Our bags are packed!

The day has finally come!   We leave this evening and arrive home just after midnight on Sunday.  We are so ready to come home.

 

So pray that we have a safe trip home and we will see you all soon!

We have our papers!

As of early this evening we have received all of our paperwork from the US Consulate.  So we are finished both with the Chinese part and the US Consulate visa processing part.  I feels so nice to have all of their paperwork in hand.  We are ready to come home, so ready to come home!  What a long process this has been.  I know many of you were won dering if we were really adopting, well it has become a reality.

 

Welcome to the Smith Clan...

 

Addisyn Meiling Smith

 

&

 

Samuel Thomas Jun Smith

Happy Birthday Baylee!

Not only was yesterday our big swearing in day at the US Consulate but we also had another very special occassion to celebrate.

 

Baylee celebrated her 15th birthday in China!

 

It was a great day all around.  We got all of the adoption procedures completed and then it was time to celebrate.  When we got back to Shamian Island, Jessica took her to get a Frappacino.  In the meantime, Hayden and I went to pick up her cake from the White Swan bakery and pick up a chop we had carved for her.  She is the year of the pig.  The chops are pieces of stone that have figures carved on them.  So we picked out a pig and then they carve the bottom of it.  It makes a personalized stamp.  It comes in a little box with ink.  She was very surprised.

After running our errands we met up with another family we met and went to dinner at the "Cow and Bridge" restaurant.  In our opinion, the best restaurant on and around the island.  It is Thai food and absolutely delicious.  The other family was from Utah and had adopted a 2 1/2 year old little girl.  We were all in love with her within a few days.  She is such a sweetie.  They were nice company to share dinner with.

After all of that, we headed back to Starbuck's for cake and drinks.  The cake was delicious as well.  It was chocolate mango, it didn't sound the greatest but the mango was mixed into the filling and just gave it a little extra flavor.  By then we were stuffed and we took a little walk.

 

We are so proud of you Baylee.  You are a beautiful young lady that has developed a wonderful compassionate heart.  I pray this experience will continue to grow your heart for those less fortunate and build a passion....

 

"To make a difference!"

 

Love you sweetie!

Swearing In Ceremony at US Consulate

I don't know where the time goes.  I feel like I don't have time to even get on the computer some days.

 

So yesterday was supposed to be Addisyn's swearing in ceremony at the consulate, followed by Sam's the next day.  Sam's coordinator had turned his paperwork into the consulate early in the day and we got a call that his was going to be at the same time.  Good you may say, but a wave of panic arose as it was the going to be the mixing of the agencies, families and coordinators.  It turned out just fine, however and they were sworn in together.  We couldn't take pictures because it was the US Consulate.  I took one just before we went through security facing out towards the window and they made me erase the picture, luckily I figured out how to erase one photo.  I also tried to take one outside but the security guard was on me in a flash.  I really wasn't trying to cause problems, I just wanted one picture.  Probably is why we don't have one of Kennedy, Xia or Reese at the consulate either!

 

What a huge relief that part is all over and I didn't end up in a Chinese prison!

Another long story!

 

I have to share a couple more English Translations that made us chuckle:

 

(From the bathroom at the US Consulate)

Please don't flush and rush away.~not sure what that one means, maybe make sure the toilet flushes?!

Please keep feet on the ground not on the toilet seat.~squatty potty world

 

 

 

Xiangjiang Safari Park, thunderstorms & more!

Today we pretty much had a free day except for waiting for our guide to let us know Addisyn's paperwork was fine for the US Consulate.  The girls had wanted to go to the Guangzhou Zoo but the reviews weren't great.  Huge zoo with lots of animals in horrible conditions.  Jessica had been there two years ago and was not impressed either. 

Last night I was googling the Guangzhou Zoo and in one of the reviews someone mentioned the Xiangjiang Safari Park.  We got help from the hotel desk and they said the best way to get there was the Guangzhou Metro.  So we ventured out to the subway.  It was amazingly clean for a subway and easy for us to get around.  Any only 7 RMB ($1.03) to ride.  We even changed lines!

