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I told you this post would take a while. For one, we’ve just been getting things settled and trying to gear up for life again. However, the main reason is I just don’t want to end this trip. I know, this is the beginning of a life long journey, and I am really excited about the next chapter. But, I’ve laid awake the last few nights (while my body tries to adjust to Alaska time) and thought about our stay in China… it seems a bit surreal at this point, but hard to let go of. Oh well, enough of my pining away for China… we’re home, I’m not independently wealthy, and life goes on.

We arrived home to our family greeting us at the airport. The girls did well on the plane ride home. Carli only had a couple short-lived crying episodes. Jenna did well, but was sick and ended up having a major accident. Luckily, we had a change of clothes she could wear.

Upon arriving at our house, Carli immediately joined in playing with the other children with cars and toys… she was very much at home. She and Jenna actually made it until bedtime playing and being pretty happy. As they were with Jenna, the boys barely blinked with Carli. We knew our boys would be accepting, but they really just pulled her in and were very excited she was home.

We also have 2 cats and a dog and we weren’t sure how she would respond to those. Well, she loved them. She seems to really get excited about the cats but spends time petting and hugging Rosa, our dog, also. Another thing I wondered about was how she would like being strapped down in a car seat. We didn’t attempt it on the way home from the airport (she just survived 3 years of driving in China… I thought she could handle a couple miles through Anchorage!). But, on Saturday, we put her in and she did great; it didn’t phase her.

I think, at this point, we are successfully back in the groove of life. Jenna went through a bit of a sickness where she didn’t eat for several days, but seems to be recovering. Carli is learning English words quickly… she understands several, now, and has been repeating some. She seems very happy and likes to be close to us. Jenna is getting more comfortable with the idea of Carli being around. Although she still regresses a bit into Carli’s baby-talk sounds, she is getting less jealous and more engaging with Carli. In the morning, when they both get up out of bed, they give each other a hug and kiss… it is very sweet.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with this blog. Someone suggested I keep it going even after we arrived home, which I think is a good idea, but it isn’t just Carli any more, it is our family, and that is the next chapter, so I don’t think it is right to continue that chapter under this blog title. In the hopes of continuing on an online journal, I’ve started a new blog, mostly for myself, but also to share with others. The address is http://walchfamily.blogspot.com/.

Thank you all for being faithful readers and so supportive of our adoption of Carli.

Goodbye Guangzhou

Yes, this is it, and the post will be short because it is late and we have to still pack!!! We did our ceremonial pictures on the red couch with Mattie. We had dinner at the Thai place, ice cream, and picking out some last minute gifts.

I am very ready to be home, to see my boys, and to continue to learn about Carli and have her start learning about her new life. Can you imagine, she’s adjusted this well already and we’re living in a hotel room… she has no idea there is more ahead!

On the flip side, neither Amanda or myself are ready to leave… not at all. I’m sure some of it is just being on vacation, but I think we’ve started to become even closer to China with this trip. We have talked about future family vacations here and I think both of us have a strong desire to try and learn Chinese. I mean, we always had a desire to learn some, but I think we’d both like to be able to come back in several years and be able to communicate with people. It has been a good experience, but one we are eager to continue for many reasons.

The next post will be from Anchorage, Alaska... ahhhh. It may take a while, so be patient. It has been a lot of fun writing each night, knowing I am talking and sharing things with so many family and friends. Thank you for the encouraging comments and support along the way. We have all appreciated them.

Market walk

As I mentioned, today was a shopping day. We walked from our hotel to the wholesale jade and pearl market and a shopping mall. Along the way we walked through one of the oldest markets in China. Jophy explained many things along the way – the symbolism of certain gates, the family history of some of the markets, and what some of the goods are used for. For instance, some vendors were selling tiger claws, dried monkey, horns, and other bones. Those are apparently used for certain medicines. There wasn’t as much livestock in this area, mostly mushrooms, dried snakeskins, and other dried goods.

We did some shopping, ate the ritual lunch at Pizza Hut, and went back to our hotel to prepare for the consulate appointment. The consulate has moved… it used to be just a walk from the hotel. Now it is a fairly long bus ride to a new consulate building. All of us are in a big waiting room and there were about 60 children and their families waiting to be sworn in. This is the final step before leaving the country and so many people plan on going right from the consulate to the airport (counting on everything going right). The adoption unit of the Guangzhou U.S. Consulate is the busiest in the world. Last year over 7900 adoptions were processed through this consulate! (They do all of the Chinese adoptions.) It made me wonder what it is going to be like for this generation of Chinese children that have been adopted into the U.S.

