Dad’s Travel Journal
Check the blogs
section of the web site for the latest updates!
April 20,
2006
Well, we’ve been home for almost
a week, and things are going pretty well.
We were greeted at the airport by my folks, sisters, aunt, and nieces as
well as some other adoptive families who came to show their support (not to
mention the TV news crew who came to interview us)! Jet lag was much tougher on the return trip
than on the trip over to China,
but that’s what the folks who have “been there and done that” told us to
expect. Last night was the best night so
far. We’ve been struggling with the
common sleeping issues with Mia. The
first several nights, she basically slept in a series of short naps with
kicking and screaming fits in between.
It hasn’t been much fun, but when you consider the jet lag, the
unfamiliar surroundings, the series of dramatic changes she’s been through in
the last two weeks, it’s certainly understandable that she’s a bit
insecure. Remarkably, the tantrums have
diminished each night, and the “naps” have become longer. Last night, she went to sleep at about 9:30
with very little whining and no major meltdown, and she slept straight through
until about 8:15AM when she woke up with a smile on her face – no crying, just
a nice smile with both arms extended to Daddy.
She’s such a blessing!
This first week at home has
been filled with errands and shopping trips as we catch up after a couple of
weeks away from home. Mia has reacted
very well to all of the new things in her life.
She is very curious and meets the new adventures exuberantly! Seeing the wonder and excitement with which
she looks at a shopping cart, a highway full of cars, or an aisle full of toys
at our favorite toy store really makes me step back and appreciate the simple
things in life. I guess we missed out on
the normal temper tantrum that usually accompanies the first ride restrained in
a child safety seat. J We heard so
many horror stories about the ride home from the airport that we were dreading
that moment. As usual, though, Mia had a
surprise in store for us. She LOVES her
car seat and LOVES to be on the go!
Perhaps I’ll have to change
the name of my journal to “Dad’s Journal” and drop the “Travel”. I expect that our four kids and a return to
work will limit my ability to update it very often though. J (After all, baseball season started while we
were gone…)
Once again, thank you,
friends, for your support and your prayers over these past months. We are praising God that everything worked
out so well and asking for his wisdom and strength as we raise all four of our
children in His Light.
April 12,
2006
Wow! Three days have slipped by with no journal
updates from Dad… At least I stayed on
top of the photo albums, which is what I’m sure everyone back home has the most
interest in. J The past few
days have been good. We haven’t had much
sightseeing to do, which is actually good.
We were getting “toured out”, I think.
We’ve had some relaxing time of souvenir shopping, swimming in the hotel
pool, and doing a whole lot of nothing.
Mixed in with that, we had some paperwork for the US side of the
adoption, as well as a routine medical exam for Mia. So, all in all, we’ve had some uneventful
days, but lots of fun getting to know the newest member of our family. Mia is doing pretty well with both of us now. She has moments as “Daddy’s Girl” and times
where she needs her Mama. Usually, she
looks to Mom for comfort or to rock her to sleep, and she looks to Daddy for
playtime or junk food. ;) She is also doing very well with Nolan, who
has been a big, big help on this trip!
There have been a few more
firsts these past few days. Mia had her
first swim – just wading and splashing on Tuesday, then swimming with Dad in
the “big pool” on Wednesday. She had a
blast and I think those around her enjoyed it even more. She is just so excited and full of life! Just watching the way she so enjoys something
as simple as a splash in the kiddie pool makes me
appreciate the “little things” that I have too long taken for granted. Mia also had her first pizza at a local Pizza
Hut here in Guangzhou. Tonight, she enjoyed her second pizza from
the same local Pizza Hut – but “take out” this time… …We have to train her right. Pizza is best enjoyed on the floor in a room
full of friends. (That should be in a
fortune cookie somewhere, I think.) When
“The Dads” arrived at the Pizza Hut to pick up the order, the young Chinese
lady behind the counter greeted us and said, “I remember you! You were here tomorrow!” J
Now we are down to the last
step. Our paperwork, Mia’s visa
application, etc. were turned into the US Consulate today, and we’ll go
tomorrow for the oath. We’ll get her
visa then, and the next morning, we’ll begin the long journey home. It’s hard to believe we’re already less than
two days from the homecoming trip when three weeks ago it seemed like we’d never get travel authorization from China to come
and get our little girl! Yet, here we
are, and we are so blessed! Thank you
all for your love and support. Thank you
most of all for your prayers! We still
covet those as Mia makes yet another HUGE transition in her life – a long trip
half-way around the globe to a strange place with strange smells, strange
sounds, and strange-looking people with a very odd language. Once again, we are asking the Father to
prepare her heart in advance for this change.