Once we arrived we discovered that the Safari Park was part of this big amusement resort.  There was a hotel, the safari park, crocopark (crocodiles and such), and actual amusement ride park, and a huge water park.  Much bigger than Great Wolf Lodge.  It was pretty amazing.  Plus it only was about $60 for me and 4 kids.  The water park was the same price.  They are trying to talk me into returning for that.  We will see!  The safari park was fun.  We saw pelicans, pygmy hippos, white striped tigers (we saw a white tiger performance and a baby white tiger as well), giant sea turtles, elephants, meerkats, flamingos, monkeys, and some pandas!  It was a nice day.  When we came out of the panda exhibit it was a  complete downpour.  We waited a while while it just poured and poured and then we just had to just walk through the park in the rain.  They closed all of the exhibits and were closing the park.  As we were walking out it started thundering.  We didn't see any lightening but boy did it rain and for hours.  We had planned on taking the subway back but we were all drenched and sort of cold by then, we luckily found a van taxi that drove us back to the hotel. 

Addisyn is doing great.  She is bonding to everyone very well.  She is understanding and using the signs we have taught her.  We seem to be communicating pretty well.  She can really pout at times.  I think it is a habit that develop to get attention because people can't communicate with her very well.  She snaps out of it pretty easy though.  She is very much a girly girl, I let her pick out a pair of shoes where we buy the squeaky shoes and she picked out pink maryjanes with a HUGE pink flower on top.  She loves them!

Sam is dong really great too.  He has learned a few signs and will make eye contact with us more and more.  At first if you tapped him to get his attention he would completely ignore you or close his eyes.  The tantrums have about disappeared, haven't gotten scratched, bitten or had my hair pulled in almost a week.  He is understanding that he is staying with us and likes that idea.  He cries when I leave.  All good stuff!  He is such a funny little guy.  Quite the personality on this one.

Baylee and Hayden are doing well with the long trip.  They have been very helpful the entire trip.  They both are magnets to the mosquitos here though.  They are horrible, they swell up and sometimes get this big pink ring around them.  They look like they have polka dot legs. 

Tomorrow is Baylee's 15th birthday.  I can't believe it has been 15 years.  She has grown into such a beautfiul young lady. 

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I love you to pieces.

Breaking News!!

American family adopts deaf boy from Weihai City

We made the evening news on TV and the Weihai Evening News paper!  The news program aired at 5pm anddsupposedly was supposed to repeat at 10 pm but we didn't ever see it.  We went to a little convenience store after dinner to get everyone some ice cream and this woman walked up and got all excited talking to all of the people hanging around the front of the store.  I thought maybe it was Sam's foster mother or something because she was so excited.  She had recognized Sam from the news and then when she saw us she new we were the family that had adopted this little boy.

We got the evening news that comes out in the morning and we were in that as well.  It had us sitting on the couch in metting room at the orphange playing with Sam.  The article is all in China but hopefully we can getit translated.  When we were checking out of the hotel the women were all talking about it as well.

We flew back to Jinan today.  We will get Sam's passport tomorrow and the we are off to Guangzhou.  The kids have to get TB tests and immunizations to bring them up to US standards.  Last year it was awful for Xia.  She had to get six shots total.  Guangzhou is a nice city though.  We get to stay on Shamian island which if very quiet, quaint and has a Starbucks!

Well I better get to bed, I am falling asleep as I am typing.

Kids are all doing good.  Both are signing more and more everyday.  Making progress with Sam's attitude everyday.

gotcha day

Orphanage Visit & Beach Day!

Today was a great day!  Much more relaxing, although our morning was quite the experience.

 

