Happy New Year!

Hi all,

I had no access to the internet all last week which made it difficult to communicate. We have been having lots of fun. She is still such an easy baby to care for. She is very happy and easy going and loves to eat everything. She does have a fit if you take her food away. She eats a lot. She loves these little baby oranges. She peels them and eats 3-4 each day and loves little rolls. She smiles and giggles and can say a few words now. We went to the orphanage and the Director and staff took us out to a nice lunch. The chicken dish was served in front of me and the previously chopped off head was looking right at me. I stuck to the noodles and rice but did try some shredded pumpkin squares (not sweet though) that Ginny would love.

I took some pictures of another child for a mom that is waiting to travel. I also touched, picked up, played with or kissed each and every child in that orphanage because who knows if they had any attention that day. The "toy" in each crib for the children was a cellophane wrapped yellow scoop that comes with the baby formula. Yes, there were some other toys around, but not much. This is a good time to reflect on how thankful we should be for what we have. There were about 100 children and 20 special needs children. The staff does the best they can and loves the children, but there are just so many to care for. I arranged for the trip and another family also came with me which made the trip even nicer. The mom's name is Mamie and their baby is named Mae and she is so cute. They wanted to see their child's orphanage as well and to thank the staff. They are from Charlotte, NC.

Today we are going shopping and tomorrow the beach. We will be coming home sooner as the guide was able to secure an earlier Consulate appointment. I can not say enough about this adoption agency, HOPE for Children. They have gone out of their way to help and make this happen and I am eternally grateful to all of them and to Jophy, the guide over here. She is so kind and nice. She takes us to parks and to museums and to do lots of shopping. Yesterday Madison had her first chicken nuggets and french fries from McDonalds. She loves everything, except the children here do not eat anything cold, since they do not eat cold things here. No ice, no cold drinks, no Diet Sprite, only Coke Light and it all tastes funny. OK, that is it for now, going shopping... Happy New Year Everyone and thanks for all the nice comments and emails!

We are officially a family today..

Hi all. Today we went back to the Civil Affairs office and met with the Notary and one official. They ask you if you want to keep her, promise not to abandon or abuse her, and why you chose to come to China to adopt. As those of you who know me already know, I chose China because they honor and respect their elders and honor their heritage. This was instilled upon me by my grandparents and now I can pass this along to Madison. After we met with the last official, I said good bye to the lady and Madison said her first English words, she told the official "bye- bye". Pretty good after only one day of practice. She is very smart and picks things up quickly, such as "up" and "bus" and "more". She loves to eat and is very social. She will love playing with all of her new friends back home. She is a very happy baby and very content. I am truly blessed to have been given such an easy-going and good natured child.

After the Civil Affairs office, Jophy took us to a merchandise mart similar to the one Shelia and I go to in Miami where everything is available at wholesale, only here it is open to the public as well as to retailers. We picked up several things. However, it was difficult maneuvering with the stroller since the store fronts are very small and the aisles narrow. Tomorrow we have more paperwork and then are going to a museum. Later we will meet up with some other families. That is all for now, after 45 minutes she finally fell asleep. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

She's here.....

Hi all, she is VERY big and heavy and has huge feet and knows how to use the remote to turn the tv on and change the channels, and how to turn the tv on from the front. She also knows how to use the phone. She is hair challenged still, in the front part, but it will grow. She is very much like my grandfather. She has his round face and is quiet and very intuitive. She watches everything and is quite content. She only had one episode when the nanny first left. She SCREAMED bloody murder. She was shrieking. But that was it, only for about 2 minutes. She fell asleep in the car on my shoulder and is currently playing in the room. She is slowly coming out of her shell. I am just watching her and letting her get used to everything and I think that is the reason she is adjusting very well. She has ALL of her teeth and has a wide-horizontal smile like Julia Roberts so you can see all her teeth on the side. It is cute. She grins when she grabs the remote like she knows she is not supposed to have it. She went and located the tootsiepops and took the wrapper off and knew what to do with it. I showed her how to put it on a plate and come back to it and she caught right on. She likes Nemo fruit snacks, too. Her nickname is "Puhn- Puhn". She really is big and heavy and content and happy. She threw all of her toys on the floor. She likes cake and little rolls, too. I am now going to change the diaper which needed to be done awhile ago and take her for a walk outside to see how that goes and try to meet up with the other families. I will try to put the video clip on or a picture but I wasn't having good luck earlier. For you Maonan people, she came in a nice pink sweatsuit with ruffles and a Beijing 2008 Olympics t-shirt and cute pink shoes. She has very dry skin and an old cut or bump above her eyebrow, but other than that appears very well fed and healthy. I am visiting Maonan on Friday and they will give me her finding clothes. They gave me a small photo album which was nice.

