We hope everyone had a good 4th of July Holiday!
Schedule for the day:
9:30am: Baby's visa photo and medical exam
2:30pm: Visa paperwork
4:40pm: Red Couch Group Photo
5:50pm: Group dinner at Thai restaurant
It was a busy and good day. All families walked in a group to get the baby's visa photo's. It took awhile for all families to have their daughter's medical exams. All of our daughter's cried at one station or another, more so when they laid them down to weigh them and the station where they checked their ears.
I got to get out and go shopping for an hour while Tony watched Linley as she took a nap. As I was walking out of our hotel room, another mother in our group in the room next to ours was coming out of her room and I could tell she had the same thing on her mind as I. We shopped for an hour and a half. We had to be back by 2:00 so our husband's could go fill out the paperwork for our daughter's visa's. Since the humidity was inbearably intense, we were soaking wet when we returned, we could not have pictures taken on the red couch sweaty. I took the quickest shower in my life! Which the family and friends who really know me, I would like them to know it was no more than 6-7 minutes! I did not wash my hair, so I cheated a little.
I don't know who had the hardest part from 2:30 - 4:30, Tony filling out the paperwork or me trying to get Linley and myself ready for the red couch. I know the red sleeveless top is getting a little old in the photo's, we are limited to the amount of clothing we can take with us. Tony brought more shirts than I did!
The red couch photo was so much fun. 9 families were all trying to get the perfect photo's of our daughter's. Not to brag, but Linley never cried, she held her own. She was great! I don't know if you can tell, but one mother and father are behind the couch, crouching down. The mother is propping their daughter up (pink dress) while she is crying, so cute! After the daughter's had their pictures taken, the CCAI Representatives had to take 9 pictures from each of our camera's. They had the toughest job of all.
That evening, we all walked to a Thai restaurant, the food was great, but it took awhile to serve 9 families and children, total 35 people. Tony and I ordered two complicated meals that took the longest to cook, we do not know what type of fish we ordered, we could not understand what the waiter told us. We went by pictures, our CCAI Rep did not know the name of the fish either, and she is Chinese. The fish had lots of bones, by the time I received mine I was not that hungry and picked at it. Tony made a good choice, his had lots of bones also. A plus in Guangzhou is Starbucks within walking distance and the ice is safe for ice tea, what a reprieve!
After dinner, everyone went their seperate ways and went shopping. It can get addicting because you know you have a couple of days and a time limit. All of the shopowners are extremely accomodating. They follow you as you shop. pointing out their goods and services.
It was a long day, but a good day.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
It was sad to leave Nanning knowing that it was close to the area our daughters were born, abandoned and raised until we came into their lives. A few of us were emotional to leave such a beautiful, tropical area, hotel and our children's homeland, we hope that they will have a chance to go back to China to see the beautiful country that they are from.We left our hotel at 10:45 am, had a 45 minute bus trip to the airport, checked in 9 families, had a 45 minute flight to Gaungzhou. The babies did great on the flight, 10 minutes before landing, Linley was the first one to start crying, 2 or 3 others chirped in after a couple of minutes. All in all, they did great! We arrived at Guangzhou around 1:45 , had an hour bus ride to our hotel. The White Swan Hotel is where all families adopting through China end up at the end of their trip. Guangzhou is the final destination where the children get their medical exams, parents fill out visa paperwork, last but not least, we go to the consulate to take our oath's and get our childs visa. The White Swan is very plain on the outside, the inside is gorgeous. There are waterfalls, many restaurants, shopping, etc. Gaungzhou is where everyone pretty much does their shopping and last minute shopping all the way up to 10:30 pm the night before they have to leave. There are lots of shops around the outside of the hotel, with pretty much the same items in each shop. Some may give you a better deal than others and some are cleaner and larger. The Chinese are very service oriented, they remember your name, so you will come back to their shop. The first night, Tony and I ate at a Chinese Cantonese restaurant in the hotel. We eat at a variety of restaurants from casual to elegant. It was the first time we walked into one and second guessed if we should eat there. Thank goodness we arrived at 5:30, which is not a normal dinner time for us. We had kind of been leary( due to our previous dinners), about taking Linley to a nice restaurant when we came back to the US. We want to ease her into them. She likes to shriek and babble and sometime gets fussy, which is to be expected due to that she or any of the other babies were not on any schedule since we received them. There is no way to get a baby on a schedule while traveling right after you receive them. Unless you want to stay in your hotel room the whole time. We ordered a bottle of wine (at most of the restaurants you cannot order a glass of wine, just a bottle, so we suffered through it), placed our orders and fed her half of her meal and she was out, fast asleep. Tony held her while he ate his dinner. We had a great time, it was quiet and relaxing. Everyone got settled in their hotels and started shopping. I stayed behind with Linley. Tony went out a couple of times to check out the area. We really felt like asking the attendant that had a station right by our room, if she would watch Linley while we went out shopping. We asked the attendant for everything else, babysitting shouldn't be a problem!
