Ourjourneytoleah

May 2009

2009-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

I have had several people ask me for an update so I thought I better sit down and post some pictures. Leah is doing very well. She is learning and experiencing new things every day. Jeff's family was here yesterday for memorial day and we were outside swinging in the rain. I imagine that is the first time she has done that. She didn't seem to mind and she loves swinging.

Uncle Jamie was here yesterday also. He is her absolute favorite person. When he is around she mostly likes to hang out with him.

We went camping at Hidden Acres with some good friends. They have a camper and we tent. We cook together and help each other out. The boys just love fishing, shooting and canoeing and all the outdoor stuff. The girls had fun also, and I am sure they will learn to love it even more as they get older. As you can tell from the picture our car was packed to the rim for our camping trip!

More later...

Some pictures...

2009-04-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hallo everyone

We are doing well. I am posting some pictures from Easter. We spent Easter at Jeff's mom and dad's house. We had a great time. Leah really warmed up to her family and was full of smiles and giggles!

Our friend LeAnn and boys brought us a trunk full of jewelery and princess clothes. The girls had a great time dressing up. Even Karsten got involved in the fun!

I took these pictures yesterday outside our house. It was such a beautiful day! I always try to get some pictures in the Spring when the tulips are blooming. Notice how Leah has her arm around Sofia. We have seen some good sister moments lately...I am hoping for a lot more of that.

We are adjusting to life at home!

2009-04-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

We are working on adjusting. It has been a busy week as a mom of 4. I don't know how you all with more kids do it... I feel like I don't have enough lap space and enough hands...

Leah is doing well. She is playing and enjoying her life with us. She calls Jeff and I pappa and mamma now. She is so cute when she talks. She says some Chinese words (I think) and she tries to speak some English words also. Her little voice is adorable. Her biggest issue is that she gets these crying spells sometimes that can last up to one hour. It mostly happens during the night, but we have had one spell like that during the day also. She cries, screams and kicks, and nothing I do seems to be able to calm her down. I think of them as her adoption, grieving cry. I hope they become less and less frequent as times goes on. We actually had a really good night last night. It was the first night she didn't wake up at all since we got home from China. I don't think we are over the hump yet, but I am so glad to see that it can happen. I still woke up tired because I woke up several times waiting for her to wake up and cry.

Sofia is not quite as whiny any longer. I think she is feeling better from her cold and she is getting more used to having me home again. The girls struggle with jealousy and sharing. I am guessing that is going to be our issue for awhile. This is definitely a big change for both of them. Kai and Karsten continues to be great big brothers. I have to go now, my little one are calling for my attention... Have a great day!!!

We are home!!!

2009-04-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

We are waiting at the airport in Shanghai

These teenage girls came over when we were sitting there waiting for our flight, and wanted to know if they could get their picture taken with Kai "the lady's man"

The trip home went very well. Other than the flight being way tooo long. As expected we were very tired when we got home. It was great to fly home with several of the other couples in our travel group. We arrived in Des Moines late Wednesday nigh together with two other families from the area.

It has been a busy couple days at home. We have had Dr. appointment for Leah, soccer game for Kai, piano lesson and a piano fundraising event for Kai. Karsten and Sofia have been sick since we got home with fevers and upper respiratory infections.

We have not slept well since we got home because of sick kids and jet lag. Even Kai has been awake every night complaining that he could not sleep. Jeff and I have traveled to Norway many times and have never had this problem before. 13 hours time difference really makes it hard to get back on track. We are so tired! I really hope we will start feeling better soon.

Leah is doing very well. She continues to smile and laugh around us. But she gets very shy and quiet around other people. We have had several friends and family stop by to visit. Leah likes to quietly disappear when others are around. Karsten and Leah have become very good friends. They play so good together. It makes us smile to see them roll around on the floor and giggle. We are very proud of Karsten and how he has embraced his new little sister with love. Sofia is struggling a little bit more. She has not been feeling well and she has been very clingy to me. She and Leah have had some battles over mamma's lap and attention. I have been trying to make sure Sofia gets as much love and care as possible because I don't want her to feel like Leah is taking her mamma away from her. We have also had several fights over toys and other items. They are both very strong willed. Leah has had a couple time outs on our steps. It is difficult because we want to show her love and give her security, but we also cannot let her get away with unacceptable behaviour. I can tell we have a long road ahead of us. I am sure it will work out at the end, but it is going to take a lot of work to get everyone adjusted.

On a positive note, I am posting some pictures of the girls taking a bath together tonight. They had a lot of fun in the tub. They gave each other a wonderful loving goodnight hug before they went to bed. There is certainly hope at the end of the tunnel...

Thanks for all the visits we have had the last few days! Thank you to grandma and grandpa for bringing pizza over tonight. In the past I have read blogs where they talk about how they are so thankful for meals they were able to prepare and freeze before they left for China. Well, we had 1 week notice before we left, so there is no food in the freezer:) After three days home I am finally almost done with laundry. But the suitcases and souvenirs are still spread out all over the dining room. Mail and bills are still unopened. I am sure I will get to it eventually.