Anyway, we made it through our appointment, took the oath, and went to do a bit more shopping and find dinner. The dinner part was a challenge. Valentine’s Day is a huge deal here… I mean huge. Everyone goes out to eat dinner and so every restaurant was packed. We finally settled on Lucy’s, a place close to the hotel, and even that took well over an hour to get served.

We are enjoying our last few days here and will be sorry to leave. Carli continues to do great about going down, which still flabbergasts me a bit. I have high hopes for the plane ride, but remain a bit guarded.

Happy days

Well, I have great great news to report… Carli Crying Countdown is retired, hopefully forever. I know you all have been in suspense, so I’ll report on this and then move on to other things.

Last night after over 35 minutes of crying I decided enough was enough. I picked Carli up, wrapped her up tight in my arms, and looked her straight in the eye and said in my best stern father voice, “You are done crying! No more, that’s it.” Well, she had stopped crying when I picked her up, but I laid her right back down into bed, tucked her in again, kissed her good night, and that was it, she went to sleep.

So, today at nap time, the story started playing out again. Once we started getting ready for a nap she started whimpering and getting sad. When I told her it was time for a nap and asked her to climb into her bed she started crying. I picked her up, used my hand to shut her mouth, and told her again that there was no crying. She stopped! Carli Crying Time = 10 seconds!!! She went down for a nap.

Then, this evening, after a bath, we got them dressed, teeth brushed, and pajamas on. We came into the room and without prompting she climbed into bed. We tucked her in and no fussing, nothing! She played with her dolls a bit, just like the first few nights she was with us. Seriously amazing. Incidentally, she is really cute in her bed. When she lays down she has two dolls – one that she had in the orphanage and a stuffed animal we brought – and she lays them down on her pillow very carefully and pats them tenderly to make sure they are tucked in. It is very sweet to watch.

But, just to give you an idea of her extremes… we had her health check today. This is just a process we go through to get basics checked before getting her visa. They check temperature, weight, height, sight, hearing, etc. Carli threw a fit at every station and was in a general bad mood there. When it came time to the hearing (the last station) the doctor had several squeaky toys and instruments to get the babies attention and get their head to turn to the sound. Well, Carli was in such a mood that she wouldn’t look at them or move her head for the sound. She just looks away from anyone or anything when she’s mad. So, the doctors didn’t think she could hear… we had 4 doctors in there at one point and Jophy, our guide, and I were working to convince them she could hear and speak fine. Finally we did, but Carli was so stubborn she would not respond to any of the noises… they were squeaking and banging everything as loud as they could all around her head and ears and she just stared off in to space, stone faced.

Today we took a taxi to Cloud Mountain, the highest mountain in Guangzhou. We took a gondola ride to the top and then walked down, at least a couple miles. It is really amazing but all over this mountain there are hundreds of people out, mostly seniors, exercising – walking, playing hackey sack, ping pong, Tai Chi, everything. It is really really cool to see how much they value physical activity and having fun together.

This evening we went for a tour of Guangzhou at night. This is neat because the buildings are lit up, the boats on the river are lit up, and the city is very beautiful. At one point we were walking along the river. Amanda had Carli ahead of us and Megan and I were walking with Jenna, holding each hand. Carli was in a real good mood and talking the whole time. Megan and I were swinging Jenna and she was laughing loudly. Carli was watching and yelling. Our guide translated for us – Carli was saying “Mei mei (little sister), what are you doing?” Carli was laughing with Jenna and yelling this. It was great!

Carli loves looking at pictures and so we show her pictures of Connor and Andrew all the time and tell her those are her big brothers (pronounced guh-guh). We also have a book that has pictures of everyone, and so we all talk about all our other family, also. Connor and Andrew have also been able to see Carli over the web and say hello to her so hopefully everyone is ready to meet and be siblings together. I know we’re ready to be whole as a family. Although, Amanda has made me swear, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a finger in my eye that this is our last one. I’m in agreement, and the next time we come back to China it’ll be as a family of 6 to do some real touring.

Tomorrow is a shopping day. We walk to the jade and pearl market nearby, have lunch at Pizza Hut, and spend some time at a mall. Then, tomorrow afternoon, we have our consulate appointment and we’re done with any paperwork. Just another day to enjoy Guangzhou… I’ll be ready to leave but I’m already thinking about our next trip back!

