DAY 1 and 2: The looooong airplane ride

We made it!!! Vivi and Toño are asleep here in our hotel in Beijing!!! I am already LOVING this trip and it hasn't even begun yet.

Today (Thursday in China) actually started yesterday (Wednesday central standard time) when we woke up early, (did we sleep?) and left for the airport at 9am. Thank you mom and dad for the ride:), for stopping at Walgreen's on the way, for waiting for the backpack that never showed up, and of course for taking care of our precious Maya!! I already miss her- please give her lots of hugs and kisses!!!!

Our trip was direct to Beijing, and coincidentally we had several other families on our flight with us (2 who will be traveling to Urumqi with us!!). I thought it would be longer, but it "only" took 13 and a half hours to fly the 6500 miles. It's funny to leave in the morning, cross over the international dateline, and land the next day at 3pm. My dad's been doing this for years as a commercial airline pilot and I was always confused as a kid when he would come home on a Sunday morning, and tell us he already had eaten breakfast on that Sunday morning.

Anyway- the flight seemed really short- probably because I was so excited, and Vivi was an excellent traveler. I think 3 year olds get a bad rap- she was really awesome, and had a blast playing with another little girl who is 4 (also going to Urumqi with us). Get these kids traveling when they're young, so they get used to it:). She also slept about 3 hours, even though the only light on the whole airplane was our "wall," which was broken and could not turn off.

The Beijing airport is one of the cleanest airports I've ever been in, and very modern- in fact the terminal we landed in just opened, in time for the Beijing Olympics this summer. Last week was the first week United used this terminal!

We were told to look for our coordinator, holding a CHI sign in front of the KFC, which is next to the Starbucks. Apparently the line between communism and capitalism is slightly blurry? There are KFC's everywhere, and we actually went to 2 different KFC's before returning to customs and finding our group there. So we got all together and took a bus to the hotel.

Vivi loves our big bed, and the fact that she'll be sleeping in the same room as us! There is a little tea set that she already was playing with (with water and her animals)- so she's in heaven.

Our hotel is in the downtown. Some rooms overlook The Forbidden City, and we can walk to Tian'anmen Square, and the Beihai Park. Tonight we took a walk down to the "walking street," meaning it was only open to pedestrians.

Lots of neon signs and elaborately decorated storefronts, lots of construction EVERYHWERE, getting ready for the Olympics, lots of bicycles and people walking..

Here is the restaurant we ate at:

We had no clue what was going on (I wish we spoke Mandarin!) and so we were disappointed when we didn't order the Peking duck that we thought we were ordering. Instead I had a huge plate of celery, kidney beans and walnuts stir-fried with soy sauce (very tasty, but it wasn't duck:), and Toño had duck gizzards with some kind of root veggie and green peppers- and we just gazed and salivated at every single other table around us. Interesting combo of food we ordered (the waiter looked confused at our choice), and the gizzards were a little tough. Next time we will ask for some guidance.

I really should be going to bed, since I have only slept about 6 hours in the past 48 hours. Here are some pictures in the market we wandered through on our way back to the hotel, carrying an exhausted (sleeping) Vivi....

Lots of meat on sticks. Can you see the squid hanging down? Look 2 flavors to the left and you have shish-ka-worms, and then chicken livers. Toño was so mad I wouldn't let him try street grub!! I told him to wait to get parasites until later on in the trip.

This looked delicious- lots of fresh fruit-ka-bobs glazed with a hardened-brown sugar.
Noodles are everywhere. Didn't Marco Polo bring noodles to Italy? Or is that an old wives tale?

Check out the picture below- sea horse- ka-bobs and we think to the left they are little lizards?

Bon appetit!! I hope everyone is doing well and we get to talk soon.:)

Prayer for Travelers

A little prayer someone sent me:

May it be Your will, Lord my God, to lead me on the way of peace and guide and direct my steps in peace, so that You will bring me happily to my destination, safe and sound.

Save me from danger on the way.

Give me good grace, kindness and favor in both Your eyes and in the eyes of all whom I may meet.

Hear this my prayer, for you are a God who hears to the heart's supplication and communion.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, who hears prayer.

Aaaaalmost!!!!!

I am bringing some pictures of our house, and Toñito's room so hopefully our guide can translate to him where he will be living and sleeping. We will look at these, along with the photo album I sent to him a while back, daily in China so he will (hopefully!) feel a little less intimidated. We've taken classes on older child adoption, special needs adoption, read books and articles on toddler adoption, talked with a lot of families with experience, participated in on-line discussions about adoption... We're trying to follow everyone's advice to ease his transition anxiety, but I know we can't anticipate everything and the first couple of days will be the roughest. I do not know how he will react, but I do know that we will do our best to make sure he knows he is loved and that we are his forever family...