I am very thankful that Leah seems to be doing so well. She is a extremly funny and happy little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. I cannot wait to continue to see her learn and explore and bond with her family!

Lost at the zoo and much, much more

2009-03-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the zoo. We had a great time! We saw the panda, the monkeys, and a lot more. Speaking of monkeys, we were going to take a picture by the monkeys. Just as Kurt Onken was about to take a picture, a monkey on a roof layed down on the roof and looked like he had split pants! Well, we were walking through the zoo when Kurt thought we better start heading back to the hotel so we wouldn't be late for the red couch picture and the consulate appointment. We THOUGHT we had to go to the NORTH gate but that's the way we came in. So we went around trying to find the north gate, but then we decided that we came in the north gate so we had to go to the SOUTH gate. So we wandered around for a while but then we FINALY made it out. So we got back to the hotel and just hung around for a little bit, and then went down for the red couch pictures which went great. Then it was time for the consulate appointment. Which also went great exept one little thing. Hour long drive there, be there for about 7 minutes and then an hour long drive back. Other then that it went great. Today was the final day we are going to be here so that means only one thing: by by Lucy. ( my girl friend ) ( "sniff" ) Man I am going to miss her. I wish we could keep in contact with here, but nope! Tonight we went to Lucy's to eat. ( Not my girl friends ) It was good. Aidan got a little mad during supper. Thank you everyone for following are blog. Kai Anders Newell

Kai Newell, Ladys Man

2009-03-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

We just got back from dinner and I thought I would post a picture of Kai and his new girl friend or should I say friends. These girls work at one of the many stores that line the streets around our hotel. We have stopped and looked around many of stores and have actually got to know the people who work in several of them. However, my son has developed quite a following with the girls at the "Home of Love". That's right it's called the "Home of Love". Now you might think as Kai's dad I might be a bit concerned with him receiving attention from girls working at an establishment with that name. Well, the name actually refers to their focus on adoptive families. Anyway, every time we walk out of the hotel and start down the street the girls start calling out Kai Kai! It is too fun and Kai is totally eating it up and thinks he is a chick magnet. The one on the left is his favorite and her name is Lucy. She has played hacky sack with him(she has given him two free ones) and tried to teach him to speak Chinese. I guess it's just another experience in China!

Trip to the orphanage!

2009-03-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

Today was our big trip to the orphanage where Leah spent the first 3 1/2 years of her life. We had been on the road for about 30 minutes when I started thinking that this was a bad idea. The driving here is insane and our car was the fastest one on the road. I was pretty sure we were risking our lives for a trip to the orphanage. I cannot tell you how happy I am to say that our very nice, friendly, speed racing driver got us to Huizhou and back without any problems (if you don't count Leah throwing up in the backseat and Kai's eyes turning yellow because he had to pee so bad). The trip there took a little over 2 hours.

Our guide Jack went with us and we really appreciate his help. He has become a friend to us. He did great guiding us, translating and making sure we didn't get into trouble. He even stopped at the supermarket at my request so I could buy some candy and snacks for the workers and kids at the orphanage. Jeff told him later that if Mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. He said it was the same way in China. Thank you so much for today Jack!

It was an awesome experience to get to visit the orphanage. It looked very clean and well kept. There is about 60-70 kids that live there. Most of them with special needs, some severe and other minor special needs. There is also around 70 older people that live there. We saw many of them, because they were outside, but we only saw a few of the kids while we were there.

We had tea with the Director and the Nanny in charge. We also met the lady that is in charge of adoptions. She is the one that brought Leah to us when we arrived in Guangzhou, one week ago today!!! On our way out, we walked by the building Leah had lived in. The nanny that had the most responsibiliy for Leah in her last months at the orphanage came out to say hi. Eventually there were several more nannies that came out to say hi to Ying Ying. Leah's best friend at the orphanage, a blond little girl that is going to get a home in Belgium, came out and gave her hugs. Everyone was very smiley and happy to see YingYing. They all talked to her and wanted to touch her. Leah didn't smile at all but she would look around and went to people that wanted to hold her. The wonderful thing was that she came back to me as quickly as possible. There is no doubt in our hearts that she wants to be with us. We are now back in the hotel room and she is laughing and playing and showing us over and over again that she is happy to be part of our family. We are so very happy to have her!!!

Leah with her friends!

We are standing outside the building where she used to live.

Leah saying bye, bye to the orphanage and everyone there!

We stopped for lunch at KFC

What we saw of Huizhou city was beautiful. This picture is taken at one of their squares. The landscaping along the road we were driving was also beautiful.

GOODBYE HUIZHOU!

Going to the orphanage tomorrow!

