Thanksgiving and Potty Training!

This Thanksgiving I had a lot to be Thankful for!  There were the obvious reasons, I have my health, a great job and been blessed to have Lucy in my life.  Who knew that I would add a potty trained child to my list!!  I chose to attack potty training during this time because I wanted to have a period of time where I would be able to be consistent and supportive of this new challenge in Lucy's life.  I got a lot of advice and opinions on how to navigate through potty training so with M&M's, new hello kitty panties and the potty set up in the living room we were armed and ready.  I even had back up in case I caved! ( Becky flew in from Denver).  The first few days Lucy went commando.   She ran around the house buck naked in hopes that she would feel the urge to use to potty a little sooner.  Instead of finding the potty, she found curtains to hide behind, dark bathroom floors and little nooks behind the chairs!  Here's a good place for my to enter what else I am thankful for...wood floors.  Day 1 was a BUST!  On Thanksgiving Day, Lucy was still running around commando and in between coaxing her to use the potty, my reinforcements showed up.  Now we were going to get this done!  Still, more dark rooms, behind the curtains etc.  I just kept thinking, if I can get her to understand the feeling, she can do this.  Lucy had no problem holding her blatter.  She can hold it, 3 and 4 hours.  So finally on one of those times where she hadn't gone potty for over 3 hours I decided to help mother nature. I sat her on the potty and filled a bucket with warm water and while she was sitting on the potty I put her foot in the bucket of water.  Sure enough, we had success!!!  Streamers, potty dances and M&M's galore.

  I continued this process for the next few days and even took her potty with us shopping on black Friday.  In between visits into different stores, she would have a potty break in the back of the car.  Needless to say, when she went back to school on Monday, she showed up in her hello kitty panties ready to go!  We had a lot to be Thankful for this year anyway, but now we can add POTTY TRAINED to that list!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN LUCY!

Lucy has finally come down off of her Halloween sugar high!  We had a blast!  Ya-Ya and Poppy came down for a Birthday/Halloween bash.  We started the weekend at Sweet Berry Farms where Lucy went on a Hay rack ride, rode a pony, feed the goats and went through a corn maze. She had a fantastic time and may have even found her calling driving a John Deer!

Ya- Ya has a special place in Lucy's heart!  The saying holds true, "If Mom says No, ask Ya-Ya!"

On Halloween, Lucy dressed up as a cat! We went trick or treating at the Great Wall adoption agency where Lucy was able to meet all of the people who helped make our family complete.   

During the evening,  Lucy handed out candy to all of the trick or treaters.  She had as much fun handing out the candy as she did eating the candy and was very generous with the portions.  We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Potty Training!!!

Guess who is Two!

Lucy is Two! 

We have decided that it would be Birthday Week in our house, so we spent the week celebrating her 2nd birthday and our first birthday as a family.  Every evening Lucy indulged in cupcakes, ice cream or cookies and I sang happy birthday to her.  She would then open one gift from her family.  She is still at the age where ripping the tissue and the boxes is as exciting as the gift itself. 

Sunday evening was the big finale when we were able to celebrate her birthday with Ya Ya and Poppy.  Their visit was enough of a gift for her as she is in love with her grandparents.

Lucy has been doing fantastic at school and was invited to her first birthday party.  At the end of November the toddler class is putting on a performance for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to see this and will undoubtedly video tape the performance. 

Lucy has made new friends with our next door neighbors who are 8 and 5 years old.  They come over everyday and ask to play and she loves it.

We are getting close to potty training because the other day when she was playing with the neighbors in the driveway, she pulled down her pants, ripped off her diaper, handed it to me and said, "yuck!"  So I am planning on seeing if she is interested in getting rid of diapers over Thanksgiving!  Wish us Luck!

Lucy and I have been together for 8 months now and I could not have imagined the joy that she has brought to my life.  When I think back to that day 8 months ago, it feels like a life time ago and the change in Lucy is amazing.  She has blossomed so quickly at times it feels as though we have experienced a year and a half in 8 months.  She is a happy, loving and independent girl.  My life has been blessed!

6 Months later & still going strong!

It has been 6 months since we brought Lucy home.  She just received her 6 month post adoption placement home study, a small milestone for us.  What can I say, we have been gradually getting acclimated and uncovering each other's idiosyncrasies. 