On a lighter note- does anyone know how to rotate the pictures on blogger? In my viewer (on the computer and in my camera) they are the correct orientation. However all my up and down pictures on blogger look sideways. Tell me in the comments if you know how to fix this:). Thanks!

Packing.... Donations and Bag 'o Fun

I can't believe we are leaving on Wednesday!!!:) I am finally getting some packing done. Our friends and family have been so generous donating to the Urumqi CWI. Thank you Sue H and Sue E, Amy, Gia, Rebequita, Auntie Joanne, Auntie Pat, Mom, Hilary, Jessica!!! Because of your

big hearts, we now have a lot of clothes, MANY cleft bottles for the babies, and some fun art supplies for the older kids!! I have one entire suitcase of bottles and clothes, and the art supplies, rubber pants, and more clothes have also been packed in all of the other suitcases. I can't wait to deliver the items!

Vivi's "bag 'o fun," as we are calling it, contains everything you see here plus snacks galore. Stickers are always a big hit, especially when you can stick them wherever you want. I feel like you can change any unhappy, whiny, crabby child into a little angel with some carefully chosen snacks that are normally limited or forbidden, and probably include sugar. We also have carrots, blueberries, PB&J, applesauce and cheese in case Vivi doesn't love the airplane food. 13 hours is a long time for a 3 year old!:)

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday Vivi had a blast hunting for Easter eggs in the snow...

I guess its good that they aren't white.

Then we decorated eggs with everyone- who wants to use the flimsy egg dippers when you can use your hands instead? I think Vivi's hands may still be blue in China.

Updated Itinerary

Wed, March 26: Fly to Beijing
Thurs, March 27: Land in Beijing and attempt to stay awake as long as possible:)
Fri, Mar 28: Temple of Heaven in the morning; Lunch at Dai Jia Cun Restaurant; Hutong Tour and the Chinese Acrobat Show in the afternoon
Sat, Mar 29: TianAnMen Square, Great Wall of China (Juyongguan); Forbidden Palace
*
Sun, Mar 30: Fly to Xinjiang (Urumqi)
Mon, March 31: Meet Toñito in the morning!!!!:) Do adoption procedure (registration & notary) in the afternoon
Tues, April 1: Sightseeing around Urumqi
Wed, April 2: Sightseeing around Urumqi
Thurs, April 3: Sightseeing around Urumqi
Fri, April 4: Paperwork for the Consulate
*
Sat, April 5: Fly to Guangzhou
Sun, April 6: Free day/shopping
Mon, April 7: Medical exam & visa photos for children
Tues, April 8: American Consulate (ACS) appts- at 9:00am and farewell dinner
Wed, April 9: Go o the ACS in the morning, and get visa in afternoon
*
Thurs, April 10: Take the train to Hong Kong
Fri, April 11: Sightseeing in Hong Kong
Sat, April 12: Fly home!!

miér, 26 marzo: Vuelo a Beijing
juev, 27 marzo: Llegar a Beijing e intentar a mantenernos despiertos lo más largo que podamosJ
vier, 28 marzo: Temple of Heaven por la mañana; almuerzo en Dai Jia Cun Restaurant; tour de los Hutongs y Chinese Acrobat Show por la tarde
sáb, 29 marzo: TianAnMen Square, Great Wall of China (Juyongguan); Forbidden Palace
*
dom, 30 marzo: Vuelo a Xinjiang (Urumqi)
lun, 31 marzo: Conocer a Toñito por la mañana!!!:) Hacer los trámites de la adopción (registración & notaria) por la tarde
martes, 1 abril: Tour de Urumqi
miér, 2 abril 2: Tour de Urumqi
juev, 3 abril: Tour de Urumqi
vier, 4 abril: Preparar los papeles para el consulado
*
sáb 5 abril: Vuelo a Guangzhou
dom, 6 abril: Día libre/de compras
lun, 7 abril: Examen del médico & fotos de la visa para Toñito
martes, 8 abril: Citas en el consulado americano a las 9:00am y cena de despedida
miér 9 abril: Consulado por la mañana y recoger visa por la tarde
*
juev, 10 abril: Tomar el tren a Hong Kong
vier, 11 abril: Tour en Hong Kong
sáb, 12 abril: Regresar a casa!!!

"Everybody's dancing"

Here is a recent masterpiece by Vivi- she told me who the people were (notice Toñito is the big guy in the middle:) and said that "everybody's dancing." I'd like to think we are celebrating that Toñito is coming home! Notice that everybody has ears (in orange) but only the girls AND Uncle Tim have earrings (long purple ones!)...