2009-03-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

We got most of our shopping done today. Had a meeting to prepare for the paperwork for the Consulate Appointment. I think it is all in order. The whole group went to an Italian Restaurant for supper. The food was great. We have talked to our family in Norway on Skype tonight and our family in the US. Sofia was not awake yet, but we got to talk to our big boy Karsten. He got very excited when he looked at his calender and saw that we are coming home soon.

I cannot write more tonight, it is late and we have to get up early tomorrow. We are going to the orphanage. We are excited to have this chance to go and visit. But we are also a little bit nervous. Our guide told us to tell our driver to drive slowly. Pray for our safety tomorrow and that everything goes well. We will post more tomorrow!

Medical exam

2009-03-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

The Dr. at the medical office was prodding and looking at Leah. She was doing great sitting on my lap quietly. He just kept looking and looking at her hands and feet, and finally she couldn't take it anymore. She started crying so hard, her tears were just flowing. My heart was breaking for her. He finally had me stand up and hold her while he measured her legs. He decided that one leg is shorter than the other. That might very well be, I don't know, but you can not measure any one's leg that way. He asked me if she could walk, I said yes. He asked me if she limps and I said no. At that point I wouldn't have told him if she had the biggest limp in the whole wide world. Anyway, she passed her medical exam. Now we have to get ready for our Consulate Appointment. We have a meeting with our guide tomorrow to work on our papers.

Today's update on Leah is good. She seems to get more and more comfortable with us. Every time we go back to the hotel room now she warms up and starts smiling and laughing. She is still very quiet and shy when other people are are around. So don't expect her to be super friendly the first time you meet her. She likes to turn her head or ignore people she doesn't know.

Karsten and Sofia, we are coming home very soon. Only a couple more days. Cannot wait to see you and give you a big hug and kiss! We love you and miss you a ton!!!

Things we did not eat in China!

2009-03-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

Jeff writes:
Hi everyone! Today we headed out for an adventure that I will call "Things we did not eat in China". We took a 15 minute walk from the hotel to an area that was Guangzhous answer to the "Farmers Market". I could see that our friend Kurt was very tempted when we passed the live scorpions and my mouth watered a bit when my eye caught sight of the dried sea horses but we all held out until we reached Starbucks. The trip was our most eye opening experience to date as to how our lives differ from some of the people living here. After Starbucks we went to Miss Jan's room and gave thanks for the Pappa Johns pizza we were about to eat. Tomorrow if the weather permits we may go to the zoo and Kai would like to hit the pool. We are only four days from going home and I for one am looking forward to getting home to Karsten and Sofia. It has been wonderful to use the technology of today to be able to talk to and see them through the internet but it will be even better to hold them and tell them I love them in person. Good night from Guangzhou China.

Anne Marie writes:
We are doing well. Today was kind of a lazy day at the hotel, after our trip to the market. It rained, so we didn't feel like going outside anymore. We spent several hours at the White Swan Play Room. Leah sat on my lap most of the time, played a little bit at the end. She has been very serious all day.

Not a smile...until we get back to our hotel room. Right now she is playing with her pappa. She is running around giggling and smiling. I think she might even be speaking Chinese. I have never heard her do that before! It is the best sound ever. It is like turning a light switch on. She is so happy right now. I will let the pictures speak for themselves!!!!

2009-03-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

Ying-Ying and Ge-Ge. Kai is wearing his Ge-Ge hat today. Karsten - you are getting one also.

In front of Dr. Sun's Memorial Hall

Kai's skating picture for the day!!!

Part of the Guangzhou Folk Art Museum

One of the guards that guarded the doors in the old days

Tea house, we tried black tea and green tea

We haven't been very good at keeping you all updated on the process and what we have been doing. I will try to give a quick update. My time at the computer seems to be more and more limited.

Monday: We got Leah!!!

Tuesday: We went back to Civil Affairs office to finalize the adoption from the Chinese side. We took family pictures and had two interviews. The first interview was with an official person (I am sorry I don't know her official title). The next interview was with the Notary. He was the real funny guy that Kai talked about in his post. When all that was over, Leah was officially ours.

Wednesday: We went to a official office and applied for Leah's passport. After that Jack took us to the super market, I posted pictures from there yesterday.

We have done some walking around on the island and done some shopping. For you that have already been here, we visited Jordan's shop. He wrote Leah and Sofia's names in Chinese. We hope to frame it when we get home. We had our laundry done in a local shop right by the hotel. Kai loves that place, because they played hacky sack inside the store with a girl there. When he left, she kicked one out the door for him - free gift!

