Paige's Journey Home

Two Kinds of Love

2007-06-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.
One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me, through your tears,
the age-old question unanswered through the years.

Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?
Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.

Author Unknown

First Doctor's Visit in the US

2007-06-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

The day after we returned (Friday), we took Paige to her first doctor's visit in the US. The receptionist was very intreaged by the Chinese Vacination Report and Medical Report.

Dr. Comilang did her normal healthy baby check up and asked several questions. Paige seemed to be healthy except for two things. She has a herniated belly button which we noticed when we got her and she had a little bit of a raspy sound in one of her lungs. Dr. Comilang said the umbilical hernias often correct themselves and could wait until she was about 4 or 5 years old. Because of the raspy lung she gave us a prescription for an antibiotic.

We then introduced Paige to McDonalds fries, Target, Walmart, and Vons.

Coming Home

2007-06-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for the delay in posting to this blog. We had a great trip home from China. Our first flight was from Guangzhou to Tokyo. There were several newly adopted babies on the flight. We had purchased a seat for Paige on our flights so it gave us a little extra room.

In Tokyo, we had about a two hour layover which gave us a chance to stetch our legs and feed Paige. Carla fed Paige in the airport terminal and just when she had finished, Paige started to cough, gag and up came the lunch. Luckily, (for me) most of it went into Carla's hand and we were able to put it in a zip lock bag. Carla rushed off to wash her hands and I tried to not follow up with a courtesy up-chuck. Once everyone was clean, we were all smiles again.

We boarded the plane and prepared for our long flight. Paige did very well on this flight as well and only got fussy a couple of times. We were all able to sleep a little and dream about the comforts of home.

Once we landed in San Francisco, we cleared customs and gathered our luggage. Carla's mom, dad, and sister where waiting along with Chelsea and Haley for us to come through the Customs door.

The girls were excited to see Paige for he first time in person. Paige just kind of took it all in. Once we got everyone loaded and the new car seat adjusted, we were on our way home. About 15 minutes into the trip home, Paige started to cough, gag and yes, up came her last meal. It wasn't allot but it doesn't take much to change the atmosphere of a car.

We got her cleaned up and introduced her to In-N-Out french fries. The hamburgers will come latter. The rest of the trip home was pretty calm.

Mom talking to Chelsea and Haley

2007-05-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

Mom talking to Chelsea

Mom talking to Haley

Medical Exam Time

2007-05-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today was our Medical Exam and we did very well. The doctors said Paige is more normal than her new parents.

Paige's Passport

2007-05-19T02:54:00.000-07:00

We received Paige's passport yesterday (Friday) and flew to Guangzhou today. This was Paige's first airplane ride as well as her first time out of the Hubei province. As you might expect, she slept on the way to the airport and woke up just before we went through security. She was awake during the plane ride which was about an hour and a half. She did very well and even allowed me to feed both her and mom the rice with chicken and vegetables. Once we were on the bus from the airport to the hotel, she fell asleep again.

We will be here in Guangzhou until Thursday. We have a medical visit, visa photo to take, consulate appointment and then hopefully get Paige's visa on Wednesday. We will then fly home on Thursday.

Just because she's beautiful

2007-05-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

Stroller Time

2007-05-18T05:32:00.001-07:00

Paige trying to get a lotion bottle

2007-05-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

Paige is doing great. She is starting to talk (babble) more and is laughing and giggling. She isn't afraid of other people and will go to just about anyone (at least for a few minutes.) Her motor skills are a little behind schedule. Even though she is almost 14 months old, she can not walk or crawl. She can sit on her own if you sit her up, but she can't sit herself up. She even had a hard time rolling over when we first got her.

Well times have changed. She is rolling back and forth and figuring out how to roll where she wants. We have to keep a close eye on her now when she is on the bed. We are trying to get her to stand more so with a little encouragement we will be chasing her in no time.

The video below is from our second day with Paige.

