Two New Pictures - Thank You Wendi

Wendi & her husband Scott are in China adopting "Samuel". They were also able to visit Samuel's orphanage (which is the same as Shaling's). They took some of the kids to McDonald's while they were there. Here are two pictures of Wendi with Shaling:

Our Daily China Itinerary

Before I post this, for security reasons I want to let everyone know that yes, we've got someone to stay at the house. Our next-door neighbors have three college-aged kids who will ALL be home due to our trip coinciding with Christmas break. They and their friends will make use of our vacant home as a place to stay, hang out & watch television. Perhaps that will also be good for our cats.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I'm thrilled to share with everyone our daily schedule while we're in China:

December 23rd
• Fly from Springfield to Chicago to Hong Kong
December 24th
• Arrive at Hong Kong International Airport
• Check into airport at Hong Kong airport
• Ask for train tickets during check-in (they should be waiting for us)
December 25th
• Take train to Guangzhou
• Meet guide at the station and go to hotel
December 26th
• Free Day (we may meet up with a family from Florida adopting 8-year-old "Natalie" from the same orphanage as Shaling)
December 27th
• Go to Civil Affairs office to meet Shaling & sign adoption agreement at 2:30 p.m.
• Guide will takes us to a department store to buy daily necessities for Shaling
December 28th
• Go to Civil Affairs office for adoption registration & notarization
December 29th
• Pick up registration certificate
• Apply for Shaling’s passport (pay fee for expedited passport)
December 30th
• Meet guide and take a van to Long Gang SWI (Shaling’s orphanage)
December 31st
• Pick up Shaling’s passport
January 1st
• Take Shaling’s photo for her visa
• Shaling’s medical exam & TB test
January 2nd
• Visit the Guangzhou Safari Park
January 3rd
• Pick up Shaling’s TB test result
January 4th
• 9:30 a.m. – Shaling’s visa appointment & our oath-taking ceremony at the Consulate
January 5th
• Free Day
January 6th
• Pick up Shaling’s visa in the afternoon
• Local guide will have our train tickets & take us to the train station
• Take train to Hong Kong
• Check into hotel at Hong Kong airport
January 7th
• Fly from Hong Kong to Chicago to Springfield

Our flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is just over 15 1/2 hours long. Our flight from Hong Kong to Chicago is around 14 1/4 hours long. However, based on take-off & landing times, the flight TO China looks like it takes 30 hours and the flight home looks like it takes 15 minutes.

The time change is 14 hours, such that if it's 8 a.m. here in Illinois, it is 10 p.m. in China. If it is 6 p.m. in Illinois, it's 8 a.m. the NEXT DAY in China.

Two Weeks From Today!!!

We got the big call this morning and we got our first choice for our Consulate Appointment - January 4, 2011. This means that we will take custody of Shaling on Monday, December 27, 2010 -- TWO WEEKS from today. Amazing. Brock & I are both filled with goosebumps and hardly able to concentrate on anything else today.

I'm also doing something I've never done before and doubt I'll ever do again -- I called the school to see if there was a way I could break the news to Preston during his lunch hour. They graciously and happily agreed to call him to the office around 11:30 and have him call my cell phone. I'm just bursting to share the good news with him that he'll be spending Christmas in China in order to get his new sister.

We cannot book our flights until at least tomorrow -- the short explanation is that we need our final itinerary from the travel agent in Beijing first. She books our hotel, our in-country travel, our guide, and all of our appointments, such as the appointment at the Civil Affairs Office on the 27th where we receive Shaling and our appointment the next day where we finalize the adoption, plus her medical exams, tb test, etc. Once we book our flights, I'll let everyone know EXACTLY when we'll be gone, but it'll roughly be December 24 until January 9.

Consider This My Shouting From The Rooftops!!!!

My adoption agency just called and we got our Travel Approval!!!! I just gave them my Top 5 choices for dates for our Consulate Appointment, which has to be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. We have to arrive 2 Sundays BEFORE that appointment. We should find out tomorrow (but perhaps not until Monday) whether we are traveling:

December 25 to January 9
January 1 to January 16
January 8 to January 23

I am crying, giggling, hugging, jumping up & down like a school girl!!!

Video from Tim & Ellen Stowell's visit to Long Gang

In this precious, priceless video, Shaling gets told her Mama is coming soon and she smiles broadly!

My friend Tim who is currently in China adopting Heng Xin, sent it to me. My neighbor Gary Bach helped me fix it so I could view it.

