US Consulate

Mia dressed in red, white, and blue for our appointment at the US Consulate.

Day of Firsts

This morning we went to a mall. Mia seemed to enjoy shopping. For lunch she had her first happy meal, and this afternoon she took her first steps!

We caught some of those first steps on video, but unfortunately I can't upload video here. Brent was able to put them on his face book though.

We are seeing lots of other adoption families here because no matter what province in China you adopt your child from, everyone has to go to Guangzhou before they can leave China. This is where the American consulate is, and it's there that we get Mia's visa. We will be going there tomorrow.

Now in Guangzhou

We didn't arrive in Guangzhou last night until 10:45 and got to our hotel around midnight, because of flight delays. Mia did well considering her messed up schedule.

Mia is definitely bonding with us. The crying isn't so bad now. There have been a few temper tantrums, which is the third step of grieving in children her age. Overall, I still think she is doing great.

Mia loves to tease all three of us, especially her sister. She also loves music and dancing. We were told this in a report before we got her, but didn't know the details. The music she loves is traditional Chinese instrumental music, and the dance she loves is similar to Tai Chi, I think. Last night in the airport, when one particular song came on she put one hand on one hip and waved the other arm through the air while twisting back and forth. People here get together in the parks to do this type of dance/exercise.

We are pretty sure Mia has a big vocabulary for such a little one. When we met our guide yesterday to leave for the airport, Mia reached toward the guide's purse and said the Cantonese word for candy. Our guide Cindy then asked if we had been feeding her candy, because that's what she was wanting. We had given her crackers and Beechnut cookies, but not any candy. I then realized that she was probably calling the Gerber fruit melts candy, because they are sweet and melt in your mouth. She really loves those, but we ran out and can't find them here in China.

Today was the medical exam. Mia has lost almost two pounds since we received travel approval. We don't know if it's from her heart condition, being moved to the orphanage a few weeks ago, or something else. The doctor told us that she still has a heart murmur and may require surgery to fix the holes in her heart. I sure hope she doesn't have to go through that. She's been through enough already. The exam today wasn't very extensive, so we will wait and see what the doctor back home says. Please pray that the holes heal on their own.

Also, please pray that we don't have any problem getting Mia's visa on Monday. Last Friday, families were unable to get visa because of someone hacking into the FBI's computers in D.C.

Grieving

We think our baby may be grieving now, grieving the loss of her foster family. She has had three major crying spells now where she is unconsolable. Unfortunately, this is part of the process. At least we know she was loved and attached to someone. We can tell she is beginning to love us and is attaching to us, but this doesn't keep her from missing her foster family. Please keep praying. We know this will pass.

Today we went to Qingxiu Mountain Park. It was beautiful. Tomorrow we fly to Gaungzhou for Mia's medical exam and visa. We've enjoyed China, but we are all getting to the point where we are ready to go home.

Post for Sherri

Sherri:
We aren't in a group with Anne Marie and Howie per say, but we have had the pleasure of meeting them. They are staying at the same hotel as us, and they received their daughter the same day that we did. Here are a couple of pictures of the new family.

More About Mia

Mia is still doing great for the most part. The only issue we are having right now is with food. When there is food in front of her, she doesn't know when to stop eating. We think she had a belly ache last night and this morning.

Today we went to the Chinese ethnic museum. (There are twelve different ethnic groups the Guangxi provence, 56 in all China. The Han makes up the majority of people in China. The other 55 groups are considered minorities.) We enjoyed getting out of the hotel, and Mia seemed to enjoy it too. There were two men at the museum talking to Mia, and one even took her picture. I'm not sure, but I think our guide told them off. White tourist are often treated like celebrities here, but the Chinese people keep fawning over Mia. Two young women at the Civil Affairs Office yesterday had our guide ask us if we thought Mia is beautiful, because by Chinese standards she is considered very beautiful. It's because of her big round eyes and natural wavy hair, both unusual characteristics in Chinese people. Her hair actually has a little bit of a course texture to it. It really curls when it is wet. Of course we think she is beautiful!

