Journey to Adopt Lucy

It's Good to Be Home

2008-06-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

We arrived home at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night. What a trip! The kids were good and slept on the plane for a couple hours. Marc and I were able to doze a bit as well. The drive from Chicago was tough. Poor Marc could barely stay awake and I wasn't doing much better. It was nice to get into our own home again. The flight attendants on the last leg of our journey gave us a bottle of wine as congratulations. Marc and I opened it when we got home that night. It was very tasty. The only wine we had in China was a rice wine-56% alcohol. Whew! We only had a thimble full each, and I almost felt the hair growing on my chest!

We took Lucy to the doctor on Thursday morning. She has a nasty sinus infection and is teething as well. We are up to our armpits in mucous and slobber!! She's making a nice transition to our home. Max still is crazy about her and we are too. She retaliated the 2nd and 3rd night we were home and cried every time we put her in our crib. Marc and I took turns holding her while she slept. Actually, Marc held her more. We were all exhausted after that, even Lucy. Two days ago, Max and I put her down for her nap. We let her cry for about 10 minutes, went up and comforted her, then Boom! She was fast asleep in 4 minutes. I did the same for her at bedtime. She fell asleep in 4 minutes. When I came back downstairs Marc was asleep on the couch, and Max was asleep on Marc. We are all adjusting to the time difference.

Lucy, Max, and I went to church on Sunday. It was such a nice welcome she received. She was fairly quiet during the service, but she was digging the organ playing and all the music. She loves music.

I'll try to post some more pictures here soon when I get the time. We are almost unpacked, but still have stuff scattered everywhere. Lucy is starting to feel better, but is still loaded with snot. Max also has a cold now. Until later--take care!

Signing off from China

2008-06-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we are winding down right now. Perhaps Max is winding up! He usually does when he is over tired. We ate dinner at Lucy's because it was fast and easy and they have the best congee on the island. We are all packed up and ready to go. We have a 4:30 a.m. wake up call planned.

Our consulate appointment went very well. There were probably around 50 families taking the oath at the consulate office. The consulate administrator congratulated all the families then recognized Lucy and another little one as having birthdays.

We just celebrated Lucy's birthday with cake from a local bakery. It was very yummy. I think she could have eaten more, but we decided not to risk it.

It has been an amazing trip. We will miss China, most definitely. Our hotel is right across the coutyard from a school. The kids come in around 8:00 in the morning and we can see them working in their classrooms from our hotel room. Last night they did not leave the school until 9:30 p.m. It is now 8:05 p.m. and I see that they are still working at their tables. Wow! That is dedication.

Anyway, good night! We hope to see all of our Warsaw family and friends within the next 48 hours. It's hard to believe. Take care! I'll try to keep up our blog once we are home. Thanks for coming to China with us!

Last Morning in Guangzhou

2008-06-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Michael and our driver picked us up this morning and took us sight seeing. We went to a beautiful Buddhist temple in an older part of Guangzhou. There were many people practicing there and we were able see a Buddhist ceremony. The temple is the oldest in the area. It had such a quiet and tranquil feel to it. We didn't feel it was appropriate to take any pictures, but take my word for it, it was beautiful.

After visiting the temple we went to a museum. The museum is located in what was a residence of the Chen family, a place that was built to honor all the ancestors of the Chens. Chinese people believe that everyone who has the same surname share the same ancestors. The museum showcased beautiful arts and crafts of the local people. We saw some beautiful ivory carvings, Chinese Calligraphy, and traditional Chinese paintings. This beautiful ship is carved from ivory.

It is raining here now. Marc is finishing up some shopping right now. Soon we will be going to the U.S. Consulate in order to Complete the paperwork for Lucy. After our consulate appointment we will return to the hotel for a birthday party! Lucy's birthday is tomorrow, so our agency provided us with a birthday cake for her. Michael took us to a bakery today and Max picked one for her. What a way to end our trip to China!

What's for Dinner, Mom?

2008-06-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last night we ate at a very lovely Cantonese restaurant. The entrance of the restaurant was filled with individual tanks of silk worms, sand worms, water beetles, lobsters, crabs, frogs, toads, fish, and fish larvae. There were also cages and tanks full of snakes (some of them pretty fierce looking), turtles, and mud eels. And what do you think they were for? Hmmm....We chose a nice dinner of chicken fried rice, sweet green beans in garlic, fried dumplings and chicken. It was very yummy. We noticed that our fare was pretty tame compared to the dinners of the other diners.

It was absolutley pouring by the time dinner was over. And it was a soaking rain, a rain you knew wouldn't stop anytime soon. We only had one umbrella and our hotel was on the other side of the island. Marc carried Lucy and I put Max in the stroller and we made a mad dash for the hotel. It has been very warm here, so the rain actually felt nice!

Pearl River Cruise

2008-06-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last night we took a dinner cruise along the Pearl River. It was nice. There was a buffet served and we were able to eat some of the local food. The food is not as spicy as the food in Nanchang, but it is good.

