Tomorrow they begin the last leg of their journey as they head to Guangzhou. Please pray that Cora does well on the flight and that everything continues to go smoothly.
~Mandi~
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Day 2 ~ Pictures
These are the only pictures I got from Melissa. They are having trouble getting the e-mails with pictures attached to go through. It takes forever to upload pictures and then even longer to get them to upload to an e-mail as an attachment. So, for now there are 2 pics of Cora. She is most definitely adorable and has the most beautiful big brown eyes! (If you click on the picture, it will get bigger)
Tomorrow they begin the last leg of their journey as they head to Guangzhou. Please pray that Cora does well on the flight and that everything continues to go smoothly.
~Mandi~
Tomorrow they begin the last leg of their journey as they head to Guangzhou. Please pray that Cora does well on the flight and that everything continues to go smoothly.
~Mandi~
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Day 2
Mandi here again. Melissa finally sent me an update and things seem to be going well. She hasn't sent any pics yet so I will go ahead and post this and post the pictures as soon as I get them.
Sorry, friends. I chose bed over the blog last night. We were all (four of us) asleep by 8:30. I'm exhausted. Cora has decided she wants me and only me, which is flattering, until it's time to try to do something. She won't let Brendan near her, and she's a little apprehensive of Olivia. Now on the other hand, Olivia has been the greatest big sister. It hasn't seemed to bother her (much) that someone new is demanding all the attention. She loves "Baby" and tries to give her hugs and pats her head. Yesterday morning she grabbed her hands and told her to "Dance!" as she started to swing her hips. She is one incredible kid - don't think we don't know how greatly we have been blessed!
Yesterday we had two meetings/interviews where we confirmed that we did, in fact, want to keep Cora. So we're now officially a family in China's eyes. We also had our picture taken with the orphanage director, and I'm so glad. (I almost forgot to have it taken.) It's just a little piece of Cora's past that we'll be able to give her. Yesterday I mentioned to the orphanage director that I had been talking with several other families who have adopted from that orphanage and that they were so pleased with how their children had been treated. I was suprised when she wanted to know which families I had been talking about, and she was able to tell me that one of the children was one of Cora's "roomies." It was something his mother and I had wondered, and I doubted that we'd ever know whether it was true or not. What a nice bit of information to walk away with!
Cora is starting to relax a little. We're hearing more and more of that voice of hers and seeing a few more smiles. (which are about impossible to capture on camera) I've heard the first few days are the hardest, and I hope that's true. Because that means things will only get better. We're anxious for her to settle in with the whole family. I have to wonder what's going on behind those big, brown eyes of hers. She has to be terribly frightened, and I'm grateful for moments that she can let her guard down and laugh a little.
I think we're off to the park today. As long as the weather holds up. And maybe a little shopping. We want to make sure we find special things from her home province that she can treasure someday.
Sorry, friends. I chose bed over the blog last night. We were all (four of us) asleep by 8:30. I'm exhausted. Cora has decided she wants me and only me, which is flattering, until it's time to try to do something. She won't let Brendan near her, and she's a little apprehensive of Olivia. Now on the other hand, Olivia has been the greatest big sister. It hasn't seemed to bother her (much) that someone new is demanding all the attention. She loves "Baby" and tries to give her hugs and pats her head. Yesterday morning she grabbed her hands and told her to "Dance!" as she started to swing her hips. She is one incredible kid - don't think we don't know how greatly we have been blessed!
Yesterday we had two meetings/interviews where we confirmed that we did, in fact, want to keep Cora. So we're now officially a family in China's eyes. We also had our picture taken with the orphanage director, and I'm so glad. (I almost forgot to have it taken.) It's just a little piece of Cora's past that we'll be able to give her. Yesterday I mentioned to the orphanage director that I had been talking with several other families who have adopted from that orphanage and that they were so pleased with how their children had been treated. I was suprised when she wanted to know which families I had been talking about, and she was able to tell me that one of the children was one of Cora's "roomies." It was something his mother and I had wondered, and I doubted that we'd ever know whether it was true or not. What a nice bit of information to walk away with!
Cora is starting to relax a little. We're hearing more and more of that voice of hers and seeing a few more smiles. (which are about impossible to capture on camera) I've heard the first few days are the hardest, and I hope that's true. Because that means things will only get better. We're anxious for her to settle in with the whole family. I have to wonder what's going on behind those big, brown eyes of hers. She has to be terribly frightened, and I'm grateful for moments that she can let her guard down and laugh a little.
