Outplay. Outwit. Outlast.

... Mainly outlast. We survived the 27 hour trip from Hong Kong to Atlanta,  arriving home at 9 p.m. Saturday.  The highlight of the trip was our 4 hour layover in Mpls, where Mia became a U.S. citizen, then minutes later met all her grandparents and some of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. (And I had a frappucino.)  They provided new toys that Mia played with all the way to Atlanta.  We all slept until noon today.  After installing the car seat, we're off to Babies 'R Us to get lots of things we had no idea we'd need before we got Mia.  Mia loves exploring her new house.  She is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up on various pieces of furniture. We haven't figured out how to keep her out of the dog's water dish yet. Sam will arrive later this afternoon. That should be interesting.

Mia is a U.S. Citizen

We landed at MSP airport around noon. Just a few minutes later, the Immigration officer unsealed the documents known as "the brown envelope", and .Mia became a citizen. Since we had a 4 hour layover in MSP, .Mia's grandparents and some of her aunts and cousins were there to greet us.  They all agreed she is one cutie-patootie. .Mia thoroughly enjoyed the attention.  .Mommy thoroughly enjoyed her first frappucino in weeks.
It has been a long day of travel. We started out in Hong Kong, flew to Tokyo, then MSP. We're anxious to get home to Atlanta tonight.

We're in Hong Kong

This morning we said a bittersweet.good-bye to our Chinese guide Veronica and the other 7 families with whom we shared this journey of a lifetime. These 10 little girls (ages 6 months to 17 months) don't realize it yet, but their bond will be life-long. We have committed to keeping in touch, and there is no doubt we will follow through. While our little girls will be princesses in the States, we are very cognizant of what they leave behind. 
This morning we flew to Hong Kong.  We are spending the night in a tiny but pleasant.hotel near the airport. Early in the a.m., we'll start our 24 hour trip home. 
Mia has a nasty boil on her forehead, poor girl.  She is a trooper. It needs to be drained, but the physicians recommended we wait until we get to Atlanta. Wish us luck tomorrow!

The "Red Couch" Photo

It is a tradition to take a photo of the girls sitting on the red couch at the White Swan Hotel, dressed in traditional Chinese outfits. Mia's outfit is a lovely red silk number purchased in Beijing. We're not sure how we got Mia to sit still this long, since she is a perpetual motion machine. Notice that we have 2 sets of twins in our group. That guarantees that our group receives lots of attention wherever we go.

U.S. Consulate: "Mia is Welcome in America"

In a trip full of big days, this is one of the biggest. We got the call from Veronica at noon today, telling us Mia's INS petition has been approved.  Our little girl is going to become an American!!  As I write this, I shed tears of joy for her and pride in our great country.
Her Visa is being processed right now.  Tomorrow we go to the Consulate for the swearing-in ceremony.  Our daughter Ji Lu Xing will leave China and when we land in Mpls she will become Mia Lin, American citizen.  We're so happy that she'll become a citizen in MN, where Jeff and I were both born. 
I wish I could post a photo now, but this little gal keeps us so busy, it is hard to find 20 minutes to transfer photos from camera and go online. Maybe tonight???

Mia Passes Her Medical Exam

We had quite a morning at the medical office.  Imagine multiple examining rooms, narrow hallways, a couple dozen baby girls, strollers, and parents.  Each baby had to go through 3 different examining stations, the ENT, height/weight, and heart/lungs.  All in an office smaller than some Starbuck's cafes.  Once the thermometers and stethoscopes came out, the din of crying babies was amazing. These girls really don't like doctors. 

When we got out of there 90 minutes later, all 3 of us were wiped out.  Fortunately, there is a Starbuck's on the way back to the White Swan.  Unfortunately, I had no desire for a hot drink when it it was 85 and humid outside, and ice in your drink is a bad idea here. Mia and Jeff shared a chocolate chip muffin, and I enjoyed watching Mia enjoy her first Starbuck's visit. 

Next steps: On Wednesday, we'll complete the INS and Visa applications, then Thursday we'll head to the consulate for the swearing-in ceremony. 

(P.S. Mia weighs 9.2 kilos, or 20.2 lbs. No wonder our backs ache.) 

To Barbie or Not to Barbie? That is the Question...

