Hong Kong

We leave today at 4:30pm to go to Hong Kong.  It is a 3.5 hour bus ride, but it is one step closer to home!  Woohoo!  We fly out of Hong Kong on Friday for US soil.  We are ready.  As soon as we land in the US, our sweet little Lyla is an American Citizen.  It happens that we land in Minnesota, so she will be an official US citizen in Minnesota and we will hand over all paperwork to the Customs at the airport.  Paul and I had tears in our eyes at the Oath Ceremony yesterday. 

 

Lyla's antibiotics ran out  for her ear infection and this morning she woke up with a fever and her ear was red from pulling at it all night.  The antibiotics the "clinic" here in China gave us only lasted 4 days.  A lot of their medicine are herbs and although it said "Amoxicillin"  I doubt it even  helped her.  Someone said that it was also available in the drugstore next to the hotel over-the-counter!  We were given these little packets and were told to give her 4/5ths a packet mixed with 50ml of water...WHAT????  I tried to follow the directions, but it was a little difficult to measure out 4/5ths.   Fortunately, we have a doctor travelling with us (his family also adopted) and I asked him what to do. I even suggested we go back to the clinic today to have her looked at again.  He was so kind and said he had brought some antibiotics with him. He asked for Lyla's weight and gave me enough for 5 days!  It was American medicine (azythromicin?) and I didn't have to mix it with water and force her to drink it!  I was so excited.  I am not normally one to just give antibiotics on a whim, but not knowing whether her infection was gone (which I seriously doubt it was) and having to fly on Friday with infected ears is not a combination we want for 14 hours on a plane!  

 

There are several in our group who have mysteriously gotten a stomach bug...throwing up and diarhea...yuck!   The Spitler's son came down with it last night.  We are praying it doesn't hit our family.  Praying and Probiotics have helped so far.   There is a nurse travelling with the group who brought anti-nausea medicine in pill form and shots and she has been "visiting the sick" with her medicine...

 

God is great to have provided medical care to our group!!!

 

Please keep praying.  We understand now why people kiss the ground when they land on American soil...Charlotte airport will be a welcome sight!

Rough night

Last night was a bit rough, but we have been extremely fortunate up to this point. Lyla woke up just after midnight, and we weren't able to get her settled until well after 1:30am. Just a small cough and needing some TLC I guess. Leaving her to "cry it out" is really not something we can fully commit to until we get home. Being in the same room and having neighbors in the hotel doesn't let that last too long. So about the only thing that has proven effective is to hold her in my arms, sing to her, and rock back and forth. Usually stroking her head also helps. I was running out of things to sing (besides making up words to songs or repeating them over and over), so I have pulled out my MP3 player and put it in one ear. I then hum or quietly sing along with it. Chris Tomlin sings some good lullaby music! If I ever heard myself sing or if anyone asks me to repeat it, I'll deny I have ever said this!

Due to the shorter than normal sleep, she's also taking her first morning nap. Though the crib wouldn't do. It's on my lap while I am in a chair with my feet propped up. I finished the book I was reading, so I've picked up my BlackBerry (and writing this post) to buy some time. I think my whole rear end is asleep, but I've been eating so much this trip, there is some extra padding that will hopefully buy me a few extra minutes of semi-comfort.

Uh oh, she's waking up!

Later, Paul


Sent on my Sprint BlackBerry

Touring Guangzhou

As stated in a previous post, we have been in Guangzhou since Friday.  We will leave late Wednesday afternoon, so this makes for the longest leg of our travels.  We had our first Chinese taxi ride today, which was fairly uneventful since our guide wrote down taxi driver instructions for the place we needed to go, Carrefour - a French-based Walmart of sorts, to reload on some diapers and snacks.  The instructions were written in Chinese characters, and we had a business card of the hotel to get back, so the only worry was that we were in a smaller vehicle bouncing around the streets rather than in our usual huge tour bus.  The taxi brought the realities of city driving more personal, but thankfully the windows were a little fogged from the rain and there was a TV screen in the backseat to distract us!

