Guangzhou

We are in Guangzhou (pronounced Gwong joe) where the American Consulate is located. This is the last leg of journey. Here we have to get Nathan’s visa so he can enter the USA.

We were sad to say goodbye to Mei on Monday morning. We are going to try to keep in touch via email. She made our time in Chongqing very special.

Our trip here went pretty well. Nathan was good for his first plane ride. We kept a steady supply of bottles for him and he didn’t cry much. The flight was only about 90 minutes. I hope the flights home go so well.

When we got off the plane we immediately met Elvin our new guide. He is a sweet young man with and endearing habit of giggling after everything he says. We went immediately to the photo shop to get Nathan’s visa photo. From there we went to a clinic to get the medical examination required for him to get his visa. That took about 20 minutes. There were about a dozen US families with their babies waiting for the exam and there was much screaming. Nathan added his own noise to the melee when the doctor looked at him.


Today we go to pick up his visa and that is the last step. Tomorrow we leave for home! We have to leave the hotel at 0530 tomorrow for the airport. We will be traveling for about 30 hours straight I believe so we are not looking forward to the trip but we will be so glad to get home.

We are now staying at the famous White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou where most of the American couples stay who adopt from China. Breakfast this morning was like a baby convention. We couldn't help but stare at the dozens of babies and families. It is so different from Chongqing where we were the only Americans we encountered.

Pics from Today

We went to Ei Ling Park (Goose Lake) today. It was very interesting. A lot of retired people spend time there and they were fascinated by us so we had an entourage wherever we went. We spent five yuan (approx 70 cents) to get our picture taken with these peacocks.
The ladies are playing a game that looks complicated but Mei says it is like a deck of cards and the games can be simple or complex. We met an artist who paints with his mouth because he lost both his arms. Here he is putting Nathan's Chinese name on a small painting we bought.

At the restaurant where we ate lunch the waitresses went nuts over Nathan. He flirted with about seven ladies and wanted to be held by each of them. In each of the restaurants the waitresses and waiters wear lovely uniforms.

The pictures

This is our first family photo which was taken at The Office of Foreign Affairs about ten minutes after we got Nathan.


Somebody doesn't like bathtime.
Mei, Nathan, and Julie at the zoo.

First swim.


More pictures of us out and about. Read the below post for my account of this week.





Our little cutie gets very happy after he finishes his bottle.

Our week in Chongqing

November 18th, 2006 – I keep getting up at 0400 but at least it gives me time to get things done before Nathan wakes up.

Nathan is relaxing and becoming less clingy. He now wants to be put down so he can play on the floor. He crawls very fast and it’s so cute to see him zipping around the room. He likes to bump things with his head. He doesn’t care much for the toys that make noise but he loves brightly colored objects and especially the Cheerios book.

More than anything, Nathan loves to be outside walking around. He really loves the Baby Bjorn and we use it every day. We go out for just a few hours each day which is fine for us. We have been to the zoo which was wonderful. We loved the panda bears. I have never seen one personally and they have four here. I guess that Mei was worried that we would be disappointed because she kept warning us of how lazy the pandas were. And they are! But they are adorable.

We both love Chongqing. The people here take a lot of pride in their city. There are 15 million people living in this city but when you walk around you will not see a single cigarette butt or a piece of trash. Even their highways are clean. They are always meticulously cleaning their stores and areas.

Whenever we go out we are mobbed by people who want to fuss over Nathan. They are very sweet and seem genuinely happy to see him with us. It’s a little weird to have people come up and touch him and ask to hold him. Having him strapped in the carrier takes care of that issue. Mei says everyone calls him “big eyes”. When they speak some English we mostly hear, “So cute!” “So beautiful!” and “So lucky to have boy!” Nathan starts sucking his thumb when they crowd him but other than that he ignores them.

We went to the pool last night. The hotel has an indoor pool that is very nice. They require us to wear swim caps – I guess so hair won’t get into the filters. Ron did not appreciate that he had to wear one since the hair on his head is shorter than the hair on his legs. Nathan cried when we went into the water. Two ladies who were swimming felt compelled to join us and tried to encourage him to like it. This made him cry more so we did not stay in long. Back in our room we gave him a bath and he threw the biggest fit. I guess he couldn’t understand the need for two baths in one night.