*

Aquí tenemos una obra maestra reciente de Vivi- me dijo quienes eran las personas (fíjate que Toñito es el chavo grande en medioJ y dijo que “todos están bailando.” Me gustaría pensar que estamos celebrando que Toñito ya va a llegar a casa! Fíjate que todos tienen ojejas (anaranjadas) pero sólo las niñas llevan aretes (largos y morados)…

from the mouth of a 3 year old

Vivi: Oh no, mommy! Fafa se rompió! Mira su owie! (her giraffe is "fa-fa", he is broken, look at his owie)

Me: (barely making out a tiny scratch in the plastic giraffe) Oh, pobrecito. (poor thing)

V: Oh man! I go put him in the garbage.

Me: No, he's OK. You can still play with him. Look mommy has an owie, and you're not going to put mommy in the garbage, right?

Vivi pauses, and looks at me incredulously: Mommy. You no fit in the garbage. You're too big.

******************
Vivi was star-struck today in Target, upon sighting her beloved pre-school teacher:

WOAH Mommy. Mrs. Hogan. Oh man! Mrs. Hogan in Jewel. (she calls every store Jewel) She going shopping! Woah man!

*****************

V: Tonito in China. He coming here! He coming to a casa de Vivi (Vivi's house). He's so nice. He share dis and dis and dis and dis and every-fing with Vivi.

Me: That is so nice to share. I bet he'll let you play with all of his cars. And then you can share your toys with him!

V: (long regretful sigh) No. Tonito no like my toys. They're just for Vivi.

One week!!!

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women who never knew each other

One you do not remember, the other you call Mother

Two different lives shaped to make you one

One became your guiding star, the other became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it

The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name

One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears

One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried you tears

One made an adoption plan, that was all that she could do

The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

Now, which of these two women, are you the product of?

Both, my darling, Both, just two different types of love.

~Unknown

8 DAYS

We are leaving in 8 days and we have SO MUCH to still do!!! The girls are still sick, but I think they're on their way to feeling better (and finally sleeping through the night again!) Here's a little picture to brighten your day of Tonito last fall, when he turned 3.

Nos vamos en 8 días y tenemos MUCHO que hacer!! Las niñas siguen enfermitas, pero creo que ya se están mejorando (y por fin durmiendo toda la noche!). Aquí está una foto para hacer más ameno tu día- es Toñito el otoño pasado cuando apenas cumplió 3 años.

Cleft Bottles!

Thanks to the many generous donations of family and friends, we just bought the bulk box (72 bottles) of Cleft Lip/Palate Nursers from Enfamil (Mead Johnson) to bring with us to China. These bottles "are specially shaped, flexible nursers with an elongated nipple which allow controlled formula flow and assisted feedings," and we will be bringing them to the orphanage in Urumqi for the babies who were born with cleft issues.

During normal fetal development between the 6th and 11th week of pregnancy, the clefts in the lip and palate fuse together. In some babies, one or both of these splits failes to fuse, and the baby is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate.

A “cleft” means a separation, so a cleft palate or lip is a split in either the lip area or the roof of the mouth, or the child could have a cleft in both areas. Oral clefts are one of the most common birth defects, and occur in higher frequencies in Asians and Native Americans.

These bottles really save lives- babies born with cleft palates have a hard time creating the suction needed to suck out formula out of a regular bottle, and one report says only 10% will survive (rainbowkids.com). These bottles are not available in China, so orphanage workers and foster parents must take a long time feeding the babies, many times with spoons (can you imagine how hard that would be with a squirmy baby??).

I am still collecting: rubber pants, art supplies, and gently used clothing! Thank you!!

We're Riding on a Caravan

We just got the cutest book today from Grandma!! (my mom) It is from Barefoot Books (one of my favorite publishers!) and tells the story of a family of silk traders traveling on the Silk Road.

We're Riding on a Caravan: An Adventure on the Silk Road

by Laurie Krebs (Author), Helen Cann (Illustrator)

Here is a summary from amazon.com:
"One summer morning, a family of silk traders leaves Xi'an to begin their yearlong journey on the Silk Road in China. As the seasons change, they travel and trade their silk for various products along the route. They pass through an ever-changing landscape–huge sand dunes surrounding the oasis at Dunhuang, the vineyards and grape-drying huts of Turpan, and the high mountains near Kashgar where they sell their silk at the famous Sunday market and prepare to return home. Told in pleasant, well-crafted verse with a chorus of two sentences at the bottom of each spread, the story is engaging and generally informative. The short descriptions of places visited are accurate, both in the story and in the appended information about the Silk Road and the making of silk."

Barefoot Books is a great publisher for kids. They say "taking our inspiration from many different cultures, we focus on themes that encourage independence of spirit, enthusiasm for learning and sharing of the world's diversity." Sounds like we share a similar philosophy.

