollars we purchased: Pampers diapers, baby wipes, sippy cup, 2 onsie outfits, baby cold medicine, three 2 liter bottles of water, one bottle of orange juice, one bottle of jasmine tea, a box of Ritz crackers and a box of Oreos.
The Walmart had three levels. It had three conveyer belt ramps that allowed you to take your cart to each level. It was way better than an escalator. The Walmart looked pretty much like Walmarts in the U.S. except that the foods were significatly different. One level had a fish market on it. I am not so enthralled with Walmarts in the U.S. http://www.alternet.org/story/21658/ , so I didn't want to spend a lot of time there.
Some of the families took longer than others in the store. We were all supposed to meet at a certain time to get back on the bus. Katrina was hungry and I didn't really have any food for her since I thought we would be back at the hotel already. There was a KFC next to the Walmart, so I dashed in there to buy her some mashed potatoes.
In fast food places in China you order by point to pictures on a menu. Everyone orders this way, not just foreigners like us. I pointed to the taters and was served quickly. Katrina had her first taste of fast food and she liked what she ate. She ate the potatoes in the bus and because of the long day she missed her nap and was cranky. She fell asleep on me on the bus ride back to the hotel. She did not wake up as I carried her from the bus to our room on the 14th floor. She was exhausted.
Well there is nothing like a trip to Walmart to counter a trip to a poverty stricken village, right? After the village we did take the bus to a Walmart so that we could buy some baby supplies that we needed. For $24 U.S. dollars we purchased: Pampers diapers, baby wipes, sippy cup, 2 onsie outfits, baby cold medicine, three 2 liter bottles of water, one bottle of orange juice, one bottle of jasmine tea, a box of Ritz crackers and a box of Oreos.
The Walmart had three levels. It had three conveyer belt ramps that allowed you to take your cart to each level. It was way better than an escalator. The Walmart looked pretty much like Walmarts in the U.S. except that the foods were significatly different. One level had a fish market on it. I am not so enthralled with Walmarts in the U.S. http://www.alternet.org/story/21658/ , so I didn't want to spend a lot of time there.
Some of the families took longer than others in the store. We were all supposed to meet at a certain time to get back on the bus. Katrina was hungry and I didn't really have any food for her since I thought we would be back at the hotel already. There was a KFC next to the Walmart, so I dashed in there to buy her some mashed potatoes.
In fast food places in China you order by point to pictures on a menu. Everyone orders this way, not just foreigners like us. I pointed to the taters and was served quickly. Katrina had her first taste of fast food and she liked what she ate. She ate the potatoes in the bus and because of the long day she missed her nap and was cranky. She fell asleep on me on the bus ride back to the hotel. She did not wake up as I carried her from the bus to our room on the 14th floor. She was exhausted.
A Visit to a Village
November 9, 2004
Today was a free day which meant there was no offical adoption business to take care of. Our agency arranged a bus to take us to a village. In China there are villages, counties and cities, so depending upon how many people live in an area will determine whether it is a village, county or city. My daughter came from Nanfeng which is a county. A city is the biggest and a village is the smallest.
Our adoption agency wanted us to see what village life is like for people in China. Seeing their everyday life will help us to understand the living conditions and see whay people cannot keep their babies. Most abandoned children come from families that live in villages.
To say that the village we visited was poor would be an understatement of epidemic proportions. People do not have heat or indoor plumbing. The homes do not have doors and the windows do not have glass. They are just open holes in the homes. Children were playing and there were chickens clucking around. Everything is over run with weeds. It looked like a ghost town except that people still lived here.
When we arrived, the children came running over to see us. I felt self conscious about walking around. I was essentially a voyeur and I did not want to gawk and yet I did. The people were gracious and invited us into their homes. They were very proud of how clean they kept the dirt floors and their cooking utensils.
One of the families we traveled with had a huge bag of candy and tossed it to the children in the village. The kids were so excited to get the candy. They smiled from ear to ear. When we left the children followed after us and waved. They were just kids being kids, but it struck me that they really did not know that they were poor. That was their life and all they knew, so I suppose it was just business as usual for them. The kids did not seem unhappy and yet when I saw where and how they lived, I just wanted to cry.
They lived in such squalor...You know that people are poor, but to see it so up close and personal...As difficult as it was to see and smell, I am glad that I experienced it. Now I have a better understanding of perhaps the circumstnaces that brought my daughter to be abandoned as she was. I imagine that my daughter may have come from such abject poverty as I witnessed. I am glad that she will not have to live like that, but I am saddened to know that there are countless people who live this existence every day.
Today was a free day which meant there was no offical adoption business to take care of. Our agency arranged a bus to take us to a village. In China there are villages, counties and cities, so depending upon how many people live in an area will determine whether it is a village, county or city. My daughter came from Nanfeng which is a county. A city is the biggest and a village is the smallest.
Our adoption agency wanted us to see what village life is like for people in China. Seeing their everyday life will help us to understand the living conditions and see whay people cannot keep their babies. Most abandoned children come from families that live in villages.
To say that the village we visited was poor would be an understatement of epidemic proportions. People do not have heat or indoor plumbing. The homes do not have doors and the windows do not have glass. They are just open holes in the homes. Children were playing and there were chickens clucking around. Everything is over run with weeds. It looked like a ghost town except that people still lived here.
When we arrived, the children came running over to see us. I felt self conscious about walking around. I was essentially a voyeur and I did not want to gawk and yet I did. The people were gracious and invited us into their homes. They were very proud of how clean they kept the dirt floors and their cooking utensils.
One of the families we traveled with had a huge bag of candy and tossed it to the children in the village. The kids were so excited to get the candy. They smiled from ear to ear. When we left the children followed after us and waved. They were just kids being kids, but it struck me that they really did not know that they were poor. That was their life and all they knew, so I suppose it was just business as usual for them. The kids did not seem unhappy and yet when I saw where and how they lived, I just wanted to cry.
They lived in such squalor...You know that people are poor, but to see it so up close and personal...As difficult as it was to see and smell, I am glad that I experienced it. Now I have a better understanding of perhaps the circumstnaces that brought my daughter to be abandoned as she was. I imagine that my daughter may have come from such abject poverty as I witnessed. I am glad that she will not have to live like that, but I am saddened to know that there are countless people who live this existence every day.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Adoption Paperwork Finalized
November 8, 2004
Today we have to go back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to have our adoption paperwork finalized and notarized by the Registrar.
Katrina LuRuo Dan slept all night until 6 am. I checked her diaper in the moring and there was a little round poop. Looked kind of like a stone, so I think she needs some fruit added to her diet! We gave her a spongebath, which she did not like so much and cried most of the way through it. She had 3 layers of clothes when she was given to us yesterday and I removed them and put them in a ziplock bag so that they would keep their original smell. That might be important to her at some point.
I put her in fresh clothes and tried feeding her formula again. I figured out that the nipple hole was just too small and so I cut it with a pair of scissors to enlarge it slightly. Once I did that, Katrina happily drank from the bottle. She was holding the bottle by herself. What a strong little girl!
The hotel provided us with a stroller and a baby bathtub. We will try the bathtub out tonight. I put her in the stroller and wheeled her downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. Even though Katrina had her formula, she seemed very interested in everything that we were eating. I gave her a bowl of congee, which is a rice cereal that has meat added to it. This is a traditional dish in China. She liked it and ate it very quickly. She wanted to eat everything I ate, so she had noodles, bread and watermelon. Loved the watermelon!
We headed to the Registrar's office which is where we had to take an oath to never abandon Katrina. They took a family photo of the three of us which goes on the Abandonment Certificate. It was presented to us in a red cardboard folder, like a college diploma holder case. Katrina was very well behaved, but AR was holding her the whole time. She was much more comfortable with him than me, but I was now able to look at her and she didn't cry, so we are making progress.
We then went to the notary and signed a few more documents and then the adoption paperwork was complete. We still had to get her Chinese passport and some U.S. paperwork still needs to be done in Guangzhou, but she is offically our daughter!
The rest of the day we spent playing and bonding with Katrina. She ate like a fiend. She seemed so hungry...She liked to play with the stacking cups. I showed her how they fit one inside the other, but she was happy to bang two of them together. Her hairbrush was a great toy for her. She seemed to like the feel of the soft bristles on her head and she was intrigued by the ridges on the handle.
Today we have to go back to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to have our adoption paperwork finalized and notarized by the Registrar.
Katrina LuRuo Dan slept all night until 6 am. I checked her diaper in the moring and there was a little round poop. Looked kind of like a stone, so I think she needs some fruit added to her diet! We gave her a spongebath, which she did not like so much and cried most of the way through it. She had 3 layers of clothes when she was given to us yesterday and I removed them and put them in a ziplock bag so that they would keep their original smell. That might be important to her at some point.
