Yellow Crane Tower and Finding Spot

Today we had a free day. Hope's passport won't be ready until Friday, so we have a couple of days to spend in Wuhan without much of a schedule. Our guide took us to the biggest tourist spot in Wuhan. It is called the Yellow Crane Tower. It was originally built in the year 223 as a look out tower to protect the local people in times of war. It is built along the Yangtze River. The tower has been destroyed and re-built many times. The current structure was built in the 1880's. We climbed to the top of the tower in some of the hottest weather I have ever experienced. We were able to get some nice views of the city and we were even able to see the orphanage where Hope was originally brought. Our guide told us that Hope's orphanage is the nicest one in the province and that most of the children are special needs children. It is much less common to abandon a child simply because she's a girl, but if a child is born with a medical condition, it is considered a great burden and it is very difficult for families to take care of the children. The orphanages are filled with these children. Of course, we feel blessed that Hope only spent 3 days in the orphanage and spent the rest of her time in foster care where she was apparently taken very good care of.

After we finished touring the Yellow Crane Tower, we went to Hope's finding spot. She was found on the 5th floor of a local hospital. We were able to go inside and take some pictures. A nurse stopped and talked to us for a bit. She said that most babies who are abandoned at the hospital are left on the first floor and it is highly unusual for a baby to be left on the fifth floor, which also happens to be the top floor of the hospital. I imagine that Hope's birth mom was trying to buy herself time. The higher she went in the hospital, the longer she could hold her baby before she had to say goodbye. I can only imagine that it was one of the hardest days of her life. Adoption always comes at a cost. Someone has to experience great loss in order for someone else to experience gain. It is very bittersweet.

It's Official

Our first overnight with Hope went very well. I wasn't sure what to expect, as we have heard of other families who have had very difficult times. I followed the nanny's instructions and everything went great. I fed her a bottle at 9pm and laid her down to bed in between Mike and I. It took her about an hour to fall asleep. She only woke up once in the night and cried for about 10 minutes. It made me so sad because I know she's confused and missing her foster family. After that, she slept straight until 8am!!! Those of you who know our family, know that our boys are very early risers, so 8am felt miraculous. We headed to breakfast and then our guide picked us up and drove us back to the Civil Affairs office. Hope cried for a good portion of the hour long car ride, but she was fine once we arrived. The trip to Civil Affairs was very significant because we signed the paperwork which makes Hope legally our daughter. I included the picture of Hope marking the paperwork with her footprint. Although she is legally ours, we need to remain in China for another 12 days in order to get her passport and visa. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Beautiful Day!

Today was the day we have been anticipating for so long. We finally got to meet Hope. Thanks to all of you who sent kind words of prayers and encouragement. Your prayers were felt today. I can't imagine today having gone any smoother.

We were picked up by our guide at 9am and we traveled about 45 minutes to a different part of town to the Civil Affairs building. We arrived before Hope did, so they had us fill out some paperwork in an office. While we were in the office, I heard a small commotion. I looked out and saw a woman carrying a baby and I immediately knew it was Hope. Of course, I started crying. We went out to meet her, but did not try to hold her right away. She was being held by one of the orphanage nannies and I stood by her and rubbed her back while she got used to looking at me. The nanny answered many questions for us about Hope's schedule, preferred foods and sleeping patterns. I was able to ask questions and our guide translated for us. One of the questions I asked was whether or not Hope could walk. The nanny put Hope down to demonstrate her ability to walk. After that, I picked her up and she has been glued to Mike and I since. What a beautiful moment!!

I am in awe of how wonderfully the orphanage has prepared for today. They gave us a photo album with pictures of Hope. They gave us a little care package of snacks for her along with the disposable camera that we sent in our care package a while back. Hope's foster mother also put together a little package for Hope, which included her favorite bottle (phew). We were given a typed out copy of her daily routine and it is obvious that they took care to dress her in a special outfit and new shoes. We feel very blessed because we know that not all orphanages provide so much for the adopting families.

