Day out in Urumqi

Today was a free day for us, normally you would stay close to the hotel and let your child get more acquainted with you. In our case, since she is doing so well and she is old enough to understand what is going on we decided to go out shopping with our guide Jessie. Sha Mei needed a different pair of shoes, because the ones she had on when we got her were boots. They are very nice new boots, but when we get to Guangzhou it will be hot weather and she will be wearing some dresses and shorts. We also needed some taller socks for her to wear with her boots while we are here in Urumqi. Jessie took us to a big department store where we bought her a cute pair of shoes and some longer socks. After that we walked all around several blocks from our hotel and looked at all types of people, shops etc. Then we decided to try and find the book store. After walking for nearly 15 minutes and asking about 4 different people we did find the bookstore and purchased 2 word books for Sha Mei with chinese characters and pinyin chart.

After this we were getting hungry so we stopped at a very small family restaurant a block from our hotel. Jessie said they had traditional Xinjiang food there including mutton. (which Rick had asked to try) It was very good, and Sha Mei ate a lot of "rice with meat." Jessie thought maybe her foster family had made this type of food for her.

Notice the pin striped size 4 Levis jeans? She was pretty happy with her new clothes.

Urumqi Info

This post is for Kim, Becky, Dianna and Vickie!!! Kim.....I asked your questions to the director(that was the women in the pictures) She said that two of the children are still there. She gave me their names also. Secondly she said that the women in the picture was Drew's nanny . That she would have been the nanny for 6 children.....the six boys in the picture. She was very happy to see Drew and said he looked well. Becky.......I gave her all the pics from you of the weekend and also of your three children together. She was very happy to see them and said they looked
very well also. I asked her to show them to the foster mothers. Dianna.......I asked her about Sha Sha , and she said yes, the girl with a vision problem?? I told her that she had a new diagnosis and that she can see quite well in dim light, also that the bright light blinded her and that she was partially color blind. She seems very surprised that Gillian could see so well, and was very pleased to know she is well. Last but not least, Vickie.....I gave the director the gift for
Graces' foster mother, and she looked at the picture albulm and was so surprised at how big she looks! I told her she is very healthy and well. That made her very happy.
Our guide Jessie told us that the director chose Sha Mei's name and we said that we liked it very much. She seemed fond of Sha Mei, and was very nice and pleased to hear about all of the children.

Night number One

It's morning, Rick, Riley and I are up. It's only 7:00, so Sha Mei is still asleep. I can not believe how great she did last night!!! I gave her a bath, which she didn't really want.....but had great fun once she got in. She learned the word hair while she was in there because she didn't like it when a hair would float around in the water!! Once we came out of the bathroom the boys were in bed asleep so we sat on the floor and played with her panda bear beach ball. I turned on the TV, and started flipping htrough the channels. She saw a show she wanted to watch......Just do it. Some of you may have seen this before, where the contestants run through a obstacle course and usually end up falling in the water?? She loved it, and has obviously watched it before!! She would yell out everytime someone started to do the course"just do it" in English!! When I saw her yawning, I motioned for her to get in bed.......and she just got in bed next to Riley with her stuffed animal and blanket from Nana Sandy. I was on her other side on the rollaway bed. She closed her eyes and went to sleep in about 2 minutess......that was it!! No crying ........ nothing!! She slept all night, even though I had to move her back up to the pillow two times...she moves around alot ! We are meeting Jessie at 8:00 for breakfast, so I better get ready!! Love you Rorey!! Can't wait for you to meet your sister!!!!

More Pictures

I forgot to mention that She Mei had like 6 layers of clothes on today, and we so far have only gotten 1 layer off of her, but soon we will be getting in the bath tub, and figuring out just exactly what she is wearing!! Also the curly part in her hair was just barretts with fake hair attached. She has very pretty dark hair, it is soft and has gotten fairly long. She was doing a dance in the last picture here, and the director says she loves to sing and dance!!

Did I call her a princess??

OH MY goodness didn't I call her a princess?? Well boy was I ever right!! LOL I can not believe that anyone EVER thought this child was "cognitively delayed" She is as smart as a tack!!

