Back Home!

Praise be to God we made it back safely last night. I was so grateful when we touched down in St. Louis. We are all a little exhausted and could probably sleep for the next 24 hours but that's not going to happen. Eventually, we'll catch up. Hopefully, I'll have time to post more about our experiences in China during my time off from work.

We are picking up our boys later. I miss them so much. Once I get them in my arms they may need to work real hard to get themselves back out.

We are grateful for your prayers.

Changsha Update

I keep meaning to update my blog at night but tend to fall asleep when Maggie does at 8:30 p.m. I have her crib next to my bed and try to hold her hand through it. A half hour later I wake up and realize that I'm too drained to attempt to make sense on the blog.


Some updates...

On Wednesday evening we went to one of my dad's favorite restaurants - Pizza Hut! And it was much better than back in the states - less sauce, more cheese. Dad, I told you to join us. :)

On Thursday we headed to Martyr's Park a place dedicated to the revolutionists. We saw demonstrations of tai chi, women singing, koi fish and beautiful bridges. Afterwards, we went to the Hunan Embroidery Research Institute China Hunan Embroidery Museum. Embroidery goes back 2000 years in China. They do amazing work at the museum. They can embroider two different images (front and back) on one piece of silk. We bought a small embroidery piece with koi fish for Maggie. Her province is famous for its embroidery work and I wanted to make sure we took something home for her. Of course, the boys will love to see the koi fish too.

In the afternoon, we received Maggie's birth certificate and an official sheet with her finding spot information. Last night, Mike and another dad from our group ventured out to buy food at an authentic Chinese restaurant. We had received order information in Chinese from our guide. They showed this to the staff and they laughed. Then they were directed to a lower scale Chinese restaurant that Mike compared to a Burger King. They also laughed but ended up with some food - some beef that didn't look like beef that we didn't eat. Mom ended up eating plain rice while I ate the rice and spicy broccoli. The boys also picked up a delicious cranberry cake.

Today, we will meet with a calligraphy expert who will create a document with Maggie's Chinese name at the hotel. Later we will receive Maggie's passport and head to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou. In a week we will be back in St. Louis. I can't wait to see my boys again and for them to meet their baby sister!

Changsha

We made it to Changsha after a gate mix-up and extra hour wait tonight. We flew China Air and the service was better than we experienced on our long United flight from the U.S. Our CCAI guide Amy met us at the airport.


We are at The Dolton Hotel. We learned that Maggie Rose is in Changsha already! The Daoxian orphanage staff brought her to the city a day early because the SWI is approximately six hours away and we are meeting her at 10:30 tomorrow morning! I doubt if she is in this hotel because it's a bit ritsy but it's amazing to think that my little girl is almost here.

I am not sure if I will be able to post pictures. I am so disappointed. We need to go through our connection at home and I shut that down last night (unknowingly) when I shut Mike's laptop down because the power was low.
We have already witnessed some crazy Chinese driving tonight. I am not too worried since we are being transported in a nice van. Sadly, it's almost entertaining to see how people get around here. However, the honking outside right now from my 30th floor window is not so entertaining.
We have a crib in our room and a Hello Kitty baby tub in our bathroom. We are ready for Miss Maggie!

In Hong Kong!

We landed in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon after flying more than 15 hours from Chicago. Boy, that was a brutal flight, especially towards the end when it seemed to slow down even more as I stared at the computer screen counting down the last hour.

When I got off the plane, I said, "We're in Hong Kong" as if to remind myself of reality. So much of this is still a bit surreal. Our guide Matthew was waiting for us at the airport. Today, we took a tour with Paul, Shelley and their son from our agency travel group and everal people from Holland. We visited an over priced jewelry store and enjoyed the view from Victoria's Peak. Mike took a sampan boat tour. Mom and I passed on the boat ride. We don't do very well on choppy water so we stayed in the air conditioned bus. I think there is probably enough pollution in the water. I don't need to be adding to it.

We are staying at the Hyatt Regency in Sha Tin and it is a beautiful hotel. We will fly to Hunan, Maggie's province tomorrow afternoon. We get our girls sometime on Monday.

Hong Kong is beautiful but the curvy roads got to me afer a while. We are a bit disappointed that because of our small group size we were not taken to a dim sum meal. Sorry, no pictures right now. We hope to post some tomorrow.

One More Day!

The bags are packed and we are almost ready to go. Leaving the boys this morning at their daycare provider was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I was tearing up as I left. I know they'll be in good hands while we're gone, but I didn't want to quit loving on them.

While we were there, Jack said, "Mommy and daddy got to fly over the dolphin to the red place." We have a toy globe and every country has a color. The US is yellow and China is red. In-between the two countries is a button for a dolphin that makes a cute sound. Jack has an understanding of where we will be and why but it breaks my heart that Liam will wonder where mommy is. I hope I can make it up to him when I return.

We leave tomorrow morning and hope and pray for very friendly skies. Thanks for all the wonderful prayers and well wishes!

One More Day!

The bags are packed and we are almost ready to go. Leaving the boys this morning at their daycare provider was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I was tearing up as I left. I know they'll be in good hands while we're gone, but I didn't want to quit loving on them.

While we were there, Jack said, "Mommy and daddy got to fly over the dolphin to the red place." We have a toy globe and every country has a color. The US is yellow and China is red. In-between the two countries is a button for a dolphin that makes a cute sound. Jack has an understanding of where we will be and why but it breaks my heart that Liam will wonder where mommy is. I hope I can make it up to him when I return.

We leave tomorrow morning and hope and pray for very friendly skies. Thanks for all the wonderful prayers and well wishes!

Countdown to China

We are so blessed that Jack's and Liam's daycare provider is going to take care of our boys while we are in China. She is a very sweet woman who loves our little stinkers. To help Jack get a better idea of how long we'll be gone, I created a chain for each day that we're away. Each chain either says where we are or what we're doing that day or contains an interesting fact about the places we visit.

For example, did you know that Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbour for the amount of incense that came through the area? I gave the boys' daycare provider an incense stick that they can see and smell. Do you know which animal you are in the Chinese zodiac? Jack's and Liam's friends will soon discover their zodiac animal.

We are leaving Thursday and will arrive in Hong Kong on Friday. We will leave for Maggie Rose's province on Sunday and receive her on Monday. I am very excited but I have to admit I'm still in a bit of denial. It's hard to shake that off after five years.
We are blessed to have the loving support of family and friends while we are gone. Please continue to pray for us - for safe travels and for Maggie to be able to adjust to her new family and eventually bond with us.

Scenes from a Hospital

If they don't do good in restaurants, you probably shouldn't take them to a hospital.

Next image blurred to protect juvenile's identity.  (:

Welcome Alexander!

My brother Doug and his wife are proud parents of a baby boy. They delivered their precious bundle of joy last week. Congratulations Doug and JeNae!