Mia is saying another new word today, "bottle," as in the empty water bottle she likes to play with. We can tell she understands several more words. She is like a little sponge, constantly learning new things. I was kidding her at lunch when she was taking my French fries. I said, "these are momma's fries." She said, "Xiao Wei." By the way, we are calling her Xiao Wei for now, not Mia. I've always liked the name Mia, but I love the way Xiao Wei sounds, and that is the only name she knows.

Before we got Mia, I couldn't believe that she was as little as they said. Well, she is that little. The 18 months size are too big around her tiny waist.

Mia Is Offically Ours

Our adoption is now complete. Mia is still doing amazingly well, and is already forming attachments to us. She has even called us baba(daddy) and Ma. We were under the impression that Mia was very timid and quiet, but she is really coming out of her shell. She was a chatterbox this afternoon. It was so cute. She was holding a play phone up to her ear and talking away in Cantonese/baby talk. She has a sweet voice.We have been trying our best to keep to her regular schedule and to feed her her favorite foods, which the orphange said are noodles, steamed buns, and rice congee. Rice congee is her least favorite of these. She definitely loves her noodles. She also loves chicken and the Gerber Graduate fruit melts. It's amazing how much a 18 pound girl can eat. She is not drinking enough though.We were not able to meet Mia's foster mother or travel to her home town of Bobai today, but we recieved some pictures of her with her foster family. The Alliance for Children Foundation sponsored Mia and put this photo book together for us. We sent a gift with the Bobai orphange director to give to the foster mother. In it was a thankyou letter to her that we had translated into Chinese and a picture frame with a picture of Mia, as well as a few other goodies.Yesterday, we did find out that the biological mother left a note with Mia. It said "She was born on Feb.11, 2011. Thank you for adopting her." I'm am so grateful that her mother gave her life.

GOTCHA DAY

This has definitely been a day that the Lord has made. Brent and I were so nervous before we met Mia that we both felt sick. We were expecting the upset and crying little girl that we've always seen in pictures, but she wasn't like that at all. She didn't want to come to us right away so we let her take some time. Then an official came into the room and scolded the nannies for not handing her to us yet. She was handed to me. She never cried, however, we could see that she was a little unsure of us.

During the car ride back to the hotel, she took some water and Gerber graduate snacks. We then went back to our hotel room with our coordinator to sign some of the final papers. Before the paperwork was completed, Mia began giving us some little smiles. (We found out yesterday that her name actually means "little smile." We had originally thought it meant "bright morning.") Anyway, short after the smiles, came playing and laughter, even belly laughs. She has done amazingly well. To God be the glory. I just gave her part of a bottle and put her to bed. She didn't cry at all.

God has given us many signs during this adoption to confirm that we are in His will. Today we received one that made us all smile. Last week before we left for China, Brent and I were kidding that we would do the Snoopy Dance when we got Mia. Mia met us today were a adorable new dress with no other than Snoopy on the front. He is even in the details.

We found out today that Mia knows Cantonese, not Mandarin. Brent turned on the water in the bathroom when our coordinator was still here, and Mia jerked her head around toward the bathroom and said something. The coordinator told me she said "what's that?" It actually sounds similar to the English words. Tonight we were reading a book, and I asked her "what's that?" when pointing to a cat and she said mao, which sounds like meow. I can tell she is very smart, and it's not just cause I am her Momma.

Before I add some pictures, I want to ask you to continue praying. Mia sounds like she has some congestion in her chest, and we have seen her pulling on her ears a little.

Count It All Joy

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ...
James 1:1-8


This day has been full of trials to say the least. The rain that we had yesterday in Beijing was the heaviest rain they've had in 60 years. We were told that hundreds of flights were cancelled. We woke up at 4:30 this morning to catch our 7:50 flight, but it ended up being delayed until 3:00 this afternoon, since they were trying to make up the flights that had been cancelled yesterday. We got into Nanning at 6:45.

None of this really matters though, because tomorrow is Gotcha Day. It's hard to believe that it's finally here. This journey started a little over seventeen months ago. A crib is already set up in our hotel room.