I put her in fresh clothes and tried feeding her formula again. I figured out that the nipple hole was just too small and so I cut it with a pair of scissors to enlarge it slightly. Once I did that, Katrina happily drank from the bottle. She was holding the bottle by herself. What a strong little girl!
The hotel provided us with a stroller and a baby bathtub. We will try the bathtub out tonight. I put her in the stroller and wheeled her downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. Even though Katrina had her formula, she seemed very interested in everything that we were eating. I gave her a bowl of congee, which is a rice cereal that has meat added to it. This is a traditional dish in China. She liked it and ate it very quickly. She wanted to eat everything I ate, so she had noodles, bread and watermelon. Loved the watermelon!
We headed to the Registrar's office which is where we had to take an oath to never abandon Katrina. They took a family photo of the three of us which goes on the Abandonment Certificate. It was presented to us in a red cardboard folder, like a college diploma holder case. Katrina was very well behaved, but AR was holding her the whole time. She was much more comfortable with him than me, but I was now able to look at her and she didn't cry, so we are making progress.
We then went to the notary and signed a few more documents and then the adoption paperwork was complete. We still had to get her Chinese passport and some U.S. paperwork still needs to be done in Guangzhou, but she is offically our daughter!
The rest of the day we spent playing and bonding with Katrina. She ate like a fiend. She seemed so hungry...She liked to play with the stacking cups. I showed her how they fit one inside the other, but she was happy to bang two of them together. Her hairbrush was a great toy for her. She seemed to like the feel of the soft bristles on her head and she was intrigued by the ridges on the handle.
A Word on Gift Giving in China
Prior to our trip, I obsessed (as many do) about what giftsI should bring to China. We were told by our adoption agency that gift giving is customary in China and that we should buy several token gifts to give to the following people:
Orphanage Director
Nannies
Foster Parents
Notary
Registrar
Gifts are expected when a service is preformed and so it is customary to give them to these people. The gifts will not be opened in front of you. They will be gathered up and given to the official. We bought several t-shirts that I wrapped in red tissue paper. I also bought several red gift bags and put candy, hand lotion and ipstick in for the aunties/foster parents. I also had put a $10 bill in the bag for the foster parents.
When the orphanage director and some aunties came to our hotel room to see if we had any questions, we used that opportunity to give them their gifts. They smiled politely and took them. The following day when we were at the registrar and notary offices, I left the gifts in the hotel room! Everything was just so confusing what with having the baby for all of 16 hours and trying to get ready by a certain time, I just completely forgot! And you know what? It didn't matter.
When we were in the registrar's office and the notary's office, we saw a pile of gifts on the floor. Even though we did not add to the pile, no one said anything to us and we were treated very well by each public official. I was bummed out because I had carted this stuff from NJ to Beijing to Nanchang China and then never gave the gifts to the intended recipients. I had bought some extra gifts too because I wasn't sure if I had enough. I certainly did not want to take the gifts home so we gave them to to hotel staff. They really did appreciate the gifts!
Please believe it when people say not to fuss over the token gifts because it really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Orphanage Director
Nannies
Foster Parents
Notary
Registrar
Gifts are expected when a service is preformed and so it is customary to give them to these people. The gifts will not be opened in front of you. They will be gathered up and given to the official. We bought several t-shirts that I wrapped in red tissue paper. I also bought several red gift bags and put candy, hand lotion and ipstick in for the aunties/foster parents. I also had put a $10 bill in the bag for the foster parents.
When the orphanage director and some aunties came to our hotel room to see if we had any questions, we used that opportunity to give them their gifts. They smiled politely and took them. The following day when we were at the registrar and notary offices, I left the gifts in the hotel room! Everything was just so confusing what with having the baby for all of 16 hours and trying to get ready by a certain time, I just completely forgot! And you know what? It didn't matter.
When we were in the registrar's office and the notary's office, we saw a pile of gifts on the floor. Even though we did not add to the pile, no one said anything to us and we were treated very well by each public official. I was bummed out because I had carted this stuff from NJ to Beijing to Nanchang China and then never gave the gifts to the intended recipients. I had bought some extra gifts too because I wasn't sure if I had enough. I certainly did not want to take the gifts home so we gave them to to hotel staff. They really did appreciate the gifts!
Please believe it when people say not to fuss over the token gifts because it really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Meeting the Babies
November 7, 2004
We met in the lobby and stood with the other families. No one was really talking. It was pretty quiet. We were all a bit nervous. We boarded the bus that took us to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to meet the babies. When we walked up the stairs, we heard the cries of babies and we knew we were only moments away. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time.
We were ushered into a waiting room and we all took seats. The aunties stood in the doorway and each one was holding a baby. AR pointed and said, "There she is." The baby was dressed head to toe in a pink knitted outfit. I said, "No way. She looks to small to be our daughter." Two famiies whose babies were from a differnt SWI were called first.
All of a sudden, I heard my name called and Lu Ruo Dan, our daughter's Chinese name. I turened to AR and said, "That's us," and we jumped up and ran over. He was right. He had picked out our daughter from the sea of babies all wearing the same handmade knitted pink outfit. We didn't have time to think and I handed my camera & video camera to our friends from NH.
We had originally decided that I would go up and get our daughter and AR would film and videotape, but the orphanage director wanted both of us up there. Once the auntie handed over Lu Ruo Dan to me, the orphanage director, Mr. Lu, wanted to take a picture of AR and I holding the baby. At the same time, our friends from NH were called to get their daughter, so they had to put down our cameras. Sadly, we have very few photos or video of the gotcha moment.
She didn't cry. Not at first. She was definitely scrutinizing us and her bottom lip was sticking out in a pout. I was carrying her around the room and all the other babies were crying. To say it was chaotic would be an understatement. All I can say is that when I was walking around the room with my daughter in my arms, I knew my life had changed. You obviously "know" your life is going to change, but at that moment I knew that it was for real. It was really happening and there was no going back. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the ame time. I guess that is what motherhood is like most of the time anyway.
AR was dying to hold his daughter so I finally let him. He put his finger in her mouth and she bit him! Hey, she did have eight teeth and why would you shove a finger in a baby's mouth anyway? Ha, ha. It was funny. The whole presentation of the babies only took about 10 minutes. We quickly headed back to the bus and to the hotel.
By this time our daughter was crying. She wanted nothing to do with me, Whenever I looked at her, she tried to hide her face and started crying again. I tried to feed her the formula that the orphanage gave to us, but she would drink any. I popped a Cheerio in her mouth and she spit it out. I put it back in and then she kept in in her mouth and seemed to like it.
Shortly after arriving in the hotel room, Sabrina came by with the Mr. Lu and some of the nannies to see if we had any questions. I asked if she was attached to any of the other children. We knew she was in foster care, and they told us that she was in foster care with another child who was adopted in our group, but there did not know which family adopted her. They would let us know tomorrow. I gave the nannies and Mr. Lu their gifts. It is customary to give people gifts in China, and it is also customary that they do not open the gift in front of you, and that is what happened.
We still had more adoption paperwork to do. We had to take our daughter's foot and put it in red ink and then stamp the official paperwork for tomorrow. Once we finished that we went back to our room. I was finally able to get her to drink formula, but she would not take it from the bottle. I was feeding her formula with a spoon. Do you know how long that took???
She still did not like me and cried when I glance at her. I know she must have been terrified and traumatized by the day's events, but I would be lying if I said it didn't crush me as well. AR was able to comfort her by singing the alphabet and any other song he could think of. In fact she fell asleep on AR and he in turn, fell asleep holding her to his chest. I went over and removed her from his arms and put her in the crib.
I watched her as she slept. She looked so peaceful. I carefully removed the socks that she had been wearing. These were the socks that she came to us in. They were blue and had grey stripe. Within the stripe were these words, "Happy Baby." I started to cry. I don't know where this baby came from or what her life had been like up until she entered my life, but I do know that I would try my hardest to make sure she is the happiest baby in the world.
We met in the lobby and stood with the other families. No one was really talking. It was pretty quiet. We were all a bit nervous. We boarded the bus that took us to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to meet the babies. When we walked up the stairs, we heard the cries of babies and we knew we were only moments away. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time.
We were ushered into a waiting room and we all took seats. The aunties stood in the doorway and each one was holding a baby. AR pointed and said, "There she is." The baby was dressed head to toe in a pink knitted outfit. I said, "No way. She looks to small to be our daughter." Two famiies whose babies were from a differnt SWI were called first.
All of a sudden, I heard my name called and Lu Ruo Dan, our daughter's Chinese name. I turened to AR and said, "That's us," and we jumped up and ran over. He was right. He had picked out our daughter from the sea of babies all wearing the same handmade knitted pink outfit. We didn't have time to think and I handed my camera & video camera to our friends from NH.