Some pictures... (you can click on a picture to see a bigger version of it)

Sara caught in the act

Jophy, our guide

The girls contemplated joining the dance
(notice the height difference)

Jenna did dance, a little

Mom and Carli

Cloud Mountain

This is a typical crowd we get - they all swarm us and try to talk to the girls. Jenna does well but Carli mostly ignores them

Running with the bulls!

Ok, not really, but I had a great time thinking so. I went out for a run this morning. I’ve been looking forward to this – to be able to run around and see a lot of the area around Guangzhou. So I went running through some of the back streets across the river from our hotel. There is just street upon street of shops with all sort of things – chickens (ever here of bird flu, people), pigs, goats, and yes, dogs. All the livestock is sold whole and is hanging from racks. If I have the guts I’ll take some pictures for you… it’s pretty cool.

Anyway, as I’m running through the streets there are plenty of areas where it gets pretty crowded – bikes, motorcycles, people, cars – all weaving around in these narrow streets. Many times I just launched off the sidewalk and ran in the street, dodging cars and everything. Sometimes I’d outpace them and weave around them, sometimes they’d outpace me or come up behind me. I was jamming Dave Matthews and Beck on the iPod and (at least in my mind) was running with the bulls. It was fun, and pretty normal behavior for here, but exhilarating for me. I get plenty of looks in general just because I’m a white hairy guy with a green t-shirt and shorts running with headphones on… not really blending in.

Amanda, Megan, and I all went to the wholesale children’s clothing stores today and did some shopping, which was fun. Sara went for a walk around the island, and we did some paperwork. We also met the other family from Hope for Children and had dinner with them. They are from L.A. and adopted a 16 month old girl. She was on the same waiting child list Carli was on and has a club foot. She is a beautiful girl with a very friendly face and gentle smile and seems to already be at home with her new mom and dad.

The older girls all went to pick out some fabric and me and the two young ones went down to the Swan Room (a play room) for some play time. They had a blast in there, both running around and playing with everything and everyone. However, the girls really haven’t had a bonding moment, yet, until this evening. We gave them another bath and let them play together in the bath for a while. They finally had a bonding moment. Jenna started being a bit goofy and blowing bubbles and making Carli laugh. Getting attention like that of course always encourages Jenna, and so she kept doing it and they were laughing together. Then they both started making noises and doing funny things, playing and laughing together. They’ve liked each other and done a few small things together, but this was the first genuine Carli and Jenna bonding moment they’ve had and Amanda and I were excited to see it.

Carli continues to have problems going down for bed or naps. It is pretty weird because the first several days she went down without a problem, in fact almost eagerly. Now she will cry for a half hour until she falls asleep. We comfort her and let her know we’re here, but we can’t pick her up or else she’ll never fall asleep. I think it is part of the testing and transition, but we are timing it each night hoping for some sign of improvement. Today’s afternoon nap was 25 minutes, and we’re at 25 minutes now, so it looks like we aren’t going the right direction. In general she’s not responding well to situations she doesn’t like, which is tough, but understandable given the life changes she’s going through (we think starting a new job or moving is tough!). Today when we went to get her visa picture, we walked into the shop and she saw the camera and stool and immediately started pitching a fit… she DID NOT want her picture taken. Jophy, our guide, was there talking to her and trying to help her but she wanted nothing to do with it. So, her visa picture is one of her crying… at least she was looking at the camera.

Well, I was hoping she’d be asleep my the time I finished this… no such luck. Stay tuned for the next update of the Carli Crying Countdown.

Hello Guangzhou!

There was a welcome familiarity as we drove into the driveway of the White Swan – we spent two weeks here in 2004 when we adopted Jenna. Even though I was excited about coming here again, I was a bit surprised at just how nice and comforting it was. The weather here is nice, warm, and humid. Harbin was so dry it was very soothing to get some moisture back into the lungs, the nasal cavities, the skin, etc… you get the idea. I immediately shed the shoes, the long sleeve shirt, and am seriously regretting not bringing shorts.

Today was actually a pretty hard day for everyone, but especially us and Carli. Last night, as we were packing up, she decided to start having problems going to bed and cried a lot when put down. We were packing up and I think she probably sensed something was going on and got pretty insecure. We were unsure how to handle it and so just tried holding and consoling her, but there was no consoling. She did go down for a bit, but seemed to have some discomfort because she kept whining and thrashing about. About 2am she was up again and stayed for a while in our bed, but then had to transfer to hers. By 5:30am it was time for breakfast so it was a bit of a short night for us all.