draft
by Anthony & Shannon
7/10/07
Delete
1 – 1 of 1
draft
by Anthony & Shannon
7/10/07
Delete
1 – 1 of 1
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Sunday, July 1
Today is the birthdate of my Mother. It is sad, but also sweet to think of all of the wonderful angels that are looking down upon Linley. This is the year of the first holidays, birthdays, etc. without her up until September 15. My present to her is Linley, she has some big wings to fill watching over her, not only my Mother, also, Tony's Dad and Mom and both of her great grandparents. I am praying and thinking of you Daddy (even though he cannot read or see our blog), Kim (your family), Aunt Dell, Uncle Al, Aunt Jackie, Aunt Gloria and all my cousins and relatives. It is a day to praise Mother's life on earth and in heaven.
Tony is feeling much better today. Our group went on a trip to the orphanage where our daughters came from. All of the babies in our group eventually went to foster homes. The bus trip altogether would have been 6-7 hours. The families were able to view the orphanage from the outside only. The families were then able to visit each of their daughters abandonment site, get off the bus and take a family photo on the site. Tony and I made a family decision to not go on this trip due to Linley's cold, he was sick the day before, she and I needed to bond more, 7 hour bus, etc. The mother in the room next to us got sick the night before, tshe had what we had, so they did not go either. We slept in past 6:00 am, went to the supermarket, took a stroll around the river and had a great day.. Linley felt a lot better after a long nap, she and I made great strides that day in bonding. We had so much fun that day hanging out without another bus trip and having to be somewhere at a certain time.
Monday, July 2
CCAI Family group photos, pack, order McDonald's for dinner by taxi, grand total $13.00 with tip! We repeatedly said we would not introduce Linley to McDonald's right away. She ate 3 chicken mcnuggets and a few french fries. stroll around the river. We thought the tastes were very similiar as to ours in America.
Today is the birthdate of my Mother. It is sad, but also sweet to think of all of the wonderful angels that are looking down upon Linley. This is the year of the first holidays, birthdays, etc. without her up until September 15. My present to her is Linley, she has some big wings to fill watching over her, not only my Mother, also, Tony's Dad and Mom and both of her great grandparents. I am praying and thinking of you Daddy (even though he cannot read or see our blog), Kim (your family), Aunt Dell, Uncle Al, Aunt Jackie, Aunt Gloria and all my cousins and relatives. It is a day to praise Mother's life on earth and in heaven.
Tony is feeling much better today. Our group went on a trip to the orphanage where our daughters came from. All of the babies in our group eventually went to foster homes. The bus trip altogether would have been 6-7 hours. The families were able to view the orphanage from the outside only. The families were then able to visit each of their daughters abandonment site, get off the bus and take a family photo on the site. Tony and I made a family decision to not go on this trip due to Linley's cold, he was sick the day before, she and I needed to bond more, 7 hour bus, etc. The mother in the room next to us got sick the night before, tshe had what we had, so they did not go either. We slept in past 6:00 am, went to the supermarket, took a stroll around the river and had a great day.. Linley felt a lot better after a long nap, she and I made great strides that day in bonding. We had so much fun that day hanging out without another bus trip and having to be somewhere at a certain time.