Today we have no major plans. Michael is taking care of some paperwork for us at the U.S. consulate. Our guides have been awesome. They don't just take us around for sight seeing, but they handle the majority of adoption paperwork for us. It's amazing.

Tonight we plan to eat at a Cantonese restaurant here on Shamian Island. Lucy is getting a cold, and Max really wants to stay around the hotel today to play. That's fine with us.

We haven't had the chance to tell you too much about Lucy, because she is so new to us, but this is what we've noticed:

1. Lucy isn't walking and doesn't appear to be close to walking. She isn't even crawling yet. We haven't noticed that she is able to sit up from a reclining position. We keep telling her that once we get home we are going to enroll her in an exercise progam to build her up.

2. Lucy likes congee and eats it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We haven't tried too many new foods with her because of her past tummy problems. We plan to introduce new foods when we get home.

3. Lucy really doesn't have any words yet, that we can recognize. She did repeat ayi, ayi, ayi over and over again the 2nd day we had her. Ayi means nanny. She does like to babble.

4. Lucy has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh. It appears she likes to tease.

5. Lucy's nickname was La La, but we've started calling her Lu. She really seems to like this and laughs when we say Lu!

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure we will lots to write about tomorrow as we have a trip to a temple, museum, and consulate planned. Until then, goodnight!

Happy National Children's Day!

2008-06-01T01:24:00.000-07:00

China is celebrating National Children's Day today. The streets are full of children and their families. Max and Lucy and the rest of the kids staying here at the Victory received presents and candies this morning at breakfast. After breakfast Michael took us and another family to an amusement park. It was rainy and overcast, but still a lot of fun. Lucy received alot of attention from the women and small children. Marc and Max spent time on the lake captaining a small electric boat. Max told Daddy he was Captain Jack Sparrow.

Lucy enjoyed herself at the park, then promptly fell asleep when we boarded the bus. We are noticing a pattern here. It seems movement puts her to sleep. Hope that holds true for our flight back home!

We ate lunch at Lucy's again. It was nice. It poured while we were there and Max had to use the potty. Max is our world traveler and gets the award for the first Vosler to use the squatty potty, twice! Awesome job Max. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of this exciting event! I did take a picture of Capt. Jack Sparrow, who was at our table. Ahh, life is good!

Tonight we be taking a dinner cruise along the Pearl River. That should be fun and I know Max is really looking forward to it.

Last night we ate at a Thai restaurant. It was very yummy! On the way to the restaurant the fashion police nailed Marc. Lucy had a bit too much skin showing and a Chinese woman wagged her finger at Marc and told him to cover Lucy's leg up. Well, that's what we think that's what she was saying. It could have been, "Feed this little girl! She's so tiny!"

Tomorrow is our consulate appointment. This will signal that our trip is coming to an end. It has been a blast, and we are sorry it is almost over, but we are excited to introduce Lucy to everyone back home.

What a Day!

2008-05-31T03:13:00.000-07:00

We went to sleep last night hearing the caws of some strange bird. This morning we located the source. Across the courtyard from us, on the top floor, is an aviary. There are peacocks, peahens, assorted exotic birds, and I think an ostrich. I might be wrong about the ostrich.

This morning we met Michael downstairs and we took Lucy over to get her picture taken for her medical report. We returned to the hotel, had breakfast, then went to the clinic where doctors examined Lucy. She was outraged, of course. She weighs a whopping 16.6 pounds. Yep, she's kind of petite. She is also 66 cm long. After the trauma of the medical exam we took her for a shopping trip of girly girl things. We picked up some lovely little dresses for her. She's looking awfully cute!

We did some more shopping and picked up some Christmas gifts souvenirs for our family members. We went for lunch at a restaurant called Lucy's. It was nice and they had a good variety of American and Mexican food.

We walked down to a little park and let Max play for awhile. It's been fairly rainy here today, but it was still nice for him to get out and play.

Later in the afternoon Michael took us to the pearl market. Wow! What fun was that! It was still rainy, so we decided to do some more shopping at the mall. Max got some cool Chinese superhero clothes and some cool toys. In fact, Daddy and Max are putting them together right now. Lucy is also helping. I haven't heard any swearing yet, so the assembly must be going well.

We walked outside the mall and saw a traditional outdoor shopping area. It seemed to go on for miles and was just crammed full of people.

After Daddy, Max and Lucy finish assembling the toys, we are going to walk down to a Thai restaurant. I'm looking forward to that! Tomorrow we will be taking the kids to the zoo. I hear it is a super place and I'm sure the kids will love it. So until then, catch you later!