The direcctor of the orphanage talked with us for quite a while and she said that Mei Mei was very bright, she is in Kindergarden already, and she has been running the foster home. They gave us a formal portrait of her with her foster Mom and Dad and sister. She has already learned several english words, including...... Hello, OK, Riley, thirsty. She counts up to like 30 or more....... I couldn't keep track, of course my Chinese isn't as good as her's!! HAHA She was shy with us for about 2 minutes, and ever since she has been laughing and playing, holding hands with Riley and has used the bathroom 4 times(which is a big deal in the adoption world), she ate

french fries with ketchup this evening. She ordered her own lunch of Chi fan...cooked rice....and

stir fried vegetables!! We couldn't order for ourselves but she did!!!! The director said this is the type of child they would call a "little adult" which means she talks in long sentences and uses words like an adult. Just like her brothers!! HAHA She also rolls her eyes at you all of the time ....just like Rorey does!!! We are very happy, and are overwhelmed by how wonderful she is!!! Rorey she knows your picture and calls you big brother. More later,Love to everyone

Urumqi Pics

Monday Morning

We slept pretty well last night, I did take a nap yesterday afternoon, well all three of us did. I just could NOT keep my eyes open!! So last night at 8:30 I took 2 tylenol PM's and we all went to bed. I couldn't believe Riley slept in the afternoon and then slept again and didn't get up until Rick and I woke up at 4:30. We are getting ready to go to breakfast, and then we will meet our guide Jessie in the lobby at 9:45. We should get Sha Mei at 10:00 AM. I'm a little nervous, but not as bad as I would have thought I'd be!! I did have a few waves of panic while we where in Beijing.....mostly at night when I was laying there and couldn't sleep!! I would think, why did I do this?? What was I thinking?? Our life was fine the way it was!! But I think that is normal, as I had the same thoughts when Riley and Rorey where born. I'm sure things will be perfectly fine and in a few months we will wonder how we ever got along with out her. I'll post some pictures tonight, well hopefully if we can get this hotel computer figured out!!

Urumqi

We are here in our hotel in Urumqi... 4 hour to get here. It was fine, nothing compared to flying to China!! Jessie has been telling us all about Xinjiang, the local customs and different ways of doing things here. She also has talked to the director of Sha Mei's orphanage and she said that Sha Mei was very healthy. She said when she was small she acted like a special needs child, but is now caught up with all of the kids her age. She also said that she loves "beauty" Which Jessie seemed to think meant she likes "girly" stuff. I agree and told Jessie that Sha Mei always has on bracelets and hair clips and fingernail polish in the pictures we have gotten in the past. We are heading out in a few minutes to go to the market for bottled water, and then get all of our paperwork ready for tomorrow morning. I'll post more later!! Love to all!!

Computer Trouble

Sorry I have had some trouble getting to our blog and keeping on time with the info!! It's 4 AM here, and we are getting ready to leave for Urumqi. I woke up and thought it was morning but when I looked at the clock it was only 10:59!! I was miserable the rest of the night, snoozing a litttle then waking up and getting nervous again. Hopefully tonight we will sleep better as we will be settled into the hotel in Urumqi until the 11th. Tylenol PM here I come!! We are getting Sha Mei tomorrow morning, then going to do all of the paperwork. I hope to post pictures of her that evening. For now here are some more pics of our tour yesterday, and some of our"beijing duck banquet"!! Also one of the many photo shots for Riley with the locals!! HAHA he is eating it up! I think these girls thought he was much older than ten, They were nervous and laughing like he was a movie star!!

Love you Rorey, can't wait to see you!!