Monday, July 2
CCAI Family group photos, pack, order McDonald's for dinner by taxi, grand total $13.00 with tip! We repeatedly said we would not introduce Linley to McDonald's right away. She ate 3 chicken mcnuggets and a few french fries. stroll around the river. We thought the tastes were very similiar as to ours in America.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
New Post
Ninhao (Hello),
Sorry we lost touch after Hong Kong, all of the families blog websites were blocked in our hotel in Nanning, China. It's been a crazy and exciting week and a half for us!
We left off that we were going on a tour of Hong Kong on Monday, June 25th. There are 9 families in our group. We are all spread out over the US, Wyoming, Utah, 3 families from Colorado, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 4 families brought their children ranging from 3 yrs.- 16. They have all been so much fun, such troopers and an asset to their new sisters. A couple of families have left children back at home with relatives. 2 families scheduled a trip to Bejing a couple of days before arriving in Hong Kong. We are excorted around in a nice big air conditioned coach bus, with the same driver and a CCAI representative to guide us everywhere in all 3 of our destinations. Our reps also stay on our floor, all representatives in HK, Nanning and Guangzhou are great.
On Monday, June 25
We went on a tour of Hong Kong. We went to Victoria Peak, Alberdeen Jewelry Factory, A Fisherman's Village, Stanley Market and a Dim Sum lunch. Victoria Peak is like San Francisco, we saw houses and buildings that the ultra famous and wealthy own, such as Jackie Chan. We had a beautiful view of the hills and water. The Jewelry Factory was a wonder to see the jewelers making the jewelry. I really enjoyed it because I picked out a couple of pieces that I love. Linley got a jade ring for when she gets older (high school age). The Fisherman's Village was an experience, we took boat rides around an harbour area. The fishermen live on their houseboats, they do not look like the cleanest living environment, some of the boats have little gardens on top of their boat. They fishermen have home boats and work boats. Our guide on the boat (we call him Skipper) was so cute, even without his teeth. He showed us a couple of boats that had television and air conditioner, he got so excited telling us about it. We included a photo of our vacation home that we purchased while we were in Hong Kong, I love to garden and the information we previously received about Linley, says she loves to play in the garden. Tony and Skipper became good friends. Stanley Market was a section of outdoor shops to buy Chinese items. Our Dim Sum lunch was great, most of our dinners in Nanning, were shared with other people in our group. There is a big "Lazy Susan" in the middle of the table that all the entree's are on, everyone shares their meal. There has to be some system on when you want your turn, while someone else wants to choose At all of the restaurants on this trip, you receive a small plate. You can fill it up as much as you wish. We have noticed with sharing our meals, small plates and feeding Linley first, our clothes are fitting looser, thank goodness!
Tony and I thought Hong Kong was very clean, cosmopolitan and a higher percenatage of people spoke English then in Dallas.
Tuesday, June 26
Nanning, China is beautiful and very tropical. Our hotel is more like 6 star than 5! It is beautiful. We have another beautiful view from our room. It is extremely hot and humid here. The humidity is unbearable, sometimes nauseating and you may find yourself sweating much more than normal. We had a transformer/converter for my curling iron in Hong Kong. This hotel does not have them, nor can we buy one and we have been looking. My hair is a major issue with me right now. 8 more days of looking like heck in the pictures. We received our daughter's after 8:00 PM on Tuesday night after a long day of traveling by bus to the airport, checking in 9 families luggage, flying from Hong Kong to Nanning and another bus trip to our hotel. We checked in, ate dinner, filled out paper work and BAM, there they were walking into a conference room with their Nannies holding them with a bunch of strangers all excited to get them. Tony and I were the first ones to receive our daughter. One after another they handed the families the babies and they all started crying in a domino effect. We had to have a family photo for our adoption certificates, LOVELY, when you have been traveling all day and your hair has fallen and your daughter just went to the bathroom through her clothes and it gets on your top, at least the photo's were from the chest up. We had Linley fed and in bed by 9:45 that night, she was exhausted. Linley is a great sleeper, she sleeps all night, she thrashes a lot, we hear a majority of the babies do that also. In our group, all of the babies lived in foster homes, since around December 2006. I felt so sorry for her and the other babies that night What a traumatic experience for them.