We had originally decided that I would go up and get our daughter and AR would film and videotape, but the orphanage director wanted both of us up there. Once the auntie handed over Lu Ruo Dan to me, the orphanage director, Mr. Lu, wanted to take a picture of AR and I holding the baby. At the same time, our friends from NH were called to get their daughter, so they had to put down our cameras. Sadly, we have very few photos or video of the gotcha moment.
She didn't cry. Not at first. She was definitely scrutinizing us and her bottom lip was sticking out in a pout. I was carrying her around the room and all the other babies were crying. To say it was chaotic would be an understatement. All I can say is that when I was walking around the room with my daughter in my arms, I knew my life had changed. You obviously "know" your life is going to change, but at that moment I knew that it was for real. It was really happening and there was no going back. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the ame time. I guess that is what motherhood is like most of the time anyway.
AR was dying to hold his daughter so I finally let him. He put his finger in her mouth and she bit him! Hey, she did have eight teeth and why would you shove a finger in a baby's mouth anyway? Ha, ha. It was funny. The whole presentation of the babies only took about 10 minutes. We quickly headed back to the bus and to the hotel.
By this time our daughter was crying. She wanted nothing to do with me, Whenever I looked at her, she tried to hide her face and started crying again. I tried to feed her the formula that the orphanage gave to us, but she would drink any. I popped a Cheerio in her mouth and she spit it out. I put it back in and then she kept in in her mouth and seemed to like it.
Shortly after arriving in the hotel room, Sabrina came by with the Mr. Lu and some of the nannies to see if we had any questions. I asked if she was attached to any of the other children. We knew she was in foster care, and they told us that she was in foster care with another child who was adopted in our group, but there did not know which family adopted her. They would let us know tomorrow. I gave the nannies and Mr. Lu their gifts. It is customary to give people gifts in China, and it is also customary that they do not open the gift in front of you, and that is what happened.
We still had more adoption paperwork to do. We had to take our daughter's foot and put it in red ink and then stamp the official paperwork for tomorrow. Once we finished that we went back to our room. I was finally able to get her to drink formula, but she would not take it from the bottle. I was feeding her formula with a spoon. Do you know how long that took???
She still did not like me and cried when I glance at her. I know she must have been terrified and traumatized by the day's events, but I would be lying if I said it didn't crush me as well. AR was able to comfort her by singing the alphabet and any other song he could think of. In fact she fell asleep on AR and he in turn, fell asleep holding her to his chest. I went over and removed her from his arms and put her in the crib.
I watched her as she slept. She looked so peaceful. I carefully removed the socks that she had been wearing. These were the socks that she came to us in. They were blue and had grey stripe. Within the stripe were these words, "Happy Baby." I started to cry. I don't know where this baby came from or what her life had been like up until she entered my life, but I do know that I would try my hardest to make sure she is the happiest baby in the world.
Flying to Nanchang
November 7, 2004
We checked out at 8:30 and met the group in the lobby. Our flight to Nanchang is at 11 am and we are arive in Nanchang at 1 pm and are supposed to meet the babies at 4pm. We boarded a bus and left for the airport at 8:45. We certainly arrived at the airport much more quickly than it took getting from the airport to the hotel. I guess there was less traffic.
Since our luggae was taken last night, it was already checked in for us. Our boarding passes were ready so we did not have to do anything except go through security. I made sure that there was no metal whatsoever on my person and our sunglasses were in the carry-on bag. We sailed through without a hitch.
We boarded on time, but we were not able to sit next to each other, so that was lousy. AT least we were sitting with others from our group, so it wasn't so bad. I was surprised that I was served a meal because this was not a long flight. I suppose it was becasue it was near lunch time? It wasn't a vegetarian meal, so I ate some rice and watermelon. I wasn't hungry anyway. All I could think of was meeting my baby!
We arrived at 1pm, but had to wait for our luggage to come from the plane. We then hopped on a bus and started driving towards the hotel. The city was much different from Beijing. It was very rural and rice is the main crop grown. We passed lots of rice fields.
It was unbelievably hot in Nanchang too. I brought mostly long sleeved shirts, so I am guessing I will be a little warm here. It was 2 pm by the time we reached the hotel. The babies would not be brought to the hotel. We would have to drive to the Ministry of Civil Affairs office to get them. We were told to meet in the lobby at 3:50. In less than two hours I will be holding my baby!
Our adoption agency assigned our group a local guide. Her name was Mary and she was familiar with Nanchang so she would be with us for this portion of our trip. Sabrina was still with us too. Mary had checked us all into the hotel and gave us our room keys. We were staying in room 4111 on the Gloria Hotel. Our friends from New Hampshire were also on the same floor.
One of us had to start doing adoption paperwork, so I went to do it while AR checked to make sure the video camera was ready. We were so hot, but we couldn't even change clothes because our luggage had not yet been delivered to our room. We were hoping to change into the shirts we had made especially for this day. It was a February DTC Lovebug shirt that had a little car driving on the map of China. We both had one and thought it would be cute to wear for when we met our daughter.
I checked the adoption paperwork and there was a Jr. missing from AR's name. Other than that, everything was spelled correctly. They would fix the missing Jr. We needed this for the abandonment certificate that would be issued tomorrow. Even though we are receiving the babies today, the official adoption paperwork takes place tomorrow.
I went to our room and our luggae was delivered. We were able to change into our short sleeved shirts. I also readied the gifts for the orphanage director and the aunties. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the lobby to get on the bus to get our daughter.
We checked out at 8:30 and met the group in the lobby. Our flight to Nanchang is at 11 am and we are arive in Nanchang at 1 pm and are supposed to meet the babies at 4pm. We boarded a bus and left for the airport at 8:45. We certainly arrived at the airport much more quickly than it took getting from the airport to the hotel. I guess there was less traffic.
Since our luggae was taken last night, it was already checked in for us. Our boarding passes were ready so we did not have to do anything except go through security. I made sure that there was no metal whatsoever on my person and our sunglasses were in the carry-on bag. We sailed through without a hitch.
We boarded on time, but we were not able to sit next to each other, so that was lousy. AT least we were sitting with others from our group, so it wasn't so bad. I was surprised that I was served a meal because this was not a long flight. I suppose it was becasue it was near lunch time? It wasn't a vegetarian meal, so I ate some rice and watermelon. I wasn't hungry anyway. All I could think of was meeting my baby!
We arrived at 1pm, but had to wait for our luggage to come from the plane. We then hopped on a bus and started driving towards the hotel. The city was much different from Beijing. It was very rural and rice is the main crop grown. We passed lots of rice fields.
It was unbelievably hot in Nanchang too. I brought mostly long sleeved shirts, so I am guessing I will be a little warm here. It was 2 pm by the time we reached the hotel. The babies would not be brought to the hotel. We would have to drive to the Ministry of Civil Affairs office to get them. We were told to meet in the lobby at 3:50. In less than two hours I will be holding my baby!
Our adoption agency assigned our group a local guide. Her name was Mary and she was familiar with Nanchang so she would be with us for this portion of our trip. Sabrina was still with us too. Mary had checked us all into the hotel and gave us our room keys. We were staying in room 4111 on the Gloria Hotel. Our friends from New Hampshire were also on the same floor.
One of us had to start doing adoption paperwork, so I went to do it while AR checked to make sure the video camera was ready. We were so hot, but we couldn't even change clothes because our luggage had not yet been delivered to our room. We were hoping to change into the shirts we had made especially for this day. It was a February DTC Lovebug shirt that had a little car driving on the map of China. We both had one and thought it would be cute to wear for when we met our daughter.
I checked the adoption paperwork and there was a Jr. missing from AR's name. Other than that, everything was spelled correctly. They would fix the missing Jr. We needed this for the abandonment certificate that would be issued tomorrow. Even though we are receiving the babies today, the official adoption paperwork takes place tomorrow.
I went to our room and our luggae was delivered. We were able to change into our short sleeved shirts. I also readied the gifts for the orphanage director and the aunties. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the lobby to get on the bus to get our daughter.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Forbidden City & Great Wall 11/6/2004
November 6, 2004
It was pretty amazing to see all of the CHI families gathering in the hotel lobby. There were 42 families multiplied by two people, which equals 84 people. Many brought additional familiy members, so you get the idea that we are a big group.
We ran across a couple from NYC. AR had met the husband yesterday in the hotel gym. They exchanged pleasantries then, but neither was aware that they were each here for adoption. Small world, right? Even funnier, when he and his wife met me, they remembered me from the travel adoption meeting in NYC in September. "You were running around showing everyone your referral photo." Yep, that is me. Guilty as charged, hee hee.