I think we're off to the park today. As long as the weather holds up. And maybe a little shopping. We want to make sure we find special things from her home province that she can treasure someday.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Look Who We Have
Hi all, Mandi here. Brendan and Melissa are having trouble accessing blogger so I will be posting their updates until they can access it again. They are going to send me pics and posts and I will just copy and paste so these are their words.
Gotcha! We've waited with so much anticipation to meet this little girl. We've wondered endlessly what she looks like and what she is like. Of course we'll be discovering her personality little by little, but we are in awe that she is finally in our arms. Surreal. We picked up a few things about her today. She loves the outdoors. Or at least that's what the orphanage told us, but looking outside seemed to calm her down when she started to get upset. She is terrified of elevators. (It's unfortunate that we're on the 18th floor. Long ride.)
She's doing pretty well, considering the change that's just taken place. Lots of tears - she's obviously afraid. But we've also seen a few smiles, and we even got her to laugh a bit, too. Olivia was so sweet to her when they first met. She tried to give her hugs and would touch her face. (I think it was a little overwhelming for Cora, but it made this mama's heart very proud of her little girl!)
Scream fest. Cora did not like her bath. One bit. So while I was in the bathroom "torturing" her, Brendan was in the hotel room, dealing with Olivia, who was upset about something. She wasn't too happy, either, about the screaming going on in the other room - and I think the two girls fed off of each other's sobbing. Brendan said that Olivia ran into the bathroom and screamed at the top of her lungs with all the commotion going on. I didn't see it, but I heard it. It took awhile to get them calmed down, but when we did, they were asleep within minutes of each other. Long day for all! I then fell asleep with Cora in my arms. So content. (Brendan woke me up to work on the blog. You can all thank him for that.)
Tomorrow is a busy day, and I'm going to try to take advantage of this sleepiness and get my first good night's sleep in China. Fingers crossed! Cannot wait to get more pictures tomorrow and share with you all!
Gotcha! We've waited with so much anticipation to meet this little girl. We've wondered endlessly what she looks like and what she is like. Of course we'll be discovering her personality little by little, but we are in awe that she is finally in our arms. Surreal. We picked up a few things about her today. She loves the outdoors. Or at least that's what the orphanage told us, but looking outside seemed to calm her down when she started to get upset. She is terrified of elevators. (It's unfortunate that we're on the 18th floor. Long ride.)
She's doing pretty well, considering the change that's just taken place. Lots of tears - she's obviously afraid. But we've also seen a few smiles, and we even got her to laugh a bit, too. Olivia was so sweet to her when they first met. She tried to give her hugs and would touch her face. (I think it was a little overwhelming for Cora, but it made this mama's heart very proud of her little girl!)
Scream fest. Cora did not like her bath. One bit. So while I was in the bathroom "torturing" her, Brendan was in the hotel room, dealing with Olivia, who was upset about something. She wasn't too happy, either, about the screaming going on in the other room - and I think the two girls fed off of each other's sobbing. Brendan said that Olivia ran into the bathroom and screamed at the top of her lungs with all the commotion going on. I didn't see it, but I heard it. It took awhile to get them calmed down, but when we did, they were asleep within minutes of each other. Long day for all! I then fell asleep with Cora in my arms. So content. (Brendan woke me up to work on the blog. You can all thank him for that.)
Tomorrow is a busy day, and I'm going to try to take advantage of this sleepiness and get my first good night's sleep in China. Fingers crossed! Cannot wait to get more pictures tomorrow and share with you all!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
a day in Shenzhen
We leave soon for the airport to fly to Nanning, but I wanted to take a bit of time and post a few real pictures of China! We went to a park today called "Window to the World." It was pretty impressive and we had a great time. Once again, Olivia could have been one of the main attractions. (We were the only American tourists, at least that I could tell.) I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of it, but while Olivia was checking out the giant bunnies, a woman ran over and knelt by her side to get a picture with her. Several people did it, and it cracked us up. I have heard other adoptive families talk about this type of reaction to American babies, but it was still funny to experience first-hand. Another woman tried to get a picture of her little girl with Olivia, but both girls were too shy to stand next to each other. Too bad - it would have been cute!
2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. Lucky Olivia - she loves "buh-ees." She was so excited when she saw the life-sized rabbits.
She also loves "wah-er" so this fountain was a favorite spot, too.