Wednesday, June 27
Today we had to take our daughters to the registration office and notary. Linley, Tony and I did fine on that day. We were able to meet the orphanage director. We found out Linley's name is pronounced Yi (Yee) Jun (June or Joon), Yi means "To depend or rely on" and June or Joon means "Princess". We were told by our agency that her name was pronounced Yi ("E") Jun (which means Shire (Fields). There are different translations between Cantonese and Mandarin. We like "Princess" much better than Shire. She will be treated like a Princess.
Thursday, June 28
At around 3:00 AM I woke up sick @ in both directions of my body, until around 5:15 PM. I could not keep anything down. We have not been drinking the water, only bottled water and we brush our teeth with it also. It could have been fatigue, humidity and nerves(which I did not think I felt nervous). Linley is starting to get a cold. Tony changed his first diaper 6 times that day and 3 of them were the kind he anticipated never having to change. Tony and Linley went to breakfast, lunch and dinner together and a couple of strolls. They had a lot of bonding time together, he did a great job! After 15 years of marriage, I have seen a different side of him. Linley took to Tony more so on Wednesday and especially on Thursday. Tony is a natural with fatherhood. He gets it from his mom whom was a nurse and his dad who took care of 3 boys at night while their mom worked at a hospital. That day everyone went on a shopping tour to Walmart, a department store and lunch at PIZZA HUT. I wanted Tony and Linley to go, but he chose to stay here while I was miserable. I don't think we missed that much, we took a taxi to the Walmart the next day, walked around for 30 minutes and came back with nothing, it was a zoo. The Walmart was 3 stories.
Friday, June 29
Linley woke up with a cold! Sneezing runny nose. I felt better but a little sqeumish at times. That day, we went on a tour with our group to a Buddhist's Temple and Pagoda. The temple was beautiful, lots of insense! Our guide said we could bless the babies, no one in the group did that, it was interesting to watch the natives bringing their gifts of fruit and candy as offerings. There were flowers everywhere. The Pagoda and tower were a highlight, there were many pagoda's on the grounds, beautiful landscaping, a river where families could take a amall boat ride. Lot's of stairs and hills that day, stairs and strollers can be challenging. I know Tony and I are building up our arm muscles! Michael our representative took us to a really great chinese restaurant with dancing and entertainment, it was very crowded! That day Linley did OK on the tour, she was a little cranky and not feeling well, she really wanted Tony. That night back at the hotel, we went downstairs to the "Western" restaurant where we all eat breakfast every morning, it is really nice, great buffet! We did not make it past our appetizers, the little Princess started acting up a little, due to not feeling well, so Tony and I did not make it past or even through our appetizers. Tony went to bed at 8:00 PM, he was still exhausted from the day before when I was sick and tired from that day touring when Linley wanted him the majority of the day. Around 8:30 some of the families met by the elevators on our floor for a playgroup. Linley lasted about 5 minutes and called it quits, she was sneezing and crying. I fed her and she was out by 9:20.
Saturday, June 30
Tony woke up not feeling well and was sick with same thing I had, he managed to go on a tour with the group to a Provincial Museum, I don't know how he did it, he could not keep anything down. Linley was still sick with sneezing, runny nose, etc. She still wanted Tony most of the day. The grounds of the museum were the highlight of our tours (to me) since we have been in Nanning. Nanning really takes care of their Green Space, trees and bushes are uniquely groomed. There are motor scooters and bicycles everywhere in Nanning, we did not see as many in the part of Hong Kong where we were staying. The Chinese men and women are so fit and trim biking, scooting and walking, everywhere. There is a river and river walk outside our hotel. Each night hundreds of people walk along the river. There is a neat waterfall with lights running below a bridge, very calming and soothing to walk by and look out our window at.