We divided into two groups~ the Jiangxi Province (Us) and Guahdong Province and went on separate busses. We had already met our coordinator, Sabrina, who picked us up at the airport. She was going to travel with us for our whole adoption trip (except back to the U.S.). We were pleased because she was so nice.
We drove to Tiannamen Square first. Honestly, it wasn't much to look at. I guess I was expecting to see tanks or something, but it was really just an open area flanked by government buildings that we could not go into. Chairman Mao's body lay in state and thousands of Chinese people waited in line to see him to pay their respects. It would have been cool to do that, but it wasn't on our agenda.
There were a LOT of people in this area. Each guide held up a colored flag so that we would be able to find them by spotting the flag. It was tough to keep the whole group together.
The Forbidden City has a huge picture of Chairman Mao's face on it. Inside the city were the Emperor's palaces, so we walked from the South gate to the North gate. There was a strabucks in the middle of Forbidden City. It is true, capitalism has infiltrated China. I call the photo above, Forbidden Starbucks!
We stomped around the palaces and they all had doors that you had to step up and into. Not easy to traverse. We did quite a bit of walking and I wanted to conserve some energy for walking up the Great Wall, which was to be visited after lunch.
Lunch was dinner of roasted Peking duck for 80+ people. Apparently the place we went to was the place for duck. I let our guide Sabrina know that I was a vegetarian and she informed the waiters. I was provided with plenty of veggies. The broccoli was the best I ever ate in my life. It was crunchy and tender and bright green. We had several glasses of beer, which was probably a mistake because we were off to climb Great Wall.
Most of us were quiet or fell asleep during the hour drive to the Great Wall. It may have been the beer, the heavy lunch, the walking that was done all morning or jet lag, but we were all pretty pooped. Despite this we made our ascent.
The walk was difficult because the steps were uneven. One step would be a normal step and the next would be the equivalent to two steps, so you had to use your hands to grasp onto the steps or hang onto the wall as you climbed.
I made it to the third level and gave up. AR made it to the second level. Only three from our group went to the top. We did get some great photos. Coming down the stairs was harder than going up, if you can believe that!
We arrived at the hotel at 6 pm and had an orientation meeting from 7-8:30 pm. We had to pack our bags that we were checking tomorrow when we got back to the hotel. No rest for the weary because they were collecting it at 10 pm.
At the orientation meeting we received an update on our daughter. She has 8 teeth! Still we were told that she was not on solid foods and only formula. We were told that she was a deep sleeper. I sure hope that part is true!
We ate pizza at the hotel for dinner and waited for our luggage to be collected. We were in bed by 10 pm. This was our last night as a childless couple. Tomorrow we meet the babies!
Friday, November 05, 2004
Dinner in Beijing
November 5, 2004
One of our traveling companions was given the name of a restaurant that was supposed to have great food at low prices, so we all met at 6pm in the lobby to go. She had the address written in Chinese. We called two cabs to take the lot of us.
After our cab driver took off, we noticed that he smelled of alcohol. He may not have been drunk, but he surely must have been on a bender within the past 24 hours. Ar had the joy of sitting next to him in the front seat of the cab. The driver slapped his leg and it was all rather weird.
We had no idea how far away the restaurant was. We were driving and driving and then we were on the outskirts of town in a less than desirable place. We finally arrived at our destination and it was smack dab in the middle of a residential area. It had a bright neon sign that said, "Restaurant." The other cab had not arrived. It was cold so we went inside to wait.
The others showed up and we were seated at a large round table. The menu was adventurous~Rabbit, ell, shark fin, pungent sauces...I selected the tomato and egg soup and veggie dumplings. Everyone shared all of the food and it was delicious and plentiful.. We were all drinking Tsingtao beer. The bill for 7 of us was #321 yuan, which was about $40. That us what I call a real bargian.
We asked the restaurant to call us two taxis and they did. As soon as we exited the restuarant, they locked the doors. It was only 8 pm, but I gues sthey wanted to go home. No cabs showed up. We banged on the doors and finally someone came to see what the ruckus was about. We asked them to call for two cabs again and this time they arrived. The ride back to the hotel was uneventful, and we were pretty happy with that. Tomorrow we have the group tour so we will be heading to bed pretty early~9 pm.
One of our traveling companions was given the name of a restaurant that was supposed to have great food at low prices, so we all met at 6pm in the lobby to go. She had the address written in Chinese. We called two cabs to take the lot of us.
After our cab driver took off, we noticed that he smelled of alcohol. He may not have been drunk, but he surely must have been on a bender within the past 24 hours. Ar had the joy of sitting next to him in the front seat of the cab. The driver slapped his leg and it was all rather weird.
We had no idea how far away the restaurant was. We were driving and driving and then we were on the outskirts of town in a less than desirable place. We finally arrived at our destination and it was smack dab in the middle of a residential area. It had a bright neon sign that said, "Restaurant." The other cab had not arrived. It was cold so we went inside to wait.
The others showed up and we were seated at a large round table. The menu was adventurous~Rabbit, ell, shark fin, pungent sauces...I selected the tomato and egg soup and veggie dumplings. Everyone shared all of the food and it was delicious and plentiful.. We were all drinking Tsingtao beer. The bill for 7 of us was #321 yuan, which was about $40. That us what I call a real bargian.
We asked the restaurant to call us two taxis and they did. As soon as we exited the restuarant, they locked the doors. It was only 8 pm, but I gues sthey wanted to go home. No cabs showed up. We banged on the doors and finally someone came to see what the ruckus was about. We asked them to call for two cabs again and this time they arrived. The ride back to the hotel was uneventful, and we were pretty happy with that. Tomorrow we have the group tour so we will be heading to bed pretty early~9 pm.
Exploring Beijing
November 5, 2004So much for taking it easy! We met up with two more adoptive familes. As a group of 9 adults and one five-year-old, we rented a bus and a driver from the hotel to take us to the Summer Palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace . The bus only cost us $10 a person, so it was quite a bargain. I felt better about traveling in a group. Most of the other families would be arriving throughout the day. Today was technically a free day and tomorrow was a scheduled tour of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.
The Summer Palace was teeming with tourists, mostly Chinese. As soon as we got off the bus, we were greeted with "Hello guys." "Hello, want to buy postcards?" and they were in our faces. After we got past these people we were beset by people wanting to be our tour guide. We politely but firmly said no.
I had my first experience with a squat toilet also known as squatty potty. Basically it is a hole in the ground. You are supposed to straddle it, squat and go. Well, I kind of cheated as I was afraid I would pee on myself. I took one leg out of my pants and underwear, squatted and peed. As I squatted, my sunglasses fell off of my shirt neckline and flew under the door. I hear a chattering of laughter. When I came out an older woman was cleaning the floor. She was laughing and pointing to the glasses. I laughed too and picked them up.
We walked up thousands of stairs and then walked down a thousand stairs. Lots of walking here and it was nice to get back on the bus and go to the hotel. We all planned to meet for dinner later this evening.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Arriving in Beijing, China
November 4, 2004
When we landed in China, there was a lot of confusion. We met our friends from New Hampshire and collected our luggage. The airport is big and there were lots of people so we somehow lost each other. After clearing customs, we found them again and stood waiting for a representative from our adoption agency to meet us. While waiting I purchased several phone cards that we could use to phone home. We finally found Sabrina, our CHI representative. SHe took us to a van and it was a 40 minute ride to the hotel.
The Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel http://www.beijinghighlights.com/hotels/peacehotel/index.htm is a 5 star hotel. We checked in and our friends finagled it so that we were in the room next to them.. We stayed in room 1114 and they were in room 1117. We dropped our stuff in the room and all four of us went to dinner. We thought we would take it easy tomorrow and just hang around and shop near the stores by the hotel because November 6th was our big touring day of the Great Wall of China!
When we landed in China, there was a lot of confusion. We met our friends from New Hampshire and collected our luggage. The airport is big and there were lots of people so we somehow lost each other. After clearing customs, we found them again and stood waiting for a representative from our adoption agency to meet us. While waiting I purchased several phone cards that we could use to phone home. We finally found Sabrina, our CHI representative. SHe took us to a van and it was a 40 minute ride to the hotel.
The Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel http://www.beijinghighlights.com/hotels/peacehotel/index.htm is a 5 star hotel. We checked in and our friends finagled it so that we were in the room next to them.. We stayed in room 1114 and they were in room 1117. We dropped our stuff in the room and all four of us went to dinner. We thought we would take it easy tomorrow and just hang around and shop near the stores by the hotel because November 6th was our big touring day of the Great Wall of China!
Nearly Missed our Flight!
November 4, 2004
We are in China, but we almost missed our flight. Our car service was supposed to arrive at 11;30 am. Our flight was taking off at 3:30 pm, but I wanted to allow enough time for us to get to the airport. At 11:15 the car service called to say that the driver was in an accident, but not to worry because they were sending another driver and car, but he wouldn't arrive until noon.