First the important stuff: Mia is getting better already :)

Now to the question of the day. Will we encourage Mia to play with Barbie dolls?  My sister Paula objects to them due to their unrealistic body  proportions.  Last I checked, Claire is enjoying a happy childhood sans Barbie. I'm not sure where Lisa stands, as Kira is only 3. My brother's children, Emily and Melissa, have lots of Barbie's. (Unless they've disposed of them in favor of Bratz dolls.). When Melissa got her first Barbie over 10 years ago, I was so appalled at how trashy Barbie dressed, I bought a sewing machine and made several cute yet demure outfits, including a doctor's white coat.   All in all, I hadn't given much thought about which camp I was in, when it comes to Mia. Until today.  You see, one of the interesting amenities available exclusively to adoptive parents staying at the White Swan is a Barbie doll (blonde, blue eyes, skinny as usual) carrying a Chinese baby girl. Compliments of Mattel.  It is awfully precious! If I knew how to set up a poll on this blog, I'd hold a vote.  I invite your comments. (Sent from my blackberry)

We are at the White Swan Hotel

On Friday, Mia received her passport. Our business in Nanchang complete, yesterday we flew to Guangzhou, where the American Consulate is located.  This week, we will complete the Visa process, which will allow Mia to enter the U.S.
The White Swan is often called the "baby hotel" because most American adoptive families stay here. It is quite luxurious. As Jeff and I both have bad colds, we're mostly just happy to have a clean, pleasant room to take a nap in!
Mia was diagnosed with an ear infection.  Fortunately, there is an on-site Dr. Who practices Western medicine. Our guide, Veronica, translated for us. (Did I already mention that Veronica is an angel as well as supremely capable?  We don't know what we'd do without her.)
More tomorrow...

Our Precious Girl

Mia is adjusting very well. We can really see her personality emerging. She is the most active and energetic of all the girls in our travel group. She loves the color blue. She hates being dressed or having her diaper changed. She is so fascinated with technology (cries when she can't have our iPods or Blackberries) that I sent Jeff back to Wal*Mart to buy her a toy cellphone, which has music and voices. The weird thing is that the cellphone speaks English, not Chinese. We keep the cellphone by the changing table for diapering emergencies.

Mia's gross motor skills are developing every day. She is getting better and better at pulling herself up to a standing position.

Take a look at her in her traditional Chinese outfit.

Gotta run, somebody just got up from her nap!

Wednesday in Nanchang

We've been very busy learning to be a family together. Mia is just adorable. Her growth report from the orphanage had described her as active and restless, and that has proven very true. She really keeps us on our toes. She loves her Mommy and Daddy a lot. You'd never know she joined our family just 3 days ago.

Today Mia rode in a stroller for the first time, and she had her first McDonald's hamburger. It wasn't too bad. She would have tried the apple pie as well (the orphanage says apples and crackers are her favorite foods), but when I attempted to order that through our guide, she said their response was that they don't serve apple pie, they have green bean pie instead. We passed.

Each morning, the eight families go somewhere in Nanchang together. Yesterday Wal*Mart, today a pavilion (i.e., pagoda) that is the only tourist destination in Nanchang. Our guide tells us that Nanchang is a working-class city, and doesn't attract a lot of tourists. Jiangxi province is largely agricultural, and is known for rice and green tea. It grows most of the green tea consumed in Southern China. In Northern China, they prefer jasmine tea. Jiangxi is also known fo its porcelain manufacturing. We went to a porcelain market this afternoon to purchase a souvenir from Mia's home province.

The photo is from Monday, Mia's Adoption Day.

Mia Visits Wal*Mart

Mia is doing great.  She had several firsts today.  First bath (which she enjoyed!), first laugh (at least for us). Her gross motor skills are improving very quickly.  She can crawl fast, and is now pulling herself up to a standing position.  She can walk with a lot of assistance.  We suspect that she might actually start walking by the end of this trip. 

Today's big event was an excursion to Wal-Mart.  It was just in the nick of time, as we were running low on formula, diapers, clean baby clothes, and Honey-Nut Cheerios for Mia.  We had a guide (Susan, who filled in while Veronica was on other business), but with 8 families, we had to split up.  Jeff, Mia and I were in the grocery section sans guide, and we couldn't find anything that looked like a cereal aisle.  Cookies, crackers, potato chips, yes, but no cereal.  We tried asking one of the many Wal-Mart employees for "Cheerios" (after all, you can order a Coke or a Sprite by name here!), but the name meant nothing to them.  We were about to give up when I realized that I had some Cheerios in a baggy in our diaper bag, so I could show them what they looked like. They looked puzzled at first, with several employees holding the bag up to the light to scrutinize the cereal.  Then one clerk got the "a ha" look, and proceeded to lead us over to the dog food section and pull a bag of dog food off the shelf.  Jeff shook his head and pointed to the baby, which got a laugh from everyone.  We never did figure out whether they sold Cheerios.  However, it turns out another one of the families brought a big box and their new daughter doesn't like Cheerios, so our troubles are over.