We had to take two taxis to the orphanage since there are so many of us.  So I took Hayden, Addisyn and Sam and Baylee rode in another taxi with Jane our guide.  We had the equivalent of a Disneyland Indian Jones ride for our taxi experience so we arrived rather quickly.  The kids were all bugged eyed and holding on tight to the door and the seat to stay in their seats.  I was holding on to Sam to keep him from flying through the front window if we stopped suddenly.  We arrived about ten minutes before Baylee and Jane and were quickly directed into this nice greeting room with couches and tables.  We were ushered to a specific couch with cameras flashing and everyone smiling at us.  Of course no one spoke English so we didn't really know what anyone was saying.  After about a minute they decided that we needed to move to another couch due to better lighting.  They just kept snapping pictures and talking.  Finally Baylee and Jane arrived.  Jane was a bit overwhelmed as well, it was more than she expected as well.  They video taped and took pictures for about a half hour.  They made a big deal of the gifts and the photo album that the director presented to us for Sam.  The photo album was really sweet, it had baby photo of him and then several pictures of him at different stages.  At the back of the book was pictures of him with his foster family.  The funny thing with the gifts is they were all ones that we sent him but he never got to play with or have.  Everything was packed as we sent it.  Long story but this orphanage director has been playing games with all sorts of things with Sam's adoption.  She has been full of accusations and lies.  I was really worried about meeting her face to face but it turned out fine.  Then they suggested that we also give our gifts to the director and her assistant.  After all of that we finally got to go visit the orphanage.  The reports came with us as we went to the playroom.  It was so staged it was quite comical.  They had us give candy to the kids that we brought and play ball with Sam.  All of the kids wanted attention  of course but they wanted us to just play with Sam.  Then the media left! Yeah!  We saw a couple of babies in cribs, one only 15 days old.  It looked premature.  I asked why so few children were placed for adoption.  There were several cute kids with repaired heart defects and an adorable little guy with limb deformities of both arms.  I tried to tell the director in a polite way that families would probably be interested in adopting these children.  The director through our guide just said "Why?".  Jane our guide said you could tell from her tone and expression that she really didn't believe that to be true.  How sad.

 

After the orphange visit we went to the beach.  It was beautiful.  It was warm but not overly hot and the water was warm.  We played in the Yellow Sea!  We stayed for hours.  The kids all collected rocks and shells and played in the water and sand.  Sam and Addisyn experienced the beach for the first time.  We took a long walk down the beach where hardly any one was and found some little tide pools.  It really was such a fun day.
A great time was had by all!

Adoption Day and We are in Weihai!

Much to catch up on!  I was just too tired to blog yesterday.

 

Our official adoption day in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong province, went very smoothly.  We were the only family there so we had the entire Civil Affairs office to ourselves.  The official was very pleasant and very sweet with the kids.  Two of the orphanage staff members were there and I think one lady would like to make a clean trade with me.  She adores Hayden and wants to keep her.  I thought about it but decided "no" better keep her too!  There was no celebrating at Starbuck's though, our little tradition.  There is not a Starbuck's in the entire Shandong Province.  It has been a long few days so far.

 

Shortly after we finished we left for the airport to go to Weihai, were Samuel is actually from.  It is pretty here.  I guess it was controlled by Germany for some time so has a lot of influence from there.  A lot of things are much newer, being so close to Korea and Japan also brings a lot trade to the  area.  It is right on the ocean, today we walked down to the port where all of the big ships and ferries were coming in.  We are hoping to go to the beach tomorrow.

 

Today was a bit scary.  Typically adoptions are completed in the provincial capital but Weihai city makes families come to Weihai as well to register for the passport and do all of the notorial documents.  So we went off to the police office today to apply for the passport and they wanted our original Power of Attorney that we had to have since Tom did not travel.  Well that was given to the provincial officer to complete the adoption in Jinan.  We had copies but not the original.  This man was insistant that we had to have the original.  A lot happened that I wasn't let in on, that is always scary.  So for three hours we sat with all of the kids in the police station trying to figure this all out.  Actually I just stressed out and the orphanage adoption director and our facilitator were on the phone constantly.  Finally they agreed to accept a fax from the provincial officer and they would compare the fax directly from them to our copies.  Well they matched and then we were able to finish applying for Sam's passport.  Thank goodness, I was really starting to wonder if I would leave Weihai with him.

 

We also had to go to the notorial office this afternoon.  We were supposed to go in th morning but we were tied up at the police station so long, we missed our appointment.  I left the girls here and just took Sam to the appointment.  OK, so I will tell you a little about Sam.  He has been so spoiled!!  We have some work to do.  In China it is so hard because you are always on stage.  I feel like they are just waiting for you to mess up.  Anyway, right now we are on their turf and it is just a little bit longer.  Sam loves to snack constantly.  I think they were always giving him a candy or a cookies or a cake to make him happy.  When he doesn't get what he wants he just throws himself on the floor.  He also bites, hits, kicks and throws stuff but I don't want to scare you about him.  He really is sweet, he just has his moments.  Anyway, in the course of 75 minutes at this appoinment he was given a 16 ounce grape soda, a cake, candy, a peach, was let fill up cup after cup of water from the water dispenser, was given a white out pen and let to take about 50 or so business cards.  They also got a mop out to play with.  This was the dirtiest, smelliest thing I have ever seen.  I was rusty and it was wet.  They thought  nothing of him flinging it around.  I was mortified.

