Having fun with Lia and mommy.

Lia is doing very well. She is fun to be around. She's babbling and teething more and more. She is a very sweet and content baby. Her newest milestone is that she is eating with a spoon. Ice cream didn't work, but mango pudding did. She loves it! (By the way, the water bottle has become her favorite toy).

On Sunday we went to a Chinese folk art museum. The architecture was beautiful! Lia did great on the bus ride and walking around.

Today (Tuesday) we had our USA consulate appointment. Everything went well. In the afternoon we visited Shamian Island. There was a beautiful park, beautiful old buildings and lots of shopping. This Island is also where the "White Swan Hotel" is located. We had a cup of Jasmine green tea and dessert in the White Swan, over looking the Pearl River. Of course we had to take the classic red sofa photo of Lia. In the evening, we went out for dinner and ended up at 1001 Nights Restaurant (Arabic food) with another couple from our group.

Tomorrow we go to the US Consulate for the Oath Ceremony, no cameras allowed! (pray that Amy won't get me in any trouble)

PICTURES!

Hello family and friends. Keith here..... finally we have pictures of Lia for you to see. We're sorry for the delay in getting the blog updated. We've had some email problems.

We are thoroughly enjoying and LOVING Lia! She is doing very well and bonding to both Amy and I. What an experience it was to walk into the hotel lobby in Nanchang on Monday, August 16 and to see our baby coming down the stairs and being placed into Amy's arms. As any other parent would say, "Oh what a feeling" it is to hold your first child! We both LOVE it! We are so thankful to God for Lia! What a blessing it is.

A brief explanation of the pictures...

Two pictures of our 1st day with Lia, our first evening together, just hours after doing all the Chinese paperwork and the Civil Affairs office across the street on Monday, August 16.

Celebrating Amy's birthday on August 18. There was no better gift then for Amy to hold Lia on her birthday. Our guide and the hotel staff delivered flowers and a cake. Amy was overwhelmed when they sang Happy Birthday in Chinese and English. Lia was napping and didn't wake up at all. What a little trooper.

We are really enjoying China. The people are wonderful, the Chinese food is great(although we did skip the head of the chicken that was delivered with one meal) and the sights are amazing. It has been busy with adjusting to living life with a baby, doing paperwork and documents for the adoption (our guides have been terrific in handling things) and getting in some sights. When we left the city of Nanchang on Friday, I got my first in public diaper duty at the airport... of course it was right before boarding the plane. Whew... I did make it just in time!

Love to all... from us three!

Preparing for the Consulate Appointment

 Lia's medical appointment went well.  It was a good thing that we went to the clinic so early, since it did get very busy later on.  The babies were weighed and examined.  Lia was not too crazy about her check up, but that's understandable.  As we were leaving, we saw a lot of adoptive families coming in.  It was such an exciting place to be. You could just feel the excitement.  You could see the apprehensiveness of the children, in comparison with the excitement of the parents. 

Keith met with our guide this afternoon for a paperwork party.  All the documents have been checked and are ready for the Consulate appointment on Monday.  The party went for an hour and a half. 

Lia has got  4 teeth on top, and 2 on the bottom.  I could have sworn that she only had 2 on top when we met her.  When she smiles, she sticks her tongue out.  It is such a sweet smile.  We've been fortunate that she sleeps throughout the night.  She's been very quiet, but more of her personality is coming out each day. 

She loves music.  My singing is breaking the language barrier, and helping with bonding.  Her favorite song is "I was walking in the park one day, in the merry month of May".  We also listen to Chinese children songs on my I Touch.   I have no idea what those kids are singing, but Lia sure is happy about it! 

Tomorrow morning we are going to a museum and then we have time on our own. We're looking forward to some free time.

Greetings from Guangzhou!