Greetings from Guangzhou

2008-05-31T02:59:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Guangzhou late last night. It was one heck of a trip, let me tell you. Our flight had to be delayed because of bad weather. Max and Lucy were great travelers, so no problem there. But, it was an interesting trip. First of all there were around 1,000 babies on the flight. Okay, that's an exaggeration, there were about 22. Apparently it's not safe to take a flight with so many babies on board, I think it has to do with oxygen masks, if needed. Marc and I prefer to believe that the flight attendants would go nuts with more than 20 screaming babies on board, so that's why they have the limit. Regardless, the airport shared that 2 babies had to de-plane, but their parents got to go with them. Then after the 2 babies and parents de-planed, the flight attendants had to rearrange everyone's seats. That's when it got ugly. The Chinese are very passionate people so many of them started arguing. Then they began arguing with the flight attendants. It was very interesting, to say the least. After an hour or so, the plane pulled away from the loading dock, then just sat. Bad weather again, so we had to sit for another hour. The flight attendants passed our food and beverages, so it was alright. At 8:30 our flight finally departed for Guangzhou. Max and Lucy promptly fell asleep. We arrived in Guangzhou at 10:00 and Michael was there to pick us up. Awesome guy! He told us it is not uncommon for the Chinese to argue during a flight and do so often with flight attendants and pilots.

We are now staying at the Victory Hotel on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. After Nanchang, the island feels like a tranquil oasis. It has a feel of European Colonialism with old buildings and wonderful parks, and trees. We don't fear getting run over by cars or buses like in Nanchang. It is simply beautiful. Most of the people on the island speak English and there is plenty of shopping to do. Hurray! Some retail therapy!

Last Day in Nanchang

2008-05-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day in Nanchang. We will leave our friends at the Gloria Plaza Hotel today at 3:00 p.m. and will fly to Guangzhou. I believe there will be many families on our flight, and I expect it will be a loud flight with alot of rowdy babies!

Yesterday our wonderful guide, Linda, had a special day planned for Max. She took us all to the Nanchang Zoo. It wasn't very croweded, so we got to spend alot of time looking at all the animals. Max and I rode on a couple of rides, and because the zoo wasn't very busy, the ride attendants kept the rides going and going and going. At one point on the Merry Go 'Round, Max looked at me and said, "I'm getting dizzy." Whew! No kidding!

Lucy enjoyed her first zoo experience. We all received alot of curious stares from the zoo patrons. They were undoubtedly trying to figure out the family dynamics! Max made another friend. He and another little boy were chosen to participate in the baby elephant show. He had to be carried across a moat by a zoo employee (the employee seemed pretty shocked by Max's weight!)and then he had to stand perfectly still while the baby elephant tried to put a hat on Max's head. The elephant tried, unsuccessfully, to put the hat on Max's head, but you know, Max has always had a large noggin, so it really wasn't the elephant's fault that it wouldn't stay on!

After the elephant show. Max and his new friend went to feed the koi. That was a lot of fun, and we decided that boys will be boys, not matter where they are from!

We went back to our hotel after the zoo and planned to get ready for another dinner, at what we affectionately refer to as the Stomach and Guts Restaurant. Linda came up with the gentleman from the tailor shop with our clothing. Max loved his new suit of clothes and was very disappointed when he found he could not wear it to the restaurant. We gave in a bit and allowed him to wear his beautiful Chinese dragon hat. Here is a sneak preview of what we will be wearing in this year's Christmas card!

Dinner was exciting as usual. Linda had brought some extra fish food from the zoo and took Max up to the fish tanks at the restaurant. Nope, those fish in the tanks aren't for looking at, they are for eating! Max and Linda came back to the table with an eight inch catfish! The manager of the restaurant had presented Max with a gift of a live fish. We all had a good long laugh, but then we had to decide what to do with this fish. We couldn't return the fish to the manager, because that would not have been polite. Linda suggested buying a seat on the plane for it! We thought about taking him to the Yangtze River, but decided that would be too dangerous. Linda decided we should take it back to the hotel and put it in one of the koi ponds, and that is just what we did! Sleepy Head the catfish has had his life extended and is now enjoying a peaceful and pleasant life in the lobby of the Gloria Plaza Hotel.

Tengwang Pavillion

2008-05-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

I haven't mastered placing photos on the blog yet, so I apologize. Max is holding a gas mask in this photo. It is one of two that is in our closet right now. Ah, what a feeling of security we have, knowing we have them in our room.

Yesterday we visited the Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang. This picture is of the male lion just outside the pavilion. It was just a short walk from our hotel and well worth the walk in the rain to get to it. The Pavilion was originally built as a place where learned men gathered. It is 6 stories tall and sits on the bank of the Yangtze river. The Yangtze, by the way, is the longest river in China and flows from Tibet to Shanghai.

The original pavilion was built in 654 during the Tang Dynasty. It has been rebuilt many times because of fire, wars, etc. While we were there, we watched a traditional music and dance performance. It was beautiful. Max was so enthralled with the beautiful dancers.