She has been in speech therapy for 2 months now and can make a 'B', 'P' sound and blow bubbles in the water.  While I water flowers outside, she fills up the dog bowl with water, puts her face in the bowl and makes bubbles!  She is so proud of herself!  For those who are unaware, we repaired her cleft palate in May and without being able to previously use that muscle, we had to start from scratch to learn.  She graduated from physical therapy because she is walking, jumping and running like any 23 month old.

Lucy started school 3 weeks ago and LOVES it!  I walk her in, we put her lunch box down and then she turns, waves and says, "Bye, Bye Mama!"  Then walks off onto the playground.  She is so independent and confident.  The fun part is picking her up!!  I walk into the school and when she finally sees me, she comes running across the room to meet me.  One day, a poor little 2 year old boy got in between Lucy and me and she bulldozed him down.  He was OK but I am sure that my tenacious( almost 2 year old) will never let anything come between her and her prize, whatever that may be.

I am looking forward to her 2nd birthday, but the first birthday that we will be spending together in October.  Stay tuned for a slew of new firsts for Lucy in the upcoming months.

Lucy Meets the Family!

Here we are!  It has been 2 months since I have written, but as many of you are aware....kid's take TIME!  I love spending time with Lucy, but when I finally have a minute to myself, I am catching up on work or whatever I have on DVR!  So let me catch you all up to speed as to what has been happening in our world!

Lucy and I headed to Nebraska/Colorado for our family reunion and Lucy got to meet her Great Grandma and Great Grandpa as well as the extended family.  She had her first experience with a pinata and the competitive nature of her cousins as they all ran her over going for the candy!  She LOVED it!

We spent a few days in Colorado with the entire family.  We went swimming, hiking and played board games.  The best part of the trip was watching Lucy play ring around the rosy with her boy cousins who are 9, 12, 12.!  OH, they took bubble baths with her too!  I love how they love her!!! 

I couldn't have asked for a more supportive family.  Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive of us and I am truly appreciative of everyone.

Earning My Stripes!!!

I am glad that you all cannot see me right now, with the bags under my eyes, my 3 day old pajama's that can walk on their own, my hair that could use a highlight and cut and my wiry eyebrows that need to be waxed.  I am not even going to talk about the legs!!! UGHH!

Lucy had surgery on Friday morning to repair her cleft palate and to have tubes put into her ears.  This is and was the first of several years worth of surgery.  The surgery lasted 3 hours and then she and I were to spend the night in the hospital.  Poppy came down to give me some assistance and boy am I grateful!

I was ultra prepared for the day.  I brought her favorite stuffed animals, books and toys.  Clothes for me, my computer and lots of work stuff to catch up on!  I also thought Poppy and I could take advantage of the down time to watch movies while she re cooped so I packed 8 DVD's.  And now you can all start laughing!

She came out of surgery at 10:30am and did NOT sleep for more than 20 minute intervals.  My child is drug resistant!  They had morphine, codeine and any other drug you can think of running through her veins trying to calm her down and put her out of her misery.  But the more they tried to tame the Lion, the wilder the beast became!

I know I have said it before, so I am here to say it again.  My child has an inner strength and will power that frightens me.  I believe I said to the nurse on a number of occasions during that 24 hour stretch, "She is going to give me a run for my money one day!"  Let's just say that Lucy and I are going to have several years of "the meeting of the minds!"

All and all she is re cooping well and has been a trooper!  She is off food for 2 weeks and on a liquid only diet!  This has been a nightmare as she likes to eat!  She is really mad at me right now and I think I have seen more of her backside these past few days than her front!( This is what she does when she is mad at me!)  After two weeks she will be on a soft food only diet for 4 weeks and then she will be off to the Golden Corral for the family buffet!

Poppy left today!  Thank God for Grandparents.  They create levity at a time when nothing seems trivial.

Tantrums, Fits and Night Sweats!!

And I'm not talking about Lucy!

We have been home for about a month now and Miss Lulu has acclimated beautifully!  She has been to several Doctor's appts and has handled each one like a champ.  It looks as though Lucy will be getting her palate repaired along with ear tubes at the end of May.  This will be the first of several surgeries over the next several years.  We still have appts to meet with a neurologist and a occupational therapist in the upcoming weeks.  We are crossing our fingers that all will turn out great.