Mia just conked out for the night, and we're not far behind, so that will have to be enough for now.  Sorry we aren't able to post pictures.  We can submit text for the blog via email, but when we go to the blog site itself, everything is in Chinese except what we've posted.  That makes following the menus to post a photo a bit difficult. 

Adoption finalized

Today we went to the Civil Affairs Office, where we were interviewed. The adoption is now final. Mia is doing great. Very active and alert, strong, great eater. Is bonding with both of us.

Sorry, having trouble uploading our first family photo. Will try again tomorrow.

Mia Lin joined our family 5 hours ago. When we met her, she was with her nanny, with whom she had attached. She wasn't happy to leave her nanny's arms (which is a good sign).. She is doing great -- eating, playing with her rattles, and grabbing our noses. We are playing simple copycat games and she is starting to vocalize and smile frequently. Tomorrow we will return to the Civil Affairs office to do the paperwork to become her legal parents.

We've Landed in Nanchang

We'll meet Xing Xing in 2.5 hours.  More later...

Today is the Big Day

In 8 hours or so, we'll meet Xing Xing and take her back to our hotel.  We woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. We went to breakfast when the restaurant opened at 6:30, and bumped into most of the other families who are flying to Jiangxi province with us today. We're all too excited to sleep. 
I was too tired to write much last night, so waited to share my favorite moment from yesterday.  Our guide Veronica handed us the official Travel Notice.  It reads in part:
"In accordance with the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China... we agreed that the child Ji Lu Xing .. be placed with you for adoption. Please travel in person with this notice to the adoption registry office within the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangxi Province in China to proceed the registration formalities."

With these few words, our lives will change forever.
We are thankful for this great honor.

Only One More Sleep

When Donna's niece Claire was little, she used to measure the time until a big event (like, say, Christmas) in terms of how many more sleeps. Well, only one more sleep and we'll have Mia.
Today we toured Beijing, including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (former home to Emperors), and a stretch of the Great Wall. Then we got a briefing on tomorrow's events. By the time all of you wake up, we should have Mia Lin. We'll post as soon as possible after we return to our hotel.

We've arrived!

Just checked in to our hotel in Beijing.  We were met by our guide, Veronica.  Veronica had some great news about Mia. She called the orphanage director 2 days ago and confirmed she is doing well. They describe her as a big eater (yay!).  She is also walking! 
Veronica warned us that Xing Xing (shing shing -- as they call her) may not want to walk when she first meets us. If so, we will have the joy of seeing her first steps, in a way.
Veronica says Xing means beautiful and smart.  She says yes, it translates as apricot as we'd been told, but as a given name it has a deeper meaning as signified by its Chinese characters. 
Now it is time to stop beaming and get some sleep. 

Beijing Bound!

As I write this, I am reminded of the times I have gone to the Norad website with the Neumann grandkids to track Santa's progress.
We landed in Tokyo about 40 minutes ago, went through security and then directly on to our Beijing flight. The 11+ hour MSP to Tokyo flight didn't seem long at all.  We are flying business class, so I was able to sleep for about 5 hours.  Jeff wasn't so lucky.  It is 6 pm in Tokyo. We'll land in Beijing at 9:30 pm.  That's all I have time to write now. 

On Our Way to Tokyo

We've just boarded the plane in Minneapolis. This will be the longest leg of our journey to Beijing.  We took advantage of the 90 minute layover to purchase a few additional items that somehow didn't make it on the packing list (throat lozenges, Airborne).  Time to power down...  Next entry from Tokyo.

We're Off!

We are sitting on the plane in Atlanta, about to begin the first leg of our journey.  In the next 24 hours, we will travel to Beijing via MSP and Tokyo. Because there is a 12 hour (or so) time difference, we'll arrive in Beijing on Friday night.  Gotta run!

Leaving Tomorrow Morning

After more than 2 years of waiting, it doesn't seem like we are really going to China tomorrow. But we are. During the past few days, several friends and neighbors have asked, "Are you ready?" Somehow, I don't think so. Yes, we've read all the right books, got all the right papers, and packed things to cover lots of contingencies, but nothing really prepares you to become a parent, does it? It comes down to an act of faith.
If I were looking for signs that the universe is in perfect order, I saw one today. While browsing in Barnes & Noble for some good airplane reading, I was surprised to see a copy of a book that I'd read10 years ago. It is Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter. I have read thousands of books in my lifetime, and few have stayed with me as that book did. The author endured appalling emotional abuse in her childhood, eventually emigrating to the U.S. and becoming an M.D. It is a remarkable story and I highly recommend it. Of course, I bought a copy. We'll put it on a high shelf for now, where Mia can't see it. (Another great read is Karin Evans' Lost Daughters of China.)
Please keep praying that Mia is healthy and ready to join our family.