We found out this evening that babies in China stay on bottles with formula until they are 2-3 years old, so she still takes a bottle. We will have to get one and formula at the store tomorrow. We won't meet her until 3:30 tomorrow. She has a 4 1/2 hour car ride, and she is most likely not accustomed to riding in a car. She will then be handed over to strangers who look different and talk different. She was moved from her foster home to an orphanage a couple of weeks ago. This will be another drastic change in her life in such a short time.

Please cover us in your prayers.

Sightseeing in Beijing

It rained most of the day.

We're Finally In China

We're finally in China after 21 hours of travel time, which includes the time from when we left the house until we landed in China. Our flight from St. Louis to Chicago ended up being delayed 2 hours. We were suppose to have a 2&1/2 hour layover in Chicago, but by the time we arrived, our flight was already boarding. Our guide in Beijing was at the airport to meet us and got us a van to our hotel and even checked in at the hotel for us. We were out on our own then for dinner, though. We opted for Pizza Hut, which is funny because I can't remember the last time I had Pizza Hut at home. It was ok, but tasted a little different. The Pizza Hut here has some unusual toppings like salmon, shrimp, and corn. We just had chesse. So far the thing that's made the biggest impression on me here in Beijing is the air quality. Some call it smog, but it's from pollution. We also stopped in a grocery store called Carre Four that's close to our hotel. We went to buy bottled water since you can't drink the water here. A bottle of water made by Pepsi that would cost a dollar or more at home was 11 cents. Diapers, however, seemed twice as expensive here for Huggies, which may be why many babies/toddlers here wear the split pants. If you've never heard of split pants, they are pants that are split in the middle so that the child just has to squat to go. They do not wear diapers with them. Tomorrow our guide is taking us to the Grat Wall, The Forbidden City, and TianAnMen Square.

Travel Day

Traveling Soon

We leave for China Thursday morning! We have a house sitter to take care of things here while we are gone. We will be flying from St. Louis to Chicago and then on to Beijing for our first leg of the trip. We were expecting to meet up with a group of other families adopting through CHI, but the other families adopting in July ended up with different travel dates. It will just be us and our guide in each province.


Here is our itinerary:


Thurs. July 19 - Departure


Fri. July 20 - Arrive in Beijing


Sat. July 21 - Sightseeing in BJ: TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, and the Great Wall; CHI orientation


Sun. July 22 - Flight to Nanning (the capital of Mia's province)


Mon. July 23- GOTCHA DAY!


Tues. July 24 - Registration and notary and apply for Mia's passport


Wed. July 25 - Half day sightseeing: Qingxiu Mountain


Thurs. July 26 - Half day sightseeing: Museum; receive Mia's notary paperwork


Fri. July 27 - Receive Mia's passport, flight to Guangzhou


Sat. July 28 - Mia's medical exam


Sun. July 29 - Free Day


Mon. July 30 - American Consolate Appt. & interview


Tues. July 31 - Receive Mia's visa in late afternoon. Take train to Hong Kong.


Wed. Aug 1 - Fly Home!

We will do our best to blog daily while in China.

                                                                Lori

Nursery

Update on Mia Xiao Wei

We received an update this morning on Mia. According to the numbers they’ve given us, she has grown an inch in 3 months and lost 1 lb. I don’t know if the numbers they gave us are correct or not. That makes her 30.3” tall and 18.7 lb. The 18 months size cloths we have for her may swallow her. Also, they say she is very quiet and shy, and that she isn’t walking yet. The "not walking" would scare me if I didn’t know that it’s very common with orphans her age in China. They often start walking soon after being adopted. The “not walking” is usually associated with babies in orphanages that are left in cribs most of the time. Mia, however, has been in foster care, so I don’t know why she’s not walking. She does, however, look like she is strong and sure footed in the picture below of her standing. 

We won’t have a clear picture of her medical needs until we are back home with her. I have already made an appointment for her with the international adoption doctor at Cardinal Glennon in St. Louis, MO.  She is the doctor that reviewed Mia’s medical records before we accepted the referral. We hope to have a new echocardiogram made that day. I’m praying that the VSD has closed on its own.

Mia looks terribly sad in the pictures. We have never seen her smile yet, but we think she is absolutely beautiful. (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

P.S. We leave for China 2 weeks from Thursday!

                                                                        

                                                                          Lori