Last post from ChangSha

Well, we're all done here and we're officially Maddie's parents as far as the Chinese are concerned. Now we have to move on the Guangzhou and take care of the American side of things. No picture tonight and I'm not going to miss the computers at this hotel. We'll try to get more of those up from the next hotel.

Yesterday, Kim went to Maddie's orphanage in Changde and took a few pictures where it was allowed. She met her nannie as well as the head nannie and director. The head nannie wrote a note for Maddie in Chinese to read to her when she's older. Daddy made out fairly well on his own for the first time, except maybe too many snacks, she didn't want to drink her bottles. In the afternoon we went out to an Embroidery factory and Kim did some shopping. Today we went to a local park to take in the flavor of the local people going about their business. A lot of older, retired people there, doing traditional dances, excercising, and watching the silly tourist's go by. Consensus is that Maddie is the most beautiful baby in all of China, which, of course, we already knew. After that, we walked along a riverwalk with lots of gardens and spots to sit and relax. Tonight we are packing again, for the flight tomorrow. Even though it's only an hour flight, it looks like the whole trip will take up the better part of the day, so the next post may not be for a couple of days, and as always depends on whether or not we can even get to the blog...

Today's Happy Pics

Today was a little better, she's finally getting used to us for the most part, and at dinner this evening she even allowed strangers to make eye contact as long as they didn't get too close. She was playing and happy several times today and we got these pictures in the afternoon. Her cold seems a little better and the medicine is working.

I was able to read the emails (eventually) and passed the messages along to Kim.

Today we went shopping at a Chinese department store chain. It was interesting... you don't just walk up and get what you want, you sort of fill out an application to buy things, take that to a cashier to pay, then go back and pick the item. They seem to think this makes more sense than our way. We bought some clothes, shoes and other supplies as well as a musical toy she really loves. Best 38 Yuan (~$5) we've spent so far. Tomorrow, Kim is going to Madeline's orphange for a tour. They don't want the babies to go, so I'm am staying with her while Kim goes to take pictures and maybe bring something back that's a part of the area. In the afternoon we go to tour an embroidery factory with a reputation for high quality in ChangSha.

First smile

They took us out to a local restaurant tonight and Maddie had a very good time. We got her to smile a few times before this, but not for long and not on camera. They were playing birthday music very loud and she was dancing and waving her arms and then suddenly cracked a smile. We got another one out of her for the camera. Of course, she still burst into tears when the waitresses tried to play with her, she still mistrusts all strangers, grandmas beware. She has a cold and congestion, and had been pretty miserable all day, so it was a good break.

Still having issues with this stupid chinese computer. Tonight it won't even let me get to our site to check webmail. I'll keep trying...

Mommy and Daddy

Well, we finally got her. I just tried to upload pictures from the camera, but the computer here doesn't work well at all. After my first post today, I discovered that there's something blocking the actual blog. We can make entries, but we can't see the blog and comments. Keep making them anyway, we'll be able to read them at some point. In the mean time, if anyone wants to send a comment or ask a question, I've created a special webmail email account for just that purpose. It's madelinezixin (at) skalizar.net. I hope to keep the spammers at bay long enough to use it undisturbed. Once we have access to a reliable computer, we'll get the pictures up with good descriptions. I finally got this one picture to upload, taken by one of the other people in out group, capturing the joyous moment. As you can see, Madeline is thrilled to finally be with her new family...

Just a few more hours to go...

Ron here... Kim is busy doing paperwork. Just a few more hours to go.

We weren't able to get Internet access yesterday from Hong Kong. It was Sunday and the Business Center at our hotel was closed. Saturday was very busy with tours and such, we will upload some pictures later along with the first new pictures of Madeline. Sunday was quiet. We didn't leave until 4 in the afternoon, so we just relaxed, walked along the waterfront, got caught in the rain after we packed out clothes away and sent them down to the concierge... Then our flight was delayed form about 2 hours, so we got in late last night in Changsha, very tired, but with new information about Madeline (health update basically) and some more paperwork to do. I'm going to go join Kim shortly to sign papers and have a lesson in Chinese bottle feeding. It looks like Internet access will better and cheap/free here, so we should be able to update for the next 6 days. So look for updates/pictures here in just a few more hours.

Greetings from Hong Kong!!!

Yes, we're here! We've arrived safe and sound, albeit a tad tired. Ok, that may be an understatement in Ron's case, as he didn't get to sleep at all on the flight over. Much thanks to Chip for getting up sooooo early to take us to the airport! We had our one glitch of the trip early so that makes us happy as it happened first thing so we can now relax for the rest of the trip. When we arrived at the airport we found out that our flight to Chicago had been cancelled =) We were quite happy at that point, mostly because we could have slept in another hour to catch the flight they actually put us on. All in all the flights were uneventful and we made it to Hong Kong right on time. We met up with 9 of the other families in our travel group and went on over to our hotel where I believe every single one of us hit the sack soon after! It is quite beautiful albeit rainy in Hong Kong, with temperatures around 70, tropical plants, high mountains and we're right on the Harbor. Today we'll be going on a tour of Hong Kong to Victoria Peak, Fishing Village, Stanley Market (where Ron hopes I don't bankrupt us!) and we'll catch some dim sum! Perhaps tonight we'll do a harbor cruise depending on how tired we are.... That's all for now, we'll write more later! Until then here are some pictures...

We can do this...

5 page list of things to pack, 1 house to clean, 137 loads of laundry to do and 1 day left...We can do this, really, we can!

computer testing

Soon to be "Mom" and "Dad"...believe it or not!

Another day closer...

Oh yes, after 6 hours of shopping yesterday, I think we're making some progress! I'm just taking a quick break from sorting through some of the clothing that our wonderful friends have given to us to help get us started. I think we'll be ready, I even made an appointment for a cleaning service to come and give us a full "spring cleaning" the day we leave so that we'll come home to a clean house. Oh well...time to get back to prepping!

Greetings All!

This is our weblog for our family and friends to follow us on our journey to Madeline ZiXin. Our trip from Delaware, USA to Hunan, P.R. China. We're set to leave on the 22nd of March and return on the 8th of April. Right now we're spending alot of time shopping, preparing the house, trying to figure out just how the heck we're going to pack everything and just trying to fit in some relaxation as well! So, be sure to bookmark this site and we'll try to post each day....and if possible add photos!