We have been eating supper every night with our best friends here, you have seen pictures of them in our other posts. Kurt Onken and his cousin Jan, and Kurt's beautiful, mischievous boy Aidan. Kurt's wife is afraid of flying, so his wife's cousin is traveling with him. This is their second trip to China. We received our children together and we have really enjoyed being able to do things together with them. This is their link if you would like to follow, they often write about us and Kurt is much better at telling the details of what we are doing. You would enjoy his blog. http://redthreadtomarysville.blogspot.com/

This morning we went to Dr. Sun's Memorial Hall and Guangzhou Folk Art Museum. We had a lot of people be very curious and staring at us. I don't know if it was in a good or bad way because I could not understand what they were saying. But we defenitly stood out today. We came back to the hotel to drop off our stuff and eat some snacks. I am trying to do some blogging. I feel like I have not been very good at keeping everyone updated. It was a lot easier to stay on top of it when we were in Beijing.

Kai and pappa are resting and watching TV. Leah is sometimes sitting on my lap and sometimes playing on the floor right by my feet. She seems to be more attached to her mamma today. She wants me to hold her a lot or hold her hand. She will go to pappa, but it seems like she prefers me more today. We are hoping this is part of bonding with us, but it makes it harder for me to get anything done.

We had a great evening last night when she was laughing and giggling. She is very active today, just like she was last night. But so far today, we have not seen a single smile. I wish she would smile, but I don't feel the same hopelessness I felt yesterday at this time because I know she can smile and have fun with us. I believe she will do it again. She started whimpering again last night when we went to bed. I was holding her and she was lying on me, I would tell her that we love her, but nothing would make her stop. I finally gave her some water from a zippy cup, she settled down after that. She laid with me and Kai in our twin bed until she fell asleep, then I moved her over to her small bed right between our beds. She woke up crying again this morning. I wish I knew what she is thinking (or maybe I don't want to know). She is a different child today than she was the day we got her, but I think we still have a lot of ahead of us when it comes to bonding.

We have been talking to Jack about going to visit the orphanage Leah lived at. He could arrange a car for us tomorrow, but no English speaking guide. We have heard it is between 2-4 hours to go there. And not real safe since the driving here is crazy, compared to US and Norwegian standards. We are not too excited about making the trip. But I want to go if it is going to make a big difference in her abilities to bond with us. To those of you that have adopted before, do you have any advice for us? We would love to hear your opinions.

We are now heading out to explore some more. We will have dinner with our best friends again tonight. The choice for tonight is Chinese food (what a surprise) I actually love the food here and could eat Chinese every day.

She is smiling!!!!!!

2009-03-25T04:56:00.000-07:00

With our guide Jack at the Supermarket

She just started smiling!!!! I cannot believe it, she has been so serious this whole time and without any emotions. She whimpered a little bit last night, but that is about it. I have never been happier to see someone smile, ever! Our daughter smiled at us!!!! I hope there will be many more smiles to come. I was starting to feel like we were never going to get through to her and then it just happened. She started smiling and giggling and she even through a tantrum. I am so excited that we are finally seeing Leah or YingYing (her Chinese nick name). I cannot miss this time with her so I will sign off for now. I will post some pictures before I go. Thank you God!!!

PS: Thanks to all of you for following and leaving messages. Reading them makes us feel so loved and closer to home. I hope you will enjoy the pictures. Hope to capture more smiles tomorrow.

She is legaly ours!!!

2009-03-24T01:08:00.000-07:00

Leah loves congee!

Our best friends here in Guangzhou, the Onken family!

Family picture at the Civil Affairs Office

Today we went to the Civil Affairs office. It was funny, the last person my parents had to talk to said: If you already have three kids, why do you want more? Lol lol lol!

Leah has not smiled yet but I am determined to make her. It is soooooo surreal. I feel like I am in a dream, and all of a sudden I am going to wake up and I am going to be back in America, in my bed, and my mom is standing over me saying: Kai! Time to wake up! But it is real. VERY real.

We also went to the park today. It was fun. There was not much for a ten year old to do there. I mean, it was all exercise stuff. We went to the playroom in the hotel. I had fun, but Leah just sat there. At first she kind of walked around a bit but then she got unsure and went back to mom.

For supper we went to an Italian restaurant. Leah was her regular hungry girl. Aidan a little boy from our group is soooooo funny! His dad gave him some ice cream and every time he got some in his mouth he made a face, he liked it but apparently he hasn't tried very many cold things!

Today in the park, there was a little boy that was going potty ( The reason I know this is because he was going right there by the slide ) He tried to go but he ended up peeing on his pants!

A little while ago in Beijing, we went to the Summer Palace and there was a lady selling these little hacky sack things they were basically little plates all hooked together with feathers on top and you just use it like a regular hacky sack. Well, you have to bargain with the people. My mom said: Two for eight, but she said: No, three for ten. Lol lol lol lol lol lol!

We love love Leah, she is a blessing to our family.

Ge-Ge

2009-03-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

Leah slept all night. She woke up happy and quiet. Her favorite word is Ge-Ge wich means big brother. She is so cute when she says it! Kai thinks she is just adorable and he loves to play with her. His goal today is to make her smile. Posting some pictures from this morning. We are getting ready to go to breakfast and then back to the Civil Affairs Office for some more paperwork. We will post again later.