 

Tomorrow we get to go visit the orphanage.  We were so looking forward to the trip and playing with the kids like we did in Nanjing.  Today, however, when everything was going on at the police station, we were told that they thought that the police were exerting their power over this adoption because it has gained a lot of media attention. Huh?  Oh and yes the media will be at the orphange when we visit.  TV and radio.  Great!  Apparently this is only the 3rd or 4th adoption from Weihai ever and we are the first American family to adopt from Weihai.  Not sure what to think about all of that but I'm sure it will be interesting.

 

Sam...sweet, charming, a handful, bull in a china shop!

 

Addisyn...sweet, expressive, a little pouty when things don't go her way!

 

Once again, we are blessed by two very beautiful children.

 

Sam and Addisyn....we hope we can be your hope, your future, your world!

Gotcha Day #2!

Introducing Samuel Thomas Jun Smith!

Sam was brought to us in the hotel this morning.  A little different procedure than we have had before.  We have always met at the Civil Affairs office and received our child there.  This was a lot more fun.  We were still eating breakfast and our guide had still not arrived, when three women came into the hotel lobby with this little boy.  We knew immediately that it was him and they also knew.  We were sitting at the edge of the restaurant and they could see us easily.  They brought him right in and we met him right there. We quickly finished our breakfast and then went our to the lobby to really meet Sam.

What a cutie he is!  Just as handsome as his pictures.  He doesn't hear anything but he does make a lot of sounds.  This is so new to us.  It was so cute listening to him babble all day.  He is very sweet, has a lot of expression and has a big belly laugh.  He is a chunk, weighs probably 35 pounds.  He is also very strong-willed.  I thought Reese was strong willed, well she has met her match!  I am sure this is very hard on him.  Not being able to be reassured by the orphanage staff and then left with all of these foreign people.  It is frustrating enough being almost three but then not being able to express yourself to get your needs met makes everything extra hard.  When we were still doing paperwork in our room he got a hold of the temporary guardianship paper and when Baylee and I tried to get it away from him he quickly wadded it up in a ball.  It was sort of funny but not so great in demonstrating my ability to parent him.  Later he threw a plastic toy and it hit Hayden in the face.  It really hurt, she was all of two feet in front of him.  She was also very tired and then started crying.  You could tell he felt bad, he kept following her around and finally gave her a kiss to make it better.  Pretty cute!

One of the women that came today was younger and was dressed very nice.  Her hair was all styled and she wore fashionable clothes compared to the other ladies.  She was holding a package which I assumed was adoption papers.  The woman in charge told us that she had something to give us and  that she was his sister.  My mouth about dropped.  After some clarification we found out that Sam had been in foster care for most of his life with this girl's family.  She was heart broken.  She gave us the package and in it was a baby photo album that they had had made for him plus pictures of her family and a letter from her.  She expressed so much love for him from her entire family and said that he was such an important part of their lives.  She gave us all of their contact information to stay in touch.  It was such a nice surprise.  The orphanage director was not happy when she discovered what it was and tried to take some pictures of the family away from me.  I think she thought she would get in trouble with the director if she found out that this girl came and met us.  Hopefully we will be able to stay in touch.

Addisyn is loving her new little brother.  A new little playmate.  She did have a meltdown for about an hour where she just quietly cried, seemed very, very sad.  I held her for a long time while Baylee and Hayden entertained Sam.  I assume she was partially homesick, partially didn't like sharing the limelight and partially very confused about what is going on in her life.

Can't wait for you all to meet them!  They are both precious.

Gotcha Day

Gotcha Da

We have arrived in Jinan City!

