Facts About Adoption

If you are interested. 

ttp://www.pbs.org/pov/woainimommy/adoption_fact_sheet.php

POV is running another documentary on Adoption this week.   The focus is an African American teen who grew up in a mixed racial family. 

http://www.pbs.org/pov/offandrunning/

Cheat sheet ..

     I was unpacking one of our bags yesterday and found what I called my ‘Cheat sheet’. The front side was my Chinese RMB (yuan) to US dollar conversions. That gave me some idea of what I was paying for something. The other side was what little Mandarin I could use. It was just enough so I could be polite without having to pass around my phrase book. I never got brave enough to try and say ‘Mineral water’ which is ‘bottled water’.  One of the other husbands in our group tried to say ‘mineral water’ one evening and they brought him a pot of boiling water.  I stuck to my phrase book after that.  This little piece of paper went everywhere with me.

RMB to US dollars

Mandarin

Home Again!

We made it!  It took a little while but we finally found our way home.  Our first night was a little crazy.  China is 13 hours ahead so our sleep patterns are in a bit of a mess.  Since Li will not sleep in a crib, the three of us ended up on the floor in sleeping bags.  Our bed sits a little to high off the floor so we just pulled out the camping equipment, I guess it’s never to early to get her used to the sleeping bags! 

We did make a quick trip to visit the Grandparents and first cousins so for now we plan to spend a few quiet days on the farm.  Li has a lot of animals to get to know and hopefully a new sleeping routine as we work to get her on Tennessee time.  

We will keep posting.  I think we are in for more big changes in Li over the next few weeks as she adjusts to her new family, her strange new home and to poor old Miss Puddie our 17 year old cat who has gone completely crazy in our absence!

 Angie

Last post from China

     Ok, this is what we’ve been waiting for, Li’s Passport, Visa and Immigration papers. We recieved them this afternoon.  We are now packing. I need to pack up the laptop so this is probably the last post from Guangzhou, China.  The fun starts at 6am (5pm Cookeville, 13hrs difference). We fly from Guangzhou to Shanghai, Shanghai to Newark where we present Li’s paperwork to US Immigration. We then fly from Newark to Nashville. We are due in Nashville at 10:30 pm US Central time. That’s a 30 hour ordeal – everyone please wish us luck, we’re going to need it. blah.

-Trey

Last walk ..

We took our last little walk around the block this afternoon and passed the restaurant we ate at the first night we arrived in Guangzhou. I forgot to post any pictures about this interesting place to eat. 

When you order Duck, they go out front and grab one of these:

If you order Crab, they grab one of these:

Same for fish:

Li watching the fish:

I didn’t get a picture of the toads and snakes but they are in the video I took.

Group photo at the White Swan Hotel

All the families and their children.

Red Couch Clothes

A few pictures of Li dressed up for her Red Couch pictures.

The Crying Couch

As with adoption tradition, a group photo of all the bao bao’s must be taken on what is known to the adoption community as the ‘Red Couch’. The Red Couch is a couch located on the 2nd floor of the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island, Guangzhou. It is also known as the ‘Crying Couch’. The ordeal goes something like this:

(1) Take 11 babies and place them on the couch together.
(2) On the count of 3 everyone step back.
(3) Wait for screaming to start.
(4) Everyone take pictures.
(5) See which Dad caves in first and grabs his baby.

You can see from the pictures that I caved first. oh well.

** Note for LeeAnn: Didn’t Daniel stay at the White Swan? Tell him to check out the pictures.

Li is the loudest one at the top right.

I couldn’t stand it, I had to go in and get her..
 

Li forgave us after a few cheerios.