Day 8

Day 8) Today was a day to be spent in the hotel waiting on the guide to bring us all the provincial paperwork and Liam’s passport. Really that is all we did due for the entire day is just watch television in the room, which I must say for a television junkie like me it is a hard thing to do when your selection of channels only include 3 English channels and these channels repeat the same shows several times a day. We did get CNN but news is good sometimes during the day but not something I can watch all day, the other choices were either HBO or some Fox international channel. These two choices were what we watched most if something was on good but even then not always. We did read and entertain ourselves by keeping the journal going on a daily basis as to make sure that we kept it fresh so that we did not forget to include something of importance or interest. Okay to add a few interesting observations to this journal. First is that beds in China are hard as a brick, honestly they are very hard and extra firm this is the way the Chinese like it, it does take some getting used to but it is still uncomfortable to sleep on when you’re used to sleeping on a comfy pillow top mattress. Secondly another thing that is very hard to get used too is the fact the Chinese that smoke do it any and everywhere they are no matter what, having not smoked for over a year not it does not really bother me anymore but it stinks a lot and is not something I want Liam to be exposed too. Thirdly we had a convention or conference at the hotel for a couple of days that was for a cigarette company and its supporters this just added more stink to the already abundant smell of stale cigarettes in the air. Lastly we find it interesting that Chinese people don’t think that we know the proper things to feed the baby. We were told how much to feed him and also what to feed him, it is like they think we have never even seen a baby before or been exposed to one.

Even more pictures

More pictures

Pictures of Nanjing from Day 8

Here are some pictures of Nanjing and some places we went to during our time there. They are of The Nanjing Brocace Research Institute and random sites we took.

Day 7) Again we began the day with the same morning routine as we have had for the last few days here in his province. We are trying to let him get adjusted to us by creating a semblance of a routine as we can here in China, adapting this as it is needed. Then about 8:30 we were picked up by our guide and driver and headed out have a morning of leisure sightseeing here in Nanjing. We were taken to the Confucius Temple that is just off the Mother River which flows into the Yangtze river. We took a short tour of the Temple which was truly amazing to see and experience since this was also one of the first places in all of China to have a University and one of the first in the entire world. We then went to what Shirley and I would consider a true Chinese Street Market, just like the ones you have seen on cable television, narrow streets or corridors with just rows and rows of stalls and shops selling almost everything you wanted or needed and something’s you truly could do without. We were told to make sure we kept an eye on our money and wallets in this confined area because this is where the pick pockets hang out. They were selling anything from fruits, clothing and souvenirs’ to even an assortment of animals that we think were suppose to be pets but in a foreign country you are never truly sure what that culture considers pets or food. Shirley did buy a solar flower for her car that she has seen in several cars as we have travelled around the area, it is similar to a bobbing head doll. We were heading back to the van when I saw the most prolific site in all of China, you may ask what pray tell is this site of wonders that I saw, it was none other than KFC and Pizza Hut the largest single fast food chain and most popular in all of mainland China. Believe it or not the number of these are far greater than the mega chain called McDonalds, which we have not seen at all here in Nanjing but we have seen Shirley’s favorite retail store in the entire world which we saw on our way too the hotel the first day here that being IKEA. After this trip to the temple and street market we headed back to the hotel for Liam to take a nap and rest for the rest of the day. We did experience in the afternoon our first big tantrum from Liam, we were unsure as to the root cause of this tantrum but in the end we think it was a combo of hunger and adjustment. After this event we had a fairly calm night with him.