Now for the tantrums!

When I decided to be a parent, I knew that children had a wide array of  behaviors and I was willing and up for the challenge!  Who knew that I would be the one having the tantrums, fits and night sweats??

When I knew I was going to become a mom I asked my sisters, friends and anyone else who had a child, "why is being a parent difficult and what does that mean ?"  I am not sure I even understand the magnitude of this question since I am only embarking upon week 5, however, let me tell you what has hit me straight away like a freight train.

The art of  BALANCE!  How does one balance family and work?  I have been back to work for 2 weeks ( kind of) and I feel as though I am not doing anything well.  How does someone organize themselves so they are able to be successful within their career and a successful mom?  I never understood why it was difficult to do both until now, when I am  knee deep in it. 
Right now I am working on finding balance and my goal is to find a way that when I am at work, I am 100% there and when I am with Lucy she has my attention 100%.  I am still struggling through and organizing my life in order to make that a reality.  But day by day and little by little I think we are getting closer.  I am so grateful for DVR!! 

I welcome any advice from you seasoned parents out there!

All in all we are fairing well but that is a little misleading since Gram Pam is still staying with us.  God only knows what my tantrums and stress levels will be like once she heads back to Nebraska!  God help us!

Hope all is well.  Try not to take it personally if I am slow to return your phone calls.  I think this explains it all.

                        This makes it ALL worth it! 

Dr Appts and Poop Specimens

We are home and have survived our first week back! 

We left Beijing and had a 14 hour plane ride to Chicago that was followed up with a stop in Nashville and then onto Austin.  Needless to say, it was exhausting!  Lucy was a champ.  I was worried that it would be a nightmare flying with a child who was 18 months old but she held out and did not let me see her inner demon until we were 20 minutes from Austin.  This was when she let loose and bared all!

We spent the week hanging out with cousins and just getting acclimated to her new environment.  On Friday, we went to the adoption clinic to have a thorough analysis as to where she is health wise and where we need to be.  I am so grateful to have Gram Pam in town because I am suppose to get poop specimen from Lucy for the next 3 days and Gram Pam has been kind enough to relieve me of that duty!

We are setting a few appts with Occupational Therapists and Neurologist.  Lucy is not walking at this time and we are 99% sure it is lack of development due to under use but we want to make sure there are not any underlining reasons.

Lucy loves her furry sister.  She has learned to smack her lips when I say "kisses" to Jazzmine.  Jazzmine  then proceeds to lick her face.  I am not sure if Jazzmine is equally as fond of Lucy but she does enjoy the extra food she is now getting due to Lucy's need to feed herself. ( Independent!)

Overall, things are going really well!  We have a few more doctor appts this week but mostly we are just getting into the groove of things.  I will try to update you every week on Lucy's progress.

Memories of China!

We can not wait for everyone to come home!  We are very excited to meet Lucy!!!

Coming Home!

As our trip comes to an end I wanted to take some time to reflect upon what an amazing journey this has been.  After waiting 5 years for Lucy, nothing could have prepared me for the adventure that these few weeks would have provided.  We are so grateful to our guides that helped us along the way so I am going to highlight a few of them.

Yo Yo, our guide for a total of 30 minutes who lead us through the trenches of the Beijing train station.  Without Yo Yo, I am not sure we would have made it to Nanchang!
Cocoa, our guide in Xian, she provided us with our first traditional tea ceremony, what a treat! 
Then there was our Chinese comedian, Sang, Sang!  He took us down the Li River.  He ran up and down the boat shouting at us " 5 minutes!  Great Picture!  5 minutes!"
Jenny, our guide in Nanchang will always hold a special place in my heart because she brought Lucy to us!
And finally Kelly, our organized, resilient guide of Guangzhou!  Without her attention to detail and making sure my paperwork was in order, I may not have come back with Lucy.

I am so thankful to each and everyone of these people because they helped us survive and thrive while we were in China!

 I would be remiss if I did not thank all of you who have supported me in various ways while I was away.  I appreciate all of you and am thankful to have such a wonderful support system to allow me to make this trip a reality.

We are headed back to Texas.  I am anxious to get Lucy into her new home and help her adapt to her new environment. I will keep you updated as we go through Dr's appts and the transition of life in Texas.

