More about Maya & a little Disney

Leah has made up a few nicknames for Maya - in particular Maya Moo and Maya Picachoo. Joe and I just call her happy baby, because this describes her perfectly. She smiles a lot and giggles very easily. She has been passed around from one family member to the next without complaint (Maya is pictured above with Joe's sister Lucy), although she always reaches for Joe or I when we are near. She is now officially a crawler and loves to get into all the stuff she isn't supposed to touch. She can pick up small objects and finger foods and put them in her mouth quite easily.

Yesterday Joe, Leah and her Uncle Dave all headed out to Disneyland, located near the airport here in Hong Kong. Because it is so brutally hot outside, they only spent a short time there, although it was enough for Leah and she was excited to show me the pictures from the parade and rides.

In two days we will be headed back to the US, so I don't know if I will be able to update this blog before leaving. If not, I will post here once I return home and then will continue with my regular Wordpress blog. Thank you all for leaving comments while we have been traveling. It has been so nice to read such encouraging words from all our friends and family.

Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong two days ago. I took this picture from the plane as we flew in. After saying goodbye to our travel mates, who were all traveling back to the US via Beijing, we hopped on a short 30 minute flight to Hong Kong to spend some time with Joe's family.

Kikalee asked in a recent comment if it is hot in China. While in Guangzhou the temperature hit 102 degrees, so yep, it's hot! I am looking forward to getting back to my very cool air conditioning at home!

A Gift from China

Thanks to Shelley of Mager Madness and one of my travel mates, I found the beautiful store "A Gift from China" just a short walk from the White Swan. As Guangzhou's first charity store, all profits go towards helping orphaned and abandoned children in China. You can read more about the organization that runs the shop, The Good Rock Foundation, here.

Unlike all the rest of the stores near the hotel where you can buy cheap little nicknack's, A Gift from China store has unique hand made items, including a beautiful crocheted doll I purchased for Maya. In an area of overcrowded and loud stores, A Gift from China is a large, serene and beautiful place to shop. It is worth taking some time to look around at all the different items for sale. I am so grateful to have found it and hope that you will take my advice and visit it when you are in Guangzhou too.

Thank God for Starbucks

Yesterday we arrived in Guangzhou and checked into the White Swan hotel. The hotel, situated on a small island in the middle of the city is really a little haven. It is super clean, has an awesome breakfast buffet and everywhere you turn you meet other adoptive parents and their children. Internet connection is pretty expensive in the hotel, so I was thrilled to see a Starbucks only one block away - free wireless Internet and Frappuccinos - YEAH! While blogging from Starbucks, I have Maya on my lap (see picture above) and Leah sleeping on the chair across from me. Even though it is a bit tough to type one handed, it is really nice to have both my girls nearby.

Anyway, we are all doing really well. This morning we walked down to the clinic for Maya's medical examination. She is almost 16 lbs and got a clean bill of health. Tomorrow will be a free day, so I am sure that we will be spending more time in the pool and shopping in the little stores that surround the hotel. On Wednesday we will have the swearing in ceremony and at that time we will officially be a family of four. The following day we will head to Hong Kong to spend time with family.

Leah has adjusted to being a big sister remarkably well, although I think the fact that this has been like a big vacation for her has helped. I know that once we are home and Joe goes back to work then the real adjustment period will begin. How I will be keeping two children occupied for eight hours a day I have no idea!

Mom, I am having trouble connecting to e-mail from here. Hope you guys are doing well - I will e-mail as soon as I can!

Gifts

Have I mentioned how great my husband is recently? Just a few hours ago when we arrived at the South China Pearl factory Joe turned to me and said that he wanted to buy his "girls" a keepsake from our trip. He then let Leah pick out a beautiful necklace for herself, one for her sister and he bought me a beautiful pearl bracelet. I thought this was one of the most thoughtful gestures that my husband has ever made and am so glad that we will all have a little of Guilin to bring home with us.

Pretty packages

Each necklace has an 18 carat gold chain and a sea pearl

My bracelet is made of river pearls, the color of dark grey

(which is naturally colored by iron in the oyster)

Joe working on his bargaining skills

Some of the women at the pearl factory teaching Maya how to crawl

The last few days

We have been to China for a little over a week now and Maya's family for five days. We left the city of Nanning, here in the Guangxi province and took an almost five hour bus trip to Guilin, also in the same province of Maya's birth. Guilin in a small city situated along the Li River. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations here in China and is absolutely beautiful. I feel so fortunate that we were able to come here.