Okay, no big deal because that would still give us plenty of time to get to the airport. They called at noon and told us he would be another 20 minutes. At 12:30 they said 5 minutes. At 12:50 they called and said he was in the neighboring town, so 5 more minutes. He did not arrive until 1:30!
The driver was old and doddering. He said he had just come from JFK and it only took him 45 minutes. I said that we were already two hours late, so I was not amused. Then I had to direct him to the interstate! We were sitting in bumper to bumper traffic when we saw a sign that said 15 miles to JFK. It was 2:30. I burst into tears because I knew we were not going to make this flight.
My crying unnerved him. He called the airlines to try to speak to someone at ChinaAir, but the person on the phone only spoke Mandarin, so that was no help. Tears were just streaming down my face. The traffic cleared and the driver sped down the highway like a maniac. I was out of the car before he was even stopped. We did not tip him, AR grabbed out suitcases and I ran into the terminal. There was NO ONE at the ChinaAir desk to check in. It was 2:45 and the flight was boarding.
I spied one ChinaAIr employee and ran over and explained that we were late. I was crying and asking if we could still make the flight because we still had to get through security. We told him that it was so important that we get on the plane because we were adopting a baby. He told us not to worry.
The machine that spits out the bar coding for the luggage was malfunctioning so he had to jump over and try to print it out from another station. More delay. Finally we were on the security line, which was very long. It was 3:05.
I went through the metal detector and it beeped. I walked through again and it beeped. They pulled me out of the line and called for a female security guard to search me. AR was beeping too and was pulled out of line. We both had to remove our shoes. Ar's sunglasses were the cause of his beeping so he cleared security first, put on his shoes and was gathering up our stuff.
I told the security guard that we were going to miss our flight and she said, "Well that is why we tell you to get her three hours before your departure." I started to tell her about the car accident of the driver, but realized that she didn't give a fig about that. She came to my money belt that was bulging with cash and wanted to know what that was for. Since when is carrying cash a crime??? I explained it was for our adoption, but she seemed leary. Turns out that I had a blister pack of over teh counter medicine in mt pants pocket and that was causing the friggin' beeping. I was finally through security. It was 3:25.
I didn't even waste time putting on my shoes and the two of us ran to the gate, me in my stocking feet and crying. We must have been quite a sight. Thankfully, the gate was not far. When we reached teh gate a flight attendeant waved us through. She had been on the lookout for us. They didn't even look at our boarding passes. We couldn't believe that they waited for us. We plopped in our seats and the plane took off immedately.
What we didn't know...Our friends from New Hampshire were waiting for us and worried that we weren't there. When the flight boarded, she kept asking if we were there. At 3:10, she told the flight attendants that they could not take off without us. She explained that we were both going to China to adopt a baby. I'm not sure if that is why they held the plane for us or if the attendant at the check in called and told them we were coming and to wait for us. Who knows, but the fates were with us.
I know that if we had missed the flight, we could have gotten a flight out later that day or the next, so it would not have been the end of the world. However, after all of the waiting and all of the papework and all of the hopes and dreams pinned on this flight, missing the flight represented the loss of our baby. It sounds ridiculous now, but that is what I was feeling. It was almost as if I was thinking that we would never get our precious baby. It was not going to happen for us.
We are in China, but we almost missed our flight. Our car service was supposed to arrive at 11;30 am. Our flight was taking off at 3:30 pm, but I wanted to allow enough time for us to get to the airport. At 11:15 the car service called to say that the driver was in an accident, but not to worry because they were sending another driver and car, but he wouldn't arrive until noon.
Okay, no big deal because that would still give us plenty of time to get to the airport. They called at noon and told us he would be another 20 minutes. At 12:30 they said 5 minutes. At 12:50 they called and said he was in the neighboring town, so 5 more minutes. He did not arrive until 1:30!
The driver was old and doddering. He said he had just come from JFK and it only took him 45 minutes. I said that we were already two hours late, so I was not amused. Then I had to direct him to the interstate! We were sitting in bumper to bumper traffic when we saw a sign that said 15 miles to JFK. It was 2:30. I burst into tears because I knew we were not going to make this flight.
My crying unnerved him. He called the airlines to try to speak to someone at ChinaAir, but the person on the phone only spoke Mandarin, so that was no help. Tears were just streaming down my face. The traffic cleared and the driver sped down the highway like a maniac. I was out of the car before he was even stopped. We did not tip him, AR grabbed out suitcases and I ran into the terminal. There was NO ONE at the ChinaAir desk to check in. It was 2:45 and the flight was boarding.
I spied one ChinaAIr employee and ran over and explained that we were late. I was crying and asking if we could still make the flight because we still had to get through security. We told him that it was so important that we get on the plane because we were adopting a baby. He told us not to worry.
The machine that spits out the bar coding for the luggage was malfunctioning so he had to jump over and try to print it out from another station. More delay. Finally we were on the security line, which was very long. It was 3:05.
I went through the metal detector and it beeped. I walked through again and it beeped. They pulled me out of the line and called for a female security guard to search me. AR was beeping too and was pulled out of line. We both had to remove our shoes. Ar's sunglasses were the cause of his beeping so he cleared security first, put on his shoes and was gathering up our stuff.
I told the security guard that we were going to miss our flight and she said, "Well that is why we tell you to get her three hours before your departure." I started to tell her about the car accident of the driver, but realized that she didn't give a fig about that. She came to my money belt that was bulging with cash and wanted to know what that was for. Since when is carrying cash a crime??? I explained it was for our adoption, but she seemed leary. Turns out that I had a blister pack of over teh counter medicine in mt pants pocket and that was causing the friggin' beeping. I was finally through security. It was 3:25.
I didn't even waste time putting on my shoes and the two of us ran to the gate, me in my stocking feet and crying. We must have been quite a sight. Thankfully, the gate was not far. When we reached teh gate a flight attendeant waved us through. She had been on the lookout for us. They didn't even look at our boarding passes. We couldn't believe that they waited for us. We plopped in our seats and the plane took off immedately.
What we didn't know...Our friends from New Hampshire were waiting for us and worried that we weren't there. When the flight boarded, she kept asking if we were there. At 3:10, she told the flight attendants that they could not take off without us. She explained that we were both going to China to adopt a baby. I'm not sure if that is why they held the plane for us or if the attendant at the check in called and told them we were coming and to wait for us. Who knows, but the fates were with us.
I know that if we had missed the flight, we could have gotten a flight out later that day or the next, so it would not have been the end of the world. However, after all of the waiting and all of the papework and all of the hopes and dreams pinned on this flight, missing the flight represented the loss of our baby. It sounds ridiculous now, but that is what I was feeling. It was almost as if I was thinking that we would never get our precious baby. It was not going to happen for us.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Leaving today for China 11/03/2004
November 3, 2004
It is 9 am and I am waiting for my husband to get out of teh shower. We are all packed and all we have to do is get dressed. Well, actually we do have to wait for the car service to pick us up and take us to JFK airport in NY too. My dad felt bad that he couldn't take us to teh airport, so he paid for the car service.
We opted for the non-stop flight from JFK to Beijing because it is ONLY 13 hours on the plane, which is significantly better than the 26 hours of flying, layovers and flying via Los Angeles or other routes. I can't imagine coming home with a baby and having to change planes and have layovers. Coming home the flight will be longer because we have an intra-country flight from the south of China to Beijing, which is a 4 hour flight and then the 13 hour flight back to NY.
I can't wait to meet Pam and Steve from New Hampshire. They are with the same adoption agency as us and will be on the same flight from JFK to Beijing too. We've spoken on the phone and communicated with them via email, but we will finally meet them in person today. Will post again later as time allows.
It is 9 am and I am waiting for my husband to get out of teh shower. We are all packed and all we have to do is get dressed. Well, actually we do have to wait for the car service to pick us up and take us to JFK airport in NY too. My dad felt bad that he couldn't take us to teh airport, so he paid for the car service.
We opted for the non-stop flight from JFK to Beijing because it is ONLY 13 hours on the plane, which is significantly better than the 26 hours of flying, layovers and flying via Los Angeles or other routes. I can't imagine coming home with a baby and having to change planes and have layovers. Coming home the flight will be longer because we have an intra-country flight from the south of China to Beijing, which is a 4 hour flight and then the 13 hour flight back to NY.
I can't wait to meet Pam and Steve from New Hampshire. They are with the same adoption agency as us and will be on the same flight from JFK to Beijing too. We've spoken on the phone and communicated with them via email, but we will finally meet them in person today. Will post again later as time allows.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Last Minute Items
We bought a videocamera in August and it came with a battery and we told the salesperson that we wanted an extra battery. At the time we did not look at the battery until last night when we went to charge up the spare. Of course it isn't the right battery so I have to go to Circut City to return it and get the right one. I just know they will give me a hassle. I hate Circut City, but their prices are so good.