We made it toJinan City in Shandong Province.  It is much cooler here, what a nice break after the blistering heat that we had in Nanjing.  It was overcast and humid but definitely not cold.  We had a bit of a flight delay but arrived about an hour and a half after we were scheduled.  Addisyn was pretty excited about her first airplane ride.

 

Jinan is green and lush, almost tropical looking.  A very modern city compared to Nanjing or Beijing as far as buildings and roadways.  Still pretty crazy in the downtown area with the bikes, scooters, cars, buses and pedestrians all fending for themselves.  It is pretty nerve wracking being responsible for kids getting across the street intact. Last night we had a very close call in a taxi.  He made an illegal turn across traffic into our hotel driveway at night with pedestrians, bikes, scooters and cars in his path.  

 

Our last night in Nanjing, we had a kid friendly, traditional Chinese meal.  We had noodles, rice, dumplings, chicken and fruit.  It was very yummy!  We were a little worried about the choice of establishments when we walked into this dirty hallway and took a very old rickety elevator up three floors.  It was very nice though.

 

Addisyn is still doing great.  Definitely testing the limits a bit more and more.  Today at the airport, she wandered off a bit and I gestured to her to come back and she refused.  I ended up having to go get her and she purposely made an issue of the whole by squatting down and refusing to walk with me.  I finally got her over to where we were sitting and put her in a little time out which she immediately got up from and got into her backpack in search of Jelly Bellies.  Well then I had to get really firm with her.  She got really quiet and pouty.  When I finally went and sat with her, she started crying.  She knew she had pushed it too far.

 

We get Sam in the morning!  So, so excited.  They are bringing him to the hotel at 8:30 in the morning.  I hope we are ready.  Hard to believe we are finally getting him too!

 

We will update tomorrow!

8/12/2010 Thursday

Today was a pretty quiet day.  The temperature is 116 degrees with the heat index.  I was feeling the heat today!  I was a bit worried about keeping the kids out in the heat very long today,lots of people in the hospital here with heat stroke.  We stayed around the hotel in the morning and early afternoon until heading out for a bit. 

 

We had quite a bit of laundry piled up so we headed with our facilitator, LiLi to a local laundry shop where we met Mr. Love.  Hopefully we can get the picture posted.  Many of you know that traditionally Chinese have young childdren in pants split from front to back for early potty training, when and where ever they need to go.  We met Mr. Love at the laundry shop.  Twenty-two months today with a little outfit that said LOVE across the bum, actually it said LO  VE!

 

We ventured to the outskirts of Nanjing to the Purple Mountains and visited Ming's Tomb.  It was guarded by stone carved animals that lined the main walkway.  Each of the six types of animals had a guarding pair and a resting pair so that the Tomb was guarded day and night.  During the Ming Dynasty when the area was created there were 10,000 plum trees planted in the area and 1,000 deer lived on the grounds.

 

Had a bit of a voltage issue today.  I plugged my flat iron into the wall and very quickly smelled something burning.  I had accidentally set it on the case and it had burned it, so I asked Baylee to grab me a washcloth to wipe the burnt black plastic.  It wouldn't wipe off and the smell got worse and then it started smoking.  Then I realized it was melting in my hands.  I guess universal outlets aren't completely fool proof.  My flat iron is history, thankfully I didn't take down the entire Holiday Inn with it.

 

Tomorrow we get Addisyn's passport then Saturday we are off to JiNan to get Sam.

 

 

August 11, 2010

Ni Hao!

 

Today was a great day.  It was 96 degrees in Nanjing today.  With the heat index, it was 110.  We don't talk much about the heat index over in our parts.  We occassionally talk about the wind chill when we do get some cold weather in the winter but it is basically the same thing, our perceived temperature based on actual air temperature and humidity.  It was hot!  When we went back out to go to dinner, it was still 96.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.

