Saturday, October 31, 2009

Guangzhou!!!

We are on the island and had the medical checkup yesterday and his TB test. Evan was the best kiddo in the whole clinic!! He never cried was totally attentive to their questions and watched as they put the needle in for the TB test. Not one tear!!!! I won't say that he enjoyed the TB test. lol, but he never cried or threw a fit over it.

We went swimming afterward. Holly had taken Wendy all over the island looking at the shops and then took her swimming. We met them down there. Evan absolutely loved the water and splashing all of us. Mike tried to take a nap while we were at the pool.

We at at Lucy's last night. Food was really good. It feels wonderful to finally be at the WS!! Air quality is so much better!!!

Halloween evening at the White Swan was made fun since we brought some candy, masks, and some window clings!!
I truly think Evan will be one of us with the Halloween issue!! For those of you who know us we really love Halloween. Everyone dresses up and we decorate the house up. This year was just mild fun for us, but fun all the same.

Photos to come.....

Today is Chen Family Temple and Pearl/Jade market. I will be getting something for me here!!

Lesa





Friday, October 30, 2009

More photos




Photos.....

This is Veronica our Guide. Oh so sweet and very caring person.

The Pagoda in the background across the water is so blocked by the bad air you can barely see it.

Lesa


Thursday, October 29, 2009

Some Answers to Questions...

In the photo of Holly and Wendy with the cake. Wendy was crying a little. She was trying to sleep when Holly got up to blow her candles out. We really didn't want here to drift off since it was only 8:00 pm. Bedtime wasn't quite time then.....ha

We will leave here tonight from Nanchang. The people here are warm and curious about our babies. Especially Evan being that he is a Boy, and that he looks so healthy. Lots of thumbs up.....)

Today it is Friday morning here to your Thursday evening there. We board the plane at 9:00 pm and get there around 11:00 pm in Guangzhou. Something like that. Mike and Wendy went to the countryside today while Holly, Evan, and Momma pack up. Amazing that it is time to almost be at the White Swan!! I keep telling Holly that the White Swan is so incredible!! So much more to do there that is near by. Oh, and let's not forget "LUCY'S". I can't wait to taste to American style cooking. Every meal Chinese is a bit much even for those who love it. LOL!

Wendy and Evan have had two good evenings now without him biting. YAY!!!!
Things will be looking up, but it will take time.

For my friends with Children this age from China..... How long before they can speak English sentences? Our communication is really lacking. I have a few phrases from our friend Kelsey M., but there are still those moments when a string of words keep flowing out.....) Veronica said he is happy from asking him. He loves his family; so this is great news.

Tomorrow morning after not getting much sleep we have to be at the clinic for Evan's TB test. YIKES! This won't be fun for him. At least we found out that he won't have to get 7 shots tomorrow, and that is WONDERFUL NEWS!! Let's just take care of things at home thank you very much.

One family flies tonight from another province same agency group and we meet up at the White Swan.

Lesa

Holly's Birthday cake...plus

This was a wonderful Cake!!! Wonderful Birthday. One of the guys in our group shares the same day with Holly.

Plus, photos of us after lunch with Evan and Wendy holding hands and sharing his stroller.











Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sorry I'm behind....

One reason I don't think I should really say since things may be monitored.....

I will say continue to pray for Wendy and Evan's bonding and good health for the remainder of our trip for us all......

Evan and I are in the room for today.... Bonding. He has been saying for Holly "Jei Jei Momma". Poor Holly, hehe.... He also calls her Balko, or Marko. LOL Not sure what this is even our guide Veronica isn't sure. Hum....

He does say Michael from hearing Veronica talking to Mike. LOL

His vocabulary consists of Okay, No, Yes, Wendy, Holly, Daddy, Momma, Counting 1-10, For the number 7 he says Sebon. so cute. Hello, Good Morning(Zhou), He sings his abc's in Chinese.... We caught him doing this yesterday. Now we need to teach him in English. He knows so much more in Chinese than we would have ever imagined. I think I have a challenge for sure.

Many locals just come and stand by us and talk to each other about Evan. Some put their Thumbs up and say USA. They then smile.... This you get mainly from the older men and women. The younger ones just look.

The other day there were 4 Chinese Families adopting babies. So, they are really adopting here. I do believe this is a huge reason for the delay.....)

Yesterday we went to the Elephant Park here. It was very lovely. We heard music and chanting and realized they were having a Religious Ceremony there. They were Dao worshipers. Dao is the original Chinese religion. Evan loved the music.
We have him a stroller and he really likes pushing it as much as sitting in it. LOL

I'll post photos to Sherry. I've been only able to send out two at a time so I promise I will send several her way in a row......