Oct. 4th Beijing

We woke up this morning at about 2:00 AM, and thought it should have been 8:00AM!! We did try to go back to sleep, and ended up at 5:45, which isn't to bad I guess. had breakfast at the hotel here.....big buffet and had "normal" food! We met the other two families in the lobby at 8:30 to start out on our touring. First place we went was Tianamen square, which lead us into the Forbidden city. It was a cool cloudy day, with LOTS of people milling around since it is a national holiday here this week. After we were done at the Forbiden city our guide Jessie had reservations for us at the "Beijing duck Banquet" restaurant! We had several different foods including the famous "Beijing duck" dish. It was very good, and even the two boys in our group enjoyed the meal. Next we took off for the great wall. I think they should change the name to the great stairs!! I have never seen so many steps, all of different depths and heights, in a row before. Wonderful place to say "I have been there" but enjoy the pictures because unless you are in tip top shape you are going to DIE on the way up the thing!!! Only three of us out of our group went all the way up......that being Rick, Riley and Will(son of another couple with us) Laurellee aand Steven made it to the wall part, but didn't follow it to the end, I made it about 2/3 of the way and said "this is good enough!!" the other couple Dana and Steve(can you beleive another Dana?) went up partially and turned back also.(they are Will's parents) Tomorrow morning we fly to Sha Mei's city....Urumqi, Xinjiang province. we have to meet Jessie in the lobby at 5:30 AM. WOW that's early. Jessie is going to Urumqi with us, and will be the one who helps with all of our adoption paperwork. We take off at 7:45 and arrive at 11:45.

We Made It!!

Well we are a here!! HORRIBLE That is the first word that comes to mind when I think about
that plane ride!! Awful, long, cold, uncomfortable and time warping. It took 12 1/2 hours to get
to Beijing, which after 3 hour we started saying "only 9 1/2 more hours" We left Chicago at 12:33 Pm, when we arrived here in Beijing it was 3:00 pm the next day!! We feel like we have been run over by big yellow buses!!! Tomorrow we will be going to the Forbidden City and the Great wall. I promise to try to get some pictures on the blog after tomorrows outings!! Riley is out cold in his clothes, maybe I'll just leave him there!! We gotta get in bed, just wanted everyone to know we are here safe and sound! Love to everyone, but especially Rorey!! Love you!!

We are on our way

This is my last post from this side of the world! We are taking off tomorrow morning at 4:30AM for Chicago O'Hare International airport!! Next time I post we will be in Beijing China! Everything is packed away in the rental car, and we are ready to take off!! I still can't believe we are this close to getting our daughter. WOW! This has been a very long journey........very long. I just hope Sha Mei is prepared for our arrival, she may be the only one who IS calm!!
Just joking, Rick will be cool as a cucmber I'm sure! I on the other hand will NOT BE! Say a prayer for our safe travels tomorrow, and check back later for an update!!

Negative Mono Test

Thank you to everyone who said a prayer and was thinking about our son Riley the last few days. He tested negative for Mono yesterday afternoon, and is feeling fine!! Not a minute to soon, as we are leaving this Thursday, TWO DAYS FROM NOW!!!! I'm off to my last day of work until December!!!

Five....Four.....

We now have 4 days until lift off!! Rick finally made it home Friday afternoon, and we have been busy doing some last minute shopping , laundry, and packing! My internet has been acting up again, so I haven't been able to post for several days. This might be good as I have many other things to get done!! Riley had to go to the doctor on Saturday because of swollen glands in his neck. We are waiting on the strepp test, and praying that it isn't the dreaded MONO!!! Wouldn't that just be great?? So everyone reading this say a prayer that Riley doesn't get really sick while we are in China! Anyone who doesn't know...... he is going with us!! I'm thinking positively, it's just a virus, it's just a virus, it's just a virus. We are so happy, so excited, and so ready to get our arms around this daughter of ours!!

Someone Pinch Me!

Eleven days, I repeat eleven days and counting until we are "leaving on a jet plane". Still I'm in a fog, I'm not even nervous really! Just going about my life like a deer in headlights, like nothing special is happening! People ask me if I have any news and when I say yes we are leaving a week from Thursday they freak out because I'm so cool calm and collected! Perhaps I'm in a dissociative state. I think I am!! Luckily I'm not psychotic enough to "FORGET" we are leaving
next Thursday!! I just don't think about it until someone asks. Why get all worked up, what's the big deal. It's just a little 2 week trip half way around the world, with our 10 year old son, leaving our 5 year old son, to bring home our new non-English speaking 4 year old daughter! Never mind the fact that I hate to fly, Riley has never flown, Sha Mei (who has possibly never even been in a car!!) has never flown. Rick has been out of state since July 7th, and will be home "sometime next week". I'm not packed, Riley's not packed, Rick's not even unpacked!! Sha Mei is the only one who IS packed! Come on, what could possibly go wrong?

Somebody pinch me please!!

15 days and counting!