While we are trying to meet
Mia’s need for smooth transition, we are terribly excited to be heading
home. We long to hug and hold our two
younger sons and hear all about their visit with Grandma and Grandpa and their
aunts and cousins! We’ve had the chance
to email them and talk to them just a little bit on the phone, but that just
doesn’t help much when you’ve been 8,000 miles away from your kids for two
weeks!!! I can’t wait to see them at the
airport!!!
Not sure if I’ll have the
chance to journal again before we get home.
If I don’t, it may be a while.
I’ve learned from observing other families returning home that the web
site updates aren’t quite the highest priority once you return to the “real
world”. J Thanks for tagging along with us on our
journey! I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures
and the thoughts we’ve been able to share.
Hang in there, boys! Mom, Dad, Nolan and Mia will be home SOON!
Love to all,
Brad
April 9,
2006
We visited the Yun Tai
Garden, today, which is a
very beautiful garden in Guangzhou. We walked around and looked at all of the
plants. We had hoped to take some
pictures of Mia in the flowers, but she slept through most of the visit. Oh well, there will be opportunities
later. I think Kim and I have a serious
case of “I want to go home.” We miss our
two younger boys. So, Grandma and
Grandpa, when you bring them to the airport, Kim would like a Sonic Dr. Pepper
with extra ice. I’ll take a Coke – light
on the ice. On Saturday morning – our
first morning at home with Mia, I’m going to Hardee’s
for a loaded breakfast burrito.
Mid-morning, I want some Braum’s chocolate
milk, and for lunch AND dinner, we want good Mexican food!
April 8,
2006
I wasn’t feeling very well today
– hence the tardiness in getting the photos and journal updated. We went to the Chen Clan Academy and got some good photos, but
the visit wasn’t as enjoyable as it would have been had I been able to
breathe. J It was fun to see the local artwork,
though. After that, we went to the pearl
market to do some shopping, then on to a local restaurant for a dim sum
lunch. It was very good, too, and the
jasmine tea helped me feel a little bit better.
We came back to the hotel and rested for a while, then introduced Mia to
her first McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets. As expected, they were a big hit! We had our nightly “I don’t want to go to
bed” fit, but eventually the parents won once again, and Mia fell to sleep in
my arms. Nolan fell asleep shortly
before Mia, and Mommy followed shortly after her. Then, I finished watching a John Wayne DVD, “Island in the Sky” and went to bed.
April 7,
2006
Today was a much better day than
yesterday for me. Mia has opened back up
to both of us, and is also quite enthralled with her oldest brother! We still dealt with the occasional temper
tantrum this afternoon, but she is 19 months old. So, I’d be worried if that wasn’t the
case. ;)
Today and the next couple of
days are sightseeing days, as there is no adoption-related paperwork or
government process for us to complete.
We went to the Yue Xiu Park
this morning and walked around a bit. We
saw the famous five goats statue, as well as the lookout tower that was used to
watch for any invaders who might have tried to attack ancient Guangzhou (Canton).
The temperature was the coolest it has been since we arrived. So, it was nice to be outside and get some
exercise. We took a stroller for Mia,
which turned out to be just about worthless since the park has a lot of
stairways. We finished up there and went
to a Cantonese restaurant for lunch. The
food was very good and very inexpensive.
I ordered the pigeon which turned out to be a great hit with the bigger
kids in our group. It is served with the
head still attached. So, the kids were
grossed out – or pretending to be, at least…
But when a couple of them tried it and liked it, they all decided to try
it, and it was unanimously accepted.