Day 6 China

Day 6) We seem too stuck on getting up at the wee small hours of the morning for some reason don’t know if it is a form of jet lag or what. We are getting up most days around 5 in the morning so that we are ready and fully prepared for Liam to get up for the start of his day. So this morning we had our daily routine of breakfast and play time with Liam until about 8 am when we went out for the morning to do some shopping and a short visit to weaving institute. We first visited this gorgeous factory called the Nanjing Brocade Research Institute. This was a huge treat to see how these amazing Chinese silk brocades are made all of which no matter how intricate the design are produced by hand. After this we went to Chinese Department store that can only be describes as very high end Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Ave... It is funny because of the way you shop, you shop the different departments get a sales slip and then proceed to the nearest cashier and pay then return to the individual departments to pick up your purchases in the correct sizes, which generally are not out on the rack for sale but still in the stock room to be retrieved after selection is done. This department store is more than just an average American style department store because they have a full grocery store on one level and yet another level that is just restaurants. Our guide did say that all of the Department stores throughout China are of this same name and style. Another interesting fact about retail in China is that if you are buying let’s say cosmetics in one store the price is going to be the same in every store across the country for that brand and every other brand. So that is to say no matter what store carries an item it is the same as the next store and so forth and so on. Prices here in China seem to be controlled more here than we are used to in the USA, we think this may have to do to the fact that China has little to no inflation rate at all in their commerce. We did buy him 4 different one piece outfits, some shoes, and a couple pair of socks for his feet so that we will not offend anyone here in China. Not having something on your feet here in China is considered to be sign of poverty. We then went back to the hotel again for rest and relaxation with the baby, it may seem that we spend a lot of time in the hotel this week but it is what we and China would consider necessary for the bonding process too begin.

Day 5 China

Day 5) We woke up around 5 so that we could get ourselves ready before Liam woke up for the day, I showered and got dressed for the day. Shirley slowly got herself ready for the day and then we got Liam up and headed down to breakfast as a family. We headed back to the Department of Civil Affairs too make it official, to finalize the paperwork hand over large sums of money to them. We signed several documents and promised never to abuse or abandon him ever. Like that would ever happen to him again with us around to protect and care for him. Final after about 1 hour we headed back to the hotel with Liam Holt Shunyue Wetherald as our son, signed sealed and delivered as of 9:30 a.m. Chinese time. Here we spent the day with him experiencing him and his variety of moods, from happy too sad and even a little loneliness. The biggest emotion of the day is Crankiness. We think his moods may have stemmed from him being constipated or even a little itchy from what we guess is maybe bed bugs or some other bug bite. Our biggest relief came in a very small format for the new parents, it is truly amazing what brings great joy to you as a parent of a new baby no matter what their age maybe, we got to experience his very first “poop” it brought us such great joy because the poor boy had been constipated for about 2 days. We even did the “poopy” dance in celebration.

Day 4 Pictures Continued

More Forever Family Day pictures

Day 4 China

Day 4) Today we woke up as just Shirley and Holt, but we will go to bed as Mama and Papa. We get what can be called a temporary custody of him today at 10 am this is standard procedure to see how we adjust to him and how he bonds with us and for us to make sure he is right for us. Okay on a side note just thought I would add an interesting observation from someone who has never left the continental United States; at each hotel we stay at in China we are given a breakfast buffet as a part of our package. Okay so maybe I am a little jaded but I find it odd as to what is included on a buffet for breakfast here in China: hard boiled eggs of some texture, steamed buns, steamed veggies, fried rice, several types of Congee, salad makings, fruit, bacon, sausage, cold cuts, cheese, bread, omelet’s, and a selection of cereals. So Congee is boiled rice porridge with no flavor at all you add other things to it to give it flavor and texture. I don’t think I will complain about the air quality in the US ever again, here in China it seems to have a constant haze to it never truly bright and clear. I am still amazed and in awe that I truly am in another whole country half way around the world and feel just as at home here as I do in Orlando, Florida. I thought that on the day that I got too see Liam for the first time in person that I would be a lot more nervous and anxious about the whole thing, but as of now I seem to be okay. I look forward to the time that I see him, but I will update this again this afternoon to let you all know how it really went to relay my emotions of the experience and how Mama did with the whole thing.
As we arrived at the Department of Civil Affairs, there 14 families slated to become “Forever Families” that day also. We did have to wait for about 15 minutes for the Director and staff members from Liam’s orphanage to arrive. Some families already had their babies and had started the process of taking custody. While Jin our guide was trying to find out where Liam was we enjoyed just observing the other families interact with their child. Shortly thereafter Liam and his Nannies arrived, Mama got very emotional when she saw him for the very first time. It almost seemed to be a little surreal right at that moment because of the time and energy we have spent to get to that point. Papa was emotional but not visibly showing it at the time, his emotional outburst came about an hour earlier at the bank when we were stopping to change the money over to Chinese RMB’S. They took us to a smaller room to get our first family photo. Followed by the first set of formal paperwork that would give us the 24 hour custody of Liam. After the paperwork we headed to the hotel, were Jin helped us out making the first bottle of formula for him since we don’t read a lot of Chinese. After feeding him and attempting to settle him down, we tried on some of the clothes that we had brought for him only to find out that most everything that we brought for him was just a little big. Then finally around 5 p.m. he did crash for a good 2 hour nap as did both Mama and Papa. After waking him up around 7 we went the hotels buffet for dinner for the first of many family dinners. Came back bathed him in a soothing warm bath and put him in his pajamas and put him down in the crib for the night. He slept soundly until 6 a.m. the next morning.