After our tour we walked down to a shop and were measured for traditional Chinese clothing. Lucy is having a traditional hat, dress and shoes made for her, Max is getting a traditional shirt, pants, boots, and hat made out of a beautiful silk of blue dragons. I'm getting a black silk dress and Marc is getting 2 silk ties. We also bought 2 traditional silver baby bracelets for Lucy, a seal with her Chinese name, a pair of shoes for me, what am I missing? Oh yes, the best part is all of this cost about $150 and is being hand made. Yes, hand made. The owner of the shop told us to come back today to pick up the garments. Amazing!

Today Marc, Max, Lucy and I took a walk around the neighborhood. We walked to a grocery where no one spoke English. We were able to communicate fairly well with the ladies in the shop. They wanted to know if Lucy was mine. Oh yes, I nodded. They wanted to know if Max was mine, nodded again. They wanted to know if Marc was mine, well I hesitated, hmmmm, but then nodded. They wanted to know if Max was a boy or girl (the hair keeps them guessing!) and I said boy, then I told them he was four. They gave us samples of yummy dried fruits and they all fussed over Lucy. That was nice. She deserves some fussing. The above picture is of a woman who came out of her shop to see Lucy. She couldn't believe the size of her eyes and pantomimed how large they were. We smiled and agreed with her.

Later today we will do some sightseeing and then relax. We leave for Guangzhou tomorrow evening. I can't believe we've been in China for a week.

First Smiles

2008-05-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here is the first Lucy smile captured on camera. After a traumatic bath, Lucy relaxed on the floor and played with big bro, Max. She really loves him and he is a super big brother. You can tell se is getting more relaxed around us. She isn't as somber as the first day we received her.

She's a fairly good sleeper. She likes to be rocked to sleep, then sleeps in her crib the whole night. She ate a huge breakfast this morning. She ate congee, steamed eggs, and rice. She also had a piece of toast. She's already taken 3 bottles and it isn't even noon.

The above picture is a view outside our hotel window. Nanchang is a busy city and it's been raining the last day and a half. Last night we received some very heavy rains but we braved the elements, and went to a traditional Jiangxi Province restaurant last evening. It was a huge restaurant with an even bigger menu. Some of the meals we could have ordered were fish lips, goose stomach and guts, and duck stomach. There were even more entrees to choose from, but we played it safe and ordered green beans in garlic, dumplings, fried rice noodles and pork. Again, it was really yummy, but I am really looking forward to ordering a Big Wally from Penguin Point back home!

Noticings

2008-05-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

I love being in China. It is the most awesome place I have ever been. These are some of the noticings we've made in the short time we've been here

The local food is fantastic. Today for lunch I ate sauteed water lily root. It was awesome!
Southeast China is very hot and humid this time of year. Miss Lucy has a horribly case of prickly heat that we are trying to cure, but it's a tough thing to do at this time of year. Our guide shared that the orphanages typically do not have air conditioning, and the Chinese believe that a warm baby makes for a healthy baby.
The outpouring of support by the Chinese for the quake victims is awe inspiring. The T.V. stations have constant telethons to raise money for the quake victims.
Chinese children learn English in primary school. Yesterday we went to a supermarket to` pick up diapers. We met many children in the store who absolutely loved practicing their English on us. Their English was impeccable and their manners were astonishing. I have never met such polite young children before.
Chinese school children start their school day at 8:00 a.m. then go home for lunch at 11:30. They return to school after lunch and continue their studies until 4:00 or 4:30.
Max is enjoying his role as big brother. He loves making Lucy laugh and takes very good care of her.

Superstar!

2008-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

Apparently we have a celebrity in the family. Max is making his debut in China. The Chinese love foreign kids and Max is no exception. He has been kissed by Chinese women in elevators, he has received gifts from shop keepers, his cheeks have been pinched and squeezed a dozen times. He had many photo ops with the Chinese at the Great Wall. It was a scream to watch! At the great wall women flocked to him to have their pictures taken with him, then kiss him. It is pretty funny. He has his own personal wait staff at the restaurant at the Gloria Hotel here in Nanchang. The girls try to take turns feeding him and they bring him treats. It is truly amazing to watch. Marc is feeling fairly jealous that he is not getting the attention, but he'll get over it! I spoke to a Chinese women yesterday and told her that most Americans find Chinese children adorable. We're all the same, aren't we?

It's Official! She's Ours

2008-05-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we became a forever family. It was an exciting and crazy day! At 8:30 we left the hotel with our guide Linda and traveled to the Governmental Adoption Office and finalized the adoption. We met with many officials and they all asked the same question, is this the child you wish to have? Well, yeah! Of course we said yes. We had to promise not to abandon her, not to abuse her, and treat her like our own child. Again, not a difficult decision. After that, we had two more govermental offices to visit. We had an opportunity to meet with the director of her orphanage.

Last night we went out to celebrate and bought her some girly girl clothes. How fun was that! Max didn't complain, but you could tell he wanted to do other things.

Nanchang is an amazing city. There are between 4-5 million people here, and no traffic signals or stop signs. The streets are filled with cars, buses, motor scooter, bikes, and pedestrians, and not a sing fender bender. The four of us walked around town last night with our guide and it was amazing. We all made it back to the hotel last night in one piece.