Brendan's favorite:
I guess I don't have a favorite, although I am loving all the palm trees! And these are perfectly sized for taking pictures of little ones!
Well, it's time to pack up and head for the airport. Tomorrow we meet Cora. As far as I know, she is also on her way to Nanning today. (Wow - sleeping in the same city tonight - we are so close!!!) I wonder what she's thinking. I don't know that she's been outside the orphanage, and this is probably the longest trip she's ever taken. (It's 3 hours from Guiping to Nanning.) We are so excited to meet her. I am having the hardest time comprehending that we will be handed a complete stranger who will be our daughter forever. This doesn't seem real!
2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. Lucky Olivia - she loves "buh-ees." She was so excited when she saw the life-sized rabbits.
She also loves "wah-er" so this fountain was a favorite spot, too.
Brendan's favorite:
I guess I don't have a favorite, although I am loving all the palm trees! And these are perfectly sized for taking pictures of little ones!
Well, it's time to pack up and head for the airport. Tomorrow we meet Cora. As far as I know, she is also on her way to Nanning today. (Wow - sleeping in the same city tonight - we are so close!!!) I wonder what she's thinking. I don't know that she's been outside the orphanage, and this is probably the longest trip she's ever taken. (It's 3 hours from Guiping to Nanning.) We are so excited to meet her. I am having the hardest time comprehending that we will be handed a complete stranger who will be our daughter forever. This doesn't seem real!
and we're here!
We're in China! It was rough getting here. From flight delays to the actual flight to the transportation to the hotel... Put simply, I am relieved to have arrived safe and sound.
Today was a good day. We left the room around noon to go find lunch and a pair of shoes for Olivia. (She took off one of her shoes sometime during the chaos last night, and we didn't realize it until after we checked into the hotel.) We found a nice mall and had Papa Johns for lunch. It was awesome, and I've never been so happy to see a Papa Johns restaurant. We found a pair of shoes, too.
It's rainy today, but the area here in Shenzhen seems beautiful. (from what we could see from the cab ride to the mall) Our hotel is posh and feels like home (JW Marriott). The bellman wanted to inspect the room for us when we got in at 4:00 this morning. (Yes - 4:00am) We gave it a 2 second glance and explained it was gorgeous. We were more than satisfied. The staff is great - super helpful and accomodating to us non-Mandarin speakers. Everyone adores Olivia. I was warned to expect a lot of attention because of her, and the predictions were correct. She mostly stares at them, but occasionally smiles back and says hi.
Tomorrow we leave for Nanning, where we will meet Cora. I am grateful to have had a lazy day today, to adjust to the culture and the time difference. And lack of sleep. It just does not seem real that in a couple days we'll have another daughter. It has been hard getting here. We have been so distracted that we haven't had time to think about it - the reason we're here.
It's now around 8:00pm and we're ready for bed. If we hadn't just woken up from our four hour nap, we'd just call it a night. (probably not going to help the 12 hour time change adjustment)
I know you'd probably like to see pictures of us in our new surroundings, but we haven't even gotten the camera out yet. So here are pictures of our hotel. cheater
Oh! I forgot to share about one of our biggest blessings along the way... While waiting for our flight out of Detroit, we noticed a family with a young girl, evidently adopted from China. This family came up to us to say hi, because we were the only ones in the airport with a child, and their daughter was hoping to meet other kids on the flight. I asked the little girl if she was going to China, and if so, what she was going to do there. (I had an idea!) Yep - she was going to get a new baby sister (who actually turned two today!) This family was even seated in the seats directly in front of us on the flight. It was so much fun to share in the fun of us both adopting. We will be staying in the same area once we get to Guangzhou and are looking forward to meeting each others' newest family members!
That's about it for now. We'll have more to share from Nanning! Much more!
Today was a good day. We left the room around noon to go find lunch and a pair of shoes for Olivia. (She took off one of her shoes sometime during the chaos last night, and we didn't realize it until after we checked into the hotel.) We found a nice mall and had Papa Johns for lunch. It was awesome, and I've never been so happy to see a Papa Johns restaurant. We found a pair of shoes, too.
