More Gotcha Day Pics

That's my Ellie!

So here we are again at 6 AM China time, apparently I have turned into an early morning blogger, lol!  I know you really just want to see the pictures, but I want to document all of this for Ellie, so please feel free to skip to the pictures if you’d like.  Yesterday morning we met our guide, Jacky, in the lobby at 9:30.  He had told us he didn’t know what time we would be meeting Ellie, but that the lady from the orphanage would meet us at one of the places we had to be that day.  We waited in the lobby for our driver…..and waited, and waited.  Finally he called and said he was in a traffic jam but should be there shortly.  Just after that, Jacky got another call…..from the orphanage worker!!!  Apparently they were already there at the government building waiting for us!!  He told her we would be there soon and then  he told us he heard her crying in the background……so close…..   Finally, our driver came and we all hurried into the car and started toward the government building.  Well, wouldn’t you know…another traffic jam!!!  HA!  So hard to be patient in a situation like this where your heart is beating a million times a minute and you can’t sit still!  After what seemed like forever, we pulled up in front of the building and followed Jacky inside and up the elevator.  Then he led us down a hall.  He was glancing in each room as we walked by to see where they were, and then he walked in one.  As he turned into the room, I saw the little stuffed puppy we had sent her for her birthday sitting by a bag on the couch and ….my…..heart…..skipped…..a…..beat!!!!  I heard no cry, and as I walked in the room, my eyes the huge dark brown eyes of my beautiful daughter!!!!  And then of course, I cried, lol!!  Those of you who attended our wedding know precisely the ugly cry I am talking about here!  The orphanage worker walked right over to me and Ellie kept staring at me like I was the most funny-looking thing she had ever seen.  Then she wanted to touch my hair.  Then the worker handed her to me……and she felt amazing!!!  She was so light in my arms!  She is so curious and wants to touch everything.  After just a few minutes, she started fussing.  The worker told us that she had gotten up much earlier than normal and she was very tired and it was also time for her to eat.  So we gave her some cheerios and she really liked them.  We had some paperwork to do there, which is incredibly hard to focus on when you are holding your daughter for the first time.  Kris and I switched back and forth holding her and she was very interested in his glasses.  The orphanage didn’t bring a bottle, and she was getting very hungry and fussy, but our guide said we needed to go to another building right close and get our pix made for the official adoption paperwork.  I think the idea of  “right quick” and “just around the corner” etc must lose a little something in translation, because every time he says we’re just going to do something “real quick” it turns into a couple hours.  So, a long time later, we had finished our pictures and were waiting for them to be developed, and Ellie was getting pretty mad, we were able to get her some milk.  She drank it right through a straw!  She sucked down a whole serving size container and reached for another!  When she finished that off, she again became really interested in us, and really snuggly!!!  We were loving that of course!!  But then it was time to go back to the government office, so we hoped in the car again.  Just as a side note, there is apparently no such thing as a car seat in China, and the driving is really something.  There don’t seem to be any rules, but we have learned that pedestrians definitely do not have the right-of-way here!!

 

When we went back to the government building, we did the official adoption interview where they ask us if we like our baby (um, YES!!), ask us why we want to adopt her, and promise to love her and educate her. Then, on behalf of the People’s Republic of Ch*na, the lady thanked us for adopting the baby!!!  Um, how about thank YOU Ch*na, for giving us the adorable sweet snuggly baby!!  J 

 

The orphanage lady was super-nice, and although we haven’t visited the orphanage yet, we’ve heard very good things about it.  Well, it was at this point that the orphanage worker started pulling out priceless things out of her bag.  First, she gave Ellie a beautiful jade medallion which is very symbolic of this region from the orphanage.  Then she gave us her vaccination record…..the records have been kept very clearly and she appears to be up to date by China regs.  Then, she explained to us where Ellie was found (which was information that had not been provided to us until now) and actually gave us a copy of her finding ad!!  This is a huge deal, as in this area it is very hard to find these!  Then she gave us a letter from her foster grandmother explaining her milestones and what they had been working on, an update from her school from her nanny that has been working with her, the disposable camera we had sent to the orphanage asking them to take pix of her, and a thumb drive with more pix of her!!  I can’t explain how much all this means, but these are things that are part of Ellie’s past and we would have had no way to get them for her, and this sweet lady just handed us one thing after another!!  Unbelievable!! 

 

We had a huge list of questions that we wanted to ask the orphanage worker, and we also wanted to request to visit the orphanage.  Jacky asked the worker if she would go to lunch with us, and she agreed.  Again, this is absolutely unbelievable!  Usually you just have a few minutes to quickly ask a few questions, we had as much time as we needed.  Lunch was interesting, and I don’t think Kris or I actually ate very much….our minds were really on getting every last drop of information that was so incredibly available to us.  Also, it’s hard to hold a baby, feed her, ask question, and use chop sticks all at the same time, not to mention some of the dishes contained huge chicken bones (maybe the spine?) and we were not clear of how to eat them! 