It was about a 5+ hour flight from Harbin to Guangzhou. She slept a bit on the first hop, but was up the second (we had a short stop along the way). To make a very long story short, she threw two major fits on the way – one at the layover airport and one in the airplane coming into Guangzhou. The one in the airplane was probably the biggest fit I’ve ever seen a kid throw and of course, everyone is coming over, watching, trying to talk to her (which didn’t help), and crowding around. I think at one point there was at least 20 people watching. She was inconsolable, loud, and there was nothing we could do to quiet her… it was awful.

She is an incredible sweet, funny child but when she starts crying, it is not a short-lived affair. At this point, I am dreading the plane trip home and am just hoping there is some breakthrough in these next 4 days here that will help us communicate with her. I do think part of it is the grieving process, insecurity, and disruption in schedule. However, our guide today told us this is the first adoption Hope for Children has done from Northern China, and in general there aren’t a lot of them. This province doesn’t abandon many children (which explains all the young girls we saw in Harbin). So, the children that do enter the orphanage system are very well cared for and given lots of attention. Couple that with the fact that she was the only girl with a lot of boys, and we have one spoiled little three year old. All of you reading this can say a little prayer for us. I am totally confident of Carli’s long-term development… I don’t think we could have asked for a more perfect little girl. I am just really concerned about the trip home. Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Jenna was a bit of a challenge today, as well, but in general I think is doing better with Carli. She’s trying to interact and play with her more. I think her being able to walk around here, the playroom, and everything will be really helpful for Jenna. We also have another family joining us… they come in tonight so hopefully we’ll meet them tomorrow morning.

So long Harbin

Well, today was our last day, and it was sort of bittersweet. We’re all ready to move on, and we had a really good day, but it is also the end of a chapter of Carli’s life. She’s leaving her province, her friends, the people she has known. We’ll do what we can to preserve her heritage and culture, but there is still something final about it. I’m not sure she knows or not, but tonight she was a bit different than before.

We didn’t eat much lunch, and at dinner Carli didn’t want to eat anything. She acted sort of lethargic and out of it. She’s been suffering diarrhea and so that’s tough, but it seemed a bit more than that. She perked up for a bit during dinner, but only a bit. On the way back to the room she started crying, and she cried for another 30 minutes or more. She stopped for a while, had a few more trademark smiles, and then we got ready for bed. She usually goes down without a problem, but tonight that was not the case. Whenever we put her down she started crying. So, I’d hold her for a while and settle her down, and then she’d point like she wanted to go to bed, I’d lay her down, and she’d start crying again. She cried a lot tonight. Like I said, maybe she knows we’re leaving, maybe it’s the start of the grieving period for her, or maybe she’s just tired and worn out. Anyway, it was a bit tough for her but it felt good to be able to comfort her.

Like I said, we pampered ourselves a bit today. Sara, Carli, and I went to the Science Museum, which was pretty massive and pretty cool… kind of like the Imaginarium but with about another $100M pumped into it. It was pretty cool. Then, we all took turns and went and got massages, which was nice. Then we went down to the hotel restaurant for a nice dinner. We even were able to order a bottle of Australian wine (the Chinese wine we have tried so far leads a lot to be desired). All in all, it was a great day, except for Carli. I finally was able to lay her down and she is now asleep, at least until early tomorrow morning when we have to get up early to leave.

Our next post will be in 70 degree plus weather. Ahh……

Ready to go…

Well, I think we’re all ready to move on to the next spot. It just feels that way. We’re here tomorrow and then we leave Saturday morning early for a 5 hour flight down to Guangzhou to finish up the adoption. Harbin is nice, we like it, and it is cool that is has so many similarities to Alaska – the cold, the ice carving festival, a Russian Orthodox Church. But, the cold makes it hard to spend a lot of time outside, especially carrying around a couple girls. Getting them bundled and unbundled for each appointment, lunch, and excursion; dealing with the biting wind while you’re out; and, running out of things to do in the hotel all signal it is time to go.

Our little traveling group is doing well, also, but we’ve had to work out a few issues. This morning started out with a little apology session, which helped clear the air of a few attitudes, so that was good. This morning we went to the shopping street. It wasn’t exactly what we had pictured, but we got a few items. Amanda bought a nice pair of long underwear and got to experience the Chinese dressing room! We also went for a nice family swim this afternoon. Carli did pretty well with that, but really doesn’t like water in her face. She seemed to get more used to it after a while. Other than that, we all had fun.

