We are in Nanchang

We are safe and sound in Nanchang. We have been hanging out at the hotel since arriving around 1pm - a "rest day" for us. Here are some pictures from the hotel window.

Notice that Doug is still near an athletic field! Our guide, Mary, will be taking us tomorrow to meet Nyah around 11am so for those of you in the US, when you wake up Monday morning, whether it is 2am or 9am (it is a holiday kids... let the adults sleep in!), we should have pictures.

Our hotel is nice... the room is bigger than the room in Hong Kong and bigger than the hotel I stayed in during my last trip here. At the same time, it is much more formal so that offers new challenges when you will have TWO children with you for 5 days. It is in the middle of the city and on the major road (named "August 1" after the Nanchang uprising that led to Cival War and is now considered the anniversary of the People's Liberation Army) so going out for a stroll is not really an option and no play room. There is a pool though and Caleb did try it out today but he had to take a warm shower after because the water was so cold; now I know what will make him bathe!

Caleb had a hard time staying awake at dinner and is asleep. Then again, so is Doug. We told Caleb he was letting his public down not doing a blog entry! And since Doug didn't mention food today, I will... we ate at the hotel's Western Style buffet though not much of the food was food you would see at Golden Corral (which made me happy but Doug, notsomuch). Caleb ate ice-cream for dinner (and a token piece of watermelon) and giggled a lot when he saw that Grandpa's shrimp had eyes. And Doug made huge progress... he ate his potatoes with chopsticks though I had to tell him that stabbing your food is not proper etiquette.

Nanchang's population is around 4 million and is considered a medium size city for China since you have to have 6 million to earn the large label. Our guide, who graduated from the local university in 1985, gave us a historic overview of the province. There were many details but the big ones are that the Jiangxi Province is mostly agricultural (rice especially) and is one of the poorest provinces. So Doug gives you all the sentimental stuff and I give you a history lesson! But as some say, opposites attract!

Make sure you visit Jodi's blog... her family is in our travel group (she is in a different province now but we will meet up in Guangzhou) and she met her daughter today, a day earlier than expected! I have been stalking her blog waiting for pictures.

Of course, more, much much more, tomorrow...

Kate

Serious thoughts from Doug

Well, it is the night before we meet Nyah Kate. Tomorrow at 11:00 am is the time we have been given….

Tonight I am filled with many emotions: excitement, joy, nervousness, and antcipation, just to name a few. I am going to take a serious approach on this post as I take a look at how all of this has come about for the "S" family. When Kate and I met over 14 years ago, she mentioned adoption on several occasions as something she would like to do one day. I listened (or shall I say pretended to listen) and then kind of blew off the idea. As we married and began to have biological kids of our own, it became a thought that was much more distant than ever before for me. Why would I want to adopt? That was a question that always came to my mind. But not for Kate, she still kept adoption on her mind even knowing it was far fetched that she would ever convince me that it was right for our family.

About three years ago, Kate came to me on a rainy Thursday evening around 7:00 and said she had something to confess. She explained she had been researching adoption on the internet and had been watching this one little girl for a few days who had not found a family. She was so serious and obviously excited as she spoke to me about it. She spoke with such passion, such devotion. At that moment, God sent a very clear message to me that adoption was the way to go for our family. I can remember that very moment like it was yesterday. And for that we have one lovely daughter, Brynn, at home right now, and tomorrow, a little over two years after that first adoption, we will be meeting daughter number two, Nyah Kate.

To you Kate, I say thank you. Thanks for having such a huge heart, thanks for always putting others first, thanks for being a devoted mom, thanks for being a wonderful wife and most of all, thanks for being you!! I love you.

~ Doug

Hong Kong Day 2

Today was a great day in Hong Kong. We started the day with a tour of Victoria's Peak which provided one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. It was tremendous. We were able to ride a double decker bus (without a roof) to the tram that took us up the mountain, after taking a ferry, and that was pretty cool as well.

For lunch...well I must say I almost found Heaven....Outback Steakhouse!! Yes, that's right- Bloomin' Onion, a big ole steak and some aussie chips. I ate like a pig...but from what Kate tell's me, today will probably be my last day to enjoy any American cuisine while I am in China....so I did not feel too guilty.

We were all pretty exhausted this afternoon, so after lunch we went back to the hotel and caught a quick nap before heading off on the Symphony of Lights Cruise in the harbour. The lights were fantastic.