Thank you for all who comment. It sure is nice hearing from our friends while in a foreign land.




Tuesday, October 27, 2009

WalMart & New pjs

We went to the Walmart today and lost Mike first thing. hehe He bent over to tie his shoe and then he was lost. LOL
Evan thought is was neat dressing up to shop, but once there all of the language really got him. He did like strolling in the shopping cart, and having Daddy buy him a ball! Our biggest purchase was his stroller today. We went off and forgot one I bought at a garage sale. oops..... This one has Mickey Mouse on it. Evan seems to enjoy riding in it so far. Easier on the back for sure. ha
Evan has an attachment item of a pair of black crocs that were Wendy's when she was younger.
Sibling rivalry has begun!!! Evan is apparently a biter - he has bitten Wendy 3 times already. The only times he tries to bite her is when they are fighting over a toy...or Holly...lol
And....to top things off, today is Holly's 22nd birthday! We're going to eat with the group and have cake together tonight.
Well, that's about all for now...more adventures to come :)

Lesa


Monday, October 26, 2009

Gotcha Day pictures!!!!

Things are going smooth now. Evan is starting to be sweet to Wendy now. We had some close calls with him biting her twice on each arm. Today at the Civil Affairs Office he was playing with the backpack we gave him and the dinos also....Wendy was going to play with him and he grabbed all of the dinos and yelled at her then with his mouth opened attempted to bite again. Oh my word!! Holly and I caught it before he did anything. That is all we needed at the CAO! Veronica helped talk with him and this evening he is beginning to say Wendy's name more and share cookies. YAY!! We went to the local market tonight and had fun buying little things. First family outing together. Tangerines are delicious here. The City of Nanchang is okay. It is a poorer area than we have been before. The people are very friendly. They are very curious about us and our boy! Lots of looks and talking behind our backs....well in front of us, but in Chinese. lolI'll try to send maybe one or two photos at a time and see if that helps.

Lesa

























Saturday, October 24, 2009

Fying out in the morning!

It is really here; the time has come to go and get our son. We have to get up at 4:30 am and have all luggage at the door ready to go. We leave at 5:00 am to catch our flight around 7:00 am and arrive there 9:00 am and get Evan with the group like the old days at 3:30 pm!!!
We have 12 families all together. Nine are getting baby girls and have waited the 5 years!
There are two other SN's families and one getting a "healthy" 2 year old girl.
Wendy has found a new friend with one of the families little girl who is Wendy's age! They had so much fun being goofy and giving all of the on lookers looks back. LOL
Actually it hasn't really bothered Wendy too much except when they start talking to her in Chinese and think she will just start talking back in Chinese. ha

Well off to bed; I'm actually about to fall asleep at the computer.

Will post tomorrow with photos of Evan!!!!

Until tomorrow....)

Lesa

Friday, October 23, 2009

We made it!!!!

Ni hao Sherry!! And to everyone that is watching here.

We made it in yesterday on the 23rd, which is a day ahead of you guys, at 7 am their time. Our luggage miraculously appeared on the carousel, and we proceeded to transfer them on to Beijing. We waited just a bit and met another family from GW who were heading home. Off we finally got on the dang plane for the 4th time and then waited another 45 minutes!!! In amongst many Chinese "HAPPY" older people on a tour. ha They were terribly loud on the plane and if we could have moved we would have. hehe. We happened to have coughers all around us!
When we landed we were whisked away to New Hope Foundation!! Mind you with a driver that spoke no English accept for hello,thank you, and good bye. ha We finally got to the Foster Home and it really didn't take the hour that they had said. What a lovely place and a super warm greeting. Super Clean!!! Oh, how loving they are to the children!! I wanted to bring them all home. Dang they were cute! If I could have I would have brought home one of Evans little friends that smiles like Wendy's friend Camry!! He really teared up buy still had that smile on his face as we were about to leave. M&M's worked like a charm!! Needless to say I cried.....)

They said our Evan was just precious and gave us his medicine extra from what they sent for him along with his files and photos they hadn't removed yet. Mona said that he waived by to everyone and said cheerfully "I'm going to get my Momma, and Baba, BYE" and then waived big with a smile ready for the car to take off. Of course all of the Nannies and staff cried, they all loved him (LOVE HIM)!!!

Today is our tour with all of our families and then tomorrow morning we are fling out for Nanchang and to get our SON!!!! Until then.

