With Six You Get Eggroll

We're Home

2007-05-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

We got home yesterday. We were 40 minutes early into the Redmond airport, so very few people actually greeted us, but then people kept trickling in, so that worked out well and might have been less overwhelming for Ella.

There are some photos of her homecoming below.

We have so appreciated all the encouraging, positive emails and blog comments, also yesterday all the people who came to the airport to welcome Ella and who let us know they have been keeping up with us on this adventure by reading our blog. It is amazing to me how many of you care so much about our family and especially about our new daughter.

This will be our last post. Now that we are home, we are shockingly busy. The last 24 hours have been chock-full of unpacking, holding Ella, and cleaning (had to redo all the laundry due to residual mosquito repellent stink, and unfortunately while paying someone to do your laundry is affordable in China it is very expensive here. I actually considered looking into it ....). We have also been sleeping a little bit too much during the day and not quite enough at night. Getting these pictures off the camera and onto the laptop was quite a feat for our jet-lagged minds and bodies.

This photo was taken just off the plane. It was a good thing we landed early because those little planes are not good for my stomach and I was very sick. Every time the plane bounced I made a humming/growling noise in the back of my throat ... I think I was scaring the man across the aisle.

We were greeted with flowers and a balloon by my friend Barb.

With my brother Tim and Ella's cousin Amy.

Ella discovered the Lego table in the airport and played with kids from our church. Until that point at the airport she was very quiet and withdrawn ... I think she was scared and just not sure what was happening.

With several people from Robert's work.

With our friends Jim and Heather Knox and their four kids.

With my good friends Tara McSween and Maria Roberts

With Matt and Amanda Fisher and their daughter Emily, who is the same age as Ella (and thus Amanda has been a great resource for me as I prepared for Ella)

With Grandma Karin

American Citizen!

2007-05-18T21:41:00.001-07:00

Ella became an official US citizen today when her feet hit US soil (actually, the waiting area near the baggage claim at LAX).

We had a hard flight with a lot of turbulence, two vomiting incidents and weird airplane food that was supposed to be "Western" (as opposed to Eastern) that we couldn't figure out, let alone eat.

Now we are in our Embassy Suites hotel room, after having eaten a double pepperoni pizza that wasn't great, but tasted like home.

We love America! even though Jasper says he misses China and loves it more because he loves the babies.

Stephanie

Red Couch Photos

2007-05-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for bed for our last night here. We spent much of today indoors in our hotel room, away from the incredible heat and humidity, and surrounded by the kids' favorite tv shows, toys and food (peanut butter and honey sandwiches .... for the 8th time this week). Just before dinner we met with Molly and Joe and agency rep Jocelyn for photos on the red couch at the White Swan hotel .... something all the adoptive families do. Then, trying to decide what to eat for dinner, we (with Kellie and Connie) tried a few different restaurants but they were all too expensive and had weird food (see below), like really really different. We really wanted to celebrate for our last meal in China, but Ella was starving, and then Jasper fell and scraped his knee, and Cyrus was sad about not wearing his new shoes, and there was no highchair available and the service was unbearable slow .... and everything got very bad very fast and we ended up going back to the hotel, leaving Maya with Kellie and Connie (where they waited a very long time for her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and french fries, of which she only ate the fries anyway) and Robert got us food from the Thai restaurant and I made the boys peanut butter and honey sandwiches. It wasn't the way we wanted to spend the evening, but I guess this is life with 4 kids. In China. Who love being here but also really want to go home.

Tomorrow morning we pack, and we check out in the early afternoon, go to our consulate appointment, then go to the airport. I am not sure we will have time to post again.

See you on Saturday, or soon after!

Group photo of our entourage on the famous red couch at the White Swan hotel. You can see Jasper is holding Ella's hand down and her other hand is just a blur. This is because every time the photographer Jocelyn said, "Ready, one, two, three" Ella smiled and waved vigorously. It was so funny it was hard for the rest of us to keep a straight face.

Family photo, Tadjiki style.

Ella and Molly and Joe's daughter Hope. Hope is a natural ham who smiles at every camera, while Ella is wondering why this little girl keeps trying to put an arm around her.

Jasper and Cyrus watching the ships on the river from the White Swan Hotel.

Jocelyn is making Ella smile by doing a Chinese nursery rhyme.

Yummy water beetles ... you can get them stewed or stir fried!

Leaving on Schedule

2007-05-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

Good news ... we are leaving on schedule on Friday. Everything worked out yesterday with getting a new adoption certificate. We are so grateful that God answered our prayers.

Here are some new photos. Enjoy! Today Jocelyn does a lot of running around for us, while we do whatever we want (that is one thing I will miss about being in China ... so much down time) and tomorrow we pack up and have our Consulate appointment, the final step in the adoption.

Ella and Daddy

Connie, Kellie and our rep Jocelyn

Ella enjoying some American French Fries

Stephanie and her four beautiful children (We are an amazing thing to behold in China - with their one child policy)

Gentleman asking for money

Cyrus in the middle of the shopping area

Cyrus in front of large aparment building near popular shopping area

Jasper chilling with his new sister

Ella sleeping like a baby

Maya with her swollen mosquito eye - She is looking like her normal beautiful self today

Funny Story ... and Prayer Request

2007-05-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

The other day Maya was tired after doing some shopping. She leaned against me in a taxi as we were going back to our hotel and said, "Mom, there sure are a lot of Chinese people here!"