Our first full day here we visited the Seven Star Park. We spent about an hour wandering around and checking out all the scenery. They even had a small zoo in the park with a panda. Also, we were able to burn incense as part of a baby blessing in the Buddhist temple area of the park.

The following day we took a boat tour of the Li River. The tour itself lasted about four hours and was very relaxing. We were able to catch glimpses of farmers and water buffalo, caves and the gorgeous scenery that this region is famous for.

Today we ventured to the Reed Flute Cave, one of the larges of the over three thousand caves in this region. It was used by the local Chinese as a hiding place from the Japanese during the war. We then headed to the South River Pearl Company where we learned how they cultivate pearls.

All throughout the trip in Guilin, along with our adoption agencies representative, we have had two wonderful guides who have made this trip very enjoyable. The more I see of this country the more I fall in love with the culture, food and people. It really has been a pleasure. Leah, for a five year old, has been an exceptional traveler. I am so glad that we bought her with us.

Anyway, tomorrow we will leave for Guangzhou to finalize the adoption and then in a few days head down to Hong Kong to visit family. More pictures of the baby coming soon!

Two Peas in a Pod

A little about Maya

All in all, Maya's a good baby. Joe was the first one to hold her when all the babies were given to their families. She didn't cry at all, but just stared at him. She goes to him pretty easily and loves to ride facing outward in the baby carrier. We really can't tell whether or not she has any developmental delays. She sits up unassisted and can actually pull herself into a standing position quite easily. She has a death grip on her toys and her favorite activity is to swing the toys back and forth. It is really cute to see but kind of painful if you are in the general vicinity. Joe has gotten hit a few times in the face by flailing toys while he has her in the baby carrier (note to Quey Quey (her grandma) - please buy some soft hand toys)! As soon as we sit down to eat she grabs hold of anything she can reach. It makes for a challenging meal.

Maya babbles a lot and is very vocal. She is active and likes to be held all. the. time. Even though I am used to holding a forty pound five year old, for some reason my back is really taking a lickin' with this kid. She has some meat on her bones and little chubby legs - it must be the fact that she has a healthy appetite and likes to eat table food. Of course there are a few things she doesn't like, manly having her diaper changed and her first bath with us didn't go over too well either. Last night she was crying a lot before dinner and the only way for us to get her to calm down was for Joe to strap her into the carrier and walk around the lobby stores. She sure is an inquisitive kid.

Everyone is sleeping pretty well except for me. Tonight I got around 6 hours worth of sleep, which is better than the previous night, so maybe I am starting to catch up. I am dreading adjusting to the time change once we return to New Jersey.

We are checking out of this beautiful hotel (The Wharton International hotel of Nanning) and taking a five hour bus ride to Guilin, a city famous for it's beautiful scenery. Our tour guide told us that the hotel isn't as fancy as this one (whatever that means) so I am unsure if I will be able to update for a few days. I will be back on the computer for sure once we fly over to the White Swan in Guangzhou over the weekend.

A few of you asked about Leah's adjustment to her sister. It is going as well as can be expected. This experience is wonderful for all of us, but also extremely stressful. Our first few hours together we had an official girl meltdown (mommy, Leah and Maya). By the time Joe came back from his trip to walmart (think eight men, all with shopping carts, searching through the baby aisles) we were not in the best of shape. That is a whole post in itself and will write more about it when we get home. Joe was able to spend some time alone with Leah in the pool yesterday, so that was nice. For the most part, Leah likes to squeeze Maya's cheeks and pull on her legs in the baby carrier. Also, during our adoption interview Leah told the official that she loves her baby sister. I take that as a good sign.

Tammy - thanks for the offer of sending more 9 month clothes. Actually, I don't think she will be in that size much longer. She barley fits in the footsie pj's now!

Cousin Candice - thanks so much for e-mailing me. I am glad to hear that the Harry Potter book was good (you lucky girl to have read it already). I plan on diving right into it with whatever free time I have once I return home.

I will write again soon!

More pictures

For Quey Quey - your two granddaughters!
























Maya's new favorite way to travel!

























A big smile! Shelley, you are right, just like your daughter, it was my oldest Leah who got the baby to smile for the first time.

Here's Maya!

More information to come later!!

Go Joe!

Joe, running up the first of 700 steps to the top of The Great Wall! Needless to say, he was a sweaty mess when he got back down!

Traveling and (dreaming) of sleep

Tianamen Square

Well, I was going to upload more photos from our trip to Tianamen Square, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall yesterday, but I was only able to get one actually up. My spell check isn't working either. I will try again later.