We were just able to skype with Aunt Amanda and the kids back home. They look like they are having alot of fun. They seemed to have had a great time at the Lions game last night...congrats by the way to Coach Fischer, the team, and the Lion Nation for the big win last night.

It was a fun day....and the countdown continues....1 more day till Gotcha Day! Nyah Kate...here we come!!!!!


~ Doug


Note from Kate... Doug is right; it was a great day. We all took a nap this afternoon and are still worn out. The kids used Skype to call us at 3am our time though and I never went back to sleep so that is part of the reason. Caleb is exhausted so the next few days in Nanchang should help get his energy back up though he temporarily and mysteriously overcame his tiredness when there was a video game store with test machines at Victoria's Peak... humm. I cannot believe I traveled 1/2 way across the world to eat at Outback, but I am making myself feel better knowing I ate rice and noodles for breakfast and that my boys are fed and full! I asked Caleb if he preferred city or country life and he said the country. I think things move too fast for him here and he is tired of me fussing at him that he cannot play on the escalators in fear of him being run over by the lines of people behind him. After walking around the city, I want a t-shirt that says, in Chinese, "No, thank you, I don't need a tailor or a designer handbag!" though after declining the hundredth person who asks, I am not feeling so polite. The city is a nice change of pace though and when we look lost, people have been nice about approaching us and offering help. I am getting more excited and more nervous about meeting Nyah. So exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Until tomorrow...

Never thought I'd say this, "I like Food Lion"

So here is the daddy version of the trip so far...

The flight went extremely well. It was very, very, very long, but uneventful which was good.

Considering that my hyperactivity does not allow for me to sit still more than 15 minutes on a good day, I thought I did well. The most eventful part so far was the ride from the airport to the hotel here in Hong Kong. The driver drove like a maniac, constantly beeping the horn when anyone stopped in front of him, but we made it..... (I also learned that is against the law to talk to the bus driver here in China, and after riding with him, I think I now know why!)

I was shocked to see what Hong Kong resembles..alot like NYC. I didn't realize that it was such a populated city that never shuts down. This place is alive and busy! The hotel is very nice, however; the room is very small, and the bed is the size of a cracker jack box and as hard as a cinderblock, but it works. I just went to look at the "gymnasium" which in the USA means fitness center. I was happy they have a treadmill, so tomorrow morning I will be off and running...hopefully. Kate and I have a 1/2 marathon to run in November...no time to waste in preparing.

Today was Disneyland. That was fun. Navigating our way around here is a little scary, but actually a lot of fun. Being the competitive person I am, I felt a sense of victory when we actually arrived at the Disneyland Resort today. When I am navigating it by myself next week, I may not have the same "fun" feeling. Disneyland was a great way to try to help rid the jet lag. I loved the Buzz Lightyear ride- Caleb ultimately won, but it was alot of fun with the four of us competing. Grandma....I found out that grandpa may need new glasses...having a really hard time hitting the target...we will not discuss what place he finished.

Food...did I say food? I have not eaten much since arriving here. Kate has always said I am a picky eater--and I always thought she was crazy, but since arriving here, I verify that I am a picky eater. Where are the cheeseburgers, where are the french fries, a chicken nugget, bbq sandwich, a chicken sandwich???? For those that know me, you will appreciate this; I was thrilled when I found a bowl of fruit for lunch today. :) I did find a McDonald's and KFC today and bought Caleb some chicken nuggets from McDonalds. I thought I was going to venture out tonight with Kate and take the plunge on experimenting with some real Chinese food (General Taos chicken..where are you)??, but Kate decided to hang tight to the room tonight and I refuse to conquer that milestone without her! One funny moment today was when I was trying to order a drink from McDonald's. All I wanted was a Coke...the young lady at the register was insistent that I wanted Hot Cocoa....It is very hot and humid, and HOT Cocoa was not what I had in mind, but eventually she figured out what I wanted and felt sorry for my lack of ability to communicate and just gave me the drink. I expect I will be back in her line tomorrow :)

Please note the hat and the shirt in the picture..LC and VT is well represented here in China!!

Tomorrow we are going to check out the city. Grandpa is in charge, so I have a feeling we will see it all :) Just a few days away from the BIG day! I can't wait!!!!