I said, wondering if the driver knew English (probably not), "Yes there are, Maya ... 1 billion!"

We are ready to come home. There is one small problem with our paperwork, unfortunately. When they did Ella's adoption certificate they forgot to put her American name. So our CCAI rep is trying to get it fixed right now. By the time you all wake up and read this, we will probably already know if we will be able to fly out on schedule Friday .... This typo affects when Ella can get her passport. So you can see how important this is.

One more story. At breakfast when I was feeding Ella I was trying to get her attention ... I stared into her eyes and slowly moved my head forward to gently butt against her forehead. To my surprise, she moved HER head forward and butted it against mine. Then she reared back and did this funny quiet chuckle she does when she is pleased with herself. I was congratulating myself on teaching her something new, when Jasper saw us and said, "That's what I do with Ella!" So I guess I know where she learned that.

OK, I can't resist. One more story. I posted a message online asking the new parents of Ella's little friend Chun Yun to contact me, saying just that I had a photo for them. It was such a long shot. It was entirely possible that they would not even see my message, and I did not know their names or how to contact them. I had no idea that his mother would respond right away! They are from Boise! Amazing that they live so close! They have four daughters already, and they sound so excited to be adopting Chun Yun.

OK, just one more story. Maya got attacked by another mosquito, this time just under her right eye. It is really swollen, about half shut. When we walk around together, people see her and actually recoil. I can just imagine they are thinking I am here to adopt her, an older Chinese girl with a terrible rare eye disease. The funny thing is, Maya has no idea. Her smile is so sweet.

We miss you all and can't wait to see you.

Barbara, thanks for the tip in bringing the kids' favorite snack food. We have plowed through most of it and it really helped. I just wish I had brought more Cheerios and applesauce .... I didn't think about Ella eating it, too!

Stephanie

Ella's Birthplace

2007-05-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

Kids from Ella's village.

These folks had never seen an American before.

Two leaders of the village and they gave me their address and are looking forward to future correspondence

I purchased ice cream for a large group of kids

One of the older woman of the village

Four year old boy who was best friends with Ella and helped to take care of her while in the orphanage. His face lit up when I showed him the photo of Ella. He is to be adopted as well in the next few months.

Entrance to Ella's orphanage

Future of Scrolls From China

2007-05-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Even though Scrolls From China is really just in its infancy of growth - Kenny and I are planning on beginning a foundation within the next several months. The purpose of the foundation will be to give training and employment to older orphans as they have to leave their respective orphanages at the age of 16. Having a job is paramont to life. Ever been unemployed for a while during your life? I was - and it isn't a good feeling.

We will begin forming the name, 501(c)3 process and completing the necessary steps to establishing this foundation. All dontaions will be tax exempt. Scrolls From China will begin giving monies from the purchases of all art pieces to the creation of this foundation plus individual money given to each of the artists.

I implore you to see if there is any way that you can contribute to this new beginning. Please consider and be in prayer regarding how you might be able to help. When all of the details are in place I will send out an email with more specifics.

Kenny has a gregarious personality and his parents and both siblings are all doctors and know many business leaders in China. They are helping him kick start the foundation with money from their personal savings accounts. Kenny is a Christian and does his work due to a desire to help orphans. When he was younger his parents had him in orphanages as they traveled around the country serving communist China - for doctors were needed to travel around the country where they were directed by the government during this time. Kenny laughs that he is the shortest person in his family because he ate food from orphanages as he was growing. He is now 34.

I would also encourage you to pray for Kenny. He is an amazing man. He also desires to find a wife but it is difficult in his line of work. A woman would have to be very sacrificial to be with him. He dated a woman for many years but she broke it off five years ago because she couldn't stay in China and he didn't want to move to France.

Kenny I know that you are reading this - we give you our prayers and our hearts.

Scrolls From China

2007-05-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

Part of this journey has been the long awaited meeting with the artists and a reunion with Kenny. It was truly an incredibly special time. There were many hugs, tears and conversations of hope for the future.

First off I want to personally thank Dominic for all of his web design help. You are incredibly talented Dominic. Thank you for sharing your talent with Scrolls From China. Sarah - has been the backbone to the website and is incredibly talented and wonderfully professional. I encourage anyone to check out the resource page for their contact info if you are ever in need of hiring someone to do marketing and web design for you. Dominic and Sarah - I wanted you guys to know that I gave a blessing to the artists and it was from you guys as well.