We have 15 days until we leave for China!! WOW I still can't believe it!! We have waited sooo long to get this child home with us! It will be a YEAR in October since we first saw her little face on the waiting child list from CHI. It has been so hard to know who she is, what she looks like, how old she is, and not be able to get to her!! I'm sad that we have missed so much of her younger days, but I'm praying that she has been well loved and cared for while waiting for us.

Today I'm doing some more packing, and my king sized bed is covered with luggage and backpacks and toiletries in zip lock bags! It has been hard to limit our suitcases to 44 lbs. each (which is the limit for inside China and we are taking 3 flights while there) At least once we have Sha Mei we will be able to have 4 suitcases instead of three and that will help!! Obviously there will be some shopping done while we are there!!

Itinerary Finalized!!

We only have 18 days left until take-off, and we have our finalized itinerary! I have posted it day by day in the sidebar so you can keep track of where we will be everyday while we are gone.(Mom) China is 13 hours ahead of us, so if it's 7 PM here it will be 8AM the next day in China. We are leaving here on the 2nd but won't arrive until the afternoon of the 3rd there. Reversely on the way home we leave China the 16th at 4:10PM and arrive at O'Hare at 4:15Pm the same day!! What fun!! I wish the flight was only 5 minutes!! HAHA I have a feeling we will ALL be consuming some Bonine, Dramamine, Benadryl....Whatever it takes to make it back with out any ugly outbursts!! (I include myself in that comment!!) Keep us in your thoughts, especially Sha Mei.. as this is going to be the hardest on her. She is leaving everything and everybody that she has known and starting a new life with US!! No special people, no super people, no special education teacher, just our plain old family with 2 kids, cat, dog, mortgage, car payment, screaming boys and long timeouts!! She will not know what to think for quite some time I'm sure!! So if you don't see us out and about, at church, at work, at the park, don't worry, we are just trying to help her adjust to a new life. And this could take some time!!

Visas Are In The Building!!

Today our lovely postal carrier delivered our passports back to us,
containing our Chinese visas!! Yahoo we are legal to enter China!! We have 23 days until we take off!!! Wow I can't believe it!! I still feel like I'm having an out of body experience!! I keep thinking I've forgotten to do something, or I need to do something, but what?? It's just pure anxiety, it's keeping me up at night and distracting me during the day. By the time we leave I'll be exhausted!

First Day of Pre-school

Well here we are!! Rorey's first day of Pre-school!!! It was so much fun, we went to Wal-mart and did some shopping for our China trip, during which Rorey was on his best behavior! Before we left Rorey got his favorite treat, "chicken balls" And yes before you ask me, chickens do have these!! OK--- popcorn chicken --

Next we went to our second home away from home......... Starbucks!!! Man I love this kid!!! And you want to hear the best part??? He always gets the same thing at Starbucks,......... A glass of water!!!! So he got his water, Mom got her fix, we took a picture of the coffee making employee and headed to Good Shepherd Pre-school!! Rorey was so excited to go, and so happy when I left, I'm at home right now with no children here-both at school-WOW for the first time ever!!! Of course this will be over in 4 weeks when we add the little princess to our family!
I guess I better enjoy the peace and quiet now!!!

Itinerary Finalized!!

It is done, set in stone, totally confirmed!! We are leaving for China on October 2nd!!!! YAHOO!! I got the flights arranged last night and it is a done deal!! I just can't believe it is finally happening! Still waiting on our visas to arrive back here, but they are now at the Chinese consulate in Chicago and will be overnighted to us next Tuesday. Now I need to concentrate on packing, preparing Rorey for our absence and getting Riley's school work taken care of.

Here is our itinerary for China::
Oct. 2nd.....leave US
Oct. 3rd......arrive in Beijing
Oct. 4th......sightsee in Beijing
Oct. 5th......fly to Urumqi
Oct. 6th......GOTCHA DAY!!!!
Oct. 7th-10th...sightsee in Urumqi
Oct. 11th....fly to Guangzhou
Oct. 12th....SHOP in GZ
Oct. 13th....Ellie's medical exam
Oct. 14th....American consulate appointment
Oct. 15th....receive Ellie's visa
Oct. 16th....Fly back to Beijing, then on to US!!!
arrive in Chicago Oct. 16th 4 PM!!!!!

A big THANK YOU to all of you who have helped us along the way!