I’ve included a few pictures of our home for the last 6 days. As you can see, the girls have beds right next to each other, which is kind of nice for them. Jenna and Carli are doing well. However, Carli has some diarrhea which is making it hard for her. I’m sure she’s eating a bit differently with us than she did at the orphanage. Luckily, our guide is a doctor as well, so if it persists will solicit more of her advice.

Tomorrow we will spend the morning at the local science museum, probably another swim, and then packing up. We are looking forward to some warmer weather where we can walk around a bit more. And, although I love China, I am starting to feel the pull of home for many reasons. Until next time…

Lions and tigers and… girls

Today was a field trip to the Harbin Tiger Zoo. This complex houses over 300 Siberian tigers, White tigers, and lions. We took a bus through the main complex and then walked around some of the other pens. As you can see from some of the pictures, it was pretty cool. I was sitting in the back corner and my window opened. The windows were a bit dirty and so a few times I opened the window go get a cleaner shot. However, I quickly was scolded by our guide, the driver, and my wife to keep the window shut. I mean, I could have reached out and scratched some of these tiger’s ears they came that close. On one of the stops a tiger jumped up and put his front paws right on my window, his face was literally 2 inches from mine. So, I guess I was glad I had the window shut at that point.

We had lunch at a “country” restaurant. In the middle of the table was a big pot. Sara and I went out to the lobby with a fish pond. One fish was belly up but still kicking. Anyway, we picked out a fish and went back to the table. About 2 minutes later the staff brought out a bowl filled with peppers, onions, and the fish hacked into about 8 pieces. They built a fire under the bowl and boiled the stuff for a while. We added carrots, cabbage, and some mushrooms and dug in! The fish was ok but the vegetables were great. As the stew boiled down it got spicier and spicier. Towards the end we started eating the broth, which was really tasty. Sara and Megan aren’t the most adventuresome when it comes to food, but they both tried just about everything and ate quite a bit of several of the items. I think 3 weeks ago Megan would have told you “no way” would she try something like this, but I think she really enjoyed the experience. It just reaffirms for me how important traveling and experiencing other people’s cultures and lifestyles is… even a simple thing like a meal at a country restaurant may be able to help us understand another viewpoint or perspective later in life.

Carli continues to do amazingly well… she is a very cheerful and well-adjusted girl. Of course, we kiss her a lot when we are holding her on the bus or wherever. Today, however, we all got a return kiss! I was holding her in the room checking email or something and gave her a few kisses. All of a sudden she leaned up and gave me a kiss! I was so overjoyed… she then got down, went over and gave mom a kiss, and then Jenna! Jenna wasn’t quite as impressed as Amanda and I, but it was pretty cool.

Speaking of Jenna, she is doing ok but definitely having to deal with some internal conflicts. She already was a bit of a jealous child and is having those same struggles with Carli, but more pronounced. She also is imitating Carli… for instance, Carli will ask for a drink or food sometimes by just opening her mouth. Of course, we give it to her and tell her the words for it (and sign, if we know it – she knows “more” already!). Well, Jenna sees that and does the same, which isn’t acceptable since we’ve been working with Jenna the last month or so on asking for things politely. However, it is a bit confusing for Jenna and a bit hard for Amanda and I to figure out the best way to handle these situations.

The funny thing is we brought Jenna on this trip for several reasons – so we could have a special time for us to bond with her; so she could form a bond with Carli early on, before coming home to the boys; and so Carli had someone to help her with the transition and make another bond with. However, I can add another one to that list. I think this is a really good time for us to start working out some of the issues Jenna will have with her new sister coming into the family and how that affects all our dynamics. It isn’t something I anticipated and it makes this trip a bit harder, but I know it will be worth it when we return home and I am very glad Jenna is here with us.



These tiger pictures are for Connor, Andrew, and Kiera. We miss you and love you!!!

Joy upon joy

Well, for all of those that reassured us of the nervousness we felt going to pick up Carli, thank you. Your comforting words did help and in fact today was the extreme opposite. I feel an irrepressible satisfaction and joy today watching and learning about my new daughter. Although I shouldn’t be, I feel a state of awe and shock that she seems to be exactly the girl we prayed for. I truly feel blessed and lucky to have these two beautiful girls in our family.