More on Food and Paige

2007-05-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Paige seems to be good for half a bottle in the morning and evening. The problem is when you mix half a bottle thinking she will drink it all, she only drinks half of what was mixed. However, she loves to eat congee (rice porridge), french fries, steamed eggs, yogurt and ice cream. Yes, most of the Chinese children don't get ice cream until they are at least 3 years old, but it only took Carla 3 days to give her some. She has been eating very well from the beginning but she doesn't like the formula. She will drink apple or vegetable juice and even water. I really can't blame her for not drinking the formula. It smells really bad! And no, I haven't tried to taste it yet.

Update on Paige and her new parents

2007-05-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well we are closing in on the end of day three with Paige. She has been a very serious looking girl and has had the same expression most of the time. Smiles are very hard to come by but are starting to happen more frequently and with less effort.

On Monday morning, we went to the meeting room to sign the 24 hour guardianship papers and get Paige. We were in a small room with the other families from CHI and were expecting the children to be waiting in a different room. Much to our surprise, they brought the babies in the room where we were and took them over to one side (close enough to see but not close enough to reach.) As each family was being called to the front to sign the papers, we would look at the babies and try to find ours. One of the men carried a child to a bar stool close to where we were sitting. I told Carla that he was holding Paige. We later found out he was the orphanage director for Paige's orphanage and he was holding Paige.

We were first to get called to meet our child. They brought Paige and handed her to Carla. Paige seemed a little confused but went to both Carla and myself without crying. Once everyone had received their child, we all went back to our rooms. The first day, Paige would go to either Carla or myself with no problem. By day two, she definitely had a preference for Carla and would whimper if she left her sight.

Paige has been sleeping from about 8:30 in the evening to around 6:00 the next morning. She doesn't seem to like the formula the orphanage said she was drinking so we couldn't get her to drink any formula on Monday or Tuesday. This morning (Wednesday) Carla mixed a bottle of formula as Paige was waking up around 6:00 a.m. Before she was wide awake, she put the bottle in her mouth and to our amazement, she started drinking it. She drank about half the bottle. She did the same thing this afternoon as she woke up from her nap.

Paige is starting to show a little more personality. She is starting to smile more and is definitely attaching well to Carla. She is a very precious little girl and will bless our lives for many years to come.

It's Official

2007-05-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

When we received Paige yesturday, we were required to sign a 24 hour quardianship. The 24 hour quardianship is to give you time to make sure you want to adopt the child. While we would have been happy finalizing the adoption yesturday, we had to follow the legal guidelines.

Today we signed all the legal documents and Paige is officially our child. They didn't realize it, but she has been our child for a long time.

Paige's first day

2007-05-14T08:37:00.001-07:00

Gotcha Day

2007-05-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

We are in Wuhan

2007-05-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

We made it to Wuhan. We are scheduled to get Paige at 10:30 tomorrow. It will be Monday here, but since we are many hours ahead of US time, we will get her before Mother's Day is over in the states.

I will post pictures and hopefully some video tomorrow afternoon. The guide told us to get some rest this afternoon because we may not get much sleep for the next couple of days.

Saturday's Tours

2007-05-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day of tours. We began with TianAnMen Square & the Forbidden City. We had a Peking Duck Lunch and orientation after. Just about the time we were ready for an afternoon nap, they hauled us up to the Great Wall for a little hike. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

We leave at 8:30 in the morning for the airport. We should arrive in Wuhan sometime after 12:00. We will have the afternoon to get ready for Paige. We aren't sure exactly when our appointment is on Monday, but we are hoping it will be early in the morning.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Child at Deaf School Singing

2007-05-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

As a part of our tour on Friday, we went to a Hutong area. These areas are much like they were hundreds of years ago. We were able to visit with a family who lives in much the same way they would have long ago. We heard stories about their lives and were able to ask questions.

Before we arrived at their home, we went to the old school house. In this particular school, they were teaching hearing impaired children. Many of the children had Cochlear Implants and were learning to speak. One of the children came out to sing a song for us.

You can click the play button to hear his song.

Friday's Adventures

2007-05-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

Today we began our day by touring the Temple of Heaven. Our guide Dennis, did a great job of explaining the history and meaning of the area. We left the Temple of Heaven and had lunch at a restaurant that reminded us of Mariposa's China Station. There were bus loads of White People. After lunch we visited a Hutong area which is described in the post with the video.