The unusual thing about this trip is that I don't have butterflies yet. Normally, I wouldn't be able to sleep without Tylenol PM a few days before such a big trip. I am unusually calm. I tend to project calmness outwardly, but inwardly I am a mess. I am glad, but I wonder why. I am sure the butterflies will hit tomorrow as I obsess overwhether the car service is really coming--yes, I do that!
The unusual thing about this trip is that I don't have butterflies yet. Normally, I wouldn't be able to sleep without Tylenol PM a few days before such a big trip. I am unusually calm. I tend to project calmness outwardly, but inwardly I am a mess. I am glad, but I wonder why. I am sure the butterflies will hit tomorrow as I obsess overwhether the car service is really coming--yes, I do that!
Monday, November 01, 2004
Here is my Adoption Packing List
This is the list of what i took to China in November 2004. Since I am writing this retrospectively, I can include my comments as to whether I made good decisions or not. We traveled in November and were in Beijing, Nanchang & Guangzhou. Temps is Beijing were 45-55 degrees. Nanchang temps were 80-60 degrees. Guangzhou was 75-88 degrees.
Clothing for Mommy
1 pair of jeans
2 sweatpants (I wore one pair on the plane, so technically not packed)
4 t-shirts all dark colors
1 long sleeve t shirt
7 pairs of socks
7 underwear (i bought disposable underwear that you can rinse out & dry overnight & then throw away after a second wearing).
3 bras (I wore one on the plane, so technically not packed)
1 sweatshirt jacket
1 lightweight jacket
1 pair of sneakers (wore on the plane, so not packed)
Clothing for Daddy
1 pair of jeans
2 sweatpants (Wore one on the plane)
5 shirts
1 sweatshirt
1 jacket
7 socks
7 underwear
1 pair sneakers (wore on the plane, so not actually packed)
Clothing for baby
5 onesies
7 pairs of socks
3 shirts
3 pants
4 sleep outfits
1 jacket
Baby apparatus
Baby carrier
2 baby blankets
1 hair brush - turned out to be her favorite "toy"
1 pack of Pampers
2 cans powdered baby formula
4 baby bottles
1 bottle brush
palmolive wipes (to wash baby bottles)
plastic bowl
plastic spoons
baby shampoo wipes (not liquid, just add water to the wipe and it gets soapy)
baby powder
3 packs baby wipes (80 count) just the refill packs. These doubled as toilet paper when we were out on the town
1 bottle hand sanitizer
Thermos for making baby formula
funnel for pouring hot water - you need this!
zippy bag of cheerios
1 pack of goldfish
4 jars of baby prunes - she didn't need these, but I gave them to other parents who needed it
baby tylenol
baby mylicon drops
baby laxative
powdered pedialyte
scented diaper disposal bags - these were well worth bringing!
Cortisone cream
stacking cups - great toy
beachball - okay, but wouldn't bring
Other stuff we Brought
Digital Camera + one extra battery
Regular camera - Would not bring since I rarely used it
film - leave at home
Video camera + one extra batter
Video tapes - brought 3 and gave one to someone who ran out
tripod - never used it, but lugged it all around China
tablecloth - was supposed to be used to let the baby crawl around on the floor in the hotel room, but we never used it. Would not bring again
disposable toothbrushes that required no water. You cannot drink the water in China, so I thought these would work well as they work with your own saliva. I never felt like my mouth was clean. I would bring a toothbrush and use bottled water.
Journal - I did write in this nearly every day and am happy that I took it.
2 pens
plastic zippy bags - I brought sandwich bags and gallon sized bags. These were used every day to store opened boxes of crackers or Goldfish etc or take along snacks for the baby.
adult cold medicine
duct tape - didn't need it, but would bring again just in case.
diaper bag
What I will be sure to take next time
White Out. We all needed it when doing paperwork and only one of us had any.
Instead of beachball, I would bring some balloons. My daughter loved the balloon someone at the hotel gave to her and it was smaller than a beachball so she could handle it easier.
Baby Motrin.
Adult cold medicine. I would bring 2 boxes
Antibiotics. We were all sick in China and the mediciine there is not the same.
One pair of shorts for mommy & daddy because we were sweating some days
Hair bows or some such cute things for the baby. I didn't bring them and then i saw all other babies who had them in their hair and they looked so cute and I wish i had them too.
Clothing for Mommy
1 pair of jeans
2 sweatpants (I wore one pair on the plane, so technically not packed)
4 t-shirts all dark colors
1 long sleeve t shirt
7 pairs of socks
7 underwear (i bought disposable underwear that you can rinse out & dry overnight & then throw away after a second wearing).
3 bras (I wore one on the plane, so technically not packed)
1 sweatshirt jacket
1 lightweight jacket
1 pair of sneakers (wore on the plane, so not packed)
Clothing for Daddy
1 pair of jeans
2 sweatpants (Wore one on the plane)
5 shirts
1 sweatshirt
1 jacket
7 socks
7 underwear
1 pair sneakers (wore on the plane, so not actually packed)
Clothing for baby
5 onesies
7 pairs of socks
3 shirts
3 pants
4 sleep outfits
1 jacket
Baby apparatus
Baby carrier
2 baby blankets
1 hair brush - turned out to be her favorite "toy"
1 pack of Pampers
2 cans powdered baby formula
4 baby bottles
1 bottle brush
palmolive wipes (to wash baby bottles)
plastic bowl
plastic spoons
baby shampoo wipes (not liquid, just add water to the wipe and it gets soapy)
baby powder
3 packs baby wipes (80 count) just the refill packs. These doubled as toilet paper when we were out on the town
1 bottle hand sanitizer
Thermos for making baby formula
funnel for pouring hot water - you need this!
zippy bag of cheerios
1 pack of goldfish
4 jars of baby prunes - she didn't need these, but I gave them to other parents who needed it
baby tylenol
baby mylicon drops
baby laxative
powdered pedialyte
scented diaper disposal bags - these were well worth bringing!
Cortisone cream
stacking cups - great toy
beachball - okay, but wouldn't bring
Other stuff we Brought
Digital Camera + one extra battery
Regular camera - Would not bring since I rarely used it
film - leave at home
Video camera + one extra batter
Video tapes - brought 3 and gave one to someone who ran out
tripod - never used it, but lugged it all around China
tablecloth - was supposed to be used to let the baby crawl around on the floor in the hotel room, but we never used it. Would not bring again
disposable toothbrushes that required no water. You cannot drink the water in China, so I thought these would work well as they work with your own saliva. I never felt like my mouth was clean. I would bring a toothbrush and use bottled water.
Journal - I did write in this nearly every day and am happy that I took it.
2 pens
plastic zippy bags - I brought sandwich bags and gallon sized bags. These were used every day to store opened boxes of crackers or Goldfish etc or take along snacks for the baby.
adult cold medicine
duct tape - didn't need it, but would bring again just in case.
diaper bag
What I will be sure to take next time
White Out. We all needed it when doing paperwork and only one of us had any.
Instead of beachball, I would bring some balloons. My daughter loved the balloon someone at the hotel gave to her and it was smaller than a beachball so she could handle it easier.
Baby Motrin.
Adult cold medicine. I would bring 2 boxes
Antibiotics. We were all sick in China and the mediciine there is not the same.
One pair of shorts for mommy & daddy because we were sweating some days
Hair bows or some such cute things for the baby. I didn't bring them and then i saw all other babies who had them in their hair and they looked so cute and I wish i had them too.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
The Packing is Done
October 31, 2004
I put off packing until today. While my husband was playing with the videocamera, I was off collecting and packing. We are taking 2 rollingduffels, 2 carry ons and I am also taking the diaper bag as my personal item. The one duffel weighs 25 pounds and the other weighs 35. I will try to even them out a little tomorrow, but I feel great that this is done. Our carry ons are each only 1/2 full which will allow us to bring home all the stuff we plan to purchase in China. We used the packmates http://www.mypackmate.com/rollbag/index.html?gclid=CPbLscTKx4sCFQsjSgodHG2DCg which help consolidate space, but it doesn't make the bags lighter. I think this will be most useful on the return trip.
Tonight we are going out to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. Yes, we were married on halloween. We shall be going to a French restaurant in Edgewater, NJ. I am looking forward to our last fancy night out before we become parents!