I am including one last video that will highlight some of the key points of our trip.

Here's to  the memories!

Guangzhou!

Guangzhou!

We are in Guangzhou!  I know it has been a few days since I posted anything but I have just taken some time to get to know my little Bohemian Mama!  She is fantastic.  She has a personality and smile that can light up the room.  I am almost positive that God sent her to me to enrich my life.  She fits so well with me and the family that is uncanny!

We spent the first day getting her visa prepared so she will be able to fly home with us.  She had to have a medical exam(she weighs 23lbs and height is 31 inches).  All of the Chinese people that see her refer to her as tall and spicy.  The spicy is reference to the females of the Jiangxi province in which she was born.  But I think she is spicy because she is one spit fire with an attitude to accompany it.  She loves to do everything herself which I embrace so I am going to try to include a photo of her feeding herself.  She loves noodles!!!

We have been touring with another family who just adopted a 14 year old.  This story is so inspiring that I thought I would share it with you.

10 years ago, this family adopted a little girl from China when she was 4 years old.  For the past 10 years this little girl kept referring to her sister in China.  The family just thought the little girl was referring to the other children at the orphanage.  Well across the sea in China, a little girl kept telling the orphanage about her sister she had.  Again, the orphanage did not pay too much attention to the little girl until now.  The little girl is 14years old and soon would not be eligible for adoption so the orphanage looked into the little girls story and indeed found that the girl did have a twin sister who had been adopted 10 years ago and lives in the United States.

The Orphanage got into contact with the adoption agency who in turn called the family and asked if they would want to adopt the little girls twin.  So they did!  They are here with us in Guangzhou finalizing the paperwork for the twin sister.  The girls are phenomenal.  They are identical twins and have very similar mannerisms.  It has been thrilling to be a part of their journey as well.

We will be in Guangzhou for several more days and then we are back to Beijing!  I will keep you posted.

Nanchang- This is Lucy's hometown

Lucy's Hometown of Nanchang

Tomorrow is our last day in Nanchang.  It is a little sad for me because I know that Lucy only has a few hours left in her homeland and it will be quite a longtime before she will be back to visit this familiar place. 

We spent the day going through Nanchang and visiting some of the local venue.  Nanchang is the porcelain capital of China so we found a few mementos for Lucy in years to come. 

We also were given the opportunity to see Lucy's "finding place."  This is where she was found prior to being put into the orphanage(in the video, it is at the end and it is a teal/blue building).  This was an emotional moment because I believe her biological mother had so much love for Lucy, that she placed her in front of a 24hr clinic to be found.  She believed by doing so that she would be providing her(our) daughter with  a greater opportunity in life.  This will forever move me and inspire me.

Tomorrow we will stop by Lucy's orphanage in order to have a better understanding where she spent a small amount of time.  Unfortunately, we are unable to visit the foster family but will be able to maintain contact with them through the orphanage directly.  Tomorrow night we are off to Guangzhou to finalize our paperwork!!  This will be her first flight and a good introduction prior to our 14 hour flight in a week.

A day with Lucy!!

Enjoy!!  She is adorable! ( I am the aunt!)

Day 3 with Lucy!

Today we walked around the streets of Nanchang just taking in the day to day activities.  We stopped at a store and purchased Lucy some sunglasses because she kept grabbing for mine.  What a little ham!  From this point forward, we had everyone stopping and talking to her and wanting to know all about her.  It is unfortunate that I didn't know enough/any Mandarin so I could carry on a conversation with them.  Some of the people were reprimanding me for not having what they considered to be enough clothing on her, and other's I think were just curious about her and the westerners that were with her.

Later in the afternoon we enjoyed some hot tea ( I think I have found my tea drinking buddy).  Lucy, apparently had been taught to make a noise after she drinks or slurps soup because after every drink she says AHHHHH!  It is hilarious!  I will try to capture it on tape for you.

During dinner, Poppy taught her how to give high fives and how to disregard anything Mom says!  She is a quick learner!  She and I went outside and hailed a cab together.  Her arms were flailing around until a cab stopped! 