Doug

Guilty Pleasure

Today we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. It was very hot, so hot in fact that this is the only picture where I don't look like I am im the middle of taking a shower. Can you see all the umbrellas in the picture... used for shade more than rain and I was tempted to buy one. I never saw a raindrop though apparently there was one short shower while Dad and I were riding Space Mountain. We spent a lot of time on Buzz Lightyear and I was thrilled the time when the ride was stopped for some unknown reason and I could just hit the same target and get a respectable score... still didn't beat everyone else but I felt good about it. The people watching is different here than at home... less crazy outfits. I do spend a lot of time looking around and trying to figure out what Brynn will look like when she is older and what Jinpei may look like on Monday.

Apparantly High School Musical is big here and one of the shows was based off if it... guess I should have borrowed the movie before I left. Karen, I thought about Carley a lot today!

The park is very small (smaller than even Kings Dominion) so we stayed until about 5:30 and now we are just hanging out. We took the subway to get there and back... three different lines and we didn't get lost once!

The title is because while the park was fun, I did feel guilty that Price, Brynn, and Evan were not with us... there is not much else on the trip that I think I will feel like that about. As an "only child" today, Caleb quickly grew tired of having us take his picture, which is why I posed playing the bells and I am actually in a few other pictures. Caleb also doesn't have the same show of enthusiasm for Disney as the other "S" kids do; he liked it but he is mellow and just takes it all in. But on the flip side, the others are likely going to the Lions game tonight and that will be a fun few hours and they will probably not leave before the fireworks start.

More tomorrow!
Kate

We're here!

The two plane rides were pretty uneventful... long for sure! We were on a propeller plane for the first leg (can you see it behind us?) and it was interesting to have my dad point out the landmarks inbetween Richmond and Newark since I typically do not know what I am looking at. I did enjoy the Haagen Daz ice-cream snack at 12:15am though it seems odd to leave it on the trays of sleeping people... Doug awoke to a milkshake. We got to the hotel about 8:30 by taking the high speed train to a shuttle bus. We walked around a bit... but were too tired to stay out long. The lights of Hong Kong are amazing and even when we headed to bed, lots and lots of people were still out shopping. I'll get pictures tomorrow. We are off to Disney today. Skype worked great this morning to talk to the kids... hard to hear but that was because we had three kids shouting into the computer at one time.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and emails. Being away is hard, even for something exciting, so it is so uplifting to read all the supportive messages!!

Kate

We're off!

Last minute panics and preparations

We are getting so close to take-off; in 24 hours we will be on our first of two plane rides to Hong Kong! And I finally got serious about packing. We have two rolling duffels (one for Caleb and one for me, with Nyah's stuff shoved in both), one suitcase (for Doug), and three carry-on packbacks. We are at 38 lbs for the rolling duffels; the weight limit in China is 40, but we will be lighter once we start eating the snack and using the diapers and wipes. Plus for the flight home we can get a suitcase for Nyah since we bought her a seat. My carryon is pushing the 11 pound limit but size wise it doesn't look it... it is all this paperwork!

Anyway, I am scrambling to finish all the last minute odds & ends. I have been trying to organize our house and lives so when my mom "moves in" this week to take care of Price, Evan, and Brynn, and Doug's family takes over on the weekends, things aren't too chaotic. We did have fun practicing with Skype the other day and I wish the trip from China to the US really was the same length as the trip from the kitchen to our office room.

I finally secured seats for our 15+ hour flight to Hong Kong this morning and I am relieved that I won't have to beg to get a seat for Caleb next to one of us. I think the three men (Doug, Caleb, and my dad) are going to sit together and I am going to be in the lone seat between two strangers but right now, the thought of my i-pod and a book and being in my own little world sound like a great way to start what will be a hectic trip. We have better seating on all the other legs of the journey.

Caleb is keeping a blog of his travels... which I am hoping will focus on more than video games and chicken nuggets once we get there! :) It is listed on the sidebar - http://www.caleb2china.blogspot.com/.

Talk Write to you from overseas!

Kate

My fortune...

On Monday Brynn got to pick where we would eat out since she had her annual physical and it involved getting a shot. Of course, she picked Chinese food because she loves noodles and rice and luckily, Evan is not picky so we headed to our local restaurant because they have a great buffet. The highlight for Evan and Brynn is the fortune cookie at the end; Brynn cherishes the fortunes and has me repeat them until she can say what they are and Evan, the math genius, likes the backside that lists the lucky numbers. I don't care much for fortune cookies... not the taste, not the fortune aspect since they are on the same level for me as horoscopes (too general to mean much), and even the tradition of getting them at a Chinese restaurant, having learned in recent years that they are not even Chinese...