Meanwhile we are working out the issues of being new parents. I have challenges with the bottle. Several times I have not gotten the cap on right and it has leaked all over Nathan. Once I was tiredly spooning formula into the bottle and Ron asked me, “Did you put a liner in that?” The answer was “no” and I had a neat little pile of formula on the counter when I moved the bottle. I’m so glad he noticed before I poured the water in!

The only thing I have to tease Ron about is him being horrified when he first made a bottle for Nathan because the formula “ate all the color off of the spoon!” He didn’t know that I had purchased spoons that change to white when something is hot. Ron also quit laughing at Nathan pulling my hair after the little squirt grabbed a handful of chest hair. Hee hee.

We also went to the Three Gorges Museum which was spectacular. Chongqing was very important during World War II. The movied “The Flying Tigers” is an account of the events that happened here where the allies used this area as a base to fight the Japanese. Chongqing could not be taken by the Japanese so the enemy bombed them constantly. The war memorabilia is fascinating. Around the city are many WW II air raid shelters and they have been converted into stores and restaurants. We had lunch in one the other day and it was pretty cool.

Nathan is wearing a size nine months. He can fit some of the twelve month outfits but they are pretty big on him. If he keeps eating the way he has been, he should fill them out pretty soon.

Time with Nathan

We are getting used to each other. Sometimes Nathan looks at us like he's thinking, "Do you know what you are doing?"

Our hotel is gorgeous! Chongqing is very nice and we are enjoying it here.





It was Mommy's turn to get soaked today.
More pictures in the hotel. Nathan loves this fountain and we visit every day.

Here Are The Pictures!

Nathan and Daddy and Mommy at the Office of Foreign Adoptions.

After his bath.



More pics of Nathan and Daddy.

Together Day!!!

Our Together Day was wonderful! It was very hectic also. We landed in Chongqing (pronounced Chong ching) at 2:30 and met our guide Mei (May). She immediately showed us to a waiting van and said we were in a hurry. It takes several days to get a passport and Nathan’s is due to come back on Monday the same day we leave Chongqing. Mei wanted to get it done early so we can get the passport back on Friday to avoid any delays. So we head to the Office of Foreign Affairs to do the adoption paperwork. She has already filed most of the paperwork for us.

While enroute to the building of Foreign Affairs, Mei tells us that she spoke on the phone with the orphanage and they said Nathan and the orphanage workers should be in Chongqing about 4:00pm. It’s around 3:15 when we get to the office. Mei is rushing us so Ron and I are busily trying to load cameras and gather documents. We go up to the Office of Foreign Affairs and there is total chaos going on. About four couples have just received their daughters and there is much crying and excitement. A couple of other little girls are waiting for their new families. Ron and Mei have started the paperwork and it is too much for me to resist so I start getting video of all the little girls and their families.

As I pan around the room I come to a group of people sitting on the couch. The baby with them is standing on the floor holding onto the coffee table and is hidden behind a large plant. I move so that I can get a better view of the baby and as I look through the camera I recognize him. I say something inane like, “Wait a minute! That’s Nathan!” When I lower the camera and stare at him to be sure the people with him recognize us from our photos. They start nodding and gesturing wildly to us. Ron and Mei turn and see him and I tell him, “That’s Nathan!” Ron says, “Yeah, it is! He was hiding behind a plant!”

Mrs. Wei who is the supervisor of the nannies is the orphanage brings Nathan to me and puts him in my arms. I spring leaks like a sprinkler hose. Nathan immediately grabs a big handful of my hair. He hugs me very tight and hides his face. He is being shy and it’s very sweet. He gnaws on my shoulder and it’s evident he is teething. He also has a ton of hair! I thought he would be bald. Even Mei was surprised by this.

