Monday, June 30, 2008

Gotcha Day


The five families met downstairs at 9:15am. The drive to Civil Affairs was kind of quiet. Everyone was nervous and excited at the same time. When we walked inside there were MANY families, most of them already with their babies. It was such an emotional room! All of us were tearing up watching the other families unite with their new baby.



As we saw all the other four families meet their babies, we understood Leah was going to be the last to arrive because she was driving from 4 hours away.








We saw the van that she was in park outside and saw her being carried inside. She cried the moment the director of the orphanage handed her over to my mother.





She was upset the entire time we were at Civil Affairs, like many other babies.

She is so beautiful and has the biggest, most gorgeous eyes we have ever seen!! She looks like one of those Asian Porcelain dolls, or the Asian characters from "Its a Small World"!



This is Daddy signing the contract promising to take care of her for the 24 hours until the adoption is finalized the next day.




Here is  Veronica taking the paperwork to Mommy, while she was outside trying to calm Leah down.






Again trying to calm Leah





At the hotel....












My favorite picture....

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Zai Jian Beijing!


Leaving Beijing - Catching the next flight to Nanjing- capital of Jiangsu, the baby's province!!!








Saturday, June 28, 2008

Beijing Tour



Today we were separated into groups with families who's baby is from the same province. We had to meet downstairs in the lobby at 8:30am. Because of the time change, we kept waking up in the middle of the night to find it was only 12:00am or something and we had to force ourselves to sleep some more. We all ended up getting up at about 3am and went to breakfast with friends at 6:30am.




We went to the Forbidden City and walked about 2 miles!













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As we were talking in Tianamen square, people kept staring at us because they are not used to seeing foreigners. People would take pictures of us or video tape us. They would just stand right next to you are stare at you and smile.. it was really weird. One of the couples in our group brought their little daughter on the trip and she seemed to be the favorite. People's faces lit up when they saw her because of her blonde hair and blue eyes. A LOT of people asked to take pictures with her and she didn't mind at all! We ran into three women who took turns picking her up for a picture. The woman in the picture below was the oldest out of the three and she kissed the poor little girl 's head, like, 100 times!




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Oh yeah... and this is what the public toilets look like...







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Then, ate lunch and went to THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!



The view...




I touched the Wall of China!!





"I have a pain in my 'shess' and I cant 'breaf'"

Look how big the steps were...


Okay that was fun, now lets go back down....

Friday, June 27, 2008

..On our way to China!

Written by: Michelle
....A couple pictures of us on the plane. We changed our tickets for business class last minute at the airport. The flight was very long but our comfortable seats helped =)



I just had to take a picture of the the TV and phone. I spent half the flight playing with all the little gadgets my chair had... hah



Wednesday, June 25, 2008

....and we're off to CHINA!!!


By: Michelle
It is the day before we leave to China. We're all running around like chickens without heads getting last minute things. I have had these weird stomach aches for the past three days from my nerves! I'm only nervous about the flight because I cant sit for that long- its like I have ADHD or something. Anyway, the next time you will be hearing from us is in China!! We'll keep you posted! Wish us luck! ahhhhhh!!!

P.S. Don't forget that we have our itinerary posted below. Feel free to leave comments on our page - its one of the easiests ways to reach us =)

Monday, June 23, 2008

Heres the Deal....


The posts are in this order for a limited time, just so that you guys can understand our story in order from top to bottom. Because really, all posts sort from older posts at the bottom to newer posts at the top. Once we are in China and post pictures and stuff, I'm going to change the order to how its supposed to be so that when you check in, it will be easier for you to see the new posts from China.


Hope that made sense,

PhotobucketMichelle

Sunday, June 22, 2008

China Itinerary


We leave for China Thursday, June 26, 2008
Remember China is 12 hours ahead... The following dates are in China time.



Beijing
Guide: Veronica
Accommodations: Poly Plaza

6/27
3:00pm: Arrive in Beijing

6/28
8:30am: Sightseeing Tour to the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tian An Men Square

6/29
7:15am: Families fly to Nanjing.

6/29
9:20am: We arrive in Nanjing


Nanjing
Guide: Veronica
Accommodations: Nanjing Parkview Dingshan Hotel







6/30
10:00am: "GOTCHA DAY!"

07.01
9:00am: Go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to do paper work.
2:00pm: Shopping for child.

7/02
9:30am: Sightseeing tour to Fuzi Temple.

7/03
9:30am: Sightseeing tour to Xuanwu Park.

7/04




8:00am: Family Day
4:00pm: Get Leah’s passport

7/05
10:45am: Families fly to Guangzhou.



Guangzhou

Guide: Kelly
Accomodations: White Swan Hotel




7/05
12:45pm: Arrive in Guangzhou

7/06
9:30am: Sightseeing tour to Chen Family’s temple.

7/07
9:00am: Take child photos and do medical examination.

7/08
9:30am: Hand the documents to American Consulate in GZ.

7/09

9:30am: Hand the Suita family’s documents to American Consulate in GZ.

7/10
3:00pm: Go to American Consulate Interview and get child’s visa in the afternoon

7/11
8:20am: Leave for Hong Kong to fly home!!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

New Pictures!

June 17 we received more pictures. Adele from Blesseskids.com, who was born and raised in China, lives in the states now, and also adopted through Great Wall was able to get me 10 recent pictures. Leah was 9 months old in her referral pictures, she is now 16 months old. She has changes a bit. Her personality is clearer in these pictures and her hair has grown so much.


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As of 06/16/2008
Height: 31 "
Weight: 25 lbs
Head Circumference: 16.9"
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Leah's Room

This is Leah’s room. We hope she likes it and can’t wait for her to fill it with things that reflect her personality.