We had lunch with our guide and her boyfriend; it's great to eat with a guide since they can teach you a lot about the culture.  They gave me some lessons to improve my chopstick skills (there were absolutely no forks in sight, and I was very hungry)...Keith has it down very well.  Lia takes the restaurants in stride.  She's quite a little trooper. She gets a lot of attention, so it does help.  After the meal, we had to cross the street (the restaurant was opposite the hotel).  It's just still scarey to me.

Today we packed up to fly to Guangzhou, where we will be processing U.S. paperwork.  It was kind of heartbreaking to leave Nanchung since we developed nice friendships with the hotel staff. It also is a connection to Lia's home, so I was very sad to leave. 

We were in the Nanchung airport with a lot of other families. It was amazing to see all the little babies and see the excitement in all of our eyes!  The flight was interesting; Lia did pretty well with it.  Thank goodness babies are so tolerant, and so resilient.  After getting our suitcases, we met our guide and were told to be ready at 8:30 a.m. for Lia's medical exam. A van whisked us away to the hotel. 

P.S. On the flight, Lia started a new game with me.  This is how she does it; she looks at me and smiles, waiting for a reaction. Then I break into a smile and can't help but laugh.  She's done it over and over again throughout our travelling tonight, and before we put her to sleep.  She's so happy.  Keith and I are so grateful that she has bonded to both of us so easily.  We're hoping the new environment won't set her back too much...

"What is that on our plate?"

Today we took a cab to Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchung.  The way they drive is incredible.  Scooters  and  bikes(with or without children) come inches away from accidents.  Horns are used as tools to drive.  They don't honk in anger, but just to get their way through.  I am soooo glad that we are in the back seat!  As I write this post, I can hear the drivers honking non stop.

By the way, the first day here we had to cross the road to the Civic Building to complete adoption papers.  Our guide Helen is very petite, but she held her powerful little hand out, and I kept my eyes on her and told her, "OK, Helen, I'm trusting you".  Hey, she knows the town so I got to trust that she won't get us killed.  Now does that make any sense?  Here I am trusting a stranger, with my new baby in my arms.  Meanwhile, Lia just came out from the countryside and into my arms within a few hours.  Lia is trusting me!!!! By the way, we haven't seen any accidents...yet.  The more we ride in the taxis, the more I feel like I'm participating "in" a real live video game where no one gets hurt. 

The Pavilion was so incredibly beautiful. It is a very famous building.  Of course I took a lot of photos.  We even were able to see a performance in the 9 story building.  Nanchung is very hot and humid, so Keith was very protective of Lia.  She is becoming a Daddy's girl, and is mesmerized by him. It is so sweet to watch. 

We had a lunch that included a chicken's head.  Keith kept asking, "What is that?" to our guide, and she ignored him.  I thought maybe it was a liver or the heart.  She quietly had the waitress take the head off the plate.  We got away with murder, because Helen then said, "Oh, you Americans don't eat chicken feet either".  Wow, I'm learning to always ask questions.  Lots of questions. If you don't get an answer, don't eat it.  (The night before, she told me about turtle soup.  She also told me to eat a raw egg and noodles for my birthday breakfast.)  Our cultures are so different, but yet we are so enjoying the experiences.

Jiangxi is famous for green tea, so we went green tea shopping.  We got home safely, and stayed in the hotel the rest of the day. 

Around 3:30, there was a knock at the door.  I was surprised by my tour guide.  She came in with the hotel staff singing in Chinese, Happy Birthday!  We had a delicous sponge cake with lots of fruit on top.  They also came in with a huge floral arrangement. I've never seen lilies as big as these! 

Lia has been a crack up.  Keith sometimes says something to her and then she'll react in an unusual way (usually giggling with arms moving).  There is such a communication barrier, but we sure do enjoy each other.  It's been quite amazing to watch the two of them communicating!  Keith feels the same about Lia and I.  All in all, we're becoming a family within just a few days. 