He is avoiding looking at Ron and I which is okay. We were content to let him get used to us. I guess Mrs. Wei and the two men with her were anxious for him to accept us so they get right in his face and start clapping and shouting excitedly “Guang Guang! Guang Guang!” (Guang was his Chinese name.) This makes him turn the other way so they tickle and poke him and keep shouting excitedly to him in Chinese. I am sure Mrs. Wei was telling him that we are his parents. Nathan doesn’t seem to be bothered by this loud, rough, affection and from what I have observed it is a normal interaction between babies and adults here. It was, however, stressing me out so I ask Ron if he wants to hold him.

Ron takes Nathan and within a couple of minutes they are the best of buddies. Nathan gives us a smile. He seems fascinated with Ron’s face. The pictures are a few minutes after they met. He has been a Daddy’s boy since.

We finish the paperwork, and the three of us get thumb printed and have a photo taken together. Then Mei informs us that Nathan is officially ours. That’s it! I thought we would have to go before a judge and do the interviews but she said that was the old way. We had to register his new name and so now even in China he is officially Nathan Kael Weatherly and we are officially parents. Hurray! The Office of Foreign Affairs hands us a Certificate of Adoption in a nice folder with our first family photo in it. They congratulate us and seem very happy. They also gave us a gift which I need to photograph because it is hard to describe.

We leave around 4:30pm and have to go check into our hotel. Nathan is from the country and rarely left the orphanage so he is afraid of the traffic and the honking. He is not at all happy to be back in a van and starts crying but I hold him and he lays his head on my chest. He is asleep by the time we reach the hotel. He wakes up about 45 minutes later when we are trying to get him ready to go meet Mei in the lobby. He cries when he wakes up in the strange room and sees us but settles down when we pick him up.

At dinner he fussed a bit but was pretty quiet. He likes the teething toys we brought for him. After dinner we went back to the room and let him play for a while which he enjoyed. Then we gave him a bath and he did very well. There was minimal crying and he became fascinated by the water and didn’t want to get out. Daddy got soaked!

We then let him play for a while. He crawls very fast and will pull himself up but there is no walking yet. He loves to spin circles on the carpet and laughs like he has invented a great game. He got a little fussy about 9:30 which is his normal bedtime so we put him in his crib and he went right to sleep.

Then an exhausted but happy Mommy and Daddy put themselves to bed about 11:00pm after figuring out how we are going to do his formula in the morning. I woke around 3:00 am and couldn’t go back to sleep again. It’s almost six and I don’t know when he will be waking up. Maybe I should go get a shower now.

Yesterday was one of the best days of my life!

The Forbidden City and Great Wall of China

What a great day we had! There are too many awesome pictures to post here so I'm just highlighting our day. We first went to the Forbidden City which surprised us with how massive it is. It is huge! It is amazing to be inside buildings that were built two hundred years before the US became a country. Everything was fascinating.

We also enjoy seeing life on the streets of Beijing. Bicycles are everywhere! Just getting from point A to B is really a hair-raising adventure. They have very nice roads here so that made traveling more pleasant. The smog is still awful and you can see it in some of our pictures but we got a chance to get outside the city today.

The highlight of our day was The Great Wall of China. It is indescribable! We made the very long hike to the top. Tom bowed out about half way. I'm sure he's been up there before. The views are incredible! We had a beautiful day with no wind and it was very pleasant. I especially enjoyed seeing a blue sky when we got there.

There were several things we found very entertaining One was the hand rails which sometimes are only big enough for two year olds. There were also camels along the way. We don't know why. There were quite a few Chinese people climbing the wall in business suits and some women were in heels. It was a serious hike! We had jello legs coming down.

To finish off our day, Tom took us to a nice restaurant for Peking duck. Beijing used to be Peking so it is their specialty. It was excellent -- nothing like I've seen in the US. With every meal we have they serve us three different meats, two vegetables, rice, soup, and watermelon. It is so much food --way more than we could eat. All of our meals have been excellent.

Tomorrow is our big day! We leave here in the morning and will get to Chongqing in the afternoon. We will get Nathan about an hour after we arrive. Whoo-hoo! We are excited and nervous. I hope we will be able to sleep well.