After returning to the hotel for a nap, this afternoon we opted for some sightseeing instead of more shopping.  Only two families (out of 19) opted for the sightseeing and we have become good friends with the other family that was with us last week in Nanjing, so it felt very personal to have just them, us, and one of our 2 tour guides all to ourselves.  We ended up at a very neat art exhibit that was housed on the grounds of an old family temple / school (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangdong/guangzhou/chen_family.htm).  There were all sorts of folk art from this area (pictures above) of things carved in nuts (size of a walnut), bone (the hanging flower pot), wood (crab carvings that were over 8' tall and almost 3' wide from what must have been a tree trunk), embroidery (the "painting" of the landscape), and stone (roof tops).  It was really nice to go at our own pace.  The final spot was a quick visit to a locally significant statue of the Five Rams (http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangdong/guangzhou/yuexiu.htm).  It depicts a myth of the founding of the city, and it is also prominently featured in many signs around the city including the logo for the 2010 Asian Games behind held here in November.

Our memories of Guangzhou will definitely include the weather.  It is the warmest place we have been, and it is extremely humid. Rain showers can strike at anytime.  Our clothes hanging in the tub still haven't completely dried after 3 days, and there is a constant wet feeling.  Even though we eat breakfast on the 45th floor of the hotel in the rotating restaurant, the visibility has never been that great to see more than a mile in any direction.

Tomorrow we "swear in" Lyla at the US Consulate for her Visa.  I think it will allow her to become an American citizen as soon as we touch down on US Soil, but who really knows?  At this point, we're just going where they tell us and longing to come back to see everyone we've missed for the last week and a half.  

We are looking forward to Thursday, where we will now have a full day in Hong Kong to look around the city all on our own (no guide will be with us).  Since it was a British colony, we've been told it should be pretty easy to get around and communicate, but let us know if you know of anything we should definitely discover (email at paulbeckywuerslin at gmail dot com)!  Dim Sum will definitely be a part of the plan...

Lyla

Paul and Lyla are taking a nap and I thought I would take advantage of the connection being good...

 

We have had a lot of questions about Lyla being in our room and how that is going.  Lyla is used to noise and light when she sleeps (I guess).  Paul and I can talk, type, watch TV and she does not wake up!  It is GREAT!!  She is easy to get to sleep, too.  All we do is rock her, sing her songs and when she falls asleep, we put her in the crib and she sleeps the whole night. 

 

She woke up happy this morning.  She has been cooing all day.   She has her appetite back also.  For a couple of days, she wasn't eating a lot.  I think her ears are feeling better.   

 

She has been crawling a lot more.  When we first got her, we were able to stick her on the bed, and she sat there in one place playing with one toy.  Now, she is crawling everywhere!  When I go to the bathroom, I hear heavy breathing coming down the little hall and sure enough, she is right outside the door waiting for me.  She waves backwards and when she crawls to us, she waves "hi".  It is sweet! 

 

She is definitely taking advantage of being held.  She loves it when we pick her up. I don't think she was held much and so she loves crawling up to us and laughs when we actually pick her up.  It is fun!  She also loves going out in the stroller.  She looks at everything and loves being outside!

 

I think Jarrett and Sarah are going to have a lot of fun with her.  I miss them so much, but I do think these days alone with Lyla are a blessing because we are able to get to know her.  It would be harder with everyone around. Chrissy and my Dad are taking great care of Sarah and Jarrett and it is so nice not to have to worry about them.

 

Here is a list of what things I miss the most (besides family and friends):

Chick Fil A

Clean Floors (they give slippers to wear in every room, but they could save money if they just vacuumed)

Hamburgers

Clean Clothes (I brought 4 pairs of pants and have not washed them since we got here!!!)

Air Condition

Sandwich Meat

Salad

Oatmeal (I actually have been craving it!)

Coffee (fresh brewed from beans...not instant!)

Apples (we are not supposed to eat fruit that we cannot peel... so we have had oranges, lychees and bananas)

My Hair  dryer!!!!!!

 

There is so much more I can add!  It has really been a great trip, overall!  We have met so many nice people and our guides have been great.  Thank you for your prayers.  We will need them on Friday for our 24 hours of travelling!! 

 

I miss you all!

 

love,

Becky

 

New Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17894200@N07/

Guangzhou

Hello Everyone,

 

We have hard time getting connected to our Email here at the hotel, so it has been difficult to update everyone.  We are in Guangzhou, China right now,  It is one of the 4 largest cities in China.  HUGE!!  Our hotel is wonderful!  It has a revolving restaurant at the top that we eat breakfast at every morning.  We are on the 34th floor! 