Germ Infested

Pobrecita de Maya!!!! Vivi has been really sick with 104 degree fever and terrible coughing- the kind of virus that slows her down to an afghan on the couch and a never-ending Winnie the Pooh DVD, that we now know every word to even though we've only had it out of the library for a week. After many sleepless nights, and shared bags under our eyes, Maya caught the same virus! As a zombie at her dr's appointment on Monday, I asked (begged) if the doctor maybe saw an ear infection or strep throat so we could get her on some meds and maybe have one of the girls feeling better. "Nothing but a virus..." "RSV is going around..." "You just have to let it runs its course..." A couple of nights later, Maya started to protest her bottle. In a 24 hour period she only had 6 ounces, and "slept" (I'm using that word VERY loosely) upright in our arms moaning in her sleep. I'm going to spare the details about the phlegm. What an odd-looking word. Anyway, POOR BABY!! I finally took her to the doctor today, who said she has 2 very bad ear infections and bronchitis!!! Pj's stained with cheap hot pink amoxicillan, our precious Maya is sleeping in her carseat (at least it's a little more upright) smelling like rosemary (a strong ingredient in baby vaporub) and, I repeat, is SLEEPING at the moment. As I should be!

Urumqi= oo-ROOM-chee

I had never heard of Urumqi until we looked at Toñito's papers. It is in a fascinating, if remote, region of China in the province of Xinjiang. Urumqi/Urumchi/ Wūlumùqí is the capital of the Xinjiang province, which borders Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikstan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and Tibet.

The Guiness Book of World Records lists Urumqi as the most "inland" city in the world - the furthest from any major body of water - Urumqi is 3,270 km. (2,050 miles) from Beijing (a five-hour flight).

Maps of the Silk Road

The north route of the Silk Road passes through Urumqi and west to the Caspian Sea. The Silk Road peaked in the 13th Century was the main trade route from Asia to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Persia and India to trade silk, gold, ivory, exotic animals and plants.

Xinjiang is home to over 40 ethnic groups such as: the Uyghur (pronounced wee-gur), Han, Hui, Kazak, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, and others. Because of this rich diversity, the clothing, architecture, food, music, and customs are different than many other parts of China. Because Islam is the dominant religion in Xinjiang, there are many mosques in Urumqi.

Urumqi means "beautiful pastures " in the ancient Mongolian used by the Junggar tribe, 2000 years ago. The city lies in a green oasis between the ice-capped Bogda Peak, the Salt Lake in the east, the rolling pine-covered Southern hill and the alternating fields and sand dunes of Zunggar Basin in the northwest.

I am so excited to experience this amazing city!

***************

Nunca había escuchado de Urumqi hasta que lo vimos en los papeles de Toñito. Es una región fascinante (e aislada) de China en la provincia de Xinjiang. De hecho, Urumqi/Urumchi/ Wūlumùqí es la capital de Xinjiang, la provincia que comparte fronteras con Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikstan, Pakistan-occupado Kashmir, y Tibet.

El “Guiness Book of World Records” dice que Urumqi es la ciudad más lejos del mar en todo el mundo (supongo que no vamos a comer mariscos ahíJ). Urumqi queda 3270 km de Beijing (un vuelo de 5 horas).

La ruta norteña del Camino de la Seda pasa por Urumqi y sigue al oeste al Mar Caspian. La ruta de la Seda alcanzó su uso máximo en el siglo décimo tercero y fue la ruta principal de comercio de Ásia al Mediterráneo, Egipcia, Persia e India para intercambiar seda, oro, marfil, y animales y plantas exóticos.

Xinjiang es tierra de más de 40 grupos étnicos incluyendo los Uyghur (se pronuncia uí-gur), Han, Hui, Kazak, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Xibe, y otros. Debido a la diversidad rica, la ropa, arquitectura, comida, música y costumbres son diferentes que las otras partes de China. Como Islam es la religión dominante de Xinjiang, hay muchas mezquitas en Urumqi.

‘Urumqi’ significa “pradera hermosa” en el idioma antigua de Mongolia, usado por la tribu Junggar hace 2000 años. La ciudad está ubicada en un oasis verde entre el Monte Bogda, cubierta de nieve, el lago de sal en el este, el monte de pinos al sur, y los campos y dunas de arena en el noroeste.

Estoy tan emocionada para experimentar esta ciudad increíble!!

The "belly laugh," perfected

Maya turned 6 months old this week, and to mark the occasion she got her first tooth and can almost sit up by herself. Here she is exercising her abs with the kind of belly laugh you wish you could bottle and save for a rainy day.

Maya ya cumplió seis meses esta semana y para marcar la ocasión, salió su primer diente y ya casi se puede sentar solita. Aquí está haciendo ejercicio con sus abdominales con la risa de barriga que quisieras guardar en una botella para un día lluvioso.

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