Most importantly for this trip was to give the artists and several orphanages laptop computers. I was able to get many laptops but they didn't work due to a variety of reasons. My brother in law is extrememly talented in this field and was able to take all of these computers which didn't work and create 20 functioning, Dell wireless - Pentium III processor computers! Most things in China are relatively cheap because they are made directly here. This is not the case with electronics. Computers, digital cameras and other items of this nature are extremely expensive because of the tariffs that are placed upon them from the Chinese government. So a typical computer would cost almost 2 to 3 times more than for us in the States. The first computer that I gave to the artists two years ago - I purchased and then shipped it to a family in California who personally delivered it to Kenny. (This way, instead of mailing, is the best way to save money.) So to give 20 computers to those with practically nothing was quite an event. Stephanie and I gave each of the artists some clothes with Bend Oregon on them, plus some candies and a blessing and then of course the computers. There is nothing that I can say that will ever convey my love to Tim for his self-less help in making this happen. You see, computers are like lifeblood to these kids. There are educational websites that allow them to improve their academic skills, English comprehension and a host full of other educational skills that can be learned via free web sites that are established for anyone across China. But for these orphans - education is never really stressed on the whole. In addition, they don't have parents who are motivating them to learn and all in all the spiral of destruction continues to go downward for them. But here face to face with them and to be able to give them 20 laptops for them to learn with - what a gift. What an act of hope that will bring them to a place where they will strive harder because they now have the opportunity. Thank you Tim. Thank you for sharing your talents. Thank you for your love.

The White Swan

2007-05-14T00:33:00.000-07:00

Robert is gone all day today visiting Dianbai orphanage. For an easy outing, the kids and I just walked to the 5-star White Swan hotel, down the street, where we stayed when we got Maya and where most adopting Americans stay. When you check in, there is a Mattel Barbie that has a Chinese baby in a front pack waiting for you in your room ... it is a collectors edition, and much coveted by Barbie fans. Anyway. It is always fun to walk around a luxury hotel, but this one has enormous Taiji fish swimming in a pool with a very tall waterfall and a lot of open halls to walk through. Also a view of the river with big ships (we saw 11, according to Cyrus). And a cage of birds. And the most wonderful bathroom in China. Clean, huge, two rows of toilets, not a squatty potty anywhere to be found. And clean! With TP and soap and paper towels .... as you can see, I was crazy about this bathroom. Jasper had his daily 20 minute poo while we were there, and let me tell you, I have experienced a lot worse with him.

Kellie and I agreed we are both feeling a little bit down having said goodbye to the artists. The two older girls were crying as they left .... it was heart-wrenching to see them, spoil them and love on them, and then see them go back to the orphanage and know that really, we didn't make much of a difference. It is a very different experience bringing Ella home. There is only joy there. This has always been a trip that is about two things .... Ella and seeing the artist. One is so wonderfully positive. The other was bittersweet.

I should say that if Robert were here reading this he would say that we are helping and making a difference by buying their artwork, sending money regularly, and in this way helping them hone their skills for future employment. Not to mention bringing the laptops, which will help in an indirect way. And he is right. I guess you could say that, along with Kenny, we are teaching them to fish instead of giving them a fish.

Ella news: She has said her first word! She now says "hi." I may have told you this before. She also gives high fives.

Gotta go. Photos tomorrow, hopefully.

Stephanie

Reunion Photos

2007-05-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

Robert with Kenny and the kids.

The guys enjoyed hanging out together despite the age difference.

Kellie really took to Yue Feng (which means Little Moon) and got to hold her for this photo.

We all ate breakfast together at our hotel twice. These kids had never seen a buffet before, nor had they tried so many different kinds of Western food. I was surprised that they didn't go for the Chinese breakfast food, instead I saw french toast, sausage and cinnamon rolls on their plates.

Yue Feng in her new dress. The morning they left she was very sad and did not want her picture taken.

Shopping

2007-05-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

I have finally figured out what book I will write someday. It will be called The China Diet. I will tell people that if you want to lose 10 lbs in two weeks, go to China and adopt a baby. You will be so busy, plus the food is strange, plus there is the whole traveling-jet lag-yucky feeling involved that the pounds will just melt off! Hm, looks like I just wrote the book ... so much for royalties.

Yesterday Robert, Kellie and Connie took the kids shopping after lunch. Well, first they had lunch at McDonalds. This was like a trip to Disneyland for these kids. Seriously. They had heard of McDonalds, of course, since they have them in China and there are commercials, but had never been to one. Robert said they all ordered coffee because that is so cool and American ... but no matter how much sugar they poured in they could not drink it! Then Robert and Kellie really wanted to buy them things. They took them to a posh shopping center and bought them clothes.

One of the artists is a little girl, 4 years old, about the same age as Maya. Her hair is cut very short, like all the girls in her orphanage, because no one has time to take care of long hair. (Seeing her and Maya together, this difference is the most obvious ... one has a mom to brush and fix her hair. One does not.) Kellie bought her a beautiful pink dress and matching hat. When I saw later she was beaming, laughing, twirling her dress. She was beautiful.

While Robert was spending time with them I was in charge of all four kids for the first time (happy mothers day to me!) and it went well. Whew, I think I can do this. I took the kids out to dinner to the American restuarant, Lucys, where you can sit outdoors and there is place for the kids to run (and they did). They ordered spaghetti and pizza. I had a cheeseburger that was very good. The only hitch was when all three of the older kids said they had to go potty ... all at different times. The potty is in a building that anyone can access, and all the potty are squatties (hole in the ground, and you're lucky if there are handrails and TP). I had to draw on all my mommy skills to make sure everyone was safe. When we got back to the hotel I gave the girls baths together ... first time. The formerly quiet meek little Ella has really come out of her shell. She kept trying to climb up the side of the tub, and she loved splashing. Within 60 seconds she was wet from head to toe. Maya was very patient with her and careful of her.