But anyway, Brynn's fortune was something about her getting a promotion at the firm and Evan was just happy as can be that his had the two highest numbers of all the fortunes (are 86 and 72 really lotto numbers??) and for the first time ever, mine seemed to "fit"...

Maybe I should have played the numbers on the back! We leave in 1 week!

9 months ago today...

we first saw JinPei's picture and prayed we would be matched with her.

And in 13 days, she will be in our arms!!!!!!!!

The suitcases are out...

I started putting JinPei's things in the suitcases and I am sure I am going to have to take some out. I am trying to pack the minimum because I know I can get so much of what we need in China but it is hard not to pack all the cute clothes I can't wait to see her in...

So our travel plans are set:

• Aug. 27th: We fly to Hong Kong from Newark (starting in Richmond)


• Aug. 28th: We arrive in Hong Kong around 7pm China time and navigate ourselves to the hotel


• Aug. 29th & 30th: We are having a self-guided tour of Hong Kong, which will include a stop at Hong Kong Disneyland and Victoria's Peak. I think an amusement park is a great way to get over jet lag!


• Aug. 31st: Afternoon flight to Nanchang, the capital of the Jiangxi Province (Jiangxi is yellow on the map)


• Sept. 1st: We meet "PeiPei" today!!!


• Sept. 2nd-4th: Bond with JinPei and tour Nanchang, with a guide


• Sept. 5th: Late flight to Guangzhou (south of Jiangxi) where the U.S. Consulate is located


• Sept. 6th: Doug flies to Hong Kong and checks himself into a hotel! The rest of us get to meet up with the others of the Super Six!


• Sept. 7th: Doug flies from Hong Kong to Newark to Richmond


• Sept. 8th: JinPei's medical appointment


• Sept. 9th: Our Consulate Appointment


• Sept. 10th: After the Consulate's Oath ceremony we get JinPei's visa and fly to Beijing


• Sept. 11th: The Great Wall, the Summer Palace, acrobatic show


• Sept. 12th: Fly from Beijing to Newark to Richmond and hope that the immigration and customs lines are super efficient or we may miss our Richmond flight!

It is getting so close. I am getting so excited. I am getting so nervous!

Have I mentioned lately...

that we are going to China??!!!! Our flights and hotels are all set, except for the Beijing day so I will write more about our plans tomorrow when those are done and I have the suitcases out and baby stuff covering the floor as I decide what I really need to bring. As our trip gets closer, the butterflies in my stomach get a little crazier.

Today I found out that I will have company in Nanchang. I am very, very excited about that as I thought it would just be my family from our agency on "Meet Nyah Day"... September 1st in case you need reminding! :) We were alone in Nanchang for Brynn's adoption and was a bit envious of the other adoptive families in the hotel as they were all one big group. The other mom-to-be of a Jiangxi beauty (Kara) is adopting a girl who will be one this month.

And of course, in Guangzhou I'll get to meet the other families I have met through emails and blogs. I cannot wait! Off to organize my paperwork!

One month from today...

We will be holding Jin Pei!
For that I say,
"Hip Hip Hooray!"

Okay, enough of the cheesy poems! You would think that either Doug or I would check our work, home, and cell phone messages regularly when we were expecting a call but we didn't and I found out by looking at the blogs of my travelmates at 8:30pm that our CA was confirmed today! We will meet Nyah Kate Jinpei on September 1st. Of course, it is now Friday evening and we are looking at a few different travel ideas so we probably won't have any idea of our plans until Monday.

Now I need to find a secure location in my house to start packing so Brynn doesn't start fiddling with the things I am taking. She has claimed quite a few shower gifts as her own and I know if she sees the stacking cups, I'll be headed to China without. Wow, only one more month of diaper-free mommyhood!

Isn't this a cute graphic!? It is borrowed from one of my travelmates. Three of the four other families (the Fab 5) have blogs... I've added them to the sidebar. We will not meet until the second half of the trip most likely but we will be one happy group then though I am pretty confident we are all grinning from ear to ear this evening!