 

So, we were able to find out a lot of information about Ellie’s schedule and daily life.  She has been living with a foster grandmother, and then she attends the orphanage daycare/school, and then she also gets extra help (maybe one-on-one?) each day through an awesome private program.  She is described as happy, laid-back, smart, and active.  Her facial features lead people to think that she is from a minority people group in this area.  And everywhere we go people are commenting on what group they think she’s from.  By the way, if we didn’t draw enough attention being the only 2 Caucasian people in a city of 3 million people, imagine us walking around with a Chinese baby, lol!!  Everyone wants to talk to us, and we haven’t a clue what they are saying!  We are apparently quite an attraction, lol!

 

After we got all the information we could possibly think of asking for from the worker, she got a call from the orphanage director inviting us to visit the orphanage on Tuesday, so that’s where well be headed in just a few hours now. 

 

At lunch, precious Ellie was yawning and rubbing her eyes like crazy. We went to a notary next, and then Jacky said we needed to wait about an hour for the paperwork.  Ellie was asleep by this time, and so we went back to the hotel for about an hour and laid her down.  She was still sleeping, and so was Kris, and I was just watching them both sleep – beautiful!! – when Jacky called back and said we needed to go again.  So, we went to the notary, the police station, and then finally to the supermarket to get her diapers, formula, and some gifts for the orphanage.  When we got back to the hotel, we were all about to drop, and all starving, so we trekked out on our own to find some kind of food.  There are 2 non-Chinese restaurants here, and after a lot of walking we finally happened upon a pizza hut!  So, we had an interesting time ordering, but got a BBQ chicken (think Chinese BBQ, very spicy and not sweet) pizza to go.  We got back to the hotel, skyped with my mom and Kate.  Kate LOVED Ellie and was so excited!!!  It was really fun to watch her!  She kept saying, “That’s my Ellie!!!”  Ellie thought a little squealing blond girl was the cat’s meow too!!  Then we came upstairs, fed Ellie some steamed egg leftover from lunch, and attempted to put her down.  We have a little cradle here in the room that the hotel provided, but she seemed so interested in everything that she just didn’t want to go to sleep!  Well, the king and queen of “we will not have children in our bed!!” slept very soundly last night with a precious slurping, thumb-sucking baby girl smack in the middle of the bed!!  She is an awesome sleeper and is still sleeping next to me now as I write this!  Love it!

 

We are so in love with our sweet girl!!  We can tell that the institutionalization has taken a toll on her, and she has some delays, the severity of which time will tell.  She is not verbal yet and is not standing on her own. And she can sit for a brief time by herself.  She was clearly in need of a family, and she’s got one now!  J  She is officially part of the Maguire clan and we could not be happier with this gift!!!

 

 

Welcome to Urumqi!!

So it’s 6 AM on Monday morning here (that’s 6 PM on Sunday night in GA) and clearly sleep will not come, so I thought I’d take a minute to update.  We had a wonderful time in Beijing, but were so ready to get on the plane yesterday and move closer to Ellie.  Beijing and Urumqi are about 3000 miles apart and the flight yesterday was just over 4 hours. Navigating the Beijing airport with no guide and no English-speaking person was a little tricky, but we made it on the right plane. J This flight was the best one of the trip so far.  A little strange to be the only two non-Chinese people on the plane, but smiles are the international language and everyone seemed very nice.  About halfway through the flight, we could see nothing but desert land - miles and miles of beautiful desert.  Then about an hour out, we saw beautiful mountains – still desert, but beautiful snowy mountains.  About 2 minutes before we landed, out of nowhere a huge city appeared!  We both teared up as we approached Urumqi……so close to her now!!  Our guide, a very nice man who is from Urumqi named Jacky, met us at the airport with a driver.  We got a quick tour and background of Urumqi on the 30 minute drive to our hotel.  Urumqi boasts the 2^nd highest mountain range in the world, 2^nd to Mount Everest.  is very rich in Muslim culture.  The population is about 3 million.  It really is a beautiful and extremely clean city, especially clean when compared with Beijing, where the smog was so thick we could barely see across the street.  We arrived at the hotel, a 5 star hotel which is VERY nice according to Chinese or American standards.  I teared up again as I asked Jacky to ask the concierge to please send a crib to our room.  Jacky went over some paperwork with us (actually a lot of paperwork and it’s all in Chinese), and then we all went out to have dinner.  We told Jacky we wanted to an authentic Urumqi meal.  He told us about a flat noodle that is the staple here, prepared in modern Muslim fashion.  So we had a very spicy dish of noodles and beef.  It was delicious!!  Then, I guess Jacky figured that was going well so we were ready for the next step and he ordered us shish kabob.  Well, let’s just say that was a little TOO spicy for our GA palates, lol!!  We didn’t want to be rude, as Jacky was sharing his culture with us, so we had a few more bites, but we were laughing at each other on the inside as it felt like the meat was burning holes through our tongues!  We came back to the hotel and unpacked, did paperwork, and prepared our room for Ellie, packed her diaper bag, etc. 