It is early Monday morning. After breakfast Kenny and the kids get back on their bus (these kids have never been on a long distance bus before this trip, also have never spent time in a city before! A lot of firsts for them on this trip. Even the hotel .... the tv with all the channels ... the computer that comes with the room! The boys loved playing on that). And Robert is taking the arduous trip to Dianbai orphanage. We debated a long time about whether he should go. The trip is 4.5 hours one way, and it costs a lot of money to hire a car and driver. The final factor in deciding it was realizing how precious it would be to have a photo of the little 4 year old boy that Ella was close to there. So ... Robert will go to the orphanage, take photos and video, but mostly he is going just to meet this boy.

I will have to post photos later unfortunately .... I hope I am still able to blog at that point!

Stephanie

Whoops - Here are photos

2007-05-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

OK - I accidentally clicked on the link to post the last post instead of clicking on the link to grab another photo. Remember, it is all in Chinese so I am not actually as stupid as you might think.

Here are the photos I meant to put in the last post .... the boys went to an amusement park the other day, and had a great time with Dad while the girls and I shopped for shoes.

Also, I love the photo of Ella in the cream flowered dress. She is holding a toy that sings Chinese music and flashes lights, and she is twisting her body, dancing in response.

2007-05-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

Continuing the blind posting ....

Here are some photos. Ella had her official medical examination so that she could be released to leave China. Some children who are being adopted go to this exam and everyone discovers for the first time that the child has a special need that was previously unknown, like deafness. Then sometimes the Chinese govt will not want you to adopt the child or maybe they will give you the option of taking another child (I know, it sounds awful if you aren't familiar with all of this). We happened to get there a bit late, Friday at 430 when they are trying to close and go home for the weekend, so her exam was a bit rushed. We did not mind at all.

The photo of myself, Ella and the doctor is funny for Robert and I because this was the same doctor who examined Maya three years ago. Robert got really upset with him because it was very hot in the clinic, and Maya was tired and crying a lot, and there were people everywhere waiting in line, and when the doctor tried to listen to her chest he couldn't because she was screaming. Finally he told me I needed to make her be quiet right now ... I was outraged because I hardly knew this child and had no idea how to make her be quiet! Robert got all protective and angry, and it was all he could do to keep it together and not antagonize this guy. With Ella's exam, he was perfectly nice, by the way.

Writing blind

2007-05-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile, but we have tried! For some reason we aren't able to view our blog at all anymore. I understand you all in the US are able to .... must be one of those China things.

I am very surprised to be able to get to this page, where you can post, and I am not sure if this will work or not. And also since i can't see our blog, I won't be able to see for myself. So if someone could email me directly and let me know that they saw this post, I would appreciate it.

Our friend Kenny and 5 kids showed up yesterday afternoon after a 10 hour bus ride. Robert and I just had a Scrolls From China meeting with Kenny at Starbucks (!) which was great. We got to talk about a lot of things that are hard to discuss via email and phone. And last night we went out for Chinese food at this place that only the locals and Robert (because he talks to everyone) know about. (Our guide Jocelyn was very very surprised to hear that we had eaten there because she thought it was a secret). No white people there, and it is on the fifth floor, no elevator (it might be good for my calves, but it doesn't feel good), no high chairs for babies, no baby food, no bottled water for foreigners who can't handle the local water. BUT - excellent excellent food, really amazing, and soooo cheap you would not believe it.

I could talk about food forever. Instead, let me say that this reunion with Kenny has been wonderful. We are teaching Maya and Ella to call Kenny "shu shu" which means Uncle. He is so great with our kids, as in fact the artists are, too.

Ella is doing super. It turns out she is very active and curious and into EVERYTHING, just like any other 13 month old. She has been smiling a lot and even laughing. She keeps learning so much ... today we have been working on giving high fives and giving kisses, and also she is starting to make the sign for "more" when she wants more food.

I better try and post this before it disappears.

Stephanie

New Photos

2007-05-10T04:54:00.000-07:00

Today we took our first family photo at the White Swan Hotel, in front of a waterfall. This photo is not actually the first ... the one just before this one had Cyrus doing something strange with his hands.

We went swimming today at our hotel pool, which is uniformly too deep for our kids to play in, as well as being in direct sunlight at every hour of the day (it's on the roof). Also the railing around the rooftop is short and the rails are really far apart ... we stayed for about 15 minutes, just enough time to take some photos.

The photo of the kids posing with a statue is just one example of many we have taken. There are several of these statues all around our hotel, some on the way to breakfast every morning, and the kids love to pose with them. As Robert said, we could have a second blog devoted to statue photos. Don't worry, we're not going to do that.

You might be wondering about Jasper and the parasol. Robert got one for Maya, and Jasper started begging for one, too. Turns out he wanted to use it to play Gun. So I guess it is a gun.