 

The reason we are in Guangzhou is for our US Consulate appointment to get a Visa for Lyla to go home.  It takes a while for the paperwork to be processed and for them to issue a Visa.  There are 19 other families with us and several other families at other hotels that we have met, who are adopting and everyone has to come through Guangzhou.  I am sure the Consulate office is pretty busy.  We are hoping to get our Visa for Lyla by Wednesday and then leaving on Wednesday (instead of Thursday) for Hong Kong so we get an extra day there. 

 

One thing I am having fun with is the language!  They understand me here!  YAY!!  It has been neat to get some practice. Guangzhou used to be known as Canton to Westerners, and the Chinese dialect they speak, Cantonese, is what I know.  Most everyone here speaks Cantonese....same with Hong Kong!

 

Lyla had a doctors appointment the morning after we got here.  It is one of the requirements for the Consulate to issue a Visa.  She had to get 5 shots!  She was not happy.  But they also discovered she had an ear infection (which she is prone to because of her cleft palate).  So thank goodness we got that taken care of!  It was funny, because we did not know she was going to need shots and when they told us it was going to cost about 2000 Yuan, we were shocked and of course we didn't have it on us.  But our Guide covered it for the families that needed shots and we paid her back ( I am assuming she has been in this predicament before)....whew!  

 

Lyla is crawling more.  It is kind of gross, because she gets her pants all black after she crawls around the hotel floor.  We give her a bath every night and have been doing laundry.  It will be nice when she is home.  I am sure she is going to have lots of fun on our floors! 

 

Happy Mother's Day to all of our Mother's!  We love you!  I miss you!

 

Love,

Becky

 

P.s. Pictures are from here in Guangzhou on Shamian Island (used to be leased to the British / French).  It's where we've had Lyla's medical appointment, parks, shopping, U.S. Consulate, and the White Swan Hotel (famous for adoption families but not where we are staying).

Lyla's first plane ride

You're probably wondering who is holding Lyla in the picture.  Read on, it gets better.

If this first 2 hour plane ride from Nanjing to Guangzhou was going to be a test for the 14+ hour segments we have back to the U.S., does this statement from Becky shed any light on how it went, "Paul, I want to buy a house in Guangzhou.  We are never flying on another plane again!"  Needless to say, it was a bit frustrating and humbling for the both of us.

Lyla had taken a good 1.5 hour nap before we left for the airport in Nanjing, so most indications were that she would be in pretty good spirits for the flight.  However, she hadn't been eating all that well today (mostly just bottles and snacking on Cheerios), and she was even a little grumpy in the morning during a tour through some gardens.  Her performance during that tour earned her the nickname "Little Dragon" from our guide, Susan.  Apparently Lyla growling whenever the stroller would stop too long for her liking somehow made the nickname stick.  After learning that the Chinese in-country airlines don't mess around when it comes to overweight luggage (I think we bought a few too many things over our last stop), we also learned that Lyla would be on our lap for this segment.  Thankfully, we will her own seat for her on our international flights back to the U.S.

Boarding the plane and everything went well, but around or just after takeoff, Little Dragon started spewing some flames.  So much so that the Chinese woman, probably about 50, sitting right next to Becky started trying to talk to Lyla, the row behind us started to try to talk to Lyla, and even a woman in the row behind us would pop her head over the seat every minute or so to check what was going on.  All of them buzzing about in Mandarin Chinese, so we only had our thoughts to imagine what they were saying about us.  ;)  Yes everyone, there is a Little Dragon in the seat next to / in front of you, and apparently these folks travelling with her don't know how to calm her down once they have tried her favorite two toys, giving her a bottle, bouncing with her on the seat, cradling her, feeding her Cheerios, and then repeating everything at least 3 times in a random order.  