Day 3 China

Day 3) It was a very early morning for us we had to be up and in the lobby of the Poly Plaza at 5:45 am to meet the driver and guide to take us to the airport to get us to our planes to go to the babies province. The flight was not long just 90 minutes, it just so happened that we were the only English speaking people on this flight, we did get a few interesting looks from some of the older Chinese on the flight. We landed in Nanjing for our next 6 days this is where we will get our son and become parents for the first time. It does not look like we will do a whole lot in Nanjing other than spend time at the hotel and spend time with the baby but once I have him in my arms and possession I really don’t care where we are just as long as he is there with us. So our official “Forever Family Day” is going to be June 22, 2010. This will be the day that will mean more to our Family than any holiday on the calendar.

Day 2 China

Day 2) Started out at breakfast at the hotel which was another very interesting experience to see a culture that does not have what we Americans have for breakfast, even the cereal had very interesting names on them one being “pop corn” for what we would know as “rice krispies”. This is where for the first time we met the five other families here from Great Wall Adoptions. After breakfast we headed to the lobby for our full day of touring the city. We went to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and finally the Great Wall. We found it amazing to see the sea of people at these historic place at some points it was wall to wall people and yes they were still a little pushy and rude, not that we would understand if they had called us a name or anything. It was a very surreal day for both of us to have seen these places on television and then to be right there and to walk around in places that were so old and legendary. I was very proud of myself for what I was able to do on the Great Wall I walked up the steep section to the second tier this was a major feet for me and something I felt I had to accomplish because I gave up smoking a year ago. Shirley went as far as she knew she could because of both her fear of heights and her asthma. I was very proud of her for saying that she could not go any further than she did. That evening we went out to dinner at the Beijing Hard Rock Café it was amazing and one of the other families came with us to dinner and we had a great night talking and exchanging stories about life and adoption.

Day 1) Our day started at about 6am when we head to the Orlando International Airport to get ready for our flights to China. Our check in was not as simple as it should have been, for some reason the system could not check us in on the new speedy check-in system, why can’t we just have a human being still do this or at least give me the option to have a computer do it or a person, but after the supervisor checked us in we headed to the gate and waited to board our first leg of the flight. We got on and headed to Washington Dulles; we did arrive a little late but was still early enough to catch our connection to China. We have realized the Chinese people are a little pushy and rude at times. We flew for 14 hours to China, wow this is the longest time Shirley and I have had to sit in one spot I think in our entire lives. This is not fun to do when you are a somewhat active person who does not remain sedentary for too very long. We had a good flight but did get some turbulence over the Hudson Bay area but that only lasted for a while. We arrived in Beijing on time, if not a little early. We went through customs, wow what an experience for a person who has never had to do this before. Then proceeded to baggage claim and then to find our guide for our time in Beijing. Michelle our guide was there ready for us and dropped us off at the Poly Plaza Hotel in Beijing. We hung out at the hotel the rest of the day settling in and adjusting to the difference in time and culture.

update

Hi all, we just want to let you know that all your prayers and good wishes were answered, we had an incredible journey and Liam is now home, so please enjoy the reading!