A quick story .. we just ate with Jeff and Kenna Jasper, during which Robert discovered that Jeff is also a Bears fan ...! He got so excited. You can imagine. The two of them started talking about football. Robert was also feeding Ella congee (watery rice with minced chicken) as they talked. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. The next thing we know, Ella has a spoonful of rice gruel on top of her head. Robert was trying to put the spoon in her mouth without actually having to turn and look at her. Lucky she didn't seem to notice.

It's 8 pm, time for the struggle to stay awake until 9 and then to stay asleep past 5 am. So far the staying awake is okay, but Robert and I are both still waking up far too early. At least the kids are adjusted.

Stephanie

Hives

2007-05-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

We took Ella to the medical clinic today because she has been scratching the rash on her arms, legs and head a lot lately. I have been putting cortizone cream, and that helps, but we finally decided to get her checked out in case we should be doing anything else. The doctor said she has hives, and using the cream is good to do. We also bought some Chinese medicine that should help with the itching.

So now we know what that itchy rash is ... we were told a few months ago that she had eczema, but we are very familiar with eczema because of Jasper, and we were sure that diagnosis was wrong. So glad to know it isn't something contagious, like chicken pox or scabies.

Dad asked about captions for the photos .... we wish we knew how to do that! Unfortunately the place in the blog where you post and grab photos and manage the blog is all in Chinese! So we have managed to figure out how to post, and how to put photos on the blog, all just by luckily clicking on the right Chinese characters. Tim, do you have any suggestions?

Some photos you may be wondering about ... the boy with Cyrus is just a 6 year old boy we ran into on the street. Robert asked his age, then asked if we could take his picture. The photo of Ella, myself and the Chinese woman is at the conclusion of our second interview yesterday. The woman is the woman who asked for our phone number for when she visits the US.

In the next group of photos, the first one is the moment I first held Ella, which you probably figured out. Then Cyrus is holding Ella for the first time. Below that is a group photo that includes the assistant director of Ella's orphanage, who answered all our questions about Ella and seemed to know quite a lot about her. She also visited Ella every day while she was in the hospital. She called her "Feng Feng" which is a common nickname for Chinese children (that is, they typically double the second name. Xiao Feng becomes Feng Feng). The next photo is of Cyrus walking Ella for the first time. The final photo of that group is Maya, telling the camera that now there are two girls!

Finally, the final group of photos ... sorry about all the scrolling up and down! The top photo is of Jasper, Maya and the man who met us at the airport, Jason. Then one of Cyrus pushing a luggage cart that was extremely heavy, but he did great. He really had to push a cart since we loaded up five with all our suitcases and there just weren't enough adults! THen a photo of Maya, myself, Connie and Kellie. And the rest should be self-explanatory.

Whew. I think in the future we will explain photos as we go.

OK - I just have to list everything that Ella has learned in the last 48 hours. It is pretty impressive. She has learned to wave hi, point, hold up her arms to be held, babble, share (we shared a sucker), smile and laugh with us, pick up Cheerios and put them in her mouth, recognize her name, and finally, she learned to crawl. She was walking before but when i tried to get her to crawl she just laid on her stomach. I told Cyrus that we wanted her to learn how to crawl (it is good for overall development) and next thing I know, Cyrus is holding out a Cheerio to her and moving back ... and she started crawling towards him! Clumsily at first, but she is fairly proficient now (only about 4 hours later).

I feel confident in saying that she did not do any of these things before we got her.

Her favorite toy is this awful McDonalds toy that if you press the button, it plays this romantic-sounding Chinese music that Robert can't stand. But he doesn't have the heart to take it away from her.

We're off to dinner with the Jaspers (hee hee). Going out for American food. Not sure why I feel guilty about eating American food in China.

Stephanie

Adoption Musings

2007-05-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well I just have to share a few of my thoughts for those of you who are interested.

We are still very much rock stars when we walk around the city here. Everyone is interested in my kids and the fact that we have adopted kids from China make us life savers in the eyes of people here. You would think that there might be something strange about coming to a foreign country and taking their kids back to a foreign land - but in fact the Chinese people are moved by our act.

Even though their economy is rising the general mass of people are still very poor. We ate in a McDonalds yesterday and I purchased a happy meal for less than $2 and I could tell that this was a lot of money.

One of the most amazing things was when we received Ella at the govenernment office there were multiple families there. A group from Spain - 13 families, two other American families and a group of about 10 families from Canada. What was so amazing was that everyone was taking photos of other families receiving their children. The atmosphere was just so full of love, anticipation, fulfillment, hope and future. People were crying, shouting, hugging - it was one of the most intense and beautiful things that I have ever experienced.

An admission ticket to something like this would be priceless.

I want to send out a word of encouragement for anyone out there who has even thought of adoption as a way to add to their family to keep considering it or if you are planning on having children in the future I would encourage you to think about this as an option. I don't have any agenda nor do I expect anyone to be like me (especially not remembering your wedding anniversary when you have to confirm your personal information - Not Good!) but I have seen the beauty of my relationship grow with my soon to be four year old daughter - Maya and I can see the future with my next daughter Ella as being one full of exciting times and great adventures. My mentor and father in life - Big O - adopted five children and he shared with me once during one of those conversational moments that you never forget that his kids love him passionately and that there isn't any difference between your bioliogical kids and your adopted kids. He has both and as I do now and have learned that yes this is the truth. So wherever you are at in life - I encourage you to consider it, encourage others and to give hope to those kids that are in desperate need of a life with parents.