We didn't feel like very good parents and it only got better when the woman sitting next to Becky finally extended her arms towards Lyla and insisted that she take Lyla from us.  The woman immediately coddles Lyla, starts talking to her sweetly in Mandarin Chinese, and then starts singing what must have been a Chinese lullaby.  Once Lyla got in her arms, the Little Dragon lost her vigor, and she actually fell asleep a little while later.  Over the next hour or so of the flight, we insisted that we take sleeping Lyla back, but this woman would have none of that.  "She'll wake up" she gestured.  The attendants served dinner, but the woman insisted we eat while she held Lyla.  After eating, again we asked, but no, "she'll wake up."  After what seemed like at least an hour had passed, Lyla finally woke up, and finally the "lame" parents got to take back a rested baby.  Lyla did pretty well for a while, but eventually the Little Dragon resurfaced.  Once again, the woman next to us extended her arms, and Lyla relaxed into them (picture above).  Pretty soon, the 2 hour flight came to an end, and most of the people sitting around us probably felt like going up to the woman sitting next to us and giving her countless Thank you's or High 5's (if there was such a thing in the Chinese culture).  If that Lady had no been next to us, there would have been two crazy parents and one Little Dragon at their wits end.  

We're on the "road to recovery" now :) , but it's humbling to know that people are willing to help you.  It took a LOT to swallow our pride and let someone else step in.  It's hard to not feel like bad parents for a while.  We know that we're not the perfect solution for Lyla right now, and despite the disappointment knowing that there are some gaps that we have to overcome with Lyla to become better for her, we know that really soon we WILL be her favorite place.  It's really hard to thank God for the humility that he shows us along the way, but we are growing from this.  We know that we can't do this on our own, and we need family and friends, spiritual guidance, and even sometimes strangers to show us a better way.  

God bless and good night (almost midnight here)!

Lyla's Orphanage

Paul and I had the privelege of going to Lyla's orphanage yesterday. It was amazing!  There is a group called Half The Sky Foundation that the Nannies are trained by and work for.  Apparently they are an awesome foundation that trains nannies on how to get the kids on a routine and work with them on their various skills.  Although Lyla cannot walk yet, she is able to say "Mama" and clap and do other things that have been taught to her.   They gave us their entire routine.  The only thing we were skeptical on was the "TV" time from 4:00 to 5:00....hahaha!  Even nannies need a break!   We are so thankful.  The routine is why she takes naps easily and sleeps through the night. 

 

 The orphanage seemed big!  The first thing we saw when  we walked through the door of the orphanage were that the walls had murals of cartoon characters, there was a playground and a beautiful garden...it looked very much like a school!  The nannies all gathered around us and Lyla's nannies came up to us and grabbed her from us and immediately took her to the playroom to play with her. Lyla went to them and seemed very happy.  She was laughing and kicking her legs.  It happened to be naptime for Lyla's age kids.  It was so neat!  There were about 20 cribs all pushed together in a room with the lights on and the kids were all very quiet!  Some were sleeping and some were awake.  But there was not a sound.  Right next to that room there was a playroom with colorful mats, toys, swings, games, boppy pillows, etc.  That is where they play and learn. 

 

It didn't make us sad at all, but glad to be able to see where she was raised her first year of life.  It gave us a peace of mind to know she was well taken care of!

 

BTW, our guide has nicknamed our sweet little Lyla, "Little Dragon"!!!  Does that tell you anything about her personality?   We now have 3 Little Dragons in the Wuerslin house.

 

Last few days in Nanjing

This is Becky...

Lyla is sleeping right now.  She is has been sleeping through the night 8am -8pm and she takes a 2-3 hour nap...exactly what I was hoping she would be doing!  It's wonderful! Today we have made progress!  Lyla has had a lot of energy today.  I taught her "Lyla" and "Mommy" and she pats herself and me.  She also now knows how to nod her head Yes and shake her head No, except she does it all the time!  She has been crying when I leave the room.  She has really bonded with me and  I love it!  She was on her tummy today and I held out my arms and said 'come to Mommy' and she was laughing and crawled right into my arms!  It was so wonderful.  She says "Mama" also!

 

Paul has been spoiling her and rocking her to sleep.  It is beautiful to see him singing and rocking her, but she totally is manipulating us because at the orphanage, they just laid the kids down and they were all quiet, and in 1 big room!   When we lay her down, she cries!    Hmmmm....   I did notice today that she likes to make sure we are still there.  It breaks my heart.  When we are wheeling her in the stroller, she keeps looking up or back at us to make sure we are there.  When she is falling asleep, she keeps opening her eyes to look at us and then she closes them, if we move and she can't see us, she cries.  She laughs when she sees us in the morning.  She is the most tempermental of the two other kids here, but I think it is funny.  I was so uptight with Sarah and Jarrett but with Lyla, I am just relaxed and so thankful to be with her.