It is LEAH DAY!!!

2009-03-23T04:57:00.000-07:00

Jeff writes:
Hello from Guangzhou China. After an early morning and a good flight from Beijing we were driven to the White Swan hotel and got settled into our room. An hour later we were off again and this time it was to finally meet our new daughter. We were all very anxious and full of anticipation. The scene was really quite interesting. There were probably twenty other couples in a room waiting for their children. You could see on the faces of everyone there that life was about to change. Moments later there were children for all of the couples in that room, including our Leah. The Newells formerly of Norway would like to announce that we are now officially a family of six! A scripture verse in James began running through my mind from the moment I held her in my arms for the first time. James 1:17 says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows". We have our perfect gift! Anne Marie would like to add her thoughts to this posting but before I sign off I would like to say that we have been very blest by the new friends we have made this last week. Our stay in Beijing with the other folks who are adopting was truly wonderful and we are hoping that they have all received their children by now and are experiencing the joy that we are experiencing. We will be reunited with everyone again on Friday here in Guangzhou and flying out together on the following Wednesday. We also have three new friends that we met today. Kurt, Jan and Aidan. Bonded together because of our shared experience today.

Two last comments for our gang from Beijing who are scattered around China tonight. The beds here at the White Swan are actually comfortable and Chairman Mao is still ticking!

Anne Marie writes:
Yes, today has surely been a very emotional day for all of us. So far Leah has been very quiet and we have not seen any grieving. I don't know if that's good or bad. It sure made the day a lot easier for us, but I really hope she will grieve over what she is leaving. I want to know that she can attach and love, so that she will be able to love us. Kai told me not to worry about it. He said she will be with us all the time so she has no choice but to bond with us. I hope he is right.

She is beautiful. Like Jeff said she goes to all of us equally,that was really helpful today because she weighs a ton. She is short and super chubby. I have never had a kid that chubby before. I wonder if they tried to fatten her up before we came. She looks much skinnier in the referral pictures. She is beautiful, and she actually has a little bit of hair now. We might be able to stick a bow in it tomorrow, we will see. We are very happy and very tired. We need to get to bed, but we promise to post more tomorrow with more pictures. Thanks for praying for us and thank you for all your comments. It is so nice to know you are all following our journey.

One more day until we get Leah!

2009-03-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

Kai's idea of a healthy breakfast: bacon and donuts!

Have you seen split pants before, very practical!

The Temple of Heaven was the destination today. We enjoyed watching all the people that were singing and dancing. Lots of people were playing cards or other games. Joy says that retired people like to come here and hang out. We also enjoyed more beautiful architecture and scenery. The weather was sunny, but the air felt crisp. All our warmer clothes are filthy, so I cannot wait to get to Guangzhou and put on capris and a t-shirt.

We went out to eat together as a group tonight at a buffet. This was our last meal together for now. Tomorrow we are meeting in the lobby at 5:30 and we are all flying to the different provinces where our children are at. We are flying to South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

We are excited, very nervous and emotional about meeting Leah. If we are nervous, I can only start to imagine how she must feel! Everyone is telling us that it will be very hard, especially the first few days. We will get her at 2:30 pm, that is in the middle of the night American time, night to Monday. We will try to post as soon as we can. But we cannot promise anything since we don't know how it is all going to work out.

Thank you to everyone that has left a comment. We have read all of them and we really appreciate hearing from you. Please pray for us, tomorrow is going to be a wonderful, life changing and probably a very difficult day for us!!!

A big day in Beijing

2009-03-21T04:09:00.001-07:00

Joy kept us going today. First we went to Tienanmen square and then the Forbidden City. That was an awesome experience. I could not believe the architecture and the grandness of it all. I kept picturing the ancient times and the emperor and the empress walking around going about their business. It was incredible. I had to pinch myself to really understand that we are in China walking through the Forbidden City. There was one building after another and seemed like it kept going on forever. We were all pretty tired from walking and the crowds when we were done.

We continued our tour today with a rickshaw trip through narrow streets in the middle of Beijing. Our guide explained about Chinese culture and the area we were going through. We got to visit some people that live there. One of our stops was at a Tea House. That was a real neat experience. The lady there showed us how she makes different kinds of tea, why they are good for you, and how to drink it. The highlight for Kai was the little statue boy that peed all over the table when she poured hot water over him. I liked that the decorations on the tea cups changed color when she poured hot tea in them. Kai surprised us and actually tried all the different teas she gave us. Brave boy!

The ladies got to try the squatty potty today. I am sorry I don't have a picture of it. I had a hard enough time making sure I was doing it right. I must have done something wrong, because our guide Joy laughed when I demonstrated my tecnique. Now she says she understand why Americans are worried about using squatty potties.