So besides my daughters being Made in China - much of the worlds electronics and products are made here. So as one of my students loves to say, "I love Free" - Well I love deals! I might be able to get a really great iPod for $25.

Robert

It's Official

2007-05-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today we had the final "interviews" (How old are you? When did you get married? (Robert got that wrong. TO his credit, he has been great at taking care of me and the kids, and he hasn't been feeling 100 percent today. So I will forgive him. :-) Will you promise never to abandon her? Promise never to abuse her? Are you sure you want her? Sign here ....). We paid the final fees. Now, legally, Ella is ours.

This morning at breakfast she impressed us all by walking several steps, all by herself. She will walk only towards me (big smile of pride) and raises her arms to be picked up. Today she also raised her arms to Robert once, to be picked. He was thrilled.

OK - a funny story. When we got off the plane we saw a man holding a sign for "Jasper Family." Robert immediately went over to him and greeted him, assuming, as did I, that they meant Tadjiki Family and had the wrong name. Then we saw a man behind him with a sign for our agency, CCAI, and realized the first man really was there to meet a family called the Jaspers. Robert and I, in talking about it later, figured out the Jaspers were probably a couple sitting behind us on the plane.

The next day the Jaspers were at the government office where we got Ella. They showed up about a half hour after us to get their daughter. We saw them a couple times at the White Swan hotel, by the elevators. Today they were at the gov office again to pay the fees and make the adoption official. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of Americans in Guangzhou to get their children, but wherever we go, there are the Jaspers. We have made tentative plans to get together for dinner soon.

The three older kids are doing great. Right now Robert is at McDonalds with them. They are generally good natured and having fun. When Maya starts asking when we are going home, that means she is tired and needs to go to bed. Other than that she is great. Yesterday Robert took them to lunch while I napped. They went to a Chinese restaurant (really, Chinese restaurants are not common around here) where they got a ton of food for about $5, including cans of pop. There was a woman there who was enraptured with Maya and ended up feeding her bites of food until Connie intervened by asking Maya if she was full, Maya nodded, and that was the end of that. Maya has been getting a lot of attention, which she adores, and also she loves to eat, so it is hard for her to turn down food. Especially this food, which I guess was amazing.

Everywhere we go, Robert is making friends. One man came up to him on the street and asked if we had been here before ... he owns a shop here and remembered Robert from 3 years ago! They had spent a lot of time talking ... but still, that is amazing when you consider how many Americans this man must meet every week. Today when we were having our second interview, the woman was fascinated to hear about Robert's job and asked several questions about schools in the US and about Oregon. Then she asked if could have our phone number if she ever came to the US! It sounds creepy but it really wasn't -- she was just very friendly and nice.

Well, now that I have my daughter I am ready to come home. I love China, but I am longing to get her home and settled into our life together. I remember feeling this way after the boys were born and I just wanted to leave the hospital and get home .... and also when we adopted Maya.

Oh, one other thing ... yesterday, as though there was not enough drama what with meeting Ella, when we got back from that to our hotel room, a mosquito bite on Maya's neck (lots of mosquitos here, but no malaria if you were wondering) had swollen to the size of half a golf ball. It looked like a goiter and it was really itching her. We threw some Benedryl into her and Robert took her to a Western-medicine clinic at the White Swan hotel. The doctor there looked at her and affirmed the use of Benedryl and also gave us some antibiotic cream. (Total cost: $4.) We are relieved she is okay ... even if you are comfortable traveling, it is hard to take your small children and not worry about them getting sick so far from home.

Stephanie

Ella Bettina XiaoFeng Tadjiki

2007-05-08T03:13:00.000-07:00

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has given me what I asked for." 1 Samuel 1:27

Today we welcomed Ella Bettina XiaoFeng Tadjiki into our family. As I sit in front of the computer, Ella is sitting on my lap, Maya is pushing Cheerios into Ella's mouth (which she clearly wants, even though she is receiving them passively), Cyrus is begging to walk with her (one of the first things Ella did was to take Cyrus by the hand and walk around the room with him while we watched, eyes wide and jaws on the floor) and Jasper is punching himself in hopes that he will make Ella laugh.

It will, once she warms up.

Let me start at the beginning. First we were late to the "gotcha" meeting because Robert found a shirt at a store that he really liked, but he needed me to see it before he bought it. It is white silk in traditional Chinese mandarin style and looks great on him. So he bought it, pulled it on and he and I, plus Cyrus and Kellie, raced to meet the rest of our travel group to go get our babies. The drive to the government office was about 15 minutes. When we got there we went upstairs to a room with several couples, some with children, waiting for their babies. We were told that our baby was in the building, but Molly and Joe's had not arrived yet, so we had to wait (!). So we sat and waited.

Just a few minutes later our agency rep, Jocelyn, told us it was time to receive our baby. We looked over at the door and saw a woman walking in, holding the hand of a baby girl who was toddling toward us. It was Ella. She was wearing new pink and white clothes and absurd pink plastic shoes. Tears came to my eyes when I saw her walking ... it wasn't how I had imagined it, yet it was amazing and wonderful.