Tim shot the video on the day his family was able to go visit the Long Gang orphanage and simulated family homes. In it, he tells Shaling that he knows her Mama and that she is going to Illinois. She smiles beautifully and later he has her wave Hello Chinese style at the camera. It is just so wonderful and made my whole day!

A young girl wearing barrettes in the video is Francine, who will be going to Mendota, Illinois and the adorable little boy standing in the doorway is Joey. I originally thought that was Emmett, but Emmett is one of the boys at the table. Joey & Emmett also have families waiting for them in the U.S.

Cruel Coincidences

Ok, I admit it…I am sooo not being patient. Of all of the waiting periods thus far, waiting for our Travel Approval is the worst. Considering I’m a bit of a control freak (no laughing here, please), I’ve actually been extremely patient throughout, but now I’m losing it. Each day that passes without T.A. only increases my anxiety instead of pacifying it.

Many of our family and friends are anxious too and I’m asked numerous times every day such questions as “when are you going to China” and “have you got your daughter yet”, amongst others. I love that those who are close to us are so enthused and I don’t want them to stop asking questions or lose interest. However, the double-edged sword is that those questions sometimes also serve as a reminder to me that I don’t know and I’m frustrated about it.

One of the ways I deal with it is by keeping very B-U-S-Y in order to not dwell on the wait, China, Shaling, travel planning, etc. One of the many hats I wear is that of the Scholastic Bowl coach at Rochester High School. We had a match last night. One of the 3-part “Bonus” questions asked was about China, but just read further to see how specific this tiered question got.

Part 1 asked about a special administrative region in China that was once under British Rule. The answer was Hong Kong.
First Twinge of Pain: At this point, we expect that we will be flying into Hong Kong when we go to China.

Part 2 asked about another name for Guangzhou, which is the provincial capital of Guangdong province (which surrounds Hong Kong). The answer was Canton.
Second Twinge of Pain: Guangzhou is the city in which we will be spending our two weeks in China and the city in which we will meet and receive Shaling at the Civil Affairs Office.

Part 3 asked about a Guangdong city that was a small fishing village in the 1970s, but due to being designated a Special Economic Zone is the fastest growing city in China and now has nearly 9 million people. The answer was Shenzhen.
Final Stab of Pain: Shenzhen is Shaling’s hometown and where we believe she has lived for her entire 9 years of life.

Ugh! So much for keeping my mind off of waiting for T.A., eh?

Some of my adoption community friends tell me that instead of thinking of it as a cruel coincidence or mean joke, I should think of it as a message from God that my T.A. is truly close. I so hope they are right!

New Pictures of Shaling Today (Thanks to Tim!)

My friend Tim, who is currently in China picking up his new daughter, sent me some emails this morning that included new pictures of Shaling. Here is my favorite (Shaling is with Tim’s daughter, Heng Xin):



I also thoroughly loved this picture of a picture of Shaling from October 6:



He also got a great group picture:



He got to meet Shaling when he and his family went to the orphanage for a visit. He says, “I got to meet Shaling today! What a sweetie.” In another email, he says, “When I saw her - oh, what a wonderful feeling. I touched the top of her head, and said I know this one and her Mama too. I made sure to have our guide tell her that Mama would soon be there for her. I think she has pictures of her bedroom? for I saw pictures there that I believe were the furniture pieces I saw in her bedroom.”

I asked him to estimate her height and he thinks she is probably 52 inches tall. That is logical with earlier measurements we received, so I still truly think she is about the same size as Preston.

Tim says that the home in which the children live as a simulated family is quite small. He also says there are 10 children living in the home, not 8. Both Heng Xin and Shaling have been living with foster families, however, and it’s been awhile since they both resided in the simulated family home. The simulated family homes, while part of the orphanage, are actually a couple of miles from the orphanage. They are just a few blocks from the school.

Tim found out that his daughter was actually found at the age of 5 weeks. He was under the impression she had been found at age 3 ½. Turns out she lived the first few years of her life in an “old folks home” – until Long Gang SWI (the orphanage) was built. Considering their similarity in age and the fact that both girls were “found” in 2004, it makes me wonder if perhaps Shaling was discovered at a younger age as well.

He did share some heart-breaking news. On Monday, which was “Gotcha Day” for his family, there were three other families getting their children at the same time. One of those families is going home without a daughter. Apparently, her rejection of them was so extreme that the adoption was disrupted. I can only imagine that the depths of their pain would be similar to a family suffering the loss of a baby via stillbirth or a late term miscarriage. I pray that God comforts them and I pray that the child will eventually have a family.