Needless to say, we are all getting along well!  We are still sizing each other up, but have not had any major difficulties as of yet.  I am sure I am not out of the woods but so far so good!  Last night she woke up for 5 minutes and then spent the rest of the evening sleeping next to me.  I clearly cannot take credit for how great she is and would be remiss if I did not point out how great her foster family had been!

On Friday we will be visiting her orphanage and the place where she was abandon.  This is important for the years down the road when she starts to ask questions.  I am trying to arm myself with everything about her life that I can  since there is so much we probably will never know.

Still waters run deep!

I know it has only been a day and a half but Lucy is perfect!  She is a thinker and an observer.  She takes everything in and assesses the situation.  She is independent and tries to take care of herself and knows exactly what she wants.  It is amazing how much communication can be done without words and through looks and touch.

She slept 12 hours last night and then this morning she sat in bed and fed me Cherrios while I got ready.  I am not sure who is taking care of whom but I can tell we will be two peas in a pod! 

We spent the day walking around Nanchang and just getting to know her and bonding.  She has taken a quick liking to Poppy just like her cousins have.  I think he is giving her that sense of security she needs right now.

The reaction we have gotten from the Chinese people when they see her with us is positive.  We were told that 90% of the Chinese people are supportive of the international adoption of Chinese children.  There are just the select few who frown upon this situation.  So overall it has been a positive experience.

We will be in Nanchang until Friday and then we are off to Guangzhou to finish up the paperwork.

Stephanie and Lucy Sharp

The moment that we have all been waiting for.  How exciting for Stephanie!!!

Can't wait to meet this beautiful little girl!!  Yeah!!!!  A new member of the Thompson(sharp) family!!

And Here's Lucy!

After 5 years,  3 airplanes, 2 trains and numerous taxi's, we have Lucy.  She is precious!  We met her in our hotel where they have a kids meeting room.  The director of the orphanage brought her to us at 11:00am.  I can't begin to tell you the last time I had such trepidation.

When Lucy showed up, she was wearing a fleece orange winter suit from head to toe (split pants, haha) so she looked like a little marshmallow and was gripping a piece of candy her foster family had given her.  She had been with  her foster family for over a year and just left them this morning.  Needless to say, she is very withdrawn and sad, but who can blame her.  I am going to try my hardest to make sure this transition will be a smooth and calm one for her.

Right now she is sleeping in a crib next to me while I am typing this still gripping her candy.  I am pretty sure this candy will be following us the rest of the trip.  I think the sleeping is her escape to the traumatic situation. 

We were able to ask the director a few questions about her habits.  She understand Mandarin but does not speak Mandarin.  She is eating most foods and still takes 3 bottles a day.  She sleeps from 8pm until 7am with a nap at noon.

We are meeting the director at the Civil office at 2:00pm to finish all the paperwork.  I will keep you posted but wanted to get this out to you all as soon as possible.

Video will follow shortly.

Split pants and Loogies

There are a lot of things that I have really come to appreciate about the Chinese people.  They have an uncanny way in which they are able to smile and "not sweat the small stuff"  even when they've almost been run over by a car.  But the two things that I do not think I will ever get use to are the split pants and the loogies!

I am not sure how many times in the past week that I have heard a person (not limited to just men) clear their throats and hawk a big one.  It is the most disgusting but fascinating occurrence.  I guess it is my own stereotype that had me believe that these demure people would ever commit such a vile and offensive sound.  My mistake!

Split pants, they don't sound terrible so why the uproar?  Well, for starters split pants are pants that are worn by toddlers that are not quite potty trained.  They have a split and goes right through the center of the pants and when a child needs to relieve themself, they walk to the nearest tree, gutter or curb and urinate right through the pants hole.  Then the child runs around on their merry way.  Today was a bit shocking when we turned the corner and there was a mother holding her child while she urinated onto the sidewalk.  Forget diapers, I am bringing split pants to the US and encouraging everyone to go GREEN. 

Tomorrow morning we meet Lucy.  She will be joining us at the hotel at 10:30am and we will spend the entire day with her just getting acclimated.  I am excited and nervous but more than anything I hope that the day is not too traumatic for her. 

Stay tuned as I will be video taping our union.

Hong Kong 2011

Another wonderful video from Stephanie!  Hong Kong has a lot of energy!  