 

One thing another family and us noticed is that the kids just play with 1 toy all day.  Lyla has a rattle and she holds onto it for dear life ALL DAY!!   A little boy came up to her and tried to take it and she held on tight with both hands and growled at him.  He gave up!   She can be picked up or be riding in a stroller and she is clinging to it the entire time. She only lets go after she has fallen asleep.  It's so funny....wait till she sees our playroom!    The other family's son does the same thing!   I remember I was constantly picking up toys that Sarah and Jarrett dropped off the side of their strollers because they got tired of them.  

 

People keep giving us "double takes", especially seeing Paul walking with a little Chinese baby.  I stopped counting the other day.   To the younger generation, you would think we were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  People actually have taken our picture...like we don't know what they are doing when they nonchalantly stand next to us while someone snaps their picture.  The older generation looks down on adoption because of pride.  It is a sign of a poor economy and they don't want the Chinese babies to be "lost faces" in the world.  They take pride in who they are and want the babies to be raised here in China.  Today, for the first time,  I saw one lady with 2 kids!!  Our guide said that people could "apply" to the government to have another child if they wanted to...isn't that sad?

 

We had a great day at a beautiful lake and a silk factory.  Our guide is wonderful and always gets us back in time for lunch and naptime for the kids.  We are always free in the evenings to wander.  We have tried some great food and some "mystery" food.  Our favorite so far is a little Chinese Dumpling place around the corner of our hotel.  We have been there a couple of times in the last 3 days and  we only pay 10 RMB (about $1.50) for 6 dumplings.  The dumplings are bigger than the size of your fist and we can't even eat all of them, but we just like to try the different ones they have.  

 

I love the deals we get here!  I got a leather belt for $1.50 the other day from a vendor.  Paul and I have gotten the knack of bargaining.  I talke someone down from 180 RMB to 50 RMB yesterday!!  Wooohooo!   We did notice that namebrands (unless it is a knock off) are just as much here as they are in the states, but if you don't care about the name (like my belt), you can get a great deal!

 

Thank you for your e-mails and facebook messages!  She is truly a joy and we cannot wait for her to be home.

We leave in a few hours for our flight to Guangzhou where we will spend most of the next week.  Until then!

New Photos

Our connection in China to our Google Picasa pictures is broken again, so the picture stream above cannot be updated.  We have updated the Flickr album with more pictures not yet posted to this blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17894200@N07/

Arriving in Nanjing

This is an entry from a few days ago that never got posted.  Enjoy!

Hello Everyone!

This is Becky...

We flew into the province of Nanjing today where we will be meeting our

little Lyla tomorrow morning at 10:00 at the Civil Affairs office!  What an

exciting time!

I love Nanjing.  It is a wonderful place!  Our hotel is a 5 star hotel right

in the center of a bunch of neat Chinese shops.  We went to a grocery store

around the corner and it was clean, neat, and had a bunch of Chinese foods

in it.  I wish my mom were here, she would love it!  There is a Chinese

Dumpling place, restaurants, shops, and street vendors all around.  It is

all clean and neat and within walking distance of our hotel!  I LOVE IT

HERE!!  What a change compared to the crowds in Beijing!

We found out today that we will get the opportunity to see the orphanage

where Lyla was!  It must be a very nice facility because they normally do

not allow the parents to see the orphanages.  We have been blessed!  She had

a great home!  We also will get the opportunity to meet her friends and

nannies when we go.  We just bought a bunch of Chinese cookies to take with

us for a treat for the kids.

One other family (out of 19 families that we have met through our

organization) we are with has a baby in the same orphanage and we thought

they might be friends.  The babies are the same age and after comparing

pictures, they must have been taken on the same day because they are in the

same poses in the same background with the same people.  We thought it would

be neat if they were little playmates.

We only get to stay here for 4 days.  There are a few meetings tomorrow and

the next few days before we leave for Guangzhou for 7 days where everything

becomes finalized and we get a Visa for her from the US Consulate to go back

home with us.

We are nervous about tomorrow, so please pray for us!

Love always,

Paul and Becky

Pwuerslin.ee98@gtalumni.org - 704-879-1406

She is ours!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

Wow.  What a couple of hours this morning.  A wide range of emotions.