We also went to an acrobat show this afternoon. It was unbelievable what these people could do. The muscles and balance that they have is just amazing. We enjoyed the show a lot, but I think the whole group was getting tried at that point.

Everybody here likes Kai. They all look at him (because he is so cute) and he loves to smile and speak Chinese back to them. Speaking Chinese is his favorite thing to do these days. He says he wants to learn to speak it. He make our guide laugh saying underwear and bottom in Chinese today:) Kai actually stayed awake all day today. I hope we are over the worst part of jet leg.

I am so glad we have had these days in Beijing. It has been real busy and tiring, but totally worth it for us. I love all the things I have learned about China and about the Chinese people. I would like to learn more. We'll have to keep learning about China when we get home. One of the families in our group will be getting their child tomorrow and I am all nervous for them. I cannot believe that it is almost our turn. Our adventure is about to start. We have one more day of sightseeing and being tourist - on Monday we will become new parents to a scared little girl. Please pray for us!!!

Update on Kai

2009-03-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Kai slept from 7:30pm to 7 am today!!! Yeah! We are hoping that will do it and that he will be able to stay awake today:) This jet leg thing is really hard. I just hope we are all rested up on Monday when we get Leah! Kai just got a really cool message under comments from his buddy Andrew. Please leave a comment when you visit. It is just so much fun for us to read when we are so far away from home. It makes us smile and warmes our hearts.

Today we are off to a busy day. We will be visiting the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and a Acrobotic Show. It should be great (if we can stay awake)!

We have climbed the Great Wall of China

2009-03-20T04:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a very event filled day. Our group here in Beijing consist of 3 other families, and Joy is our guide. We started out visiting the Cloisonne factory. Herbie showed us how they make vases and other Chinese handcrafts. It is amazing how much work they put into each item they make.

The next stop was something I had looked forward to for a long time - The Great Wall of China! We went up the Badaling entrance. We took the gondola up to the top and climbed the wall. It was a great experience. I am amazed at how many Chinese tourists were there, it was very crowded. We were glad we had jackets with us because it was windy up there. I loved the scenery and the fact that we were actually standing on the the Great Wall of China, it is almost unbelievable!

We had lunch with our group at a Chinese restaurant. I am being very brave on this trip, I have tried a lot of different food. Kai has tried, hmmm - white rice:) It has all been very good!

We were also able to stop at the Olympic Park. We saw the Birds nest and the Cube and some other Olympic Buildings. It was very cool.

Our biggest problem after we had climbed the Great Wall of China was to keep Kai awake. We are all tired but he is just exhausted, jet leg has really hit us hard. It is now 7 pm and we are all struggling to stay awake. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit better.

We are having a great time here in Beijing and seeing a lot of neat things. Tomorrow will be another day of full of sightseeing. When I think about why we are really here, my stomach does a flip flop and I get all nervous and excited at the same time. I wonder if Leah knows that she is only 3 days away from meeting here pappa, mamma and brother!!! We are on our way little girl - and we cannot wait to meet you!

Trip to the Summer Palace

2009-03-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

Kai skating at the Summer Palace

We had our first breakfast in China today. It was awesome. Really fancy and very good. It filled us up for the whole day. I think we will try out a Chinese restaurant that Joy recommended tonight. We will have to see if they have some plain white rice on the menu for Kai:)

Today was a "free day" because we arrived a day earlier than the rest of our group. We decided to be adventures and make a trip of our own. The people at the hotel wrote down in Chinese where we were going and the name of our hotel. We just showed that card to our non-English speaking taxi drivers. It worked, they took us where we needed to go.

We had a great day at the Summer Palace. The weather was beautiful, the scenery beautiful and the architecture unbelievable. The biggest attraction though, was Jeff wearing shorts. We had lots of people look at him and smile. One old lady even wanted to get her picture taken with him. Jeff just laughed and laughed, it was really funny. We talked about you today tante Ase, and how it would have been fun if you were here with us. You would have liked our little outing today. We miss you!

Jeff got a foot massage when we got back to the hotel. He loved it, but he said it was almost painful. He has been dreaming about getting a massage here since we found out we would be going to China soon.

Kai and I went to the swimming pool while Jeff got his massage. Kai swam and I watched. A lady that worked there came up to us and said that he had to wear a cap. We are not sure why, but we bought one from her. Kai thought it was cool, he thinks it makes him swim faster.

We can tell the 13 hour time difference is affecting us. We are all tired. I am sure we will be hitting our rock hard beds early again tonight also.

We talked to Karsten and Sofia on Skype this morning. It was so fun to see them and talk to them. They are having a great time. That of course makes us very happy. Thank you grandma and aunt Debby!Hotel pictures

We are in China!!!