Our day in Beijing

My day started super early because I kept waking up all night. I finally gave in and got up. I kept smelling a strong charcoal odor. It turns out they use coal for heating here so there is a strong smell to go with it.

The beds here are very unlike those in the US. They are super-hard by our regular hotel standards. It's almost like sleeping on just a box spring only they don't bounce! It didn't bother me to sleep on them though. We like a firm bed anyway. This hotel as very cosy down comforters to sleep under. Ron has been out like a hibernating bear all night.

We are supposed to go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I saw them setting out dinner last night and it looked very good. In the restaurants here the server dress very fancy. I want to get a picture of them while we are out.

One thing that has really surprised me so far is how tall everyone is. I mean they aren't tall by U.S. standards but they are taller than us! Most of the women seem to be about 5'5 and the men aroun 5'8. I feel slightly cheated by this. I came halfway across the world and I'm still shorter than everyone! It doesn't really bother me - I find it very amusing.

I asked Tom if he had trouble getting around our accents. He said just a little but he is very fluent. I've been trying to speak slowly for him. Ron told him yesterday while we were waiting for our room, "We'll just hang out here. It's no biggie." I could see frowning trying to decipher what was just said to him. hee hee We will have to watch our Okie talk.

Today we get to walk on the Great Wall of China! I'm so excited!

We are in Beijing!

It was a long day of traveling but we are here! The city is not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be but Tom, our guide says that tomorrow when we visit the Forbidden City it will be very crowded. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and it was wonderful! Ron is already asleep. I'm not far behind him.


Next to me on the plane was Li You who is a professor at Georgia Tech. His family lives in China and he is going home for a visit. He makes this flight several times a year. Yikes! Our flight was overbooked and there wasn't an empty seat. Other than being so long, it was fine. We had an uneventful flight to Chicago from OKC. Li You was very friendly and asked us all about our trip. He was very excited to hear about our adoption. He stayed with us as we got through customs and was going to take us home if our guide wasn't there. He gave us his emai address and wants to see picturs of Nathan.









When we got to our hotel room we couldn't get any of the lights to come on. We had to have it explained that our door card has to be inserted into a slot before the lights will work. I've never seen this before but I found it ingenious.

Travel Day!

We have to leave for the airport in two hours! We decided not to go to bed last night so that we will be able to sleep on the plane. I am hoping it was a wise decision. I guess we will find out soon enough. I hope we haven't forgotten anything.

My brother Jack is driving us to the airport. What a sweetie to get up so doggone early! I am feeling so sad about leaving all of our dogs and cats here although I know my Mom will take good care of them. They are going to be so upset with us.

I've had a tune from My Fair Lady going through my head all day and had to make up my own words to go with it.

"I'm going to China in the morning!
Ding dong, the bells are going to chime!
So dogs come and kiss me!
Say how you'll miss me!
But get me to the airport on time!"

For anyone who didn't know I AM one of those people who sing show tunes all the time!

Almost there!

Ron is getting all his copies and his paperwork in order. There is so much of it! We have to carry around $6000 cash with us to China because we can't use money orders and we have a lot of fees to pay while we are there. Not only does it have to be cash but it has to be new, crisp bills or China will not accept them. We have spent a couple of weeks going from bank to bank examining their bills and picking out the best ones. People have been surprisingly gracious about us showing up asking to see what is in their money drawer. :) We have about 90% of what we need. Tomorrow will be our last-ditch effort to get the remainder. It feels ridiculous to be carrying around this much cash with us!

This is Nathan's suitcase. He is about one tenth our size but he needs his own suitcase and Ron and I are sharing. I'm still not sure we are bringing enough stuff for him. I still have to fit the snacks in here! We have one day left to get everything in order! Ron didn't think I was listening to him and he informed me he would pack his gun in his carryon. That makes for an interesting mental picture of us at the airport, doesn't it?

Packing!

