Visa Physical

Sunday 10:00am

Yesterday we had our Visa Physical in Guangzhou. The physical part wasnt so bad. We had to take a picture for the Visa application first, which Saiya did great for. She loves to have her picture taken. I wish I had known we were going to be taking pictures yesterday or I would have put her in the dress I brought for her. Oh well. :( After the pictures we walked a little down the street to the Visa clinic where there were hundreds of other families with children waiting to be examined. Saiya did great at the physical. She needed to have 7 vaccination shots, which was the most out of all of the children in our group. When it was our turn for vaccinations, I held her in my lap while she cried and cried. It was so sad, I wanted to cry too!! After receiving two shots in one arm, one in the other along with the TB test, and two shots in each leg, she was a miserable little girl. Tears like waterfalls down her face. We handed her some candy and she was a little happier. Once she was happy with the candy, she chowed down on some oreo cookies we brought.

After the physical, we walked back towards the hotel. The island we are on is absolutely beautiful! There is a very nice park next door to the hotel where we wandered around for a little while. We had lunch at Lucy's, which is a very good diner that caters to american tastes. Chris fell in love with their hamburgers! After lunch it was back to the hotel for a nap.

After Saiya's nap, we went out in search of McDonalds. We got directions from the CAWLI doctor. Apparently, we didnt walk far enough, because we never found it. We ended up wandering through a traditional chinese market street. They were selling all sorts of things, mostly dried herbs, vegetables, and a variety of animals for meat. Among the animals were live chickens, turtles, and scorpions (yes, scorpions!!). There were barrels and barrels full of scorpions and other creepy-crawlies! eeeeeeeeeeek! Once we figured we had enough of the traditional chinese market (which wasnt long) we headed back to the island and straight for Lucy's for dinner! Haha!

We did a little bit of shopping while we were out. We bought a couple of gifts for my niece and nephew and a new hat for chris and an outfit for Saiya to wear for the famous red couch picture.

Today we meet the guide at 10:30am. No one really knows why, but we are assuming we are going to be filling out paperwork for the Visa Application. After that, I think we are free to wander around again today. The sun is out and it finally stopped raining, I am very excited to be getting out of the hotel room!

Plane trip to Guangzho

Saturday  9:00am

Yesterday we left Ningxia for Guangzho.  We were very happy to be leaving Ningxia.  The guide dropped us off at the airport and we had to wait about an hour before our flight took off.  We got Saiya's Chinese passport and we will get an American Passport for her at the US Consulate after her Visa Appointments.

The plane ride was quite an experience for our girl!  She is a really good flier.  She had this look of utter shock when the wheels left the ground and when we landed, but other than that she didnt seem impressed.  She liked looking out the window but had difficulty doing that while buckled in.  We had a brief stop in Xi'an and then it was off to Guangzho.  The flight into the Guangzho was a little more traumatic as it was way past her nap time and she was really hungry.  She had a hard time falling asleep on the plane and finally knocked out about a half hour before we landed.  So that made her really cranky by the time we got to the hotel to get some dinner around 9pm last night.

Dinner at the White Swan was AMAZING!!  Chris had the best hamburger ever!  Saiya was too tired to really be interested in any food, although she ate a little bit of my dinner.  Breakfast this morning was everything we hoped it would be and more!  There were even tater-tots!  Chris was in heaven.  We met a few of the other families, although we are all really too wrapped up in our children to be interested in finding common ground.  There are literally HUNDREDS of chinese adoptees at the White Swan.  I can only imagine that the US Consulate is really close.  There are families from all over the US who used a variety of different adoption agencies.  The hotel is swimming with kids and American parents.

It was raining last night when we arrived and according to the local people here, there is a typhoon which is going to be dumping TONS of rain for the rest of the week.  Thats a shame because we were really looking forward to exploring more of the city and maybe doing some shopping while we are here.  :)

Today we have our visa physical and other appointments.  I'm not sure how long that will take, but maybe we will be free this afternoon to do some laundry and exploring and just get out and about.

Saiya is doing so much better with Chris.  Especially in our hotel room where things are not so new to her.  She plays with him and laughs and lets him tickle her.  They have been playing together all morning.  A refreshing change from the melt down we had last night.  Both Saiya and mamma had a pretty hard time last night.  But I think we are seeing the silver lining at this point.

Last Full Day in Ningxia

Friday 5:30am

Yesterday was our last full day here in Ningxia.  We have a 1pm fllight from here to Guangzhou this afternoon which means we have to meet at the airport around 11:30.  We can't wait to get to Guangzhou.  Hopefully the beds will be softer.  :)

Yesterday we went back to the notary to pick up all of our paperwork and receive notarized translations of all of our documents.  After that, we headed to another park, called "Forest Park".  This park was much bigger and nicer than the other one.  There was even a train that went all the way around the park.  Saiya seemed to liked the train ride around the park.  The weather in the morning was perfect for it.  After the train ride, we tried to get her to play in the ball pit and on the trampoline, but she wasnt interested.