 

We have this hot/cold debate in our family.  I am sort of one sided on the discussion but it goes something like this...would you rather be TOO hot or TOO cold??  Well hands down, I would much rather be too hot.  I really dislike being cold.  Well the rest of our family definitely gravitates towards Tom's discomfort in being too hot so would rather be too cold.  For some reason we seem to revisit this subject a lot in our household.  Everybody understands how much Mom dislikes being cold.  Well I had no idea it was as hot as it was today, and didn't really know how hot it was factoring in the heat index.  All three girls were sort of uncomfortable and talking about how hot it was.  Baylee had beads of sweat across her forehead, Hayden was flushed and Addisyn kept squatting down because she was so tired.  In the afternoon we had walked over to the Confuscious Temple marketplace, a great big open market.  We were having a great time, OK, well I was having a great time because I wasn't really THAT hot! I kept dragging them around looking at stuff.  I did feel pretty bad whenwe got back and I looked at weather underground and found out how hot it was.  I had to carry Addisyn home, she was so tired.  I know Hayden would have loved a piggyback ride if Baylee would have been willing.

 

Today really was a great day though.  We got an early start and were heading out by 9 am.  We got to visit Addisyn's orphanage today.  It is in this fairly large campus that also has the Nanjing Children's Hospital and a children's rehabilitation center.  Addisyn's orphanage is one of the orphanages in China that is supported by Half The Sky, a US foundation that provides programs, education, and staff.  It also emphasizes a lot of its focus on educating the staff that care for the children, so they are developmentally, physically and emotionally meeting the needs of the children.  It really is an amazing program.  You can find them at www.halfthesky.org.  Addisyn is one fortunate little girl to have been raised thus far at this orphanage and I really think we are too. 

 

We met Addisyn's nanny that she was very attached too.  We also met this man who's family volunteered their time to be a sort of weekend foster family to Addisyn.  They took her out and about and did things with her and often had her stay with them.  They have an eleven year old girl.  You could tell that Addisyn liked him a great deal and he cared for her a lot.  The orphanage itself was very clean and decorated with very kid friendly decor.  There were lots of pictures on the walls of the kids on outings and doing different activities.  We saw Addisyn's little bed and her classroom.  We did find out that they kept her back in the preschool classroom because she was being adopted so that she didn't have to go away to a different school during the day.  We brought treats for the children that Addisyn very proudly handed out to the children in her classroom.  The kids were so very cute.  One little girl just wanted me to hold her and another one kept sharing her half eaten Jelly Bellies with me.  It was so cute!  Addisyn was pretty quiet while we were there, I was a bit worried about how she was feeling.  As soon as we headed to the car though, she was all smiles.  I guess she was happy to be staying with us.  I am overwhelmed at the transition these kids have to go through and do, for the most part, so well.  I try to imagine myself or one of my other kids in a similar situation and it is unimaginable.

 

We also saw the baby room!  (Tom you can stop reading now if you like!)  There were over twenty babies, all under a year, no walkers or even crawlers.  There were probably eight nannies feeding and holding the babies. They started bringing some of the babies to the window, it was like an old fashion nursery in the hospital.  We were told that only two were healthy newborns, the rest were considered special needs.  China's definition of special needs is much different than our though.  It can just be a limb deformity or cleft lip/palate or moles like Xia.  So many babies just needing families to call their own.  Two little ones reaIlly stuck with me.  One was this chubby little boy that I was getting to smile and giggle at me through the window and the other one was this tiny little girl with a severe bilateral cleft lip and palate.  No surgery yet, so they were having to feed her with a special bottle.  At least they have the bottles though.  So many children die around the world as infants due to a correctable facial deformity.   

 

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful day.  Hug your kids!

Introducing Addisyn MeiLing Smith

We are now official! 

Yan Ling Long is now officially Addisyn MeiLing Smith.

Today was the adoption registration day.  We went back to the civil affairs building and I was interviewed by the Provincial Officer and then signed and notarized the adoption decree.  Now we just wait for her passport.  We should get that on Friday and then we leave for JiNan on Saturday. 

Addisyn is doing really well.  She is very independent and confident and has just a little sass about her.  There was no crying or sadness today, she has been very engaged with all of us.  We are getting a better understanding of her hearing loss and her hearing aids, etc.  I was very surprised that she got to keep her hearing aids.  I was always under the impression that they weren't hers, they belonged to the orphanage.  Someone must have donated them to her though.  They seem to fit her fairly well, but it will be interesting to get her hearing evaluated back at home.  When she doesn't have the hearing aids in, I don't think she hears much.  She is also very loud like she doesn't have any concept of how loud she is, kind of like when someone talks when they have their earphones in.  When she has hear hearing aids in though, she responds to people and can imitate words.  In that sense she seems to have more language than most deaf people or just clearer language.  I am hardly the expert though.  I also have no experience with hearing aids, so that is something we are going to have to understand a bit more about.  Addisyn has changed the batteries twice in her left hearing aid and once in her right in the 24 plus hours that we have had her.  That doesn't  seem right.  A lot of times you can hear this high pitch ringing coming from the hearing aids.  That would drive me crazy and seems like it would cause hearing  loss.