Sorry we lost touch after Hong Kong, all of the families blog websites were blocked in our hotel in Nanning, China. It's been a crazy and exciting week and a half for us!
We left off that we were going on a tour of Hong Kong on Monday, June 25th. There are 9 families in our group. We are all spread out over the US, Wyoming, Utah, 3 families from Colorado, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 4 families brought their children ranging from 3 yrs.- 16. They have all been so much fun, such troopers and an asset to their new sisters. A couple of families have left children back at home with relatives. 2 families scheduled a trip to Bejing a couple of days before arriving in Hong Kong. We are excorted around in a nice big air conditioned coach bus, with the same driver and a CCAI representative to guide us everywhere in all 3 of our destinations. Our reps also stay on our floor, all representatives in HK, Nanning and Guangzhou are great.
On Monday, June 25
We went on a tour of Hong Kong. We went to Victoria Peak, Alberdeen Jewelry Factory, A Fisherman's Village, Stanley Market and a Dim Sum lunch. Victoria Peak is like San Francisco, we saw houses and buildings that the ultra famous and wealthy own, such as Jackie Chan. We had a beautiful view of the hills and water. The Jewelry Factory was a wonder to see the jewelers making the jewelry. I really enjoyed it because I picked out a couple of pieces that I love. Linley got a jade ring for when she gets older (high school age). The Fisherman's Village was an experience, we took boat rides around an harbour area. The fishermen live on their houseboats, they do not look like the cleanest living environment, some of the boats have little gardens on top of their boat. They fishermen have home boats and work boats. Our guide on the boat (we call him Skipper) was so cute, even without his teeth. He showed us a couple of boats that had television and air conditioner, he got so excited telling us about it. We included a photo of our vacation home that we purchased while we were in Hong Kong, I love to garden and the information we previously received about Linley, says she loves to play in the garden. Tony and Skipper became good friends. Stanley Market was a section of outdoor shops to buy Chinese items. Our Dim Sum lunch was great, most of our dinners in Nanning, were shared with other people in our group. There is a big "Lazy Susan" in the middle of the table that all the entree's are on, everyone shares their meal. There has to be some system on when you want your turn, while someone else wants to choose At all of the restaurants on this trip, you receive a small plate. You can fill it up as much as you wish. We have noticed with sharing our meals, small plates and feeding Linley first, our clothes are fitting looser, thank goodness!
Tony and I thought Hong Kong was very clean, cosmopolitan and a higher percenatage of people spoke English then in Dallas.
Tuesday, June 26
Nanning, China is beautiful and very tropical. Our hotel is more like 6 star than 5! It is beautiful. We have another beautiful view from our room. It is extremely hot and humid here. The humidity is unbearable, sometimes nauseating and you may find yourself sweating much more than normal. We had a transformer/converter for my curling iron in Hong Kong. This hotel does not have them, nor can we buy one and we have been looking. My hair is a major issue with me right now. 8 more days of looking like heck in the pictures. We received our daughter's after 8:00 PM on Tuesday night after a long day of traveling by bus to the airport, checking in 9 families luggage, flying from Hong Kong to Nanning and another bus trip to our hotel. We checked in, ate dinner, filled out paper work and BAM, there they were walking into a conference room with their Nannies holding them with a bunch of strangers all excited to get them. Tony and I were the first ones to receive our daughter. One after another they handed the families the babies and they all started crying in a domino effect. We had to have a family photo for our adoption certificates, LOVELY, when you have been traveling all day and your hair has fallen and your daughter just went to the bathroom through her clothes and it gets on your top, at least the photo's were from the chest up. We had Linley fed and in bed by 9:45 that night, she was exhausted. Linley is a great sleeper, she sleeps all night, she thrashes a lot, we hear a majority of the babies do that also. In our group, all of the babies lived in foster homes, since around December 2006. I felt so sorry for her and the other babies that night What a traumatic experience for them.