After Forest Park, we went to a Budhist temple.  The temple was beautiful!  There was a large pagoda in the middle of the grounds.  We didnt stay there long, but we did get a chance to wander around a little bit.  The temple is fully functioning and according to our guide houses 20 monks and priests.  There were several people there praying and making offerings.

Lunch was the best food we have had since coming to Ningxia.  We were not sure what to have, so we asked our guide for some suggestions.  He took us to a nice chinese restaurant where he made suggestions and ordered for us.  The food was absolutely wonderful!  It almost made up for the surprisingly disappointing food we have been having most of the week.

Saiya is doing great!  She still doesnt want to play with other kids, but she is slowly, VERY slowly, coming around to Chris.  She loves the computer.  Everytime I sit down to it, she tries to crawl in my lap so she can see what I am doing.  Its cute.  She lets me work and just likes to watch the screen.  Last night we watched Mulan in chinese.  I'm not sure if she really understodd it all.  She didnt make a sound while we were watching it.  She didnt even laugh at the funny parts.  But she sat there and was sort of mezmerized by it.  I would give anything to know what she was thinking...

Today its off to the airport for her first plane ride.  We will see how that goes!  Wish us luck!

Notary and Park - Take 2

Wednesday 7:00pm

Today we went back to the notary office to make sure that the paperwork was correctly translated.  After that, we headed back to the Ningxia Park.  Saiya did much better today.  When we first entered the park, there was another little girl there about Saiya's age.  We tried to get her to say "hi".  She was a little shy, but kind of placated us and went along with it.  Our guide, Tony, spoke to her in chinese and told her to chase the birds.  She spent most of the time there chasing the birds and running along the paths through the park.

She is still having a few problems connecting with Chris.  She would not let him hold her hand today.  At the notary office, I was handling paperwork and I plopped her in his lap and she started to cry.  She was fine there as long as I was holding her hand, but otherwise, she wasnt interested in having him hold her.  She especially gets that way when she is tired or cranky.  At dinner we tried something different and had Chris sit next to her instead of me.  She got all scrunchy faced and wouldnt say a word.  When the food came, she refused to eat or let him put food in front of her.  So we switched spots and that made her happy.  I'm sure she will come around eventually.  On the up side, he's taking it all in stride.  Good daddy!

After the park, we sat down for a small break and had some ice cream.  I'm not sure if she ever had ice cream before, but she seemed to really enjoy it.  Our guide asked us what we wanted for lunch.  Chris imediately said "hamburgers" thinking we would find a McDonald's or something.  Tony, our guide, said the only place in town to get hamburgers is KFC.  I looked at him and said "KFC doesnt have hamburgers".  He had a puzzled look on his face, so we took a gamble and went with it.  Come to find out, in China, "hambuger" is any kind of sandwich...  KFC has "chicken hamburgers" and "fish hamburgers" but no "cow hamburgers".  Poor Chris.  There is no McDonald's in this town either.

After we got back to the hotel, we put her down for a nap.  After dinner she was coloring with Yoshi.  She does this new thing where she will sit on top of Yoshi and do a little hop like she is riding him like a horse.  Poor Yoshi!!  I am trying to get it on video.  :)  So cute!!

Tomorrow we have to go and pick up her passport and stop by the notary again.  We leave Ningxia on Friday afternoon.  We really can't wait to get to Guangzhou and meet up with the other families.  Also, I think Chris is ready for some more "americanized" food... Like McDonald's.

Ningxia - Day 2

Tuesday 6:45pm

Hello!  Today was not quite as busy as yesterday.  We went to the notary office this morning which only took about an hour or so.  We have to go back later tomorrow to make sure the paperwork is translated correctly.  We signed a bunch of papers and then we went to the park.

Saiya didnt really like the park very much.  She was clinging to me the entire time.  The guide said it was because she was never outside at the orphanage.  Hopefully with time and some encouragement from her cousins she will come to love being outside.  She does not do very well in open spaces, its almost like she is afraid she will get lost.  We walked by a small child riding on her dad's shoulders and we thought maybe Saiya would want to try.  So we put her up on Chris's shoulders and she sat there for about 5 seconds and then started crying.  Oh, how the world changed!  After that, he was evil incarnate!  Every time he went near her, she would cry!  Poor kid.  Such a mean daddy!

We found a rather large play ground and I thought that with other kids around she might be interested in playing on the swings or slides.  We wandered around there and tried a few things, but most of the time she was all pouty faced.  You would have thought we were trying to kill her when we attempted the slide.  Oh, man, can she scream!  LOL  Poor kid.  We tried the swings, and she did ok there, but we might have to shelve our play set plans until she comes around to the idea of playing outside.