April 6,
2006
We visited Mia’s orphanage
today. We started off the day with an
early breakfast at the hotel. We ate
with our friends from Texas
who left for home, today. It was such a
blessing to get to see them here in Guangzhou. After breakfast, I ran some errands while Kim
got the kids ready for our one hour trip to the orphanage. Mia was in a fairly good mood today, but very
clingy to Kim. She played a bit with her
brother and seemed to be more willing to let him hold her and play with her,
but she would have nothing to do with me.
She gave me an occasional grin, but if I came near her, she pulled away
and cried to Mama. Guess she was upset
that I kissed and told in yesterday’s post.
J
Anyway, the trip to the orphanage is a little difficult to
describe. At first, I was completely at
ease about it. As we got closer though,
I began to get nervous and didn’t really know why. It didn’t help that the driver got lost on
the way… We’ve always believed, based
upon the stories we’ve read from others who have adopted from this orphanage,
that the children are well cared for.
We’ve seen signs in Mia that leave no doubt she received good care while
there. I wanted to go and thank them for
taking care of my daughter, give them a chance to say their goodbyes to her,
and soak in as much as I could about the people and environment there in order
to answer some of the many questions Mia will have for me as she gets
older. We had also joined with another
family adopting from the same orphanage to pick up some diapers and formula to
donate to help the kids. Yet, as we got
closer, this indescribable uneasiness crept in.
I guess I was scared she wasn’t going to want to leave with us once she
saw the ladies who took care of her for the last year and a half or so. Or maybe it was the emotional distress –
knowing I’d see other kids who I wouldn’t be able to take home and who might
never be taken home to families.
Whatever it was, I had a knot in my gut like I’ve never had before. When we arrived, we were invited to sit in
the lobby of the office area and were told where the facilities were if anyone
needed them. Some of the staff greeted
the two girls and played with them for a moment in the lobby. We received a mild chastisement from the
director of the orphanage because he felt the sleeves on the girls’ shirts were
too short for the weather conditions. (I
had heard of such “instruction” before, but this was my first experience with
being told my daughter needs long sleeves on a balmy day when we’re all
sweating.) Our guide then told us that
it was an appropriate time to present our donation. We did, and the diapers seemed to be very
well received by the orphanage director.
He expressed his thanks, and we were off to the actual orphanage
rooms. This particular Social Welfare
Institute includes the orphanage and a nursing home for the elderly. The nursing home appears to be quite large,
but the orphanage only consists of a few rooms.
It all appeared a bit smaller than the impression I had from the photos
we’d seen. Mia took right up with the
nannies. She was smiling and talking to
them. They fed her what appeared to be a
rice and bean sprout porridge and gave her some water. At first, my inclination was to be offended
that they’d do this without asking, but I quickly let that go. These ladies were her primary caretakers
until just a couple of days ago… In
between the spoonfuls of porridge, Mia was off to the races. She ran around like she owned the place –
picking up what few toys were around, sliding down the slide of the small play
set that was set up in the corner, and talking to the kiddos in the cribs. She seemed very comfortable, which made me
happy, but also tightened that knot in my gut a bit. The nannies removed her shoes and told us she
didn’t like to wear them, to which I replied, “She cries when we take them
off.” They came back with some
explanation that she doesn’t cry because she likes wearing them; she cries
because she knows the shoes are hers and is afraid I’m going to take them
away. There may be some truth to that,
but I can tell you she loves her shoes just like any other princess. J We finished our visit and were escorted back
to the office where the director thanked us again and presented us with a small
banner/flag from the orphanage. We were
then told that it was their “break” (which I think means lunchtime), and that
was our hint to scoot. We took some
pictures outside and boarded the van.
Mia did very well. She did not
fuss at all when we left. She waived
goodbye to her caretakers and blew kisses, but she didn’t seem the least bit
hesitant to leave. Shortly thereafter,
she fell asleep in Kim’s arms (after reconfirming that she wanted nothing to do
with Daddy today). As we pulled away,
the knot eased a bit. I’m not sure we
got what we expected out of the trip – I’m not even sure what we expected. But I hope it helped to give Mia some closure
on that chapter of her life so that we can move on with the chapter we are now
starting together.