The food here is amazing! Our hotel has a breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet and it is awesome. The local food is is spicy and flavorful and unlike anything I've ever tasted. Really yummy!

Today was the first day we saw our little girl laugh and smile spontaneously. Pretty incredible and lots of fun!

We Have Our Girl!

2008-05-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! So we fly into Nanchang yesterday and our guide Linda picked us up at the airport. She told us that we would be receiving Lucy that day, Sunday, at 4:00. We weren't expecting to get her until Monday morning. We had an hour to pull our act together before Mr. Zhou, the director of the Fuzhou SWI came to our room with Lucy and two other employees of the orphange.

It was very surreal, to say the least, as to how we received her. They didn't have alot to say about what Lucy likes and doesn't like. Mr. Zhou gave us a magazine which contained her finding ad. Our guide took the magazine in order to translate the ad. We should have the translation today. Later I will blog a bit to let you know what a finding ad is.

Lucy is very small and very serious. She was just released from hospital because of diarrhea. She hasn't eaten much or taken any formula since she came to us. She's taken some water. She is a very frightened little girl.

She did sleep last night for a few hours in her crib, but woke up when the rest of us did (at 3:30 a.m.) Our bodies have not adjusted to the time change yet!

Lucy prefers Baba (Daddy) to Mama. Marc is in 7th heaven and is loving his little girl. She is absolutely adorable. Max likes her as well, and has been showing her all his toys. Today (Monday) we meet with the officials to make it official. After that, we hope to go to the market to get some formula that she likes and will drink.

Sorry about the picture. It's a cute one even if it is on its side!

Max Gets His Wish!

2008-05-24T02:39:00.001-07:00

What a great day! We got up early--way early, but who's looking at the clock? We are on vacation. Our guide Jenny picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we went to the Ming Dynasty. Very neat! Max had a great time, but all he could talk about was the Great Wall, about 5 times per minute. After the Ming Tombs we stopped at a Jade Museum. The pieces were out of this world. The first photo is of Max getting friendly with a large jade cat. The museum guide told us that this year the medals for the olympics will contain jade, jadite, being the hardest of the jades, will be in the gold medal. We saw a preview of the medals, and they look lovely. We went to lunch afterwards and had a wonderful family style meal. Max had to go to the restroom and he came back so excited. He had seen his first squatty potty! And had even used it, successfully. I wanted the opportunity to capture a sqatty potty on film, but unfortunately (or fortunately) the women's washroom had a standard potty. I'm sure I'll be able to get a photo of a squatty potty in the near future.

After lunch we toured a cloisonne factory. The work was exquisite, as it was with the jade. The people of Beijing are so talented. It defies explanation.

After the factory tour, Max got his wish. We were able to go to a part of the Great Wall. He was so excited! Believe it or not, we got to the top of this particular section. The Great wall was begun the year of 656 B.C. Work continued on different parts of the wall, and this particular section that we scaled was completed during the Ming Dynasty, or 1368-1644 A.D. It was a wonderful site. Max was disappointed that we couldn't travel all parts of the wall, but when you conider it is over 21,000 km long, we wacked off a good chunk.

Max fell asleep on our way back to the hotel, and so did Marc. I'm ready to follow but it is only 6:00 p.m. We want to be well rested, because tomorrow we travel to Nanchang.

Greetings from Beijing!

2008-05-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! We are in Beijing! Wow! It's been a great journey so far! We left Chicago Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. Max was a real trooper and slept for most of the flight to San Francisco. From San Francisco we boarded a 747 to Beijing. Max was awesome, there is no other word to describe how well be behaved on the 12 hour trip. He met a nice little boy, Alex, who sat in the row ahead of us. Alex is 5 years old. Max was pretty excited because he has a cousin named Alex. Alex and Max shared toys and coloring books and generally acted like 4 and 5 year old boys. Pretty silly!

We arrived in Beijing at 4:00 in the afternoon. The Beijing airport is absolutely beautiful and very efficient. It was so quiet and serene, you certainly didn't feel like you were in the largest airport in Asia.

Our guide and driver picked us up and brought us to our hotel. Beijing is beautiful and huge and our hotel is lovely. We didn't sleep too much, unfortunately. Max was up at midnight (noon our time) and was ready to go. Marc and I were able to doze a little bit while Max watched a movie and played with his star wars guys--Glad we brought them!

We are hoping to head down to breakfast in an hour our so, then our guide, Jeannie, will be taking us to the Great Wall. Max is pretty excited, we're just hoping he can stay awake long enough to see it! I think when he goes down today it will be fast and hard!

Tomorrow we leave for Nanchang and Monday we get to meet our little girl. We are all pretty excited.

Family of 3, Soon to Get Bigger

2008-05-21T04:32:00.001-07:00

Last night was the last night to stay in our home as a family of 3. When we come back, we will be a family of 4. Pretty Awesome!