While Ella was walking in, Robert was frantically showing Joe how to use our camcorder, which lucky for me left the way clear for me to pick her up and hold her.

Ella has not made a sound yet. Initially, at the government office, she seemed calm and interested in everything around her. She loved a sucker I brought her and slobbered it all over her hands and clothes. She even shared it with me. She was holding it out, and impulsively I leaned in and licked it, to see what she would do. She stared at me at first, then she thrust the sucker towards me for another lick. We played that game for a long time. When Cyrus reached a hand, as I said before, she reached back and they walked around together. We found out from the orphanage official that Ella had a special bond with one of the other children at the orphanage, a 4 year old boy who played with her and cared for her. Clearly, Ella was meant to have older brothers.

We were able to talk for a long time to the orphanage official (through our agency rep who interpreted). She said Ella is quiet and easy going, but quite active. She said once Ella managed to climb up onto a chair and sit on it.

Ella has a cold which they said she just got today. Her nose is runny and her breathing is noisy, but otherwise she seems quite healthy. Her cleft lip has a notch that I imagine will need to be surgically fixed at some point. She is wearing clothes labeled 3-6 months in size, but they are a little tight around the legs.

She fell asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel, and had a good nap while Jasper and Maya ooed and ahhhed and had to be forcibly kept away from the crib. When she woke up, she woke without a sound, but Cyrus was right there to report to me that she was awake.

The boys are having a hard time with her name. They keep saying Emma. Maya hasn't had that problem.

We chose her name when we decided we needed to name her after Elizabeth in the Bible. But Elizabeth was too long. We decided on Ella as a shortened version, but then we also loved Bettina, the Spanish version of Elizabeth. We decided to combine them and go ahead and give her two middle names, Bettina and her Chinese name, XiaoFeng.

Robert and I are exhausted but thrilled. Ella is also tired and a little sick, but she continues to be very interested in everything around her. We also discovered that she LOVES Cheerios, one at a time, put in her mouth for her (already a little princess!).

There is more, I'm sure, but it is time to end this and take care of my little girl.

Love to you all,
Stephanie

We Made It!

2007-05-06T23:45:00.000-07:00

We are in China! Here are some photos of our journey.

Robert insisted that I include the photo of the scary cat picture that is on the wall in the Redmond airport. He thinks you all should petition that the picture be replaced with something a little nicer ... maybe a scroll or something.

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for us, especially for Jasper's and my health. Jasper had two pretty bad stomach aches in the two days before we left ... fortunately a kind nurse at COPA got us some meds for him just a few hours before we got on the plane, and actually he has been fine since we left. I was also having some stomach trouble before we left, but I did okay on the trip .... was able to help with the kids and also get plenty of sleep, and managed to eat some.

We got to LA 40 minutes ahead of schedule .... it is always nice not to be in the air as long as you had planned to! We met up with Kellie and Connie, zero problems there, and we have really been enjoying catching up with them and getting to know Connie as a young woman now instead of the nine year old she was the last time we saw her. Both Kellie and Connie have been wonderful travel companions .... so great with the kids, and very easy going and fun.

We arrived in Guangzhou this morning at 6 am. Absolutely zero problems with luggage and customs, yay! Got to our hotel, and those of you who know Robert well will be surprised to hear (big sarcasm here) that he got us a GREAT deal on our hotel rooms. The Tadjikis are staying in a very large suite with a separate bedroom and also a special section for the crib. The room even comes with a nice computer. Also the bed is soft, which is a much bigger deal than you might think. The Chinese like to sleep on boards.

We just had lunch with the one other family in our small "travel group." Funny enough, we ate Thai food. They are a couple named Molly and Joe, from Kansas, adopting their first daughter. Their two boys are with family in New York State. They are super nice and also useful, since Molly once lived in China for three years and has some Mandarin! :-)

Tomorrow at 2 pm our time we go get our daughter. Molly and Joe are also getting a little girl with a repaired cleft lip, about the same age as Xiao Feng. Please pray that everything goes smoothly for both families.

Much love to all of you, and much thankfulness to our Lord for his smoothing the way for us!

Stephanie

Laptops Are Packed!

2007-05-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we are taking 20 laptops to China to donate to orphans there ... we will hand them over to the artists we work with on May 12, and we are really looking forward to a great reunion with them. The laptops are for older orphans to learn computer skills, so that when they must leave the orphanage they have a better chance of getting a job. More later on our time with the artists ... and on the laptops.

Here is a photo of Cyrus and Maya with just some of our suitcases!

Ready To Go!

2007-05-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

With two days left until we go, Robert and I are both exhausted and ready to get on that plane, if only to get away from the craziness of getting everything in order before we go. My head is constantly busy thinking of things to do, things to pack, things to buy ... then I think something innocuous like "Gotta get her car seat in the van" and I start crying like a baby (while driving down the expressway, I know, not good) just thinking about when we put her in that car seat, she will be home. She will be ours.

Enough tears .... here are some recent photos of our other three children. They are so precious. Mostly. You know how it is.