Hope's transition has gone really well. She started crying at the office of Civil Affiars and it got worse when the nanny left. We got on the car to head back to our hotel and that's when she really started crying. She cried pretty hard for about 20 minutes and then she fell asleep. She woke up when we arrived at the hotel and she has been playing ever since. Her skills are amazing. She can walk and talk. She also is a wonderful imitator. She was scared of Mike at first, but he used Cheerios to wiggle his way into her heart. She is full of smiles and giggles. We have not been able to get her to eat much of substance today, but maybe she'll be famished by dinner.

We are so blessed. God granted us a beautiful meeting day with our daughter.

WUHAN

This morning we flew to Wuhan, which is in the province of Hubei. The population of Wuhan is 8.3 million, the same size as New York City. We learned today that only 10% of the people in Wuhan own a car, which means that traffic is not too terrible. We arrived at our hotel to find the crib already set up and waiting for Hope. What a surreal feeling. We did a little shopping and then headed out to dinner with my parents. We are the only people from our travel group who flew to Hubei province, so we are on our own now. The guide from our adoption agency recommended three restaurants for us to try. We picked one of the restaurants and when we entered, it was clear that no one spoke English. They finally located a server who spoke minimal English. When we ordered one of our dishes, he looked at us as if to say, "I'm not so sure you're going to like it." What he actually said was, "Hmmm.... sweet." When we received the dish and started eating it, we realized that what he meant to say was,"Spicy." We left the restaurant with our tongues on fire. After dinner, we walked to the park that is next to our hotel. It is not like the parks we have back home. It's a large cement area. There were tons of big wheels for kids to ride around on. I could picture our kids having a ball there.

Back in 1999 I spent 5 months as an English teacher in China. I became accustomed to being stared at, as most Chinese people are not used to seeing foreigners. However, this time around, no one is staring at me or my parents. All of the attention is paid to Mike. I'm guessing the fact that he's 6' 5" has something to do with it. When our guide met us at the airport today, she asked him if he was a basketball player. When he said, "No", she told him that he had the body of an NBA player. I think that made his day.

Tomorrow is the big day. At 9am, we will meet our guide and she will take us to a government building to get Hope. We should be meeting her at 10am, which is 10pm on Sunday night for those of you in the Eastern Time Zone. If you think of it, please pray for us during that time. We know that Hope is going to be scared and the transition could be quite difficult. I think it's safe to say that she is not as excited to meet us as we are to meet her.

Thanks for all of your support. We can't believe that our long wait is finally coming to an end! My dad is all set to take pictures and my mom will have the camcorder in hand to capture the big moment. That way we can enjoy meeting Hope without having to worry about documenting the moment. In case you have never had a chance to see my dad's beautiful photography, you should check out his website at: www.scriptureexpressions.com

I can't wait for tomorrow's post when I can actually post pictures of our daughter!!!!

THE GREAT WALL

We had a busy day today. We got on our tour bus at 8:00am and didn't return back to the hotel until 7:00pm. We are beat!! But, we got to see a lot of great places in and around Beijing. We started off our morning at the Great Wall. It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive there and then we were given 2 hours to spend there. There was a handful of us who hiked to the top. It was hard and I'm pretty sure I'll pay for it tomorrow, but I felt very accomplished! After the Great Wall, we visited a jade factory and ate lunch. From there we went to see the Bird's Nest from the 2008 Olympics. What a cool structure! We also got to see the Cube where Michael Phelps won all of his medals. After that we went to a Chinese acrobatic show. It was very entertaining. In the morning we will head to the airport and fly to Wuhan. We are the only couple in our travel group who is going to Hubei Province. One other couple is traveling to Inner Mongolia and all of the rest are traveling to Henan. We will all meet up again in Guangzhou in about a week.

We made it!