 

We will meet Jacky this morning at 9 AM, that’s about 2 hours from now.  Then he will take us to the government building for official paperwork.  When we asked him what time we would see Ellie, he said that it would either be morning or afternoon, apparently the orphanage director will just know where we are today and bring her at some point.  Jacky said today would be filled with running all over town between the government building to the notary to the consulate, back to the government building, etc.  We know today will be a very hard day for Ellie…..while we have been preparing for her in our hearts for years, and in our home for 14 months, she probably just woke up this morning in her same bed in the only life she has ever known.  She will be taken from the people she loves today and left with two funny-looking, way too pale people with big noses.  We expect a very sad and scared little girl today, and we hope that she will allow herself to be comforted by us at some point soon, and to realize that we love her.  

 

The rest of the week is still loose at this point.  Jacky mentioned that he would like to take us to a museum on Tuesday to learn more about the history and culture of Urumqi, which we would love.  Then on Thursday we are hoping that the orphanage will allow us to visit.  While this may seem cruel, it is very much recommended to visit the orphanage with your child even during their grieving so that she can have some closure to that part of her life.  Also, we will be her only link with her life up until this point, and we want to know all we can so that we can give her the answers her little heart will someday crave.  Then Friday, we will leave Urumqi and fly about 3000 miles to Guangzhou.  All of the adoption paperwork is completed and finalized here in Urumqi, but then we will spend a week in GZ getting her passport and visa and everything that is required to get her into the US.  While I believe we may be the only adopting family currently in Urumqi, when we get to GZ we will join many other families from the US who are also working to get passports and visas for their children.  Once Ellie sets foot in Atlanta, she will officially be an American citizen!!  J 

 

Note that Kris is still asleep, and he's clearly the technology expert in this relationship, so getting pictures on here will have to wait until he is up!  :-)

 

Thank you so much for all the sweet wishes and for keeping us in your hearts during this time!  Today is a huge day for our family, and is already bursting at the seams with tears and emotions too big to describe!  We will try to update and post pictures soon!!  J

Beijing! Part 3

Heading to the local restaurant!

The local menu!

Our actual dinner! Chinese fondu!

Squatty potty . . . Not much to say there . . .

Beijing! Part 2

(Please note: Google's blogger is not being very cooperative today. Allison is currently asleep and I am too tires to try and get everything to line up exactly as it should. That is why there are three posts instead of just one and why the sentence nelow is repeated.   :-D)

Great Wall shops. We were rock stars here. Everyone kept saying "Hey lady! Just for you I have the cheaper price! Come back! I remember you! (we had never seen any of the individuals before) I love you! (um, what!?)"

Outside our hotel!

Inside the local market!

A sandwich we had from a vendor on the street. We don't know what it was!

Beijing! Part 1

Our seats on the plane to Beijing, China!

On the way to China!

This is a dramatic re-enactment of our taxi ride from the Beijing Airport to The Citic Hotel. Apparently, all road signs and lanes are simply suggestions, leaving everyone to honk freely at each other and drive all over the road. Please note, this taxi ride took place at midnight . . .)

How was the Great Wall, you ask? Well, for lack of a better term, it was great!

No way! The Great Wall has subway and Coke Zero!? Delicious!

Riding the tram to the top of the Great Wall!

Here we are, actually on the tram on the way to the top of the Great Wall!

Great Wall shops. We were rockstars here. Everyone kept saying "Hey lady! Just for you I have the cheaper price! Come back! I remember you! I love you!

Almost there!

We are getting closer!!  Every day is one step closer to Ellie...  We are currently waiting for TA (Travel Approval.)  Today is day 5 of our wait and they are currently taking anywhere from 10-22 days.  When we get TA, with 24 hours our agency will make our CA (Consulate Appointment) for Ellie, and then we will go ahead and book our flights for about 2 weeks later.  We are packing up and getting more excited everyday!  Kate can barely wait to meet her little sister now!  I thought I'd post this video about our adoption process that Billy Holbrooke and Brad Griffith from Clement Arts made for the benefit concert that they so generously held for us.  We are so grateful to everyone at Clement Arts, our church family at CrossPointe, and all of the sweet family and friends who are covering us in prayer!  Hopefully we'll have another update very soon!!