In China...

Hi all,

I am here in China. It is 11:40am your time and midnight here. Very long flights, but everything went well. My guide, Jophy, picked me up at the airport. She is great. She is going to get me tomorrow at 3:30pm to do the paperwork and then we will go get Maddie, who is coming up by train, 6 hour train ride. :(

The hotel is very nice and it is located on a small island. There are college kids all over the streets with Santa hats on with flashing lights celebrating Christmas. As soon as I got into the hotel lobby some ran up to me and said "Merry Christmas". They like to practice their English here. It was funny. When I got to the room, which is very nice, and very modern, but small, which they all are here, the porter was putting the bedding in the pretty and very cute, small, light colored wood crib.

It is very warm here, too. I will practice with the camera to get some video of Madison tomorrow and post it on the blog. Thanks everyone for all of your encouragement and help. Have a good day today and Merry Christmas! Earl, the computer is running slow, any suggestions?
p.s. How is Peanut?

Update

Hi everyone,

This has been a very busy week getting everything in order before leaving for China. Now it is time to tackle the big task of packing..... medicines, toys, diapers and some clothes, into one suitcase. Thanks to everyone for all their help and support along the way and an extra special thanks to Bev, Rita, Ginny and Kevin for taking care of Peanut, Fuzz and Bella while I am away.
Thank you so much for doing that.

Here is the link to the hotel we will be staying at the entire time: www.vhotel.com in Guangzhou.

Merry Christmas.....

After many phone calls and changes, I have travel dates. I leave here on Saturday, 12/23 and arrive in China on Sunday evening. Then, thanks to all of the efforts of the people at HOPE for Children and Sue Sorrels Travel Agency, I will receive Madison on Christmas Day at 3pm.

I can not imagine a better Christmas than becoming a mom on that day. We will be staying at The Victory Hotel in Guangzhou, China the entire time. We will return on 1/10 and look forward to seeing everyone when we get back.

Not leaving this Saturday...

The adoption agency was not able to obtain the Consulate Appointment for the end of the month so I am not able to leave this Saturday. :(

I will know soon when I am able to leave.
I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Email Address

I can also be reached at www.aswlaw2@yahoo.com in case you are having difficulty.

Travel Approval Arrived Today, on Day 82

Travel Approval arrived today.

I hope to leave this Saturday and receive Madison on Monday along with 3 other families that are receiving their children who are residing at the Maonan SWI as well. I will know tomorrow whether this is possible.

No TA yet....

Today is Day 78 of the wait for Travel Approval. The adoption process sure seems to be taking a long time lately. Yesterday I arranged for a donation of 100 childrens' toothbrushes that I will bring to the Director of the Maonan Orphanage when we visit. I plan on bringing baby blankets and some childrens' playclothes too, but will buy them when I get over there. Yesterday we also found out that one of my friends and her husband are expecting their first child. Congratulations Liz and Paul and best wishes to you both!

Still Waiting for Travel Approval

Today is Day 76 of the wait for Travel Approval. Madison is currently living at the Maonan SWI which is located in Maoming City in the southeast region of Guangdong Province. Her orphanage is about 4 hours south of Guangzhou, formerly called Canton, the capital of Guangdong Province. I will meet Madison in Guangzhou and we will stay there the entire time we are away. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, a beautiful 5 star hotel where most American families stay when they are adopting from China. You can check it out at www.whiteswanhotel.com

December 5, 2006

Today I received updated measurements about Madison, who turned 2 on September 15th.

She is: 33" tall
28 pounds
6.5 shoe
20 teeth

Hopefully TA will arrive next!

December 4, 2006

I thought it was time to start a blog since I will be traveling soon. Madison has lived at the Maonan SWI for 2 years.