Dinner was at KFC. Carla had a spicy Chicken wrap and I had something fried with vegetables inside of it. I thought it was chicken when I ordered it but the first bite proved me wrong.

We are pretty much over the jet lag and both of us are feeling good. While we are excited to finally be able to meet Paige in a couple of days, it is a little weird to know Paige has no idea of how here life is about to change.

Thursday's Tours

2007-05-10T17:09:00.001-07:00

Summer Palace - Shopping - Peking Duck

2007-05-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a good day. The weather was great (not to hot, not to cold, not to humid). We started the day out by meeting 4 other families who arrived early like us. We meet our tour guide Dennis who took us to the Summer Palace for a half day tour. You can see some of the pictures in the next post. After the tour, we went to Carrefour which is the China version of a Super Wal-Mart. We purchased lots of water, a few vanilla cokes and a Snapple.

We had lunch at a tea house between KFC and Pizza Hut. We were actually going to the KFC until I stopped at the tea house to read the menu. We were able to get the other two families with us to try a little authentic Chinese food. Carla and I had a vegetable soup with some steamed dumplings on the side. We will probably have to go back again before we leave Beijing.

Around 4:00, Wendy (previous intern at Yosemite View Lodge) came by the hotel and took us shopping. I was able to practice my limited Chinese by repeating over and over "too expensive" Most of the items we purchased I was able to get them to come down almost 90% from their first price.

After shopping, we met Sharron Wu, who works for the Best Western Global Marketing Group. She took us to a Peking Duck Dinner at a very nice restaurant. By this time, jet-lag was setting in pretty good for us so when we returned to the hotel around 9:00 p.m. we called it a day.

Today (Friday) will be a full day of tours. Thanks for your prayers.

We Are In China

2007-05-09T08:47:00.001-07:00

We had two very uneventful flights today. We left San Francisco on time for our 11 hour flight to Tokyo. In Tokyo, we had a 2 hour layover before leaving for Beijing. The Beijing flight was a little over 3 hours. After clearing customs, we were very happy to see our guide holding up a CHI sign.

The hotel we are staying at here in Beijing is very nice. The best part is the McDonalds a couple of blocks away. Tomorrow will be full of sightseeing and visiting with friends who live here in Beijing. Since it is 11:44 p.m. here, I am going to post this and try to get some rest. Remember to keep us in your prayers.

Kevin

Travel Itinerary

2007-05-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Our travel plans have been finalized and we are frantically trying to get everything together and packed. Our Itinerary is as follows:

May 8: Depart SFO
May 9: Arrive in Beijing
May 10: Tour of Summer Palace and dinner with friends from Beijing
May 11: Tour of Temple of Heaven, Hutong Tour and Chinese Acrobat Show
May 12: TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, and the Great Wall
May 13: Flight to Wuhan
May 14: Meet Paige and start the journey as a new family
May 15: Do all the legal signing of papers
May 16: Tour to Yellow Crane Tower
May 17: Tour of Hubei Provincial Museum
May 18: Prepare Papers for American Consulate
May 19: Fly to Guangzhou
May 20: Free Day
May 21: Medical examination for Paige
May 23: Go to American Consulate to take oath and get Paige's immigration visa
May 24: Return home!

2007-04-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

Travel Approval Sent from China

2007-03-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

We received information today that our travel approvals have been sent from the CCAA office in China. Once Children's Hope International receives the travel approvals, they will begin scheduling our appointments in China. The VERY Tentative Travel Schedule at this point is:

Thurs, May 10th, Leave the US
Fri, May 11th: Arrive in Beijing
Sat, May 12th: Sightseeing in Beijing
Sun, May 13th: Fly to Hubei Province
Mon, May 14th – Fri, May 18th: Receive Paige and go through adoption processes
Sat, May 19th: Fly to Guangzhou
Sun, May 20th: Free day
Mon, May 21st: Medical exam
Tues, May 22nd: American Consulate appointment
Wed, May 23rd: Go to ACS to take oath and get Paige's visa
Thurs, May 24th Departure to US

These are very tentative and we hope to actually leave for China a couple of days earlier to do some sightseeing on our own.