Let me just see if I can recall some of the things I saw today:

• I am pretty sure she knows ma-ma (mommy) and ba-ba (daddy) and that she calls us by those. The same with Jenna, I think she says Jenna’s name when she wants her attention. I’m not for sure, but I think so
  
• We had our first little discipline session today. As most of you parents know, disciplining your children is a hard thing to do. Carli likes to pinch my face, and while it has been cute and she smiles, it gets a little hard and painful. This evening I told her “buyao” which is “no” in Chinese. Well, she gave a cute little cunning grin and kept doing it, even fighting through my hands and repeated no’s. So, we did a little holding time, which is where I cuddle her firmly so she cannot repeat the offending behavior. She fought strongly, laughing for a bit, then getting serious and straining hard. However, not long after that she stopped fighting and the tears started. Very slowly at first, with just a little sorrowful, tender tear. The fighting stopped and all the emotion came forth, for both of us. I felt so close to her, that she had resisted and now, with the tears, was acknowledging me as dad. She started crying harder and she let me hold her close and comfort her, stroking her head and back. She cried loudly for at least 10 minutes before quieting down, getting her breath back, and resigning to sniffles. We sat for a long time afterwards together while she recuperated. The most amazing thing about that experience was that afterwards she completely stopped the hard pinching and several times rubbed and stroked my face gently and happily.
  
• The rest of the evening was spent in the hotel room and the girls were hyper! Carli’s full sentences finally emerged and she was talking all about the books we had telling me all sorts of things about them… almost like she was trying to teach me Chinese. I would tell her the English word for some of the pictures and she did a pretty good job of imitating me, albeit with a slight Chinese inflection. This was the time when she was saying Jenna’s name the most.
  
• Jenna and Carli took their first bath together! Carli takes a bath differently than we do. She squats and spashes the water on her arms, her face, her legs, etc. It took her a while to sit down in the tub and she didn’t enjoy having water on her face. She actually yelled at me about it… didn’t really cry, just yelled.
  
• She seems to already be bonded to us. When Sara and Megan come into the room she runs at them with open arms and a smile, wanting to be picked up. It is sweet.
  
• She is ticklish
  
• She takes a while to wake up in the morning or from naps. When she gets up, she usually has a scowl on her face and just kind of grunts. She doesn’t want to eat, talk, or play during that time. You can tell when she’s done waking up because she’ll starting eating or smiling or engaging in whatever we’re doing at the time, but it takes her a while.

Today we finalized the paperwork at the office and went out to lunch. Tomorrow we are going to the Tiger Zoo… you’ll have to wait to hear about that one. And then I think Thursday we are going shopping on the longest street market in Asia… something like that. I’m not sure we understand what it is, yet.

I’ll post some pictures tomorrow. We are all doing well. Megan and Amanda have been doing their homework. We spend some of our free time just hanging out in the room together with the girls. We’ve also split up and done some things as pairs – exploring, working out, shopping, etc. Harbin is nice and even though it is cold, I’m happy to be able to spend some time here.

Thank you all again for all the encouraging comments. Although you all say this helps you feel part of the process, I think we all feel a certain connection with you, as well. Sara and Megan come over and look at the comments every day and we all talk about the emails and comments we receive.

Everyone is asleep now and I must go join them. Until next time…

Gotcha… forever!

We woke up this morning to a cold and smoky Harbin. If you have been to Fairbanks at t he height of the summer fire season, and I mean the height, you’ll have some idea what Harbin looks like right now. The smoke is so thick it is hard to make out buildings just a block or so away. We asked our guide and she said this is typical for the cold times during the winter. Apparently residents here use a lot of wood for heating and so the smoke builds up in the city. Harbin is a city of 4 million; however, it seems to still be a rural city at its roots. It is not uncommon at all to see donkeys and small dogs around the streets. Sara has also commented (and we agree) that the people up here in the North look different than the Chinese in Beijing.

Our driver picked us up this morning at 9am, we stopped by to pick up our guide, and we were off to the Civil Affairs office to meet our daughter. We were all nervous. Amanda and I talked about Chris and Tanya Bourque and the fears they shared when being alone in adopting their third girl. It was comforting to have Sara and Megan along, but I did miss having other adopted families along to share our nervousness with.

We were guided to a nice conference room with bottled water, candy, bananas, and probably the sweetest most perfect little oranges I’ve ever had. We met the director of adoption affairs in Harbin and talked to her a bit – a very nice and warm woman. A very short time later in walked to other young woman with our Yuan, who of course was bundled up completely from head to toe. It was very un-ceremonial, which was actually kind of nice. They held her for a while and introduced us to her – ma-ma and ba-ba. She looked a bit confused but not frightened at all. One of the young woman was another Harbin office worker, and the other was an office worker from the Mudanjiang orphanage that traveled with Yuan.