So, the orphanage didnt give us any clothes for her but what she was wearing.  She had these white shoes with bright red hearts on the toes.  These shoes are so... "ungodly" as Chris put it.  I looked at her shoes and her poor toes were so scrunched up in them, but every time we took them off of her in the hotel room, she would go and put them back on.  LOL  She LOVES those shoes.  So, today, after the park, we went to the department store to get some baby shampoo, baby wipes, and yes, new shoes.  OMG!  The new shoes are about an INCH bigger than the ones she was cramming her foot into!  As soon as we put them on her, she was all smiles and tap dancing!  I can only imagine how log she has been wearing the other ones, and probably through no fault of the orphanage...  she absolutely loves those ugly shoes!

As you can see from most of the pictures, she doesnt go anywhere without Yoshi.  Yoshi has a twin we sent in a care package back in March.  As soon as she saw Yoshi at the adoption meeting at the orphanage, she has clung to him.  he is never too far from her side, he even colors with her!  She is doing so great!  She is starting to pick up a little english here and there.  She understands alot of what we say, even though we speak chinglish to her most of the time.  We dont really have any commuication problems with her.  She is great about dressing herself, keeping herself entertained, and going potty by herself.  :)  We really can't wait to get home so she can meet her cousins and get into a normal routine.  But other than that, we are all doing great!

Adoption DAY!!

Today is Monday 8:40pm

This morning we actually managed to sleep til a reasonable hour.  We were supposed to meet our guide at 8:50 in the hotel lobby, and we were awake at 6am to get stuff ready.  Of course we were nervous and excited and anxious as we drove the very short ten minutes to the orphanage.  When we got to the orphanage, we were led into a conference room where they brought our daughter.  She was a little shy at first, but warmed right up to me.  Chris is still working on it, but she's coming around.  She was a definite favorite at the orphanage as everyone came to say good bye to her.

We filled out lots of paperwork and then headed to the photo center so that we could take an adoption application photo.  After that, we headed to the government office where we filled out more paperwork and received our adoption certificate.  I guess she is finally ours!

After the government office, we headed back to the hotel for a short break.  We had just enough time to have something to eat, have saiya examined by our traveling physician, and give her a bath (which she stood there and cried for the whole time) and attempt to put her down for a nap, which she wasnt having any part of.

After that, we headed back out to the passport application place and took more pictures for the passport application.  Then it was off to the bank where we conveted our US dollars into Yuan for the adoption expenses.  We headed immediately from one bank to another where we paid the adotion fees and a number of other fees and then we headed to yet another bank where we paid for the adoption registration.

We got back to the hotel just as Saiya was about to zonk out in the car.  We put her down in the room, but she was fighting sleep.  Poor Chris was out before she was.  She has trouble going to sleep in the pack-n-play that we have, but when she fell asleep on the bed, I moved her.  She is really a great girl!  So brave and just kind of goes with the flow of things.  The only time we saw tears of any kind were when I tried to give her a bath.  Maybe that is when it finally hit her that she is going home with us.  Other than that, she is curious about everything and constantly taking in her surroundings.  She is very expressive and definitely has a mind of her own.  A true stubborn streak too!!

Off to bed for me, more to come tomorrow.  My laptop finally has power thanks to the nice hotel people lending us a power converter (ours was a piece of crap that didnt work)!  YAY!

Here in Ningxia

Sunday 8:30pm

We arrived in Ningxia around 5:45pm this evening.  We met our guide who was a little surprised at our lack of luggage and young age.  According to him "You can always tell an adoption family, because they have the most luggage".  Hahaha!  Not us.  We have one checked bag each.  His name is Tony and he is the same guide the last family (who came in Late July) had.  He seems nice enough, talks really fast and I get the feeling that we are being rushed from place to place, although that can just be me having trouble giving up control and him being efficient.

We checked into the hotel and had a nice dinner at the "Western" restaurant downstairs, which strangely enough has more chinese food than western food.  When we got to our room, we realized that the lights weren't working, so we headed downstairs to the front desk to ask how we could get them to work.  Poor girls, nice as can be, had no idea what we were asking.  After several minutes of us playing charades, with me frantically pointing to the lights over head and then making a switch out of my hand and shaking my head "no", and them trying to repeat what they thought we were asking in chinese, we finally handed them the guide's phone number so that he could translate.  It was very comical!  Apparently, the lights only work when the room key is inserted into a little slot on the wall.  Interesting idea to save on energy and such, but there are no signs or labels to tell you that is what you are supposed to do.  So, at least the girls downstairs will have an interesting story to tell...  bet they were thinking... "Ugh!  More Silly Americans!"  HAHAHAHA!