2009-03-18T03:55:00.000-07:00

We made if safely, but it was quite an adventure!!! The first excitement for the day was in Chicago. For some reason both Jeff and I thought we had to go to the international terminal to get on our flight to Beijing. Well that was wrong!!! We went to check in about 50 minutes before are flight was scheduled to leave and they told us we had to go back to the United Airlines terminal. That would have been fine if the train that was going to take us back to terminal had been working. We waited for ever while we were looking at our watches getting more and more nervous. We tried to get a taxi, without any luck. Finally the train started working and we were on our way. Our nervousness got even more intense when we got to the security check point and saw how long the line was. We seriously were not sure we were going to make it. We scrambled to get all put back together after we were checked out. Jeff was still putting his shoes back on when he told Kai and I to just start running. We took off running through the airport. I was so glad when I saw our gate. There was a guy standing their looking for us and he waived us in when he saw us come running. They were just about to pull our suitcases out of the airplane and take off without us when we got there. We were so relived that we made it!!!

The flight went well. It is a looong flight, and we were glad when we landed. Kai took a little nap at the end which was great. I started feeling really sick right before we landed and I had a paper bag ready. Jeff told me I had to hold it in because he saw on the tv screen that you would be put in quarantine if you were sick at arrival. So I held it in!

Customs went smooth. We met another family that was also adopting, with a different agency. It was nice talking to them.

We got our luggage and headed out looking for our guide that was supposed to meet us at the airport. We waited for well over an hour, but no Joy. I finally exchanged some money, bought a calling card and figured out how to use the payphone here. Luckily I got a hold of her, she had thought we were coming tomorrow. She was willing to come and get us but it would take her a while to get her. I didn't want to interrupt whatever plans she had so I told her we could get to our hotel by ourselves. I got a lady that was standing next to me on the phone and Joy told her the name of our hotel and she wrote it down for us in Chinese so we could show it to our taxi driver. That was smart thinking on her part, because our taxi driver did not speak any English. He obviously could read Chinese because he took us to the right hotel. Yeah!

The hotel lobby is gorgeous and the hotel room is nice. The bed is hard as a rock but I think we are so tired that we should be able to get some sleep.

I went down to the lobby to get us set up for internet when Joy came. I had asked her to call us at the hotel, but she felt bad about not meeting us at the airport so she came down to see us. We walked with her to the grocery store to buy some snacks and water. She is very nice and helpful.

We are now in our hotel room getting ready for bed. It is 6am US time and 7pm China time. The time difference is 13 hours I think. We are glad to finally be here and are looking forward to some sleep.

Thank you Aunt Debby and grandma for making sure Karsten and Sofia had a fun day at home. We saw the pictures that you guys visited great grandma and great grandpa. Right now we are really happy that they are safe at home with you. Give them lots of kisses from us when they wake up.

Next stop Beijing

2009-03-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

WE ARE PACKED AND READY TO GO!

We are finally all packed and ready to go. We took Karsten and Sofia to grandma and grandpa's house tonight. They were so excited to go there. I know they will have a great time. I just feel bad that we are going to be gone for so long. It wouldn't be so bad if is was only a weekend, but we are going to be gone 16 days! I said a very quick goodbye because I was crying when we left, and I didn't want them to see it. Please pray for my kids that they will have a great time and the time will go by fast for them.

Kai is very excited and cannot wait to travel. He says he loves airplane rides and he cannot wait to meet Leah. He hopes that she will bond with him the best. I told him he just has to play with her and I know he will. He is always great with Sofia (and sometimes Karsten too)

WE LOVE YOU KARSTEN AND SOFIA!!!

We leave in 6 days!

2009-03-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

We have our tickets and itinerary for China! We are leaving Tuesday the 17th instead of the 18th because we had problems getting reasonable priced tickets for that day. We leave in 6 days and I feel very unprepared.

I have been staying up late every night this week and working on stuff. We haven't gotten any school work done this week, but I am trying not to worry about that. Kai is sick with a fever today, it started last night. I really hope he is over it by Tuesday, and that he doesn't give it to anyone else.

For those of you that do not know, Kai is going with us to China. Sofia and Karsten will be staying with grandma and grandpa. I am sure they will have a great time, but I am still emotional about leaving them with someone else for 16 days. I was wrapping gifts for them and making a calender for them last night, and I miss them already...

Here is a copy of our itinerary:

March 17 Fly Des Moines - Chicago - Beijing
March 18 Arrive in Beijing. Joy (guide) will meet us at the airport
March 19 Free day
March 20 Visit the Great Wall and Cloisonne Factory
March 21 Visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Acrobatic Show
March 22 Visit Temple of Heaven
March 23 Fly to Guangzhou, receive Leah in the afternoon
March 24 Adoption registration and notarization in the morning
March 25 Apply for Leah's passport in the afternoon
March 26 Visit Guangzhou Folk Art Museum and Dr. Sun's Memorial Hall
March 27 Visit a museum
March 28 Visa pictures and medical exam for Leah
March 29 Meeting to prepare the visa documents
March 30 Visa appointment
March 31 Go to consulate to take the oath and pick up visa
April 1 Fly Guangzhou - Shanghai - Chicago - Des Moines

Thank you so much for your support and your interest in reading our blog. Please leave us a message when you visit so that we can know that you were there. We will update the blog when we are in China and we would love to hear from you! Thank you!