She got down and got her coat off and we introduced her to Jenna. Jenna was of course excited but also studied her a bit. We then got to hold her and talk to her a bit. Both her and Jenna sat on our laps and ate some food… they share that in common! They both ate bananas and oranges and candy for a while… a bonding experience. We got some books out and Jenna and Carli played with those, we took pictures, ate some more delicious oranges. Amanda and I spent some time talking to the Mudanjiang worker asking her about Carli – sleep patterns, personality, food, etc. All in all it was a very relaxed, enjoyable, and comfortable environment. Carli is obviously fairly low key and the mood was just right.

After leaving there – now officially with “the girls” – we went to the Harbin Wal-Mart! Yes, that is the first place we took our new daughter. It actually was a lot of fun and we were able to walk around the store and buy a lot of snacks, milk, and things we needed while staying here. Living in a hotel room is hard enough without relying on a restaurant for every bit of food you eat. Carli started really enjoying herself there, talking loud, yelling, and play acting like she was eating the food from the shopping cart basket.

Now both her and Jenna are taking a little nap before we head out for the evening. Some of my initial impressions are:
  - Carli is an incredibly easy-going girl. (And no, I don’t think this is grieving.) She put her hands out for us easily and likes to be held, but is also comfortable playing by herself. She has given us plenty of smiles already, and even some laughs. Although, her giggle is pretty soft.
  - I think she was well cared for in the orphanage. She doesn’t mind being kissed and touched at all (which is good since we’re doing a lot of it). The office worker that came with her was warm both toward us and toward Yuan (or Carli – we use them interchangeably right now). I think she probably spends some time with the kids. Even the director in Harbin had seen Yuan when she was a baby… she talked about her in a very personable way, not a clinical way. I feel very reassured about the “system” taking care of these orphans in the Heilongjiang Province.
  - Although we knew she would, Jenna is doing a great job of being a sister. She invites Carli to play with her and draws her hand on the magna-doodle. I’m sure the first good fight is right around the corner.

Most of Carli’s friends in the orphanage were boys… those were the children there that were her age. We knew some of them and we got some more names from the pictures we had of them. We were also able to give them some updated pictures from the O’Malley family (in Florida) who adopted one of the boys. All the women were very excited to see the updated pictures and they encouraged us to send pictures of Carli as she continues to grow. And, even though we can’t see the orphanage this trip, they said we would be able to when we come back for a visit.

One other observation I have made while walking around Harbin… there seem to be a lot of young girls. I’m not sure if it is accurate, but I just can’t help but get a sense that this province is somewhat progressive. The transition time with Carli was very drawn out and natural, as it should be, and Carli was allowed to come to us progressively, not abruptly. Tomorrow we’ll have another appointment and she’ll be able to see the office worker again (who she obviously knows). I sense they are aware that the transition is important for the child and the family and they are doing what they can to make it healthy. I am even more enthusiastic now about the Chinese adoption experience by what I see here.

And now some more pictures...

Super Bowl, Super Day!

Well, tomorrow, while Alaska is watching the Super Bowl, we'll be holding our new daughter. We are slated to pick up Carli at 9:30am tomorrow (Monday) morning, which will be about 4:30pm Alaska time (Sunday).

Today was an awesome day. We left Beijing under an amazing cloud of pollution and haze. The factories had been shut down while we were there for Chinese New Year so the haze and smog level was what you might expect to see in Los Angeles... we had some beautiful sunny blue sky days while we were there. Today, however, was a different story. You could not see the blue sky, let alone a half mile ahead. The haze of pollution was everywhere, and we could tell in our breathing. We made it to the airport, however, with plenty of time to spare.

The flight to Harbin was fairly short, about an hour and a half. It was perfectly clear, though, and all you could see was farm land… it was amazing. There were thousands of square miles of farm land with small groupings of houses among them. It is very flat up here, so much so that our altitude was deceptive and it looked like we were going to land on the farmland when in actuality we probably had another 4 thousand feet to descend.

After arriving here we met our guide, got checked into the hotel, and then went out to one part of the ice festival. This festival is just amazing and completely took our breath away. All of the buildings and structures are created by ice or snow. The magnitude of what is created is not done justice by these pictures; it is a very cool festival and a fun atmosphere. Of course, you see things you wouldn’t ever see in the U.S. like the guy on a motorized para-sailer flying around the festival dodging fireworks from folks on the ground and offers to have your picture taken with tame Artic foxes. Sara and I went down a pretty wicked toboggan run which ended with a run into a big snow pile. There were inner tube sleds, sled dog runs, food, ice bikes, ice buggies, horse rides… all sorts of fun. The temperature is pretty cold here, but not bad as long as the wind doesn’t pick up.