Wednesday, June 27
Today we had to take our daughters to the registration office and notary. Linley, Tony and I did fine on that day. We were able to meet the orphanage director. We found out Linley's name is pronounced Yi (Yee) Jun (June or Joon), Yi means "To depend or rely on" and June or Joon means "Princess". We were told by our agency that her name was pronounced Yi ("E") Jun (which means Shire (Fields). There are different translations between Cantonese and Mandarin. We like "Princess" much better than Shire. She will be treated like a Princess.
Thursday, June 28
At around 3:00 AM I woke up sick @ in both directions of my body, until around 5:15 PM. I could not keep anything down. We have not been drinking the water, only bottled water and we brush our teeth with it also. It could have been fatigue, humidity and nerves(which I did not think I felt nervous). Linley is starting to get a cold. Tony changed his first diaper 6 times that day and 3 of them were the kind he anticipated never having to change. Tony and Linley went to breakfast, lunch and dinner together and a couple of strolls. They had a lot of bonding time together, he did a great job! After 15 years of marriage, I have seen a different side of him. Linley took to Tony more so on Wednesday and especially on Thursday. Tony is a natural with fatherhood. He gets it from his mom whom was a nurse and his dad who took care of 3 boys at night while their mom worked at a hospital. That day everyone went on a shopping tour to Walmart, a department store and lunch at PIZZA HUT. I wanted Tony and Linley to go, but he chose to stay here while I was miserable. I don't think we missed that much, we took a taxi to the Walmart the next day, walked around for 30 minutes and came back with nothing, it was a zoo. The Walmart was 3 stories.
Friday, June 29
Linley woke up with a cold! Sneezing runny nose. I felt better but a little sqeumish at times. That day, we went on a tour with our group to a Buddhist's Temple and Pagoda. The temple was beautiful, lots of insense! Our guide said we could bless the babies, no one in the group did that, it was interesting to watch the natives bringing their gifts of fruit and candy as offerings. There were flowers everywhere. The Pagoda and tower were a highlight, there were many pagoda's on the grounds, beautiful landscaping, a river where families could take a amall boat ride. Lot's of stairs and hills that day, stairs and strollers can be challenging. I know Tony and I are building up our arm muscles! Michael our representative took us to a really great chinese restaurant with dancing and entertainment, it was very crowded! That day Linley did OK on the tour, she was a little cranky and not feeling well, she really wanted Tony. That night back at the hotel, we went downstairs to the "Western" restaurant where we all eat breakfast every morning, it is really nice, great buffet! We did not make it past our appetizers, the little Princess started acting up a little, due to not feeling well, so Tony and I did not make it past or even through our appetizers. Tony went to bed at 8:00 PM, he was still exhausted from the day before when I was sick and tired from that day touring when Linley wanted him the majority of the day. Around 8:30 some of the families met by the elevators on our floor for a playgroup. Linley lasted about 5 minutes and called it quits, she was sneezing and crying. I fed her and she was out by 9:20.
Saturday, June 30
Tony woke up not feeling well and was sick with same thing I had, he managed to go on a tour with the group to a Provincial Museum, I don't know how he did it, he could not keep anything down. Linley was still sick with sneezing, runny nose, etc. She still wanted Tony most of the day. The grounds of the museum were the highlight of our tours (to me) since we have been in Nanning. Nanning really takes care of their Green Space, trees and bushes are uniquely groomed. There are motor scooters and bicycles everywhere in Nanning, we did not see as many in the part of Hong Kong where we were staying. The Chinese men and women are so fit and trim biking, scooting and walking, everywhere. There is a river and river walk outside our hotel. Each night hundreds of people walk along the river. There is a neat waterfall with lights running below a bridge, very calming and soothing to walk by and look out our window at.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