After 28 hours of traveling, we finally arrived at our hotel in Beijing. We arrived at midnight on Thursday, just in time to go to bed and catch a few hours of sleep. Today we were able to spend the day touring Beijing. We went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We also went to a silk factory and on a rickshaw ride. I am glad we have a few days to adjust to being in China before we get Hope. We are jetlagged and my stomach doesn't feel quite right. I'm sure we'll feel great in a few days. We are with about 12 other families from our adoption agency. We will separate from them on Sunday when we fly to Wuhan to get Hope. We will meet back up with these families when we go to Guangzhou. Tomorrow we will see the Great Wall.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm sitting in the airport with Mike and my parents waiting to board our plane. We dropped the kids off this morning at a friend's house. I managed not to cry in front of them, which is nothing short of a miracle. We are blessed with wonderful friends and family who will be taking care of Micah, Samuel and Mary Kate while we are gone. The kids will be able to spend every night at our house sleeping in their own beds. Thanks to all of you who are helping us. One of my friends has even lent me her laptop so that we can stay connected while we are away. I am overwhelmed by people's generosity. I will try to check in again from Tokyo.

One Week From Today

One week from today, Mike and I will board a plane headed to Beijing. We will spend two days in Beijing and then fly to Wuhan to meet our little girl. I am filled with so many different emotions ranging from pure excitement to fear. It's very hard to think about leaving my older three kids for 18 days, but at the same time I am so anxious to finally hold Hope. I also feel like I'm running on pure adrenaline right now. Mike is swamped at work and we are swamped with paperwork at home. But the end is in sight and we know that all of this craziness will be worth it!!

Let's Go Fishing!!

This morning, Mike took the kids fishing so I could get some adoption stuff done. We have never been much of a fishing family. It started back in May when Samuel had a fishing field trip scheduled. A storm rolled through on that day and the field trip was canceled. In order to make it up to Samuel, Mike took the boys fishing last weekend. They had so much fun that they went again today (and included Mary Kate this time) and stayed out for 3 1/2 hours. That's quite an accomplishment when you consider that our kids are still 6, 5 and 3! So, what did I do while Mike and the kids fished?? I created an 11 page Childcare Manual, complete with a table of contents. We will have several different people in our home, taking care of the kids while we are gone. So, I typed up a manual and e-mailed it off to everybody. It feels good to have that taken care of. We still have a lot more work to do before we leave next Wednesday, but it's nice to see that things are starting to come together.

Official Travel Dates

We heard back from our adoption agency today with our official travel dates. Unfortunately, the US Consulate in Guangzhou was unable to get us in for an appointment during the time frame our adoption agency was hoping for. So, our trip had to be pushed back a week. We will be leaving for China on June 23. Mike will head home after the adoption is legal (probably July 1) and my parents and I will need to stay in China until July 10 or 11. We will be buying our plane tickets this afternoon. Our adoption agency needs to approve our itinerary before we purchase, but we hope to have it all done by today. We should be holding Hope for the first time on June 28!!!!

Travel Approval has arrived!!!!!

We received notification from our adoption agency today that our TA (travel approval) has arrived!!! Yippee!!! Our adoption agency has requested an appointment for us with the US Consulate in Guangzhou. Once that appointment is confirmed, we will know our exact travel dates. At this point, it is estimated that we will leave on June 16. That's in 13 days!!!!!!!! Oh my word. Hopefully, we will know if our US Consulate appointment has been confirmed by tomorrow. If that's the case, we can buy our plane tickets and get this ball rolling!!! We are ecstatic over here!

Updated Information on Hope

After receiving the pictures of Hope last week, I wondered if perhaps she was no longer living in foster care, but had been returned to the orphanage. I e-mailed the organization that had assembled her care package and birthday cake and asked them if they knew. It took me a week to hear back, but last night I had an e-mail from the organization. They let me know that they had spoken with Hope's orphanage director. Hope is still living with her foster family and the orphanage director has no intention of sending her back to the orphanage. That is wonderful news! We obviously want her to have as few disruptions as possible. We are so thankful that she is being well taken care of.

We are still waiting on our TA (Travel Approval). We will leave approximately two weeks after receiving it. We could receive it tomorrow or we could receive it in three weeks. Boy, am I hoping it comes SOON!!!