Last night was great!  Lyla slept well (about 10 hours) and we had to wake her up this morning (in hindsight probably not a good idea). We bought a web cam at the store yesterday, so we got to do a video chat with the kids and everyone else back in Charlotte before going down for breakfast.  Let us know if you have a Skype account, and you could see your new little Wuerslin (hint, hint grandparents and family).  Another awesome buffet breakfast, but Becky did have to leave early to change the first "dirty" one...  Mommy and child were both pleased with the progress, and so was Daddy for not having to be a part of that one.

Just before leaving the lobby with the other 2 families to go over to the Civil Affairs office to complete the final adoption paperwork, we started making small talk with our guide about how the kids were doing.  We mentioned that Lyla is just "army" crawling and not standing a lot or walking yet.  This didn't necessarily concern us, for we have heard similar accounts from other adoption parents about kids being developmentally behind for their age due to neglect or lack of nutrition.  However, our guide took Lyla for a walk, and Lyla just didn't want much to do but occasionally tap the ground with her feet.  No standing or stiff legged walking like most children would do.  This really concerned our guide, and the expression on her face changed.  She took us aside and said that she was really concerned about Lyla and that this was not normal.  She said the words "mental issues" and we got a pit in our stomachs.  She wanted to try and get us to see a doctor before our adoption appointment, so she went off to make some calls.

Becky and I just kind of looked at each other with shock on each other's faces.  We loaded the bus anyways, and as Becky and I talked about all of this on the way over to sign the final papers, we were nervous about the possibilities.  Our concern was never are we not going to adopt her, but should we still go and see a doctor to stop any worry?  At that point, I fired off an email from my BlackBerry to our family to request prayers, and we proceeded on our way over to the civil affairs office.  While at the office, our guide once again pulled us aside and let us know that going through with the paperwork right now before seeing a doctor would make it very difficult to do anything about any "findings" of the doctor.  At that point, I just had to reiterate to the guide that we still knew that we were going to be the parents of this child.  No matter if there are more serious issues, there wasn't anything we could or would do about it here, and seeing a doctor over here would just confuse things.  We had a peace about it as we went through the final paperwork process (see some pictures above).

Once we got to the orphanage (another post coming with more details about that wonderful experience), even our guide was more convinced after talking to the nannies and directors that nothing was serious with "mental" issues with Lyla.  It is more strength and standing / walking skills due to her not getting enough nutrition due her previous cleft lip.  Lyla is also a slow eater, and perhaps that also has to do with her not getting enough food.  This girl has a larger head and her limbs are long, but her muscle development hasn't kept up.  These are all things that generally improve once the children get on a more nutritional diet and then will begin to thrive.  In the end, we thanked our guide for her concern and that she did her job to raise those concerns to us.  Perhaps this was some other battle thrown our way, but we didn't break.  Our God has a plan for this child, and that verse from the Bible in Jeremiah says it all.

Next up for us is sightseeing tomorrow, picking up the notarized adoption paperwork, and then applying for Lyla's Chinese passport.  Once we have the passport, we will fly to Guangzhou on Friday where we have several days of appointments with the US Consulate to get her back to our country!

God bless!

Paul and Becky

Gotcha Day!

We got to meet our Lyla today! She came to both of us right away
without a peep. I wore a colorful necklace and she kept playing and
playing with it. She is a happy baby! Her palate has not yet been
fixed, but boy can she eat some food!! For lunch she had a bottle,
entire piece of bread, rice and a steamed egg (like a souffle) and
some crackers. She is chubby and full of life. Our tour guide was
taking us shopping for diapers and she pointed to us and said "you
need to buy the extra large one, your baby is chubby!" Isn't that
great? She is healthy! We prayed for that.

The orphanage gave us a Memory Book and pictures of her playing inside
and outside. Apparently, a humanitarian organization is associated
with our orphanage and people come in and play and teach the babies!
It is AMAZING!!! We were shocked to get all that we did! They gave
us a blanket, doll and Lyla had new clothes and shoes on! We also saw
a birthday picture of Lyla and her "friends" and sure enough, another
couple travelling with us got a little boy, and he is in it!!! They
were buddies!! We took lots of pictures of them!
She already has a favorite toy and will not let go of it. I had to
"gently" pull it out of her hand when she fell asleep because it
rattles and I was afraid it would startle her. She has also tried to
grab some of the other baby's toys…I think we have the orphanage
bully.