Tomorrow we get our daughter, and I think Amanda and I are experiencing a bit of nerves about it. I at least have the feeling of entering a test that you don’t feel prepared to take. There are things I wish I had done before coming, long before our trip was planned, to help us and Carli with the transition. I think I feel a bigger responsibility and anxiety about the transition (than with Jenna) because Carli is older. I have concerns and worries about the language barriers. I know it will all work out and that love conquers all, but tonight I’m a bit worried. In preparing for this trip I’ve been excited, but I think some of the realities are hitting pretty hard now that we are actually in Harbin. Our guide told us she (Carli) is in Harbin tonight, that she made the long journey here today. She knows that tomorrow is a big day, also, and I wonder if she will have a fitful night of rest.

Jenna, of course, is nothing but excited. She knows where Carli is sleeping, what Carli is wearing, what toys she can play with, everything. She is very ready and I am so glad she is here with us… I know she can make up for any of my shortcomings. She is doing great on the trip. She makes a lot of friends with people all over especially because she pretends to understand them when they speak Chinese to her. She just keeps talking to them and they assume she understands them. Although at the end of the day she has been crashing hard and does not need much prompting to go to bed.

Well, stay tuned for tomorrow… it is a big day… and no, I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl… my mind and body are worlds away.

More Beijing

Ok, the first message was just to get something up to let people know we made it safe. And, I didn't really know if our posts were getting up... our blog is not available via regular means from within China. Our friends told us of a site we can use to reach our blog to make sure our posts get up, so I know now that I can post, which is good.

We are on our last night here and have a very rewarding couple of days. When we flew into the city it was night and as we flew over the city there were literally hundreds of fireworks going off everywhere - it looked like all the flashes going off at a rock concert in a stadium. The Chinese New Year celebrations were in full swing. It was a very cool final approach.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. It is cold here! The wind had a way of chilling us to the bone! We made it until mid-afternoon and then decided to head up for a quick nap. That evening Bart picked us up for dinner at his house... it was Chinese night and the food was better than a restaurant! Bart and Dierdre live here with their son David and adopted daughter Ashlynn. Jenna and Ashlynn hit it off quickly and were soon fighting like sisters.

Today they picked us up and we went to the Great Wall. It was a beautiful drive in the country side up to a section of the Wall that features chairlifts and a sweet toboggan run. I ended up pushing my speed a little too fast and ate it on one of the corners, but it was a blast. The girls all climbed up one of the high hills and checked out the guard towers. The local vendors had some great dried fruit that tied us over until lunch.

Lunch was at a rural roadside restaurant dining within view of another section of the Wall. This area included a large section they were rebuilding. We concluded the day with some swimming, a bit of walking around, and then dinner at the hotel.

To all, we haven’t had much luck connecting from our hotel room here in Beijing. We’re hoping Harbin will be better. But, thank you for the emails and we will try to respond to them once we get settled in Harbin. Tomorrow morning we fly out and we will be trying to catch the last of the Ice Festival tomorrow night. Then, the next day, we get Carli!!!

We have arrived!

We finally made it to China! The flight was good... better than expected. We had video on demand, so everyone (including Jenna) watched a few good movies. We're trying to get on schedule, but Jenna isn't cooperating... she woke me up at 5am this morning.

More will come after some hopefully notable adventures today!

1 down, 2 to go

Here we are in the Seattle airport waiting to board our flight to Tokyo. This is a 10 hour flight which we aren’t optimistic about… we expect the seats to be cramped and the food to be poor. The consultant’s motto… under promise, over deliver. I figure if our expectations are low we won’t be disappointed.

We had a great send off evening last night with a family dinner and pictures. Here is a picture of the travel group ready to go. At this point, of course, I hadn’t packed (nor had Megan) and Amanda and I stayed up later than desired to take care of last minute items. Debbie picked us up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:30am, and we were off.

We also got a call from the Daniels last night. They are friends that used to live in Anchorage but several years ago moved to Beijing for a job. We found out our hotel is very close to the Forbidden City - score! We’re having dinner at their place Friday night and Saturday they are picking us up to give us a personal escort to the Great Wall. And the only thing they asked for in return was some Kaladi coffee… not a bad deal, huh? It was a great phone call to receive the night before you leave for China! Our anticipation of our Beijing excursion went off the charts.
Hopefully I’ll be able to post this shortly after arriving in Beijing. Until next time…