(Just a little bit of trivia) 

                Hong Kong, China

• City Population: 7,055,071
• Country Population: 1,336,020,000
• Country World Rank: 1
• Hong Kong, [1](香港 Heūng góng )in Cantonese, meaning fragrant harbour, is a place with multiple personalities, as a result of being both Cantonese Chinese and under a long-time British influence. Today, the former British colony is a major tourism destination for China's increasingly affluent population. It is also an important hub in East Asia with global connections to many of the world's cities. It is a unique destination that has absorbed people and cultural influences from places as diverse as Vietnam and Vancouver and proudly proclaims itself to be Asia's World City.
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• Only 56 hours until Lucy and Stephanie finally meet.  We are all excited!
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• Becky
• Ps I have been working on a count down clock and the URL is not accepting the address that I am inputting.  
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Hong Kong, I stand corrected!

I stand corrected, Hong Kong is the New York of China!  This is the place where the East meets West.    The place where you can experience the Chinese culture and history but with the convenience of western bathrooms.  I know you probably think I am crazy and over exaggerating the situation, but you have to remember we are in a country where paper is a commodity.  I have used the most primitive bathrooms in the countryside of Guilin where you have to learn how to use the restroom standing (think gutter), all the way to very chic bathrooms of Hong Kong.  I will never take the bathrooms in the United States for granted, even if it is in a 7/11.

Today we spent the day walking up and down the streets of Hong Kong.  We were able to experience the markets where they were selling fish, meat and vegetables along the street.  I also went into an eastern pharmacy and watched the pharmacist fill a script using various herbs.  That was quite interesting until they kicked me out for taking pictures.  It’s probably a good thing I am not in each city for very long or I may very well find out what the inside of a Chinese jail cell looks like.

We later went up to Victoria’s Peek and had a 360 view of Hong Kong.  This was breathtaking.

Tomorrow  we fly out for Nanchang, Lucy’s hometown.  We will be meeting her at 10:30am on Monday morning which is 9:30pm Sunday evening central time.  I feel as though I have experienced a good portion of her country to be able to share with her my experiences so she will have some connection to her homeland.  Although I have enjoyed my experiences thus far, the BEST is yet to come!

Guilin 2011

I am enjoying the videos that Stephanie is sending and have been curious of the history of where they have been.  So I decided to share with you some information and facts about  Guilin, China, the Li River, Guangxi and other information.

Please enjoy!  Becky
Guilin  is a prefecture-level city in China, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city has long been renowned for its unique scenery.
City Population: 649,352
Osmanthus fragrans (Sweet Osmanthus; Chinese: 桂花 guìhuā; also known as Sweet Olive, Tea Olive and Fragrant Olive) is a species of Osmanthus native to Asia, from the Himalaya east through southern China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan) and to Taiwan and to southern Japan.^[1][2] Sweet osmanthus is also the 'city flower' of Hangzhou, China.

Guilin

5 days and counting until we meet Lucy!  We are so excited to meet her and are grateful to have this fantastic opportunity to learn about her culture and China.

Today we were in Guilin which is considered a small town by Chinese standards, with 700,000 people.  We spent the day on the Li River.  This town was gorgeous with limestone hills sprouting up all over the country side. 

Many of the Chinese people are excited to practice their ability to speak English.  Today I had a young guy and his girlfriend approach me and asked me to sit with them for awhile so he could practice his language skills.  In China, the students are required to learn English starting in Kindergarten.  I found his eagerness to be sweet and humbling. 

We took a bamboo raft down the river and watched the fisherman go cormorant fishing.  This type of fishing has been used amongst the Chinese fisherman for several hundred years.  They tie a string around the cormorants neck so they are unable to swallow the fish and the fisherman sends the bird into the water to catch the fish.  When a fish is caught, the cormorant returns to the boat and the fisherman takes the prize.  I am pretty sure that PETA would have a field day with this, but the history and tradition around this community was captivating.  It didn’t hurt that I was sharing the raft with a German Hottie either!

Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

Stephanie emailed the flip video that she took of these historical sites.  I am amazed at the beauty of this country!  