We are finally packing! This has proved to be more difficult than I expected. We have a weight limit we have to abide by. This is fine for Ron and I but who knew that babies would be so hard to pack for? They need a lot of stuff! I'm not even going overboard with clothes and haven't packed any toys. I am trying to prioritize the items. The above document is our travel approval which reads "Notice of Coming to China for Adoption". Maybe its because of the verbage or the green heart and the red official seal but I find this document so interesting.

Our Itinerary!

We received our itinerary today. My comments are in blue.

Nov 10th -- Leave Oklahoma City to fly to Chicago. Then fly from Chicago to Beijing. (We lose a day because of the time zone)

Nov 11th -- Arrive iat Beijing at 1605. Stay in Wang Fu Jing Grand Hotel. (We stay in Beijing a couple of nights to rest and to adjust to the time zone change. China is 13 hours ahead of us so their daytime is our nightime).

Nov 12th -- Visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. (Yea!)

Nov 13th -- Fly to Chongqing. Meet the baby in the afternoon. Stay at the Hilton Hotel.
(It amazes me how "meet the baby" is settled in there between the flight and the hotel as if we were stopping off at a restaurant to eat! The comment should have fireworks and the hallelujah chorus playing in the background!)

Nov 14th -- Registration and notarization (Adoption paperwork)

Nov 15th -- thru
Nov 19th -- Sightseeing (It is common for China to require adopting parents to spend several days with their child before they let them continue on to complete the adoption. They feel this gives new parents time to be absolutely certain about their decisions. In the meantime, we will sightsee and shop and spend a lot of time bonding with little Nathan.)

Nov 20th -- Get passport. Fly to Guangzhou. Medical check and take visa photo. Stay at White Swan Hotel. (Looks like a long day to me. Guangzhou is where the American Embassy is located and we must get Nathan's visa there.)

Nov 21st -- Visa appointment at 9:00am.

Nov 22nd -- Get Visa.

Nov 23rd -- Leave China. Fly to Hong Kong. Fly from Hong Kong to Chicago then to Oklahoma City.

Nov 23rd -- Arrive in OKC at 5:00pm. (We will gain back the 13 hours we lost).

We go home on Thanksgiving Day. I think it will be the most memorable Thanksgiving Day ever!

Plane tickets and Money

We received our plane tickets today! Now everything feels real and we still have over two weeks of waiting! I went shopping yesterday and had to resist the urge to buy the cute outfits I saw. It would be so easy to spend tons of money but I will wait until China when he is with us so we can try things on.

I don't think I mentioned it before but China is very picky about the condition of money and we have to travel with loads of cash. Ron had a great idea for putting the bills in a coupon organizer which works very well. He has taken up the habit of putting bills in heavy books and stacking them so they become nice and flat. I think he has money stashed all over the house. If that gives anyone who knows where we live the idea of breaking in, just remember we are heavily armed and we have killer attack Shelties. :)

Other than gathering more currency we are pretty much set to go! Nothing to do but wait.

Busy Bees

Our flights are booked and paid for! (Ouch!) We haven't reserved our seats but I'll work on that tomorrow. We went this morning and got re-fingerprinted. We have no idea how the update works. I spent a little time this evening going through some baby clothes. It looks like I have a good amount to take with me. It is fun to browse through them. We need to buy him a winter coat to take with us but other than that, we are good.

Update on Nathan

We finally got an update on Nathan's size! Be prepared because he is pretty tiny for his age compared to American babies.

Height: 29.25 inches
Weight: 16.5 pounds
Head: 17.09 inches
Chest: 16.97 inches
Foot: 4.10 inches
Teeth: four (two upper and two lower)

Travel Approval

We have our travel approval! Our case worker called us this morning. What this means is that our case worker can now schedule our consulate appointment and we can schedule our travel. It looks like we will be able to leave around November 10th. We are very excited, of course and will keep you posted as we get more information.

News!

We heard from Virginia today. She said that the CCAA has located our file and that everything is approved. (I guess it was lost!) Virginia said our travel approval should be sent from China soon. This is great news. As soon as we get our travel approval, she can make an appointment for us at the US Consulate in China and we can travel!