We had a nice dinner last night with my mom, sister, and niece. It was a fun time as they sent us off in style. Yesterday was also the first anniversary of my dad's passing. I can't believe he's been gone this long. We sure do miss miss him. I know he would have loved to have met his new granddaughter.

Thank you to Aunt Sandy and Uncle Charlie! Lucy received two wonderful presents from her aunt and uncle, two beautiful asian baby dolls. They are sooo sweet. I was having fun looking at all the pretty clothes we can buy for them. Max thinks they are gross, but he's a boy. Go figure! I am so psyched we can start getting some girly girl things! Also, Happy Birthday Uncle Charlie! Hope you have a great birthday season!

Last Night!

2008-05-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

We are packed and ready to go! And as a friend said today, whatever you forget, you can buy in China and cheaper! So, we are packed. I laughed when I told Marc that I packed less for a two week trip to china than I did for a 5 day trip to Florida!

I'm looking forward to this trip. One more meeting at school, and then we are off to Chicago. After that, Beijing.

Best wishes to our friends who will be traveling during the next couple of weeks to get your precious daughters and sons. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

So Much to Do!

2008-05-20T00:48:00.000-07:00

We are down to the wire here, and I'm starting to feel the stress. The clock is reading 3:45 a.m. and I'm tired, but just can't sleep. I keep thinking of what I need to take to China. I have a packing list, and that helps alot, but what would really help is to actually pack. We have two showings of our house tomorrow, so I'm trying to keep everything neat. One of the showings is at 7:30 tomorrow night. Ugh! That's okay! I'll start putting our gear in the suitcases tomorrow afternoon.

Many friends and acquaintances have been receiving updated information and photos of their little ones. They are all adorable! This is such an exciting time!

I have less than 2 day left of school. I am going to miss my students and our awesome staff. I have all my substitute plans written and they are on my desk, ready to go. I just have a few more parent conferences, paperwork to finalize (ugh!), and I'm ready to go.

We haven't received our passports from our agency yet. I thought they would arrive today, but no such luck. Just a minor detail!

Well, that's all for now! Sleep tight everyone!

Only 4 More Sleeps?!?!

2008-05-18T06:11:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday at this time, we will be preparing to meet Lucy for the first time. How exciting! We have been so busy lately it's unbelievable! This last week we have spent hours choosing flooring, tile, toilet flush handles, and a fireplace for our new house. Technically, we haven't chosen the flush handles and I'm feeling that is going to be a no brainer--I hope!

Today we are having an open house from 1-4. During the open house we plan to go to Wal-Mart to buy, buy, buy! Wow! This should be an exciting time because we are finally preparing to go to China. The list doesn't look too bad, or long. We plan to get many of the necessities (diapers, formula, etc) while we are there. In fact, friends of ours who traveled to China to adopt their daughter shared that there are Wal-Marts there and they are ginormous! Wow! I've pretty much sworn off Wal-Marts since Max got out of diapers, but I'm practically salivating at thought of visiting a 4-story Wal-Mart.

Only 8 More Sleeps and Earthquake

2008-05-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

We are getting more and more excited about our trip to China and Lucy. Lucy was at least 600 miles away from the catastophic earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province. It is hard to fathom the magnitude of such an earthquake and the destruction it caused. Today after school, I picked up Max from daycare. We were listening to NPR on the way home, as is our custom, and Melissa Block, who is in the Sichuan Province, was reporting on a family who lost their 2 year old son and his grandparents. You can follow her heartbreaking report at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90447603. Max sat in his booster seat listening to the report. What first caught his ear was the word "soldiers." Max is truly nutty over anything military, and I explained that the soldiers in China were helping to rescue people who were hurt or trapped. He listened to the story of the couple who were searching for their child in the rubble and listened to the anguished cries of the parents. He said at the end of the segment, "That is so sad." I agree completely.

I know I have so many mixed emotions right now, and the earthquake and the aftermath only compounds those feelings. It all just seems so surreal right now. However, in the next few days we will begin our packing in earnest as we prepare to get our little girl. In the meantime, we keep the victims of the earthquake in our hearts and prayers.

We Leave in 15 Days!

2008-05-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

It is official! We have our Travel Approval from China, we have our Consulate Appointment, and we have our plane tickets! Wow! It has all happened so quickly! Marc tried making our travel arrangements, but it was out of control. Our agency suggested a few travel agents and Marc called one, and in no time, we had a dizzying itinerary. So, here's the scoop...
On May 21st we will travel to Chicago, we will leave Chicago at 7:00 a.m. on the 22nd. We will fly to San Francisco. From San Francisco we will travel a mere 12 hours and 8 minutes to Beijing. We arrive at 2:55 in the afternoon. We hang out in Beijing for a day or two and then on the 25 we will fly to Nanchang. On the 26th we will receive our little Na Liu Fu, who will be called Lucy. We stay in Nanchang until the 30th, then we will fly to Guangzhou. We will stay in Guangzho until the paperwork on our little girl is complete. We leave Guangzhou, fly to Hong Kong, back to San Francisco, then back to Chicago. Wow, huh? Now we can take the time to pack and get all of our paperwork in order. I'll tackle the paperwork issue tomorrow, right now I am too exhausted to mess with it.