I put off packing until today. While my husband was playing with the videocamera, I was off collecting and packing. We are taking 2 rollingduffels, 2 carry ons and I am also taking the diaper bag as my personal item. The one duffel weighs 25 pounds and the other weighs 35. I will try to even them out a little tomorrow, but I feel great that this is done. Our carry ons are each only 1/2 full which will allow us to bring home all the stuff we plan to purchase in China. We used the packmates http://www.mypackmate.com/rollbag/index.html?gclid=CPbLscTKx4sCFQsjSgodHG2DCg which help consolidate space, but it doesn't make the bags lighter. I think this will be most useful on the return trip.
Tonight we are going out to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. Yes, we were married on halloween. We shall be going to a French restaurant in Edgewater, NJ. I am looking forward to our last fancy night out before we become parents!
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Plane Tickets in Hand
Our plane tickets to and from China arrived today. My God, I can barely stand the excitement. I still have to pack. I have packing lists galore and yet I have not packed. That is on my to-do list for this weekend. I definitely do not want to overpack. I have no problem wearing the same clothes over and over. The less you take, the less you have to carry.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Health Issues - Mine Unfortunately
I have had some recent health issues so I have been focused on them. I have gallstones and 2 doctors I have seen said I need surgery and they wanted me to have it NOW. I have not had an attack in 2 months, so I do not feel the urgency to have this surgery now. I know I should have it soon so that I am not in an emergency surgery situation, but with the trip so close, I do not want to do it now. One dcotor said I should have it now (this was when trip was 3 weeks away)because I wouldn't want to be in China needing the surgery - just a little pressure. However, having the surgery now when I was not having an attack means that 99.9% that I could have laproscopic surgery. If I waited until I had an attack, I probably could not have laproscopic surgery and the recovery time would be increased. I know that Mexican food was the trigger for both my attacks, so I am keeping away from that food. Fat chance I'll be eating it in China anayway!
The other issue--I had my first mammogram as I am 39. They found 2 solid nodules, lucky me. The radiologist and the breast surgeon both told me that it didn't "look" like anything, it was probably benign, probably. Today I spent 5 hours at the hospital (most of it waiting!) and I had another sonogram and a needle biopsy. They gave me preliminary results and they said benign. I will get full results on Friday, but don't expect that it will change. I have to go back in 6 months for another scan. Whew! Like I needed this right now?!
My biggest fear is that I will have cancer because my mother had it (Lung/pancreatic,neither of which is hereditary), but my grandmother had breast cancer and has bone cancer, her husband had colon cancer, my uncle had throat cancer - all of this is on my mother's side. When my mother died in 1996, I became a vegetarian to cut my risk of cancer. I told my husband that if the results came back malignant, I was going to eat a cheeseburger from Burger King. HAHAHA! I ate a veggie burgertonight! Now I can go to China with a peaceful mind.
The other issue--I had my first mammogram as I am 39. They found 2 solid nodules, lucky me. The radiologist and the breast surgeon both told me that it didn't "look" like anything, it was probably benign, probably. Today I spent 5 hours at the hospital (most of it waiting!) and I had another sonogram and a needle biopsy. They gave me preliminary results and they said benign. I will get full results on Friday, but don't expect that it will change. I have to go back in 6 months for another scan. Whew! Like I needed this right now?!
My biggest fear is that I will have cancer because my mother had it (Lung/pancreatic,neither of which is hereditary), but my grandmother had breast cancer and has bone cancer, her husband had colon cancer, my uncle had throat cancer - all of this is on my mother's side. When my mother died in 1996, I became a vegetarian to cut my risk of cancer. I told my husband that if the results came back malignant, I was going to eat a cheeseburger from Burger King. HAHAHA! I ate a veggie burgertonight! Now I can go to China with a peaceful mind.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Surprise, Another Baby Shower
I had a baby shower at work yesterday. It really was a surprise too! We had just finished a 2 hour meeting and I was back in my office. My boss walked by and said we were re-convening in the board room to finalize the one last open issue--I was not happy as I had just left there. I opened the door and there was the whole staff just waiting for me. They had taken the picture of my daughter off my desk when I was in the meeting and made copies of her and hung them all over the boardroom. There were lots of well-wishes, food and a gift card to babiesrus. I think many of them are just as excited about the baby as I am! They all went through the torture of waiting with me. That was pretty nice, and totally not expected.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Travel Approvals Received 10/13/2004
We received the approval to travel to China on October 13, 2004. This means that we have permission to plan our flights to China. I know I shouldn't have counted on travelling to China by October 28th, but I still did. I just couldn't help myself and I really thought we'd be gone by then. I have been keeping a daily count of Days to China in my office on a huge whiteboard. Now I have to add days back since I won't beflying until November 3rd. We need to be in Beijing by November 5th.
I have been really calm throughout most of this whole adoption process, one or two tantrums not withstanding, but I am now officially nervous! I called AR to make the travel arrangements via Lotus as I cannot handle this. Like most of the women, I did all of the paperwork and now I need DH to pitch in, which he is doing. Not to gross anyone out, but when I get nervous,my stomach does backflips and vomiting ensues....I am just nervous about co-ordinating the flights. We still don't know if we are going to get a direct flight NY to Beijing or if we will go via Los Angeles. AR is partial to LA because his brother lives there and he thought it would be neat if we had a day to hang with him, but I don't know. We cannot leave prior to 11/2 because I am in school and I can't miss three classes or I will fail the course, so all of this is weighing heavily upon me. I know it will all work out and I will probably be okay by this evening, but right now I am a wreck!
I have been really calm throughout most of this whole adoption process, one or two tantrums not withstanding, but I am now officially nervous! I called AR to make the travel arrangements via Lotus as I cannot handle this. Like most of the women, I did all of the paperwork and now I need DH to pitch in, which he is doing. Not to gross anyone out, but when I get nervous,my stomach does backflips and vomiting ensues....I am just nervous about co-ordinating the flights. We still don't know if we are going to get a direct flight NY to Beijing or if we will go via Los Angeles. AR is partial to LA because his brother lives there and he thought it would be neat if we had a day to hang with him, but I don't know. We cannot leave prior to 11/2 because I am in school and I can't miss three classes or I will fail the course, so all of this is weighing heavily upon me. I know it will all work out and I will probably be okay by this evening, but right now I am a wreck!
Sunday, October 10, 2004
We have our Flight Planned
We are going with the JFK direct to Beijing Air China flight 982 departing 3:30 pm on Nov 3rd arriving 6pm on Nov 4th. We are skipping LA all together. AR wanted to meet up with his brother who lives in LA, but we just couldn't do it. I can't leave until after the 2nd because I cannot miss 3 classes or I will fail the course, so I have to go to school on Nov 2nd. I am happy because it would be too much of a strain to deal with his brother on top of the adoption...Small doses are all Ic an take!
Going home we are leaving Guangzhou Fri Nov 19 and have an 8:35 am Air China flight 1310 to Beijing. Then Leaving Beijing 1 pm Air China flight 981 back to JFK.I didn't really want to fly out of JFK, but only because I knew none of our relatives/friends would drive us there/pick us up! We'll have to get a car service, which is not the end of the world, but still more arrangements to make.
Turns out we will be on the same flight from a woman we "met" cyberly via our afoption agency's yahoo group. They are flying from Boston to JFK and then we will be on the same flight to Beijing and we have the same flights back to New York. I am glad that we will be with people we know, but they are flying Business Class and we are going coach - ugh! On the way back we are getting a seat for Katrina. I know she probably won't want to be in the seat, but it will be nice to have the room.
Now I just have to let my boss know that my last day is quickly approaching. Yahoo!
Going home we are leaving Guangzhou Fri Nov 19 and have an 8:35 am Air China flight 1310 to Beijing. Then Leaving Beijing 1 pm Air China flight 981 back to JFK.I didn't really want to fly out of JFK, but only because I knew none of our relatives/friends would drive us there/pick us up! We'll have to get a car service, which is not the end of the world, but still more arrangements to make.
Turns out we will be on the same flight from a woman we "met" cyberly via our afoption agency's yahoo group. They are flying from Boston to JFK and then we will be on the same flight to Beijing and we have the same flights back to New York. I am glad that we will be with people we know, but they are flying Business Class and we are going coach - ugh! On the way back we are getting a seat for Katrina. I know she probably won't want to be in the seat, but it will be nice to have the room.
Now I just have to let my boss know that my last day is quickly approaching. Yahoo!
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Baby Shower October 3, 2004
I had told AR that I didn't want a baby shower until after we had the referral because we didn't know how old the baby was going to be. Anyway, I was thinking that the baby shower would be kind of sad. My mom died in 1996 and it is so sad to think that she won't be here to see her grandchild. My original thought was not even to have a baby shower, or, if we had one, maybe to do it after the baby was home and make it a welcome home shower instead. I even told AR that the baby shower shouldn't be a surprise and we should just do it ourselves because my mom isn't here to do it. He told me not to worry about it and that was that.