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!

2009-03-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from our adoption agency and it is confirmed, we are leaving for China in 9 days. We leave Wednesday March 18th. We will be receiving our flight information from the travel agency today. This week is going to be really busy with paperwork and packing. We cannot wait to go and get our little Leah!

BIG TRAVEL NEWS (maybe)

2009-03-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

We got BIG NEWS this week, but I have not posted it because I wanted to wait until it was for sure. I found out today that we will not know until Monday, so I might as well let everyone know what is going on. We got a call on Tuesday asking if we were ready to go to China soon and of course I said yes. Our adoption agency had a cancellation with a group that has known for a couple weeks as to when they will be traveling. Our tentative departure day is Wednesday March 18th, 12 days from today! We were super excited and the whole family was jumping up and down in our living room doing the "travel dance".

Then came the hurdles. The first one was getting our USCIS approval. We didn't get it Tuesday, we didn't get it Wednesday and I was getting really worried. I picked up our mail late Wednesday and there was a letter from USCIS with an additional form that had to be filled out before we could get our approval. I called the USCIS office and left a message, they were closed. To my surprise 30 minutes later I got a call back with with good news. If I would bring our form to the Federal Building downtown at 8am the next morning they would approve our application while I waited. And that is what I did. Jessica offered to come over and watch the kids for me and I went downtown and had a wonderful experience at the USCIS office - thank you Amy! We now have permission to bring Leah into the country. Yeah!

Now we are waiting for a confirmation that we can have the open Consulate Appointment March 30th. We didn't hear anything today. Our agency is very optimistic that it will work out but we cannot schedule our trip until we confirm the Consulate Appointment. So I guess we are still waiting.

Our visas for China came today so that is great news. I am hoping to be able to update our blog on Monday and tell you that we are going to China to get Leah March 18th. Stay tuned...

Shower for Leah

2009-03-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

I just got home from a wonderful shower at Becky's house. I am so overwhelmed by everyone that came and all the gifts they brought. Leah is going to be so spoiled. I cannot wait to show her all the great things that are waiting for her when she gets home. Thank you all for making us feel so loved and for your generosity. It is greatly appreciated!!!

Waiting thoughts...

2009-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

The waiting has been so hard the last couple weeks, and it is not over yet. I talked to our adoption agency today to make sure that everything was going ok. The TA failure that they are talking about online does not seem to be effecting us. But I learned that they cannot schedule our Consulate Appointment in China before they have our USCIS renewal in hand. Our adoption agency worker was in contact with that office today and asked them to expedite our paperwork. She tells me that she thinks they will get that to us soon. I asked if soon means weeks or days, and she says days. I really hope we will know some more at the end of this week. Our agency will not let us know that we have TA before they have scheduled our Consulate Appointment. So I guess we will have to get ready for some more waiting...

My friend Becky is having a shower for Leah this Thursday. I am looking forward to it and I really appreciate how our friend is so excited to be able to do this for us, and our little girl. It has been so neat to see people responding to the picture of Leah and asking questions about her and adoption. I love that the process we are going through creates "adoption awareness". There are so many orphans out there... Not everyone can adopt, but there are so many different ways to show love for a child that needs a home...

In the meantime Leah is just living her life in the orphanage. We pray that they are taking good care of her. I also hope that she got the package we sent and that someone is taking time to sit down with her and look at the pictures of us and explain who we are. We love you!!!

We are waiting...

2009-02-16T22:46:00.000-08:00

We are still waiting for our travel invitation from China. I keep checking my e-mails and I jump every time the phone rings, hoping for news. I know there is people that have waited longer than us and I just pray that they get their TA's this week, so that it can be our turn soon. We cannot wait to go and get Leah. She is part of our family and she belongs here at home with us.

I have been working on sending her a care package. I wrote a letter that Angela at LadybugsNLove will translate for us. We are also sending her a doll, candy for the nannies and the kids, a camera that we hope they will use to take pictures of her, and a photo album with pictures of our family. I hope that getting this package will help her understand as much as she can, that she has a family that loves her. We are praying that God will prepare her heart for this big change in her life and that we will get to travel soon!

Leah Kristine

2009-01-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

We are excited to finally be able to introduce Leah Kristine!!! After a long journey that started three years ago we finally have a name and picture for our daughter.

January 5th 2009, we got a phone call from our adoption agency with a referral - and Hui Chengying became part of our family! We received our LOA January 22nd 2009, and are now anxiously waiting for our TA so we can start planning our trip to China.

Leah was found when she was about 1 month old and taken to an orphanage in the Guangdong Province. She is now 3 years old. We cannot wait to bring her home to our family!