We Have Travel Approval!

2008-05-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our agency called us this afternoon and China has extended travel approval. What does that mean? It means that we can go pick up our little girl! Our tentative date is that we (the three of us) will fly to China on May 22nd. We will fly into Beijing, see the Great Wall and various other sights. We will then fly to Nanchang on the 28th. Our agency believes that Lucy will be brought to us in a few days. After that, we travel east to Guangzhou. Our agency is trying to secure a consulate appointment for us on June 2nd. So, it is quite possible that we will have Lucy home for her first birthday! Hurray! The downside is, I'm sure we'll all be suffering from jet lag and we might fall asleep in the cake. But no matter! Wow! So we have only three weeks and lots of stuff to do. I hope we can get some shopping done for some girly girl things this weekend. We will also be picking out siding, shingles, stone, and plumbing fixtures. This is good. Being so busy will make the time fly by!

The Work Continues

2008-04-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

Marc's lumberjack duties have not ended yet, but the pile of wood is changing shape. We were really blessed a few weeks ago when a gentleman stopped by and inquired about the wood on our lot. He showed Marc the ins and outs of cutting wood and has been a huge help. He is a health and safety person at one of the industries here in town and has been a huge help! He's a woodworker and is planning to take some beautiful cherry logs. We are hoping someone will cart away the rest of the wood. We have many friends and acquaintances who heat their homes with wood and this is good stuff; ash, oak, hickory, red oak, and cherry. The basement was poured yesterday, so the house is moving right along. It is exciting! Max and I spent yesterday afternoon assembling Lucy's crib. He is a big help, no really, I mean it! I think he'd prefer helping daddy at the lot, but he's going to have to wait a few years.

The Latest on Lucy

2008-04-16T17:45:00.001-07:00

It's back to work for all of us, and to tell you the truth, it feels nice to be back in a routine. Monday was very busy. I was back at school and everyone wanted the scoop on Lucy. I sent her translated medical records to our pediatrician, so that he could review them. Our pediatrician is awesome and he called us that evening to tell us that her report was boring, which translates to, "She's okay, there's nothing to worry about." I had to wait to send in our paperwork on Tueday, but at 12:15 I was standing in line at the post office. Believe it or not, the line wasn't too bad, considering it was April 15th. I checked today, and our agency had received the documents. Our agency will Fedex the documents to China and then China will extend to us travel approval. I am hoping that we will be able to travel in four to six weeks. We are definitely keeping busy here. Marc is cutting up trees tonight at our lot. He's really getting into this lumberjack thing! We had an awesome spring day and I was able to open the windows for a few hours. I think Spring arrived, at least for awhile.

Home Again!

2008-04-13T07:08:00.001-07:00

It is good to be home again. Max and I went to Florida over spring break. We had a great time with our friends and my mom. It was really hard to just "relax" because I just kept thinking of our precious little girl and all of the things that we need to do to prepare. Max really enjoyed himself, though, and his swimming skills really improved. By the the last day he was putting his head all the way underwater to retrieve his Spiderman toys that we placed on the steps. Did he ever enjoy that! We arrived home on Friday to windy, but warm weather. Today, as I went out to get the paper, I noticed snow! Brrrr! I do feel that warmer weather is on its way. It's just going to be delayed.

We Have a Girl!

2008-04-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

Inroducing Fu Na Liu

We are so excited to announce the latest addition to our family, Fu Na Liu. She is from the Jiangxi Province, which is in the south east portion of China. She was born June 4, 2007 and is from the Fuzhou SWI. She is absolutely adorable, and Max is thrilled that he has a sister. Marc was even able to return home early from his business trip. Apparently, she is active, likes music, likes picture books, and is obstinate sometimes. Heaven help us! We are delighted. And what a day to receive such good news. This was my paternal grandmother's birthday, as well as my maternal grandfather's birthday.

2008-04-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Stork has Landed!
The word is that the stork has landed in Holland, Spain, and at least one agency here in the U.S. No, it wasn't our agency. It is 2:28 here and I believe our agency is 3 hours behind us. We could get our referral today, but I need to keep telling myself that most likely we will receive the phone call on Monday. The excitement keeps building!

Marc's a Lumberjack, and He's Okay

2008-04-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

Marc had the opportunity to try out his brand spankin' new chainsaw last night. As you can see from the photos, the trees came down. We think maybe the tree man got a bit carried away, but he did leave us some at the bottom of the lot. Marc has a big job ahead of him this weekend. Does anyone need any firewood?

