Home Sweet Home...

We arrived home to Molly's Way last night after traveling and being up for roughly 31 hours.  We're all tired!   Keith and Lia have been sniffling and sneezing all day... colds from being worn out!  We left the hotel in Guangzhou at 5 am Thursday morning, took a van ride to the airport in Hong Kong where we caught a late morning flight to Tokyo.  After a two hour lay over we caught our twelve hour flight to JFK.  Lia did very well with flying. 

Lia getting ready to go home Wednesday night. 

Starting our return home...                       

4:50 p.m. Wednesday, August 25 - New York time

4:50 a.m. Thursday, August 26 - Guangzhou time

Got home...                                              

9 p.m. Thursday, August 26 - New York time

 9 a.m. Friday, August 27 - Guangzhou time

Ready to travel from the Hong Kong airport. 

Japan Airlines - somewhere between Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Leaving JFK in her first car seat. 

Welcome to America Lia! 

Home feels so good! We were greeted with balloons and decorations on our mailbox, garage doors and front door. Thank you! So sweet!

What an experience these past two weeks have been.  We thank God for taking care of us in all of our travels and especially for blessing us with our little china pearl, Lia!  We love her dearly!  We loved China very much and hated to leave.  We found the people very friendly and gracious.  The sights were amazing and the was food delicious.

Some random pictures...

Lia sees the Mango Pudding... it was delicious!

At a restaurant in Nanchang where we ate some excellent Chinese food!

Our little china pearl on a red sofa with the Pearl River in the background.

(she's dreaming of no more pictures please!)

Tuesday, August 24.

Hello family and friends.

One step closer to bringing Lia home....

Today was an important day. We went to the US Consulate in Guangzhou where we took the oath of adoption for little Lia. Now we are waiting for her visa to enter the USA under her Chinese passport. It's nice to know that we are almost done.  As Lia's father, I had to sign a form at the window.  Without us knowing it, Lia took the pen with her as we went back to our seat.   The joys of being new parents! 

This afternoon our entire adoption group of seven families took a group photo on the hotel main steps. There was some crying and fussing of course.

I've included a couple of pictures of the beginning of our trip to China almost two weeks ago (seems like a lifetime) to verify that Yes we are in China. The pictures are of Tiananmen Square, Amy and I at the Summer Palace and at the Great Wall (all pre-Lia). We saw many great and beautiful sights in Beijing.

 

 

 
 

 

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! 

Touring in Beijing...

Hi all,

Today we toured Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.  Tiananmen Square is right next to the Forbidden City, so we spent the day walking.  It was quite impressive.  Lots of people strolled around with umbrellas to keep the sun off of them.  It was so hot that Amy also used an umbrella.  We also visited a pearl shop and silk factory store.  The people are very friendly and kind hearted.  We had a traditional Chinese lunch and dinner which was all very good. 

Pictures will be coming soon. 

We're off to church this morning and then will visit the Great Wall this afternoon. 

We are enjoying every moment!   

  

We are in Beijing...

We arrived in Beijing Friday night at 11:45pm Beijing time.  The flight was great, but long.   Got two hours of sleep and now we are off to do some sightseeing.   Thank you all for your prayers!  More to follow. 

P.S.  Amy had Jasmine green tea with breakfast and was thrilled!   

Bunnies, Bunnies and More Bunnies...

It all started when we painted LuLou's room. We had the paint store lady help us through picking a color, and then she said... "Oh, this is perfect. Why don't you paint the room with Marshmallow Bunny?". Nice color. Now why would Benjamin Moore name a pink color "Marshmallow Bunny" is beyond me. Keith got right to work, but then had a hard time painting that small room pink. I wondered if I was going to have to take over painting (not a good idea). After using a tinted primer, he felt sick. "It kind of reminds me of Peptol Bismol".   He did finish quickly (probably because he wanted to get out of that room fast), and the room ended up looking great.

Throughout the wait, we have seen so many bunnies in our backyard. They sometimes even run up the driveway alongside of us when we drive up.   The piece de resistance was when I saw the cutest baby bunny last week. I've tried to "catch" the bunny on my digital, but some things just can't be planned.

At my favorite grocery store, they have a basket next to the cash register loaded with handmade finger puppets. (BTW; this is a great toy to bring for "Gotcha Day"). Every time I've gone to the store, I've been watching for a puppet that would really click. Well, this week, in their new shipment, I did find a bunny holding a carrot! So on Monday, LuLou will be meeting us...and a little teeny tiny bunny fingerpuppet. Now I feel like we are officially ready.  The little things in life make me so happy...

So...tomorrow is the day that we will be leaving for China! We are beyond excited as we anticipate being in a foreign country and meeting LuLou!!!! Can't happen soon enough!!!!!!!

Thanks for all your e-mails, notes, calls and hugs.  It means a lot to us.

A Fed Ex package came today.

Today we received our passports containing our visas for China!  Of course I was so excited to get the package that I took a photo of Craig, the FedEx man.  What would we do without FedEx and UPS  overnight delivery?  We have used them a lot.  

Now that we have our visas, Keith can work on the final assembly of all the documents that we will need in China.  It takes a lot of organizing.  If you know Keith, then you know how well he takes care of paperwork!  Copies have been made and backups are done.  The package of documents will be in our carry on and is priceless to us.

Yesterday we had a phone conference with our agency.  It was so interesting to hear about the process of the paperwork and how it relates to the appointments in China. They said to be very alert while filling out forms and not to make a mistake (It is very hard to correct mistakes later on, and can also be costly).  As you can see from the itinerary, we'll first be working on documents during the Civil Affairs appointment (the Chinese end of it) and then be flying into Guanghzou for the U.S. Consulate appointment.  In preparation of the Consulate appointment, Keith will have a "paperwork party" with our agency.  Only one of us can go to the "party".  The Consulate appointment is the next day.  Our agency will be bringing the papers to the appointment and will be representing us.  Keith has to be available by phone in case anything comes up. The following day we actually do get to go to the Consulate to take part in the Oath Taking Ceremony.  I often think of my dad saying, "For crying out loud, why is this (adoption) taking so long? What is it, a Federal case?".  I replied while laughing, "Actually dad, it is".  It will be a very big day for me, and will just make me smile (and probably laugh), thinking of my dad.

I heard that papers are requested quickly, so Keith has it all filed under his fingertips.  We are also bringing a mini office so that we are prepared; we have all the standard things that you would have in  your desk, but condensed.  After the Consulate appointment is done, Lulou's visa will be processed so that we will be able to bring her home!  By the way, our friends in China are going through the Consulate appointments right now!

P.S.  Nine days and counting. 

Friday night diversion and practicing our video'ing...

Keith here... On Friday when I got home from work Amy suggested we go up to Rhinebeck to see what we could see.  Of course I had the "what are you nuts look" on my face!   Rhinebeck + Clinton wedding = lots of people + lots of cars + no parking + lots news media + we have a trip to get ready for + etc. +etc..

So of course you know what happened,  at 8:30 pm we pulled into a parking space in Rhinebeck.  We walked over to the main intersection and there was a crowd but it was well managed and contained.   We staked out our spot and I went to get some us ice cream cones.   Before long Amy was gone investigating things.  She met up with a news video guy and ended up interviewing him using her simple Flip Video.  See her video here.   He was a really nice guy.  

Is Amy the next Barbara Walters or what? (? ? ?)   We did see former President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vernon Jordan and Madeleine Albright as they entered the Beekman Arms for a late party.   

Well enough of a diversion for this weekend, the wedding is over and it's back to the important issues  of a baby.