Anyway, our trip to all three places was really interesting and fun, but tiring. Having got up at 1 am, by the time we had seen the sites and headed to the airport, it was already 9 pm before we sat on our plane. We landed in Nanning, Guangxi this morning after midnight. You know how I had mentioned that I was running on adrenaline. Well, I ran out of it as soon as we got on the plane and felt like I had a major hangover. This time change has kicked my butt!

Now we are in Nanning, a major city in Guangxi, and we will be leaving to meet with Maya in about five hours. In the meantime, Joe will be heading downstairs to a conference room to sign some paperwork and Leah and I are heading to the pool. I will update again soon!

Oh, WZgirl asked if I ate any of those fried snacks mentioned in a previous post. Nope, although I wasn't really grossed out by the food, we just weren't carring any cash with us and I wasn't craving seahorse anyway! :) For the most part, I'm pretty open to trying anything at least once.

Fun in the (hot) sun

This is how Leah spent part of her afternoon here in Beijing yesterday. I just love the look of pure joy on her face. She was the only kid there and ran around sticking her feet in all the little water falls.

Yesterday we spent the day with Joe's brother Steve and his wife Lucy. They were both such gracious hosts and took us out again for some really delicious meals. Steve also let me use his internet connection at his office to log into my blog and also let me call my Mom on his cell phone to wish her a happy birthday. It was really nice to hear her voice. I am so glad that we came a day early to see them.

Leah has been a really great kid so far, even with the lack of sleep. Actually, last night she did a bit better and got a whole nine hours of sleep in. Of course, it was between the hours of 4 pm to 1 am (sleeping through dinner - do you know how hard it is to use chopsticks with a sleeping 40 pound kid in your lap)? I took a one & a half hour nap yesterday afternoon and then slept last night from 9 pm until Leah woke up at 1 o'clock. Like someone mentioned in a comment earlier, I think I am pretty much running on pure adrenaline right now. Hopefully I won't crash and burn anytime soon.

This morning we will be meeting up with the rest of our travel group (I think about eighteen people) who all arrived late last night. We will be checking out of the hotel at 9 am then heading over for the tours of the Great Wall, Tianamen Square (sp?) and the Forbidden City. After that we are flying out at 8 pm for Nanning, the city in the Guangxi Province where Maya is. We should be meeting her sometime tomorrow. The next time I post I should have pictures of all of us together (and some pictures of our trip to the Great Wall).

Thanks for all of you who are leaving comments. It is so nice to read all of them while we are traveling! Again, Happy birthday MOM! Hope you had a great day! Oh and Sheila, don't forget to pick up the Harry Potter book that was delivered to my house - hope you enjoy reading it and don't tell me what happens!!

YUM-O

Are you hungry for a fried snack at a local Beijing food stall? Hmmm, somehow I never thought that seahorses, cocoons or crickets were considered a snack! ;)

We have arrived!

Actually, we arrived in Beijing yesterday afternoon. Leah was wonderful on the flight over, but only slept about three out of the thirteen hours. Luckily, she did in fact catch up on some sleep while at my brother-in-law Steve's home. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky as far as sleep is concerned and have had hardly any shut eye since leaving New Jersey. Hopefully I will be doing better tomorrow morning when we meet up with the rest of our travel group and visit the Great Wall.

We arrived in Beijing one day early to spend time with Joe's older brother Steve and his wife Lucy. Last evening they treated us to a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant which serves one of my favorite dishes, Peking Duck. We also took a quick peek at some of the construction going on for the 2008 Olympics.

I hope to update again soon, next time with more pictures. Hope everyone is doing well. The day after tomorrow should be Maya day - how exciting!!

The picture above was taken outside Steve's apartment EARLY this morning. Out of 15 million residents of Beijing, there are 8 million bikes on the road.

Also, don't mind any typos - I am sleep deprived, you know!

Donna of Beijing Adventures - I can't seem to find your phone number, so sorry that I haven't called. Since it is already late Saturday morning, I will probably miss you this time around. If we are ever in Beijing again together, then I will definitely look you up! :)

After all

After all the thinking, contemplating and praying about adoption...

After all the signing paperwork, getting physicals, bloodwork, background checks, social worker visits and fingerprinting (twice)...

After all the elation of sending your paperwork half way around the world...

After all the talking to our five year old about what it means to be a big sister...

After all the worrying and waiting...

After all the joy at receiving a referral...

After all the painting, sewing and cleaning to make the nursery look perfect...

After all of this, we are finally on our way to bring our daughter home.

Thanks for coming on this journey with us. We are on our way and will post from China soon.