She has this adorable little growl when she is upset or mad. It is
hillarious. She hasn't cried much at all (hungry and tired and it
wasn't really a cry, just a growl) and seems to be adjusting to us
very well!

I rocked her to sleep today for an afternoon nap. She kept looking at
me and closing her eyes then opening them to look at me and then
falling asleep. She seems to know I am Mommy. She is ADORABLE!!!

We cannot wait to bring her home to Sarah and Jarrett. They are going
to love her!

On the bus...

We just met Lyla for the first time. She is now "unofficially" our daughter, but there is no way we are letting go of her now! The last hour was wonderful. More to come, but here is the first photo of many.
Sent on my Sprint BlackBerry

A local restaurant

The most interesting experience so far was dinner tonight.  We are in a nice hotel in a very commercial part of the city, so you may figure that the Chinese restaurant across the street would have some out of town visitors occasionally.  I think their total preparation for us consisted of having one menu in English.  While we could read the names for things and see prices, we would come to find out that we had no concept of the "heat" (spiciness) or quantity of the food.  We have 10 in our group right now so we had a big group at dinner.  After ordering one family at a time (which was an experience in itself because I think we went through at least two waitresses that each knew very little English), the dishes started coming, and coming, and coming.  Our whole table was covered in food after a while, and we were sure there was no way we could have meant to order this much.  In the end, we found out that Beef with Peppers means "hot" peppers and not green bell peppers, that a single order of soup can feed the whole restaurant, and that you don't say "that's beautiful" about the artwork they parade in front of you to buy, because that only means despite your intent to not buy it, they will show you about 4 others equally as nice.  Keep in mind that only about two employees of the whole restaurant know any English at all.

In the end, it was an unforgettable experience, and one I know that we will look back on and laugh.  That is if the next several hours our stomachs don't rebel on us from all of the peppers we ate.

Do you have an exercise room?

One funny thing happened this morning.  We are staying at a very nice hotel, so this was a little weird.

Becky and I woke up this morning and felt like a workout.  We got dressed in typical running apparel, grabbed a water bottle, and headphones, and set off to find a treadmill or something else inside. We figured with the smog, unfamiliar surroundings, and taking a chance with our lives on the streets of Beijing with all of the bikes, taxis, and buses, it would be a better bet to look for something inside.  The hotel brochure in our room shows a pool and says something about "Recreation", so we figured we would give it a shot.  After looking on three of the lower floors, we decided it would be best to approach the front desk and ask.  I said, "Do you have an exercise room?"  I got a weird look, so I made a running motion with my arms, lifted some air weights over my head, and said "treadmill?"  The clerk kind of giggled and said "No, we don't have that."

So, no workout.  The Great Wall climb was a decent substitute, but something about a vacation makes me want to exercise with the free time.  I am pretty sure our hotels for our next two cities will have facilities.  That is, if you trust a web site and pictures...

Our photos have posted!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17894200@N07/

Please go here for our photos so far.  We will update the blog with a post if more pictures are added.

Day 2 - Crafty shops and We Are Heroes!

Today is pretty much described by the picture you see. Traffic and waiting were the name of the game. In fact, I'm writing this from the bus on my BlackBerry while we're stopped in a parking lot at a Great Wall site behind at least 7 other buses. Those are only what we can see. As this is a National Holiday weekend, think about showing up to Disney World on Christmas or Washington DC during the Bicentennial. That's what it feels like. Everyone wanted to get to the Great Wall today, and 2 lane freeways turned into 4 lane parking lots.

First thing of the day was an International Church service. You have to show a passport that you are a foreigner to be allowed in. Much like many church plants back in the US, it was held in some sort of an auditorium with stadium seating. A very diverse group of people from all over the world, but thankfully the service was in English - http://bicf.org

Next was a Jade factory where it was pretty much like the Pearl store we failed to mention yesterday. They give you some info as a group about their craft, tell you how to spot fakes, and then guarantee their's is authentic. Then it's into huge showrooms where many employees follow you around, as politely as a pushy sales person can be, to ask if you would like to try something on or view something from a case.

Pretty much the same thing with a Cloisonne place before lunch. We did succumb to the pressure with a nice Ox ornament (her Chinese birth year) for Lyla.