Check out the map below

2007-04-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

With nine days left until we leave (ya hoo!) I am spending wayyy too much time on this blog! The latest is a map showing where in China we will be and where our daughter is from .... I put it all the way on the bottom of the page, underneath all our posts, so scroll down and take a look if you're interested.

Our Itinerary

2007-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

We bought our tickets! We will be flying out of Redmond (thank goodness) to LA on May 5 at 610 pm. We will fly straight from LA to Guangzhou, which is a huge blessing since we thought we would have a layover in Tokyo, adding hours to our trip. We will stay in Guangzhou the whole time we are in China, another huge blessing.

Returning home ... we have our consulate appointment on May 17, and on the 18th we leave Guangzhou at 9 pm, and arrive in LA on the same day at 650 pm (gotta love that time change). We are staying the night in LA, which Robert says is prudent, and he is right, but boy I know from experience that I will just want to get HOME! Anyway ... like I said, he is right. We will leave LA at 9-ish the morning of the 19th, and get into Redmond (straight from LA to Redmond! I love that! No Portland stop!) at 1145 am. This is a Saturday ... and we would love it if people want to meet us at the airport on our return. Having that crowd welcome Maya home is one of my favorite memories of her adoption trip. There is nothing like seeing a bunch of familiar, loving faces after such a long trip so far away from home.

Tomorrow it will be one month until we leave .... and the countdown really begins.

May 8 is the day!

2007-04-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our agency got us the appointment with the US Consulate we were hoping for on May 17. They said that Gotcha Day (as it is referred to in the adoptive community) will be May 8. We will probably arrive in Guangzhou (the city we will stay in) early in the morning on the 7th. Robert is researching and buying tickets right now .... so soon I will be able to post our itinerary.

Unbelievably, it seems we will be able to fly from Redmond to LA and then to Guangzhou .... which is pretty ideal.

We'll keep you posted!

Travel Approval!

2007-03-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

There is a superstition amongst us adoptive parents that has to do with getting updates about your child (there are also some superstitions about ladybugs and shaving certain body parts, but I won't go there), which is that if you get an update then Travel Approval follows immediately. Well .... the day after we got an update .... we got Travel Approval! (For the record, I am not superstitious, and I personally think it had more to do with the little-kid desperate prayer I prayed this morning: Please, God, travel approval today. Thank you. Amen.)

Because of the trade show in Guangzhou and the holiday the first week of May, the earliest we will travel to China is May 5. Our agency is still working on getting us a consulate appointment, which determines everything else about our trip. Because it is Friday in China, our agency wasn't able to get ahold of anyone on the phone, and they expect to hear back from the consulate on Tuesday.

So - I am disappointed that we are not going to China in April. Robert is, too, but his disappointment is tempered by the practical considerations of : cheaper hotel rooms in May (wayyyy cheaper) and also more time to plan and pack.

Oops

2007-03-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it would help if I would actually put the photos on the blog ....

New Photos!

2007-03-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

We received some new photos of our baby girl today. We also got some measurements .... immensely helpful as I pack and re-pack her suitcase with different sized clothing! It looks like she is on the low end of the charts, unlike her "big" sister Maya. Xiao Feng is at about the 5th or 10th percentile in height and weight. Although she will be a year old, I will probably pack 6-9 month clothing. I know this is probably too much detail for most of you, but this is the kind of thing that consumes me lately!

We finished painting the girls' bedroom and Robert is putting the crib together as I type. He just finished our taxes, so April 15 can arrive we can be anywhere in world. This is the busiest and least-fun spring break we have ever had, but it is all worth it.

The latest on traveling rumors is that we will go to China in May, to avoid a huge trade show in southern China the end of April, which swells the city we will be going to and drives up hotel rates astronomically .... also there is that darn holiday the first week of May that shuts everything down, so I am now guessing we will leave here at the tail end of that, maybe May 5?

OK - I need to print these terrific photos out and get them on the refrigerator!

2007-03-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would let you know where we are in the process. We are now just waiting for Travel Approval. This is when the Chinese govt calls our agency and says, ok, let them come get her. At that point our agency calls us and also begins working on getting us an appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. (This city is the site of the famous White Swan hotel -- which we will not be staying at this time.) Then our agency tells us when we should leave for China, based on when that appointment is. We will try to be ready to leave within a week.

If we get TA by the end of March, then chances are good we will be able to go to China in April. If we don't, then we will have to wait until mid to late May, due to a major national holiday in China the first week of May. They seriously celebrate Labor Day there -- in fact, it is a week in China. So nothing can get done then.

While everyone else in America is betting on college basketball, I'm putting all my bets into the "going-to-China-in-April" basket. Not that it matters .... it will happen when it happens.

In the meantime I am distracting myself by shopping for Baby Sister, packing for five people for this little family "vacation" we are taking (five people includes the baby - it does not include Robert. I have some pride!), and painting an absurd number of little pink and blue flowers all over the girls' bedroom walls.

A New Look For Our Blog

2007-03-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We decided to go with this blog style because we were frustrated with the photos on the first one .... they were just too small and we want to be able to show our baby girl. So welcome to the new teamtadjiki blog. I hope this one works better. Here are some photos of Xiao Feng.

The one with the Tellatubbies is the most recent.