The Great Wall

To say that I am out of shape would be an understatement after today's attempt to climb the great wall.  This was like a stair climber for an ant but really amazing.  I am suprised by people's reactions to us.  I am not sure what it is that fasinates some of the Chinese people about us but I had a lady walk up to me today and want to take a picture with me.  She was very sweet but since we were unable to communicate I was not able to find out what she thought was so interesting/ unique about me.  So we said Thank You in our own languages and walked away.  I will forever be the foreigner hanging on her fridge whom she knows absolutely nothing about but found oddly interesting enough to want to take a picture of me.....Hmmmm!

The Forbidden City/ Tiananmen Square

Today we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and took a rickshaw ride through the Hutongs which are 700 year old neighborhoods.  We were able to visit one of the family’s homes and they prepared a typical Chinese meal for us and we discussed life with them.  In this family, the man was a Kung Fu Master.  We later went to a Chinese Opera.  Beijing reminds me of New York City but  with 16 million people.  There are no traffic rules and pedestrians do not have the right of way.  I am happy to still be alive to type this.  The blog will be a little more difficult to get to you than expected as the Chinese Gov’t censors some of the various websites such a facebook.  Most people buy a subscription to a server that allows them to bypass the censor which is what I intend to do in order to get this to you.  We have a few more days to wait until we get Lucy but I will continue to share my adventures leading up to her arrival.

The travel begins!

Stephanie, Ray and Pam took off for Beijing on March 17th at 9PM from Chicago.  I spoke to them before they boarded their flight and all were in high spirits, maybe a little tired.  I assured them that being tired would be an asset, due to the 14 hour non- stop flight.    (I hope American was good to them)

I have not heard from them, but know that the first 8-12 days were going to be filled with a lot of travel and an itinerary that Stephanie has been working diligently on the past 3 months.

Ray and Pam have no idea what they have gotten themselves into with Stephanie in charge.  (Dad's cigar smoking will be at a fast pace instead of a leisure walk)  They will have some fascinating stories to tell when they return! And an extra person that we are all excited to meet!

I know there will be down time before they return with Lucy.

We are all excited!!

I Becky (Stephanie's sister)  will keep you posted!  I am looking forward to hearing from China!!!

Ni Hao China!

We are leaving on Thursday to pick up Lucy!  Stay Tuned!

We have a DATE!

4 years ago today I was given a log in date from the Chinese Consulate.  This log in date was so important because it is what grandfathered me in and allowed me to move forward in the process to adopt Lucy.  There was a point in our journey that I was not sure if I would be able to move forward and adopt from China because China was no longer allowing single women/men to adopt.  This log in date was one of the many miracles that occurred to bring us together.  4 years later, (today), I received my travel date!  We are leaving on March 17th and heading to China to pick up Lucy! I am over the moon.  We will be there for several weeks completing paperwork, medical examinations and exploring her homeland.  Unfortunately, the news came that I will not be able to visit her orphanage or foster family.  I am holding onto the hope that once we get there that maybe there is one more miracle waiting for us in the wings.

Travel time is closing in.

As you can imagine, my life has been crazy busy with immunizations, paperwork, preparing the home and travel arrangements. Oh, and that ever so important full time job I have.  For those of you who are unaware, Lucy was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, which to us, is not an issue and easily fixed.  In China, this placed her as a "special needs" child.  This cleft lip and cleft palate is a blessing, because had Lucy not been born with them, she would have proceeded through the regular channels and been placed with a different family.  The challenge has been that because she is considered "special needs" I had to have all of my paperwork redone and resubmitted to the USCIS before we can travel to get her.  My original paperwork was not marked for special needs which meant I had to resubmit everything.  This involved, getting a Doctor update approving me as a suitable parent, a letter from my employer stating that I do have a job, a social worker interviewing me to make sure I would be a fit parent ( 4th interview in 4 years) and filling out new paperwork.  Prior to getting this completed, our travel approval came in.  Yeah!  Well, kind of.  Before they will give us dates to travel, we have to get the approval back from USCIS.  I was hoping to tug at some heart strings so I submitted my paperwork with Lucy's photo hoping whoever opens my Fed Ex package will want to expedite the process for us.  So now we wait....
I am attaching new, updated photos of Lucy with her Foster Mom!  I just got these today and I am so grateful that she has such a special family in her life right now.  You can clearly see the love this lady has for her.  I am hoping to get an address for her foster family while we are in China, however, China has some strict policies and I am not sure if that will be possible.  We still have our eyes set on the end of March as a likely travel time to China but I will keep you posted.