We got back to Guangzhou and had lunch,
then did some shopping. We returned to
our hotel room and decided to just hang out there for the evening. Mia was not too happy about that, as she
likes to be on the go. She decided to
throw a few temper tantrums for us, which weren’t pleasant, but we lived
through them. I wish I could read her
mind and know what she’s thinking – it all must be very confusing and
frustrating for her at this point. And
it made it tough that she wouldn’t let me comfort her. All she wanted this evening was Mommy. Then, she decided she didn’t even want her –
she just wanted to cry.
Everyone is asleep now, and
I’ll soon join them. Hoping for a better
day tomorrow…
April 5,
2006
While we were getting ready for
breakfast this morning, Mia actually gave her dad a kiss! Need I post more for the day?!
April 4,
2006 –
Part II
Today was the day we have been
waiting for. We held our Mia for the
first time! She wasn’t too excited about
it – at least not at first – but we were thrilled and amazed at God’s
blessing! We went to the adoption
registration center in Guangzhou,
about 15 minutes from the hotel, at 2:30PM. The van bringing Mia to us was caught in
traffic. So, she didn’t arrive until 3:30PM. That was possibly the longest hour of our
lives. Close to 3:30, for some reason, we all looked out the
window to see a van pulling in. We saw a
man step out of the passenger side and immediately recognized him as the
director of Mia’s orphanage. (We had
seen him on the orphanage’s web site.)
Then, out stepped one of the nannies with our Mia! We were so excited. A few moments later, they brought Mia into
the room with us. She looked at Kim
cautiously, but curiously. Then, the
nanny handed her to Kim and said, “Ma Ma.” This was the moment any question about her
lung capacity was answered for us. J She has a
very deep and loud scream for such a small girl! Over the next couple of hours, the
intermissions between the screams became more frequent and longer in
duration. We got back to the hotel, and
Nolan and I went to prepare some paperwork.
We left Mia and Kim together for some bonding time. When we returned, the screaming continued,
and Mia was downright ticked off at her Mommy.
She reached for me, and I held her.
She pointed to the soft doll and blanket in her bed. When I handed them to her, she cradled the
doll in her left arm and bunched the blanket up into her belly with her right
arm, and all was better. She stopped
crying, for the most part, and seemed to take some comfort in the soft
toys. I rocked her for a while, and she
seemed to calm down enough to take in her surroundings. Then, it was time to go complete some
paperwork. I tested the water a bit by
letting her down on the floor. She began
to walk around and play a bit. Nolan and
I made our way to the door and quietly left.
We stood outside and listened, but heard no crying. So, we headed off to handle the
“administrative” stuff. When we
returned, we found Mia happily playing with Mommy on the floor. They were building with the stacking cups,
then knocking them down and clapping.
(She won’t fit in with our family, huh?!) J We got some smiles and giggles, then, and got
a glimpse of the happy young lady that we hope she will soon become. In the short time we got to interact with
Mia, we saw a girl with a little bit of attitude (which will come in handy with
her brothers), a whole lot of charm,
and a complete openness with showing her emotions. There’s not much mystery to what she’s
feeling – she let’s you know it! J Mia went to
sleep in the loving arms of her Mommy at about 8:30PM, and she is still sleeping now, at about 6AM the
next day. She is an active sleeper,
changing from her back to her belly or vice versa fairly often. She also adjusts the blanket and pillow to
get just the right arrangement for comfort – all without ever waking up. She seems to like soft things – she’s kept
her doll, a pillow, or a blanket tucked under her arm and pulled to her belly
or chest most of the night. It has been
a peaceful night, and we are thankful for the rest. We are anxiously anticipating a day of
discovering more of the personality and beauty of our new daughter.
April 4,
2006
Well, we made it to Guangzhou yesterday! The White Swan is as beautiful as everyone
had told us, and we are so excited to be here!
Jet lag finally hit me after we arrived.
So, I’m a little bit late in updating my journal. You may have noticed I had to reorganize the
photo albums to keep a little bit better handle on managing the updates… Anyhow, let’s see if I can catch up on my
thoughts from the trip.