So apparently, it was supposed to be a surprise, but my husband is no good at secrets. We received an invitation to a party on Sept 26. I asked AR if he wanted to go and I mentioned that we had a lot of stuff alreadyin Oct--on the 3rd and the 10th. "The 3rd? What do we have on the3rd????!" The FCC BBQ that I've had on the calendar for over a month. He got really upset. He just couldn't hide it and blurted out, "That's your shower. The invitations already went out. I forgot we had the BBQ." He knew I was really looking forward to the BBQ too. Sigh, why do I even write stuff on that blasted calendar if no one ever looks there???
My best friend, Gina, was orchestrating the whole thing and I didn't want her to know that I knew, so I pretended to be surprised. In the meantime, AR kept telling me stuff about the shower, but I drew the line at decorations and gifts. I wanted to be surprised by something! Gina threw me a baby shower and my uncle donated his house. He only lives 3 blocks from me and my grandmother, who bought me the crib, lives with him. Gina went crazy with decorations and food (her brother is a caterer) and it was all vegetarian! (I was vegetarian back then) All kinds of pasta - vodka, cavetelli/broccoli, veg lasagna, tortellini alfredo...Can I tell you how much pasta is in my freezer? I put everything in gladware and froze individual meals forwhen we return from China, so I am set there!
She made a diaper cake -did you ever see one of these? Using papertowels and toilet paper as the layers of cake, the diapers are pinnedto the rolls which form the layers. Then, ribbon is wrapped aroundand things are stuffed into the ribbon like baby spoons, socks,rattles etc. Looked very cute!She made corsages for me and grandma (actual great grandma) out of rolled up baby socks--they looked like flowers! She also has a computer program that makes wrappers for party favors. She made a wrapper that fits over a hershey bar. It had a stork carrying a bundle and when you looked at the bundles, it was Katrina's face! So cute!
She also dabbles in painting with watercolors. She painted a pictureof winnie the pooh and his friends. Each of them holding a balloon that spells out her name. She had it beautifully framed It is gorgeous! Gina's aunt, whom I have only met twice, was so impressed with AR and I and our adoption plans that she told Gina that she wanted to knit me a baby blanket. Well, not only did she knit the most beautiful yellow blanket ever, but she also knitted a yellow baby sweater to match. It is absolutely darling!
I am such a brat, I know, but since I knew about the shower, I kept checking the registry online to see what had been bought. I was disappointed because it did not appear that a lot of stuff was bought. (hey, I already noted that I was a brat!) Many people bought stuff I wanted, but not at babiesrus(hence the dupes) and 10 people gave me either a giftcard for babiesrus or money to buy what we wanted, so we made out really well. I can't believe that I thought about not having a shower! I still need to get waterproof mattress pads, bottles and other practical stuff, but I have so much stuff for the baby.
So apparently, it was supposed to be a surprise, but my husband is no good at secrets. We received an invitation to a party on Sept 26. I asked AR if he wanted to go and I mentioned that we had a lot of stuff alreadyin Oct--on the 3rd and the 10th. "The 3rd? What do we have on the3rd????!" The FCC BBQ that I've had on the calendar for over a month. He got really upset. He just couldn't hide it and blurted out, "That's your shower. The invitations already went out. I forgot we had the BBQ." He knew I was really looking forward to the BBQ too. Sigh, why do I even write stuff on that blasted calendar if no one ever looks there???
My best friend, Gina, was orchestrating the whole thing and I didn't want her to know that I knew, so I pretended to be surprised. In the meantime, AR kept telling me stuff about the shower, but I drew the line at decorations and gifts. I wanted to be surprised by something! Gina threw me a baby shower and my uncle donated his house. He only lives 3 blocks from me and my grandmother, who bought me the crib, lives with him. Gina went crazy with decorations and food (her brother is a caterer) and it was all vegetarian! (I was vegetarian back then) All kinds of pasta - vodka, cavetelli/broccoli, veg lasagna, tortellini alfredo...Can I tell you how much pasta is in my freezer? I put everything in gladware and froze individual meals forwhen we return from China, so I am set there!
She made a diaper cake -did you ever see one of these? Using papertowels and toilet paper as the layers of cake, the diapers are pinnedto the rolls which form the layers. Then, ribbon is wrapped aroundand things are stuffed into the ribbon like baby spoons, socks,rattles etc. Looked very cute!She made corsages for me and grandma (actual great grandma) out of rolled up baby socks--they looked like flowers! She also has a computer program that makes wrappers for party favors. She made a wrapper that fits over a hershey bar. It had a stork carrying a bundle and when you looked at the bundles, it was Katrina's face! So cute!
She also dabbles in painting with watercolors. She painted a pictureof winnie the pooh and his friends. Each of them holding a balloon that spells out her name. She had it beautifully framed It is gorgeous! Gina's aunt, whom I have only met twice, was so impressed with AR and I and our adoption plans that she told Gina that she wanted to knit me a baby blanket. Well, not only did she knit the most beautiful yellow blanket ever, but she also knitted a yellow baby sweater to match. It is absolutely darling!
I am such a brat, I know, but since I knew about the shower, I kept checking the registry online to see what had been bought. I was disappointed because it did not appear that a lot of stuff was bought. (hey, I already noted that I was a brat!) Many people bought stuff I wanted, but not at babiesrus(hence the dupes) and 10 people gave me either a giftcard for babiesrus or money to buy what we wanted, so we made out really well. I can't believe that I thought about not having a shower! I still need to get waterproof mattress pads, bottles and other practical stuff, but I have so much stuff for the baby.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Crisp New Money
With an adoption you have to pay a lot of fees. Fees to the adoption agency here in the U.S., fees to the orphanage in China, fees in China for notaries and passports, medical exams and on and on. Credit cards and checks are not acceptable forms of payment for these fees in China. We must pay in cash. Okay, that in and of itself makes me a little nervous because that is a lot of cash to carry. There is a $3,000 mandatory orphanage donation. Only two provinces allow this money to be wired and we were lucky because our daughter's province is one of them so we do not have to carry around this additional $3,000.
The money that we do need to bring must be brand new, not folded or bent money. I went to Commerce Bank in September and they actually ordered the money for me. I know yo aren't supposed to do this, but I put the new bills $5,000 in cash in my safe deposit box (I am fairly certain this is against the law). I certainly didn't want to carry around this money with me and I figured it would be safe there until we needed it. I didn't know then that the orphanage donation would be wire transferred, so all that means is that I have additional money that I can spend in China. I plan on buying whatever we need with cash versus credit cards. A lot of places in China do not take credit cards too, especially the little shops.
AR and I each have money belts so we will split up the cash and will each carry half. I will divide up the money into individual ziplock baggies and label each bag for the amount of the fee to be paid. The zippy bags will bulk up the money belt, but this seems to be the easiest way to keep the money flat and dry.
The money that we do need to bring must be brand new, not folded or bent money. I went to Commerce Bank in September and they actually ordered the money for me. I know yo aren't supposed to do this, but I put the new bills $5,000 in cash in my safe deposit box (I am fairly certain this is against the law). I certainly didn't want to carry around this money with me and I figured it would be safe there until we needed it. I didn't know then that the orphanage donation would be wire transferred, so all that means is that I have additional money that I can spend in China. I plan on buying whatever we need with cash versus credit cards. A lot of places in China do not take credit cards too, especially the little shops.
AR and I each have money belts so we will split up the cash and will each carry half. I will divide up the money into individual ziplock baggies and label each bag for the amount of the fee to be paid. The zippy bags will bulk up the money belt, but this seems to be the easiest way to keep the money flat and dry.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Visas Arrive!
Our visas were delivered on September 27, 2004. It took less than a week to get them. I didn't want to go into NYC to get it because then I would have to take off from work and I can't afford to waste any time off right now.
Most of our travel companions are flying from the midwest. They all seem to want to fly into Los Angeles and then get a connecting flight to Beijing. We've been toying with the idea of not stopping in LAX. We are thinking of going to go the direct non-stop flight from JFK to Beijing. However, we are finding that the flight appears and disappears when we are checking prices, meaning sometimes it is there and sometimes it isn't. We may just have to make our way to LAX and join the group after all. I guess it mostly depends on what happens when we are told to GO! andmake travel plans.
Most of our travel companions are flying from the midwest. They all seem to want to fly into Los Angeles and then get a connecting flight to Beijing. We've been toying with the idea of not stopping in LAX. We are thinking of going to go the direct non-stop flight from JFK to Beijing. However, we are finding that the flight appears and disappears when we are checking prices, meaning sometimes it is there and sometimes it isn't. We may just have to make our way to LAX and join the group after all. I guess it mostly depends on what happens when we are told to GO! andmake travel plans.
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