Thanks for all the comments.  We so enjoy reading them on the other side of the world.  We're sorry for lack of photos due to restrictions on blogs.  We'll do our best and eventually find a way to get them out to you...

Lia Anne LuLou Markland

Amy and I would like to introduce to our family and friends our baby girl, Lia Anne LuLou! It is official as of Monday, August 16, 2010.  We thank God for giving her to us!  She is an answer to our prayers!   

It is Tuesday morning, 6:00 a.m. China time as I'm write this.  

Lia has slept soundly all night (better then we have).  Monday was a whirlwind…  We started in Beijing, up at 4:30 a.m. and on the bus at 5:30 a.m. We had a bus ride to the Beijing airport where we and  other six families (twenty one people) checked our luggage, got our boarding passes, then rushed to our separate gates.  We traveled alone on China Air to Nanchang, in the Jiangxi Province.  Several of the other families were traveling in pairs to their respective provinces. 

We arrived in Nanchang Monday mid-morning and walked off the plane into hot and humid weather.  Our guide Helen greeted us and then we loaded our taxi and headed off to the hotel.  Of course the first question we asked was where was our baby and when would we meet her.  We got a quick answer, "Oh, she's waiting for you at the hotel!". (Lia had traveled three and a half hours in from the countryside to get to Nanchang)    I think our mouths dropped open, realizing that this was it!  Helen got on her cell phone and called informing them we were on our way, just moments away.   We arrived at the hotel, walked into the lobby and there was Lia coming down the stairs with her nanny and a few others.  It happened so fast.  We wanted to stop and take it all in, wanted to rush up to her and hold her,  wanted to pull out every camera and video camera so we could catch the moment, etc..  She responded so well and in a few moments was in Amy's arms.  She did not cry one bit.  Introductions were made and we were off up to our hotel room for some getting to know you time.  The start of  us being a family!  A second later there was a knock on the door and in came a crib, stroller and baby bath tub.  We had two hours to bond with Lia, order lunch, unpack and get ourselves settled before we had to be at the Civil Affairs office across the street.  Lia did very well, she had a couple of quick cry's and that was it.   

Two hours later we were at the Civil Affairs office where we processed the Chinese portion of the adoption.  We still have the US process to complete next week.  BTW… traffic and taxi rides in Nanchang are very interesting.  I call it "controlled chaos".   

Monday evening went very well and Lia slept through the night.  Unfortunately Amy and I can't say the same (guess we're two nervous Nellie's). 

I'm sorry our pictures aren't coming through.  We're working on it.  Our stay in Beijing was very busy.  It was incredible to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and to walk the Great Wall.  We've dined on Chinese food and have enjoyed the different tastes. Nanchung has spicy food. 

Amy and I are enjoying this whole new experience of being parents and visiting China.  We've been getting smiles and nods from Lia and are getting a kick out of the whole bonding process! She is bonding to both of us very well.  She is a happy baby!  

Today is the day...

Keith here.... 

It is early Monday, 8/16 and we'll be leaving for the Beijing airport in a few hours. Amy is sleeping a little bit.  The bus picks us up at 5:30 a.m..  Our bags have already been picked up by the bell hop.  I'm excited, nervous, anxious and tired.  I can't believe today is the day Amy and I will be meeting little Lu Lou for the first time. This is what we have prayed for for a long time.  We expect to arrive in Nanchang late this morning. 

We had a busy Sunday... we attended an International English speaking church,  did some shopping which Amy enjoyed, climbed the Great Wall,  attended a Tea Ceremony at Dr. T's Tea House (of course there was some green tea there for Amy) and had a Chinese lunch and dinner.  The day was beautiful, hot but with nice clear blue skies.  We have enjoyed our time in Beijing!  

I've had trouble loading pictures, so I'll try once more.  This one is from our Saturday sight seeing at the Summer Palace. 

I've got to run and get some sleep  We're going to have a very exciting and busy day! ! ! ! !

Thank you all for your prayers!