It was neat to see Hong Kong. By the
time we got settled into the hotel, it was getting late in the evening. So, we figured we’d better get some
sleep. Our bodies had other ideas,
though. Nolan and I were hungry and
fidgety. So, we made a McDonald’s
run. The Hong Kong
double cheeseburgers aren’t exactly like their American counterparts, but they
served their purpose. We returned to the
hotel and watched some TV before we were finally able to get some rest. Our hotel suite was very nice. In this part of the world, they tend to use
“Ricky and Lucy” beds – two beds about the size of an American twin, rather
than a queen or king size bed. Our room
had these type of beds, while the living area had a sofa bed for Nolan. We also had a little dining table and a
kitchenette – unnecessary for a one-night stay, but the extra space was
relaxing.
After a few hours of sleep
we awoke much too early in the morning to get out and do anything. We tried to entertain ourselves. Kim read, Nolan read a little and played his Gameboy. Dad spent
some time on the computer and then laid on the extra firm bed staring at the
ceiling. J Finally, it was time to get breakfast! We ate at the hotel restaurant (couldn’t
handle another McD’s run…). It was expensive, but a very good
buffet. One side had typical American
breakfast fair, while the other side had Congee, Dim Sum, various rolls, and
other treats I couldn’t really identify.
We ate well, then decided to see the area around the hotel as we waited
for our train tickets to be delivered.
We walked around a
convention center type of building on one side of the hotel. The courtyard area (which we had seen from our
hotel room window) had several people exercising together – stretching,
walking, and practicing Tai Chi. The
harbor was very busy with all sorts of boats.
The high speed ferries zip back and forth all day, while the big cargo
ships port to have their containers moved by the huge cranes. We saw several people cleaning streets and
wiping down the tile walls that separated the street from the sidewalk on one
side of the hotel. I found it
interesting that they did this by hand rather than enjoying the convenience of
a street sweeper or power washer like we’d use in the U.S.
We returned to the hotel and
found our train tickets had arrived. So,
we packed up our things and met our friends in the lobby for checkout. Then we hauled our bags across the road to
the train station.
We didn’t realize the
restrictions on baggage weight applied to the trains just as it does to the
Chinese flights, but we quickly learned that was the case. We were allowed 20 Kg per adult and 10 Kg for
Nolan. That’s 44 lbs. for us and 22 lbs.
for him. We were slightly over and had
to pay a small Luggage Consignment Fee.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have sufficient Hong Kong Dollars for the
fee. So, a mad dash to the ATM was
required. Then, we were on our way.
As we traveled across the
countryside, I was struck most by the way the landscape abruptly changes from
city to countryside and back to city. On
one side of the road, you may have a seven or eight story apartment building,
while on the other, you have a small farm.
It was also interesting to see how the Chinese perform modern tasks,
like construction, without the convenience of modern technology. For instance, we passed an area where an
overpass was being constructed, and there were the large cement trucks and
workers in hard hats like you’d see in the states, but rather then the large
steel scaffolds and safety equipment we are accustomed to, these guys used wood
and bamboo to fashion their scaffolds and catwalks. Rather than one man, three “supervisors” and
a backhoe to dig a drainage trench, they used ten men with shovels.
It was a very pleasant train
ride to Guangzhou,
and the hour and a half seemed to fly by.
We went through immigration and quarantine (for a quick health check),
then customs. We grabbed our luggage and
boarded the van for the hotel. Traffic
was quite heavy on the ride from the airport to Shamian Island where the hotel is located, but
we made it! We got unpacked then called
some friends from Texas
who we knew had arrived here a couple of days earlier. We met with them and went to Lucy’s for
dinner. (Lucy’s is where many go for
American food during their stay here.
Our guide said, “To us, this is American food. To you, it’s maybe ‘Chinese American’
food.” Nevertheless, it was good food,
and it was great to catch up with our Texas
friends. It’s amazing how small the
world really is, when you can travel to the other side of the globe and still
meet up with old friends!
During and after dinner is
when the jet lag really began to hit me.