Sherry, I will try to attach photos later this evening!! Good night to everyone from Beijing.

Lacy, we miss you!!!

Lesa

Note from Sherry -- When I add the pictures I'll add them in a separate post and change the time so that they are below the post. This makes the loading and aligning so much faster. That way you all get the update quicker.




























Nothing yet from China

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm checking my email at least every 30 minutes from 8am - 1am and still haven't got an email from Lesa. It's almost 1am on Saturday in China so I doubt I'll be getting an email for a while.

Just wanted everyone to know what's going on -- or not going on.

:)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

About to pack the computer up....

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go..... I'm leaving on a jet plane!!!!

I just wanted to say goodbye from home and will be saying hello from China on the 23rd!

Stay tuned..... Sherry will be adding things for us once we get to China.

Pray for us and our travels. Pray that our Evan will take to his new family without any problems, and pray that we stay well on our trip.

Love you all!!!!!


Friday, October 16, 2009

My Beautiful Ballerina



Ballerina dance for me. Wendy has found her love with dance. This year Wendy has really blossomed. Since May Wendy has hoped for dance to begin again. She just loves the art, but she also loves and adores her teacher, Ms. Bluejeans.

I put Wendy in a two day a week dance class this year and she has blossomed so much. When we watched our daughter, yesterday for parent observation day, I just couldn't get over how far she has come from that little girl last year. She is the tiniest one in her class. I guess that will just be the way it will be all her life. ha Sweet and Petite!!

Enjoy these videos of our girl.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

I can't believe it! 6 more days!!!!!!

Oh My Stars.....

We are having insomnia in our house. I couldn't sleep past 3:00 am and then Wendy called for me several times. I went to check on her and then I really couldn't sleep. Mike said he only got 4 hours of sleep. Funny I heard snoring going on. ha I do believe he can't sleep any better than me.

Wendy woke up doing the count down to when Ganny comes to watch the house and the puppies. She will be here on Saturday. Hopefully we can get the rest of our things done with her playing with Wendy.

You see, Evan has lived in such a sterile atmosphere than we keep ours and we really need to clean before we leave. The floors in his foster home are so shiny and spotless. Poor thing he really won't know what to think around here. ha Especially with all the toys that Wendy love to leave laying around like all kids do.

Let the count down begin!! Bags are practically packed. Last minutes are being made. Maybe one last post before we go..... or two. hehe

Oh, we are in contact now with several of our travel mates. It will be good getting to know new friends.

One thing I will terribly miss is being able to be with my China Sisters as we had hoped and planned for years. Many of us have jumped the line, but we still have 3 of us that are still waiting. I will be thinking of all of you this trip. My June 06' China Sisters, I LOVE you ALL!!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Two Weeks From Today!!





One of the families that is getting their little girl tomorrow took a trip to New Hope Foundation yesterday. She asked if she could see two of the boys that will be getting their families soon. Guess What!! One of these were Evan!! I am so grateful to Kristie and her husband for doing this for us.
We will be going there just like them and seeing the facilities, but minus Evan. He will not be there when we go. He will be waiting for us in Nanchang. Oh how my heart aches for him. This will be such a transition for this little boy and I have a feeling this won't be like Wendy's adoption (smooth and so easy). I have a feeling that he will be so lost and wanting his nanny back.

These photos are so new....they were taken just yesterday!!! This is how our son will look when we get him.

He does have a touch of silliness to him as you can see by the photos. He will fit in so perfectly in this family! Oh what fun he will be.

We will be traveling to Beijing on the 21st and then we will arrive on the 23rd, on this same day we will be driving on up two hours away from Beijing to New Hope Foundation. We will be so exhausted from all of the flying, but this will be so worth it. Then we will be heading back to Beijing to meet up with our travel mates, and then on the 24th we will tour the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, and the Forbidden City. On the 25th we will fly to Nanchang not long after we put our stuff in our rooms we will receive our Evan at 3:30 pm!! A day earlier than we were going to. I'm so very excited about this!!

Above is the map to Jiangxi Province where we will be going to get Evan. We will be in Nanchang which is the capital of Jiangxi and way to the far right you can see Shangrao, this is where Evan was originally found.

Oh, I keep forgetting to say that our guide will be Veronica. If anyone from our agency has had her please let me know.



Monday, October 05, 2009

Evan On His Third Birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby!!!!! We love you so much we can't stinking stand it. We will be there soon!!!!!





I received these yesterday, but didn't see them until right before we went to bed. What a treat to dream by!
Thank you Angela and Kelly!!!!!