Once again, I have to say it just feels right.  We have been blessed with another beautiful daughter.  I have heard many times before, aren't you afraid you are pushing your luck.  I suppose meaning, that we have been so fortunate with the children we have adopted into our family.  I truly believe it is the opposite.  We have faith that God wants these children in our family and he is the one making everything just right.  As one of my favorite songs says...

That's what Faith can do.... ~ Kutless

I am disappointed that my pictures aren't posting, hopefully we can get that figured out by me emailing Tom the pictures and he can post them by editing my posts.  I would just love to share this beautiful girl with all of you.  Plus we are getting pretty anxious to get Sam in our arms as well!

I am exhausted though so I better get to bed, we have to be ready by 9 am tomorrow.  I think I sort of drive our guide crazy with my "not early" approach to everything.  You tell me to be ready at 9:00,  I'll be ready at 9:00 but not 8:55.  Today, LiLi was calling all over the hotel 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet her because we weren't in our room.  We were finishing breakfast and were going to just go from breakfast to the hotel lobby.  She had called our room several times, the restaurant and the fitness room.  She told me she was afraid we had gone swimming.  Like we would go swimming when we were supposed to be signing adoption papers! 

Until tomorrow.....

Gotcha Day pictures! take 2

Gotcha Day pictures!

Gotcha Day

Everything came together just fine.  I received some very late night phone calls and emails from our agency state side and here in China.  Actually the coordinator hear in Nanjing had to call Tom in the middle of the night in order to find us.  Apparently, the agency director in New York had given them the wrong hotel.  Nanjing is very big so tracking us down was next to impossible.  What a relief it was to make contact with everyone and make plans to get our daughter!

 

Addisyn was already at the adoption registration office when we arrived.  She recognized us and before long we were looking through the photo album with her that we brought to her last year.  I had forgotten about many of the things that we had brought for her.  She had the backpack, toys, blanket, photo album and sign language and chinese album that Baylee and I had made for her.  We also were given two large memory books that the orphanage staff had made for her.  They were quite extensive since she had lived there for over four years.  It had pictures and lots of writing in it, we will have to try to get it translated for her.

 

Everything was going really well and then she got a bloody nose, a pretty good one, too!  She started crying and was very upset.  They were all trying to put her head back to stop the bleeding or at least stop it from coming out of her nose and I kept trying to keep her head forward so all of the blood didn't run down her throat.  We finally got it to stop and I took her to get cleaned up.  Everything calmed down again.  Then I left briefly left the room to go to the bathroom and Hayden came running in saying that Addisyn was screaming.  Everything sort of fell apart for her at that point.  We don't know for sure what exactly it was or it was probably everything, but she literally was screaming her head off, her nose started bleeding again and she was inconsolable.  We still had to take the "family picture" too.  Everyone from the orphanage and our facilitator were trying to distract her with noises and toys, etc., which was sort of crazy considering she is deaf and wasn't really responding to much at all.  It reminded me of taking a 12 month old to get their picture taken at some studio in which they are unfamiliar with, with people they don't know and the photographer dangling things in front of them and making weird sounds to get them to stop screaming for one second so they can snap a picture.

 

I think it came together for her that this wasn't just a short little visit like last time.  I can't imagine how she felt.  She was pushing us away and sitting on the floor just screaming.  When it came time to go we had to literally pull her into the taxi peeling her hands away from the door.  The orphange director was crying.  It was heart wrenching.  Luckily, however, it was fairly short lived.  By the time we were to our hotel she had stopped screaming and was relaxing.  She was fascinated by the fancy hotel and the elevator.  When we arrived at our room and let her open the door with the key card she turned the corner and we have been fine ever since.