I stayed up long enough to let Kim finish her journal update so I could
upload it for her. Then, I crashed.
That brings us to
today… I woke up at about 4:30AM and wasn’t able to go back to
sleep. Today is the day I will meet my
daughter! I am nervous, excited, maybe
even a little bit worried, but at the same time I can’t wait for this
afternoon! I pray that God will prepare
her heart for this transition and will give us the wisdom to make it a smooth
one for her.
April 2,
2006
We arrived in Hong
Kong safely and got into our hotel. Not much excitement, but we’ll get some sleep
and should have some stories and pictures of the train ride to Guangzhou tomorrow.
April 1,
2006
Today was our travel day! We commented to each other on the way to the
airport how the whole situation still seemed so surreal. After the different phases of waiting, it’s
hard to believe that today we are actually TRAVELING to meet Mia. We got to the airport early, running on
adrenaline alone because we’ve been unable to sleep for a few days. We were told the first leg of our flight was
canceled. After a momentary state of
panic, we were reassured by the lady at the ticket counter that we could be
placed on another carrier and still make our Chicago connection, and the other families
traveling with us could do the same. So,
all was well. Later, when we compared
boarding passes, we realized that we were still on the original Chicago to Hong Kong flight, but our companions had been moved to a
flight two hours later. Since we all
wanted to try to travel together, and there were eight of them and three of us,
we decided it would be less problematic to ask United to change us to the later
flight, and they did. All was well once
again. When it came time to board in Chicago, we discovered
one other minor discrepancy. We were
booked on that later flight, but the other families were on the April 2nd
flight. No worries, though. There was room on the plane, and all was sorted
out. Long story short, we had a couple
of stressful moments, but nonetheless, we’re on our way! And we learned a few lessons. Not the least important of which is that
those “moving walkways” you see in some airports – the ones that are sort of
like flat escalators that let you cover ground really quickly as you walk – are
great entertainment for 6 to 9-year-old boys!
They will walk from one end of the terminal to the other, turn around
and walk back again and start all over…
…and believe it’s actually
FUN! J
As I type this, we are
flying in a 747 about 31,000 feet above the Arctic Circle. They just informed us that the outside air
temperature is 74 degrees below zero! In
just ten more hours, we’ll land in Hong Kong!
March 29,
2006
This morning we got our
confirmation of our U.S. Consulate appointment for April 12th. That means we’ll probably hold Mia for the
first time on April 5th. So,
we can be a little bit more relaxed about rushing to Guangzhou.
We won’t leave for China
until Saturday, April 1st.
(Our full itinerary is on the bottom of the main Travel Journal
page.) The April 12th
appointment also means Mia will be home for Easter! We are so thankful for all of you who have
supported us through your prayers and best wishes. You mean more to us than you’ll ever
know. I’ll do my best to keep this site
updated with pictures and journal entries so you can enjoy this adventure with
us!
March 27, 2006
Well, seventy-four days after our Letter of Intent was sent to
China expressing our desire to adopt Qing Cheng Le, our Travel Authorization
has finally arrived! We are so blessed! We are now waiting for our
appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to be confirmed for April 12th
or 13th. If that happens, we’ll be able to leave on Thursday,
March 30th! If that doesn’t happen, we’ll likely see a
significant delay because all of the hotel rooms in Guangzhou are booked up for
the Canton Trade Fair during the third and fourth weeks of April. So,
we’re praying the Consulate’s Office has availability on one of our requested
dates. The downside to this is that we’ll likely miss visiting
Beijing. With such short notice, getting travel into Beijing has proven
to be a challenge. We likely wouldn’t get there until late on Saturday (after
an overnight stay in Hong Kong), and we’d have
to leave on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning to get to Guangzhou in time to get Mia. We’ve
decided that only 24 hours in Beijing accompanied by travel fatigue and jet lag
just isn’t worth the extra hassle and expense. So, we’ll do our weekend
sightseeing in the Guangzhou
area. This will probably be more meaningful, anyway, since Mia is from
the Guangdong Province (of which Guangzhou is the capital). Mark 11:24