Saturday, September 27, 2008
Final Post from China!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Typhoon Hagupit & Visa Paperwork Complete
We are of course missing Benjamin and Katie very badly and cannot wait to see you all when we get home.
Monday, September 22, 2008
More than Halfway Home!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Turning into a Ham
Sunday morning started with the famous Red Couch photos at the White Swan and then group photos in front of the White Swan's waterfall.
From there we went to a local shopping, well, mall, I guess. It was where Chinese people go to shop. And although it looked like a mall, there was no A/C and the public restrooms were squatty potties with no toilet paper (or so I am told by someone that I am married to). Nevertheless, we bought a few things and saw some beautiful things that if we had a lot of money we would have bought. To top it off, we crossed the street and gave Claire her first McDonald's experience. Yay, french fries!!!
The rest of the day was spent napping, at the pool and eating at Lucy's with some friends. After dinner we made it to the Swan Room, which is a play room inside the White Swan. Here's where the story takes a really ominous turn. We met up with Emma's little red-headed (not that there's anything wrong with that) friend, Ryan from Spokane and his family. Emma and Ryan played and watched some of Lion King on the big TV there. Well, we leave and head upstairs with Ryan and his family. We get off on the 10th floor, while Ryan and crew are headed to 19. Well, as we are getting off the elevator, Emma and Ryan say good night to each other and just as the doors are closing, Ryan yells out to Emma, "I love you!"
As you can imagine, I didn't get much sleep last night worring about this turn of events. I would appreciate any helpful suggestions about what to do about this Ryan kid.
I'll leave you with our group pic from yesterday.
OMG! He's sitting right next to Emma!!!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Claire is Really Opening Up!
One thing that makes us come back to them having the age correct, is that we have discovered that she's partially potty trained. Seriously. We had noticed that she would go hours without a wet diaper, even when drinking plenty. We've heard stories of the Chinese potty training very early. So we stood her up on the potty seat and made a "psssssssss" sound and sure enough after a little bit, she peed. Now she's done it three times for us. She's been sleeping really well too. We put her down for nap or bed time and in about 2 minutes, she's out. We feel really blessed in every respect.
Well, it is time to get ready for bed. We hope you all are doing well. We appreciate so much all of your thoughts and prayers for us on this journey.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Claire is "Officially" ours!
Today started with the wonderful breakfast buffet. Claire decided she liked the eggs, watermelon and banana muffins. It's pretty interesting though because she all but refuses to feed herself. I certainly don't mind putting food in her mouth, but I don't think she's ever had a reason or food to feed herself with. I finally got her to put a puff in her own mouth later in the day. We talked to family and friends on Skype and then went back to the Civil Affairs office to sign the paperwork making Claire officially ours. The paperwork was fast and dull compared to actually getting her yesterday. So now she ours in the eyes of the Chinese government. Yay!!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Not enough details....
Claire is super tiny! I think the 6-9 month clothes I brought will fit her just fine. In fact, there's another family in our group whose daughter is just a little older than Claire and she's about twice as big! Claire has a little runny nose and cough, too. But she's SO sweet! She's asleep on the bed right now, but I think we're going to try the crib. She's been sleeping very peacefully except for the occasional cough.
Benjamin and Katie, we can't wait for you to meet her!! Love to everyone at home, keep the prayers coming! They are being heard!!
Today was Gotcha Day!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Our First Day
Next we moved on to the pool which was very nice since it's so hot right now. We've met a couple of nice families so far and will meet the rest of our group tomorrow. But, it really seems empty compared to how many families were here when we adopted Emma. There are many shops that were here then that are now out of business because of fewer families being able to adopt. Out of the other families in our group, 3 are adopting babies around the same age as Claire and one is adopting an older child, about 9 if I remember correctly. Our guide, Rebecca, filled us in on those details last night. We're looking forward to meeting them and, of coures, our Claire! We are scheduled to receive her at about 2:30pm tomorrow! Rebecca said that in her experience seeing so many families, children of Claire's age tend to cry very much at the first meeting, but calm down by the time the parents get back to the hotel. She said that Emma's presence will be a tremendous help. We knew that, of course, but it was nice to hear her say it! So, please be praying for a smooth transition for little Claire. We can't wait to see her!
We miss everyone at home, especially Benjamin and Katie! We love you very much and can't wait to show you your little sister!
Sorry for no pictures yet, but don't worry! We'll have plenty to post when we get to the important stuff!
Much love,
Kirsten, and the sleeping Byron and Emma
Sunday, September 14, 2008
We made it to Guangzhou!!!
We spent about 3 hours at the Mall of America, including lunch at Bubba Gumps (we had shrimp), before heading back to the airport.
The biggest blessing we had was a not very full flight and being able to spread out over 5 seats between the 3 of us on the long flight to Tokyo (12.5 hours). We all got at least a few hours sleep. The flight from Tokyo to Guangzhou was a puny 5 hours.
We were picked up at the airport with the help of our guide, Rebecca, who we know we're going to like a lot already. It's just a little before 1:00 a.m. in Guangzhou now, and we're about to go to bed at the White Swan Hotel.
Emma is the best little traveler ever! She bounces every step of the way.
Benjamin and Katie, we love you so much and are missing you already! We know that you must be having a good time with Grandma and Aunt Teresa.
We'll post some pictures tomorrow. Tomorrow is a free day with nothing substantive to do. Tuesday is Gotcha Day, when we will get Claire.
Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers.
Byron and Kirsten.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
We leave in 57 hours!
Please continue to pray for Claire's safety and especially for an easy transition for her. We can't wait to receive her!