Still No News

2008-04-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

The stork has not landed at our agency yet. We are still waiting to hear something. The word is that we may not hear anything until Monday. Max and I will be in sunny FL by then and Marc will be traveling for work. I think our cooridinator will even be traveling. Oh, but what's one more week? I mean, we've already waited 2 years and 3 months (Who's counting?--I am!) I hope we can post some good news tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Something's in the Air

2008-04-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

So the word from the Rumor Queen (see link to the right) is that referrals have been mailed to the agencies. Hurray! That means they've been shipped before Tomb Sweeping Day! It would be awesome if we still got word tonight, but I really doubt that will happen. Marc leaves tomorrow for a trip and will not be back until Saturday night. I guess we'll just have to wait until Saturday to break out the bubbly. I hope we hear something by then!

No News Yet

2008-04-01T10:06:00.001-07:00

Rumors about this month's batch of referrals continue to fly. As of now, it appears that referrals are only covering 5 days, from January 5, 2006 to January 9, 2006. It's not official, but it is looking as though the 9th will be the cut off. That's good news for us, but bad news for so many of our acquaintances who just missed the cut off by a day. We'll keep you posted about when the referrals arrive. I'm hoping we hear something soon. I hope referrals are mailed to our agency before Friday as China will be observing Tomb Sweeping Day on Friday. It is a national holiday and government offices will be closed. Then Max and I will be leaving for sunny Florida on Sunday and won't be back home until Friday. We may just miss receiving our referral. We'll continue to keep our fingers crossed.

April 1, 2008

2008-04-01T09:41:00.001-07:00

Building Has Begun
As if adopting a child from a foreign country isn't stressful enough...We are also in the process of selling our home and building a new one. I went to our lot this weekend and took pictures of the lot before the excavator knocked down the trees. I'm glad I took the pictures on Saturday, because the trees started coming down Sunday morning. Marc and Max went out to buy a new chain saw this weekend. Apparently they got a "professional" chainsaw (Think Tim the Toolman Taylor, "Rrrr Rrrr.") Marc's plan is is to chop up all the trees so that they can be carted off for firewood. It seemed like a good idea, but some of these trees are mammoth. So, we are managing to keep ourselves busy as we wait for our referral.

March 29, 2008

2008-03-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

Another Successful Wind Ensemble Concert

Last night the College Wind Ensemble, of which I am part, performed. It was an awesome concert and featured some amazing soloists. We performed to a full house. Some of the selections were New world Symphony by Antonin Dvorak, transcribed for band by Mark H. Hindsley, Gabriel's Oboe by Ennio Morricone, and Concertino for Flute by Cecile Chaminade. It was an exciting concert, full of wonderful music, talented musicians and patroned by so many positive members of the community. Marc brought Max and my sister attended. Max is doing so well at the concerts. Marc, bless his heart, has always been so supportive of our performances and has brought Max along ever since he was just baby. Max has always been a ball of fire, and Marc really has never been able to sit back and relax while listening to our concerts. Usually he has had to chase Max around the back of the auditorium. I'm so glad Marc has perserved in bringing him along. It has paid off, and Max now can sit through an entire performance, and for the most part, quietly. Our next concert is scheduled for December 13th.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

2008-03-27T13:52:00.001-07:00

No News Yet
No news yet on our referral. There are lots of rumors flying about the internet. It appears that matching has begun and that's a good thing. Here is a good link to learn more about the matching process http://chinaadopttalk.com/2006/12/07/how-the-matching-room-works/. How soon do we expect a match and a referral, and most importantly, a picture? Well, that's up to speculation, but we hope it is within the week. In the meantime, we have lots to keep us busy. Max has been busy taking swimming lessons. He is a cautious swimmer, and I guess we are thankful for that. Our swim instructor suggested that we enroll him in 2 classes per week as well as hit the open swim times. I guess you could say, he's in remedial swimming. Yesterday was a great breakthrough! He put his head completely underwater! Everyone on the pool deck cheered and clapped. He is coming along, we think he's just going to be one of those kids that really examines something before he jumps in. I only hope he is this cautious when he is a teenager.

Our wind ensemble will be performing tomorrow night. It is our spring concert, and it promises to be a great program. We have some awesome music and I hope we will be performing to a full house. In the meantime, we are seeing rain, rain, and more rain. Unfortunately the weather man is predicting snow for tonight and into tomorrow morning. The last time I checked, it was spring. Apparently winter isn't ready to pack up. I imagine warmer weather will be here soon, and I know we are all looking forward to getting out doors and working on our summer tans.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

2008-03-26T17:52:00.001-07:00

First Blog

Well, here goes. This is my first attempt at blogging. I've thought about doing this for some time, but haven't done so. Now, I have a reason for blogging. After a wait of 2 years we may soon be getting our referral for our daughter. Yes, this has been the longest human pregnancy on record. I think that elephants gestate longer, but no matter! We've been taking a few bets around the Vosler household. Marc thinks our referral will arrive on April Fool's Day. Max thinks it should have arrived last week. Our adoption coordinator thinks that our referral will arrive on March 28th (tomorrow) and I am holding out for April 4th. I think the next week, will be a roller coaster, regardless of when we get our referral.