Then it was back in the traffic and an extremely slow journey to the Great Wall in the incredible traffic. Once we made it to the Great Wall section at Juyong Guan, we scaled a steep section shoulder to shoulder with people all of the world. Several photos to come, I promise.

As I have been writing, we moved maybe 10 feet! We're on the way!

Sent on my Sprint BlackBerry

Pictures coming

Our normal photo sharing site, Picasa Web Albums, is blocked from our Internet access here in China, so we will probably be switching our photo album over to Flickr.  Stay tuned!

Beijing - Day 1 - Lots of people and many sights

Day 1 of Beijing was filled with a lot of sightseeing and meeting new friends.  The first two days of our trip, we get to be in the roles of "normal" tourists with other Adopting Families.  We have met many people with America World.  There are 19 families with us who are adopting as well.  They are all very nice and we hope we have found some lasting friendships.  We all stick out in a crowd of Chinese people and the blondes in the group are stared at and have had a lot of pictures taken by strangers!  It's like a people Freak Show!

A bus drops us off and picks us up at the sights, our tour guide herds our group (which we have learned is 20 families with at least 60 people), and we eat at buffets.  The first day was filled with sights from Tian' an Men Square (a.k.a. Tiananmen), the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace.

Tian' an Men Square was the first stop.  As a very large square, Tian' an Men can hold a lot of people.  And that's a good thing, for we learned that this weekend, May 1st, is one of the two Chinese national Labor Day holidays (other being October 1st).  Most office workers in China have the day off, so people from all parts of the country are travelling.  Beijing is the policital and cultural center of China, so of course a lot of them come here.  Tian' an Men is the first stop for many, for the flow of pedestrian traffic is somewhat directed by the police one-way through this area at the center of Beijing.  

The first thing we get once we step off of the bus at Tian' an Men is "want to buy a rolex?"  It would only be the first time of many.  As we're instructed by the tour guide, we shouldn't even make eye contact with street vendors, and certainly don't say "no thank you."  That would only start the negotiation process...  People are walking around selling everything from watches, to hats, Communist books, flags, etc.  We have resisted so far, but these folks are persistent.

The only way for us to follow our tour guide Rosa, is to look for the blue "America World" flag she is holding.  It sounds like a good idea for the tour guide to have something as unique as a flag, but apparently this is not unique here.  All of the tour guides have flags and some even have bullhorns or a mic and speakers.  Some other flags are blue, red, with writing and streamers.  In the U.S., it's popular for tour groups or family reunions to wear T-Shirts all of the same color.  The identifying group clothing here is Hats.  All kinds of hats from groups all wearing visors or ball caps...all except our group, which is why we got separated the at Tain' an Men square and had to ask a group of Chinese kids passing by if we could borrow their phone to call our tour guide for a meeting place.

The Forbidden City was beautiful.  Aside from the pushy crowds, we did get to enjoy the beauty of the buildings.  The toilets in the Forbidden City should be just that...Forbidden!  YUCK!!  Our group of American women went in to this tent like structure marked "TOILETS" and saw about 15-20 holes in the ground and people squatting everywhere...no doors, no toilet paper.  That is when you just hold it and wish you had a Depends on.  Needless to say, we just walked out until we found a hole in a private stall :)  It gives you a new appreciation for American bathrooms and is good practice for camping!

The bus ride from the Forbidden City over to the Summer Palace was pretty much like an amusement park roller coaster.  We sat near the front of the bus, so we were able to look out at the oncoming traffic.  Whether our bus driver was trying to have fun with us, or just get us to our next drop off point quickly, we dodged countless pedestrians, headon cars, bikes, and pretty much everything else.  After a while, Becky's right foot was so tired from trying to apply the brakes for the driver, that she had to look away. At the Summer Palace, which had a very nice lake and beautiful grounds, we had a nice boat ride and some great pictures.  

Our last stop of the day was over to the Olympic Park where the Birds Nest stadium and Water Cube aquatics area are.  It is an amazing site!  The architecture is unbelievable.  We took lots of pictures and Paul had to take a few extra with some Chinese people who kept jumping in while he was trying to pose!  

The Scenery was beautiful!  We have lots of pictures to share (still trying to post them)!

Today, we are going to a church service for 'foreigners' and then will be going to the Great Wall!  

Paul & Becky