New TV Show To Watch For

According to chinaadopttalk.com, a new show is premiering soon. NI HAO, KAI-LAN from Nick Jr, premieres October 22nd. It is supposed to be a Chinese version of Dora the Explorer. A play-along, think-along series starring Kai-lan Chow, a playful, adventurous preschooler who speaks both English and Mandarin. Kai-Lan and her animal friends are guided by her YeYe (grandfather) through their adventures.
We can't wait to watch this with Mia.

The Quest for the Perfectly Packed Luggage

Donna has been getting a bit embarrassed about the number of times she has been seen in the return and exchanges line at our local REI outfitters. We completed our packing list about 10 days ago, which we considered a big accomplishment in itself. (There are about 100 widely varying China adoption packing lists on line, so the question is whom to believe.) Now comes the fun part. We are trying to pack for a 2.5 week trip in nothing but carry-on luggage (as recommended by our adoption agency), and we have been told to bring about 15 different prescription and OTC medications for the baby and parents, a blankie, a thermos for keeping boiled water for mixing formula, baby clothes in multiple sizes -- you get the picture. That means we need to find the packing gear that maximizes every inch of space. On Saturday, as REI employee Barry (we’re now on a first-name basis) handled the latest exchanges, Donna sheepishly said, “We’re getting pretty close. Each attempt is a successive approximation….” Barry kindly waved it off as if to say, “Oh, think nothing of it.”

And did we tell you that on one of her trips to REI, Donna met a woman who is adopting a daughter the same age as Mia? Both women were standing in front of the array of inflatable neck pillows. The woman asked Donna whether she traveled much, and if so did she think she could get by with the airline-issued pillows on a trip to China. (“How big are the pillows on the airplane?” she asked. Ha.) This led to the discovery that Robin was traveling to China just a week before us. They exchanged email addresses. Maybe the girls will be playmates.

The Nanny Chronicles

Jeff has been leading the search for a nanny for Mia. On Saturday, we offered the position (contingent on background and reference checks) to a lovely young woman. Donna checked her references, who speak very highly of her. She has an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education and is finishing her bachelor's degree in a weekend program. Jeff will initiate the background checks tomorrow. We'll be quite happy to complete this before we leave for China, as that will make Mia's first weeks at home a bit less stressful for her parents.

Continuing Showers

On Friday, the Atlanta office celebrated the adoption with balloons, games (Pin the Diaper on the Baby, anyone?), a giant decorated cookie, and root beer floats. Mia was showered with many lovely gifts, from tub toys to cute little outfits to the cuddliest blanket ever. We're overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Now, all we need is to bring Mia home to see it all.

Minneapolis Baby Shower

Donna's friends Linda and Dawn hosted a wonderful shower in Minneapolis on Wednesday night. About 20 of Donna's co-workers came to share the happy event. Elaine S. gave a wonderful presentation in her imitable way. She had created a "Baby Sleep Kit" containing everything needed to get the baby to bed and accompanying instructions.
Step 1. Feed the baby. (Toddler eating utensils, 2 darling bibs)
Step 2. Give the baby a bath. (Froggy washcloth and a bunny hooded bath towel)
Step 3. Read favorite sleep-inducing stories to the baby (Good Night, Mooon and Pat the Bunny board books.)
Step 4. If she still isn't sleepy, take her for a ride in the car! (Backseat mirror for the minivan.)

Other parents then offered their "last resort" methods for getting babies to fall sleep. (Donna D., in her inimitable way, suggested it would be a lot simpler to just give the baby some Benadryl.)
The laughs continued as various people suggested that the items listed on our Babies 'R Us registry suggested that Donna had no idea what she was doing when they handed her the scanner. ("White bibs? Are you kiddin' me?") These are smart people.

A Busy Weekend for the Parents-to-Be

We've been operating at hyper-speed all weekend. We each have a long To Do list of things to be purchased, documents to be checked, dog-sitters and house-sitters to be contacted, and baby clothes to be washed. And I'd thought we were so prepared!

One of Donna's tasks this weekend was creating a soft photo album so Mia can begin to get acquainted with her new home. Our adoption agency was very kind to provide us with photo captions in both English and Chinese. Just print out the photos, paste on the captions, and voila! Maybe by the time we arrive in China, we'll know enough Mandarin to say "This is your Mother and this is your dog" in Mia's native language. (At this point, the closest Donna can get is "Woman with a dog.")