Ni Hao Shanghai!

Good bye New York..... Hello Shanghai!
We got picked up Wednesday, 6/12 at 3 a.m.  As we were putting Lia in the car seat, she surprisingly woke up and screamed, "We're going to get Rosie!".  During the whole flight, we didn't see the darkness of night.  We arrived Thursday at 2 p.m. which was really 2 a.m. Thursday morn New York time.

Lia was quite charged up when we finally got off the plane  in Shanghai! Check out the Big Sister shirt.

 Everything went super well. 

Baggage claim sign says Newark to Shanghai, flight 835.

Lia couldn't keep her eyes open during dinner, and crashed.  She's now wide awake at 10:15. 

Tomorrow we are touring Shanghai.  Our guide is taking us to the Pearl TV Tower...On Monday, we meet Rosie at 9:30 at the SCH!

Here's an updated photo of Rosie taken a few hours ago. It's so neat to know that she is anticipating our arrival.  We'll be there on Monday; 5 days from when this photo was taken.

We sent Rosie a care package with a Shutterfly book that we put together, so she knows a lot about Lia.  Can't imagine what it will be like when they meet.  Our agency taught us a amazing technique to help with bonding called "mirroring", and I think Lia and Rosie will mirror each other naturally...

3 More Days Until We Travel!

We just got our itinerary yesterday!  Since we have already done Beijing sightseeing, we thought we'd rather go directly to Shanghai and tour in that region.  We're actually quite thrilled that the adoption will take place where we fly into, since it cuts down on the amount of hotel changes.  It will be less stressful for Lia.  Which means less stressful for all of us!
Thoughout our visit in Shanghai, we'll be doing paperwork mostly every morning.  On Friday, we'll be touring Shanghai, including the Bund.  On Saturday, we'll be going to Suzhou and visit Tiger Hill and Su Garden.   I think Chinese gardens will be perfect for Lia!  Sunday is a free-for-all day.  Monday is the day that we meet Rosie!  Wednesday will surely be very interesting; we'll all be going to visit Rosie's orphanage.
We travel to Guangzhou on Friday, and then have the medical exam the next day.  It will be fun to be back in Guangzhou and do things that we wish we had more time for, like the City Zoo and Baiyuan Mountain Park.  Since our Visa appointment is late in the week (Thursday), the trip is extended a bit longer than when we adopted Lia.  More time for us to sightsee!

Waiting and Rushing

Yesterday we got our U.S.Consulate appointment, and now are working toward finalizing tickets! So as much as we are "waiting", we technically are rushing to get everything done.  Lia is now "totally getting it"; she has begun to role play, pretending that she is Rosie.  (When she processes things, she often role plays).  BTW, Lia will be going with us. So this morning,  I got out her suitcase so that she can think about what she'd like to put in it.  And also, to help her process more!

Rosie is waiting too, with us in a strange way.  And we are all hoping.   I thought this blog entry written by Pat Marcus was a real eye opener. Pat Marcus is from Super Kids Charity.  She visits Shanghai Children's Home often  and helps the kids with OT issues and gives them most importantly, love. "...they wait for everything.  Wait for a caregiver to tell them it's time to get up, wait for breakfast, wait for a diaper to be changed.  They wait to be fed, wait for a drink, wait to get washed up, wait for a turn to play with a toy; waiting in every aspect of their life.  Responses are not immediate for the children in orphanages. They get used to needs not being met immediately.  Most of all they wait for Love; that one Mom and Dad that belongs to them.  The people that will Love them unconditionally, forever – a family!  All of this is beyond comprehension as they wait in the orphanage.  They do not know what it feels like to be in a family.  Their lives are a succession of caregivers and different rooms as they grow.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a family waits.  A child is growing in their heart.  They wait too.
So, who is good at waiting?  No one!  Do we show patience in any aspect of our lives?  Personally, I am a most impatient person.  'Do it now, get it done, just keep at it' are my mantras.  While I persevere, I keep hope alive that all my efforts will make a change.  I think in many ways that is what waiting children do.  Once while visiting with a child in foster care outside of Shanghai, a child who was six going on seven asked me, why did it take so long and why wasn't her family coming to China to get her yet? 'Hmmm, umm', I told her that it would be soon and took a picture for her waiting family.  Both waiting for each other, both hopeful. Every child I meet in China is hopeful, as is every family in the process of adopting.  It is a quality of the human spirit, to strive forward into the unknown, to wish for what we may not even understand."

Waiting to be together...with much hope.

Travel Approval!

We got our Travel Approval yesterday.  Our agency is working on securing a date with the Consulate before the 3 day weekend.  Our first choice didn't work because of the Dragon Boat Festival; all offices will be closed then...so we'll be going the following week.  Just waiting on confirmation (today!) and then we'll be buying tickets!

However Motherhood Comes to You, it's a Miracle

As we are waiting for our travel approval, I think about all the little threads of a tapestry that got us to this point...

     Last April, we interviewed a new agency.  One of their requirements was that we had to take a workshop in Fort Worth.  No daycare was available, but we were excited to move forward with filling out an application.  As we started the paper trail, we looked into taking the necessary course.   The only available workshop was in September, but we asked to be put on a waiting list for a June workshop since I was going back to teaching in the Fall. A slot became available, and with very short notice, we moved forward with making plans. We decided to ask Keith's sister to fly out and meet us so that she could babysit Lia.  It was a long shot, but we were able to make it work!  We learned a lot in the workshop and Lia and Barb had a blast doing excursions (including the Dallas Fort Worth Zoo) and getting to know each other.   In the evening, we got to do really cool things...of course we went to a rodeo, and bought Lia a cowgirl hat.  We loved Texas!!!!!  And, of course, the company was wonderful.

     During the workshop, we sat next to a family that was also going to adopt from China.  We kept in touch and found out in the next few months that they had a match to a little boy in SCH.  A few months after that, we got a match to our little daughter-to-be in the SCH.  They were the same age!  So, when our friends adopted their son, they were able to meet Rosie!  How cool is that!  While they were in Shanghai,  they sent us this video of Rosie.  Watch for the ending...Rosie is one hip little chick!  It cracks us up every time.  Thank you to our friends Abbe and Scott for going the extra mile to give us this video, and congratulations on the adoption of your son Jack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJYWnZpSK3c

Introducing...Rosie!

Last April, we started the paperchase, and then 6 months later, on October 2nd, we were shocked to find out that our agency had a match!  (We've been keeping it pretty much a secret, since last time around we announced it and it became a 5 year wait!).

Rosie is in the Shanghai Children's Home and is 4 months younger than Lia.  We are basically in the homestretch, waiting for travel approval, and then we'll be able to buy our airline tickets!  Lia is very excited to have a sister and we are super excited to become parents yet again.  We're feeling very blessed.

It's been funny the second time around.  Keith didn't take a day off to wait for the FedEx truck deliver the referral.   I didn't do any registered mail; I just tossed documents into the regular mail without thinking twice.  But how much we treasure what God has done!

Proverbs 25:25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a distant land.