It's rainy today, but the area here in Shenzhen seems beautiful. (from what we could see from the cab ride to the mall) Our hotel is posh and feels like home (JW Marriott). The bellman wanted to inspect the room for us when we got in at 4:00 this morning. (Yes - 4:00am) We gave it a 2 second glance and explained it was gorgeous. We were more than satisfied. The staff is great - super helpful and accomodating to us non-Mandarin speakers. Everyone adores Olivia. I was warned to expect a lot of attention because of her, and the predictions were correct. She mostly stares at them, but occasionally smiles back and says hi.
Tomorrow we leave for Nanning, where we will meet Cora. I am grateful to have had a lazy day today, to adjust to the culture and the time difference. And lack of sleep. It just does not seem real that in a couple days we'll have another daughter. It has been hard getting here. We have been so distracted that we haven't had time to think about it - the reason we're here.
It's now around 8:00pm and we're ready for bed. If we hadn't just woken up from our four hour nap, we'd just call it a night. (probably not going to help the 12 hour time change adjustment)
I know you'd probably like to see pictures of us in our new surroundings, but we haven't even gotten the camera out yet. So here are pictures of our hotel. cheater
Oh! I forgot to share about one of our biggest blessings along the way... While waiting for our flight out of Detroit, we noticed a family with a young girl, evidently adopted from China. This family came up to us to say hi, because we were the only ones in the airport with a child, and their daughter was hoping to meet other kids on the flight. I asked the little girl if she was going to China, and if so, what she was going to do there. (I had an idea!) Yep - she was going to get a new baby sister (who actually turned two today!) This family was even seated in the seats directly in front of us on the flight. It was so much fun to share in the fun of us both adopting. We will be staying in the same area once we get to Guangzhou and are looking forward to meeting each others' newest family members!
That's about it for now. We'll have more to share from Nanning! Much more!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
and we're off!
I'm going to try to sleep tonight... My mind just keeps coming up with things to do! It doesn't even seem real that we'll be boarding a plane to travel halfway around the world, where they will hand us a complete stranger, who we will call our daughter. I just can't get my head wrapped around it! We still have a long ways to go to get to her, but each step is a step closer!
We meet Cora on Monday, March 21. Adoptions from this orphanage usually take place around 3:00 in the afternoon, which will be about 3:00ish (I don't have my time zones straightened out yet. Oh let's be honest - I probably won't even bother.) in the morning here. She will be in our arms by the time your alarms go off! Crazy!!!
Thank you to all our dear friends for your support: for praying for us, for listening to us/me whine about the waits, for cheering us on! We are so blessed.
More to come...!
We meet Cora on Monday, March 21. Adoptions from this orphanage usually take place around 3:00 in the afternoon, which will be about 3:00ish (I don't have my time zones straightened out yet. Oh let's be honest - I probably won't even bother.) in the morning here. She will be in our arms by the time your alarms go off! Crazy!!!
Thank you to all our dear friends for your support: for praying for us, for listening to us/me whine about the waits, for cheering us on! We are so blessed.
More to come...!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
18 days...
On Monday, we received TA. (Hooray!) We waited 18 days from the time our article 5 was picked up and sent to Beijing. Today, we received our consulate appointment; we are scheduled to meet our daughter in... 18 days! Tonight that seems like a million years away, but I'm sure we'll be there before we know it.
We know our daughter is somewhere inside this building. (But not for long!) The process to get her ready to meet us should be underway! Even if they're not doing anything yet, the date we meet her should have been passed on to her caregivers!
Oh, this waiting has eaten me up - especially recently! And all this time, Cora has had no idea what's about to take place. She has no idea that she has a crazy mama and (quite a bit more level-headed) daddy that are unbelievable excited to meet her. She has no idea that she has a pretty cool "big" sister ready to take her under her wings (for good and "bad" - I'm sure.) She has no idea that she has grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that cannot wait to welcome her into our family. We wait with so much anticipation, and she is none the wiser. (Lucky her!) Cora, you are coming home!
We know our daughter is somewhere inside this building. (But not for long!) The process to get her ready to meet us should be underway! Even if they're not doing anything yet, the date we meet her should have been passed on to her caregivers!
Oh, this waiting has eaten me up - especially recently! And all this time, Cora has had no idea what's about to take place. She has no idea that she has a crazy mama and (quite a bit more level-headed) daddy that are unbelievable excited to meet her. She has no idea that she has a pretty cool "big" sister ready to take her under her wings (for good and "bad" - I'm sure.) She has no idea that she has grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that cannot wait to welcome her into our family. We wait with so much anticipation, and she is none the wiser. (Lucky her!) Cora, you are coming home!
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