 

She is so sweet and full of life.  She was obviously adored by her caregivers and quite attached.  We spent the rest of the day letting her get to know us and trust us.  We gave her lots of snacks, went swimming and went out to eat.  She ate like a champ!  We are staying in a part of Nanjing called Aqua City and the hotel is attached to a mall that has all of these water features.  At night they are all lit up with bright colors and the water shoots out in all of these formations.  She really liked that.

 

Tomorrow we go back to make the adoption official and then she is officially ours!

 

Enjoy the pictures (hopefully I can get them attached and posted!)

 

 

 

We're in China!

Well, after a long series of flights and layovers, we made it to Nanjing!  We got to our hotel around 1pm local time and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to stay awake to switch around to local time.  The girls worked out and we all went swimming.  Yes, I even went in the pool and swam.  It is hot and humid so the pool felt great.  It was close to a full size 25 meter pool, the entire pool just 3 feet deep.

 

Afterward, we cleaned up and ventured out to find something to eat. Much to my surprise and delight, we found a Starbuck's about 50 feet from our hotel.  Truly a Godsend for me!

 

Tomorrow is supposed to be "Gotcha Day" for Addisyn.  I have to admit I am pretty nervous as of right now.  It is about 8:20pm and we haven't heard from anyone from the agency.  Last year we were met at the hotel and given an itinerary for the week.  It told us what we were doing each day and if necessary, what time we needed to be ready in the morning.  On "Gotcha Day" for Xia we had to be ready in the lobby pretty early, probably 9 or 10 am.  So, you would think we would have heard from someone but of course I don't have anyway to contact them.  I have contacted our agency in the states but it was the middle of the night.  I will hopefully get a hold of them tonight and everything will be just fine.  I am really trying really hard to stay calm and have faith it will all work out just fine.

 

Baylee and Hayden are being troopers.  Hayden crashed at 7:30 tonight.  It has been a long day and a half.  They are as anxious as I am!

 

Hopefully we will have more to report and pictures tomorrow!

 

 

Test

Let's see if this works!

Travel Approval #2

We FINALLY received Addisyn's Travel Approval yesterday, July 30th.  Our agency actually received on July 19th but it was finally in our hands yesterday.

Our travel plans are all made.  We are leaving August 6th and returning August 29th.  We are heading to Nanjing in Jiangsu province first to complete Addisyn's adoption.  Then we will head to JiNan in Shandong Province to complete Sam's adoption.  We will have our "Gotcha Day" with Sam in JiNan then head to WeiHai City were he is from on Monday and stay 3 nights in WeiHai.  We have to apply for his passport, etc. in his home town.  Then we go back to JiNan for one night.  The next day we head to Guangzhou where we get the TB testing completed, immunizations done and have our US Consulate Appointment and Swearing In Ceremony for both Addisyn and Sam. 

Then we get to bring them home!

Happy 2nd Birthday Reese E.!

Two years ago, a woman gave birth to a baby in an impoverished country.  Having given birth on the streets of Addis Ababa, this woman found refuge for her tiny baby in an orphanage as she was unable to care for her on her own.  She was a day laborer and did not have anyway to provide for herself and her newborn.  I can not imagine the pain that would come from giving your baby up and never to see her precious face again, knowing that she would be placed for adoption and grown up in a foreign land.  Never knowing what became of her precious life.

God had a plan for you sweet one. 

We have been blessed by adoption once more, we have been blessed to be your mommy and daddy, to be your FOREVER family!

We love you Reese E!

~Happy Birthday Sweet One~

Birthday Breakfast Smith Style!

 

How many times do I have to blow these things out?

Our Ethiopian Princess!

I don't know if princess suits her quite right, but she sure is our princess. She definitely has the princess "role" down.  She comands attention, which we all eagerly give her.  Reese is the spunkiest, loudest and probably the funniest 2 year old this family has ever seen. 

I was reflecting on her life, that which she has had and that yet to be.  As she was playing in our backyard with her sisters that adore her, blessed and priviledged came to mind.  But the blessings and priviledge have been all ours!

When we were in Ethiopia, we bought Reese a formal traditional Ethiopian dress.  We were running out of time to take her picture in this beautiful dress as she is growing up so fast. 

Enjoy!

Reese Ellenor Etenesh Smith