Baiyun Mountain

Today we went with our group to a local park that is on top of hill called Baiyun Mountain. We had about a 5 minute cable car ride to the top and then were free to roam around for a couple of hours. The first two photos are around the welcome area. As you can see, they have started spring with all of the blooming flowers. There were different little scenes around the park as you can see Colette and Olivia in the third photo. The fourth we had someone snap at a pavillion that overlook the city.

Our group was the only Americans there. The Chinese people kept pointing at us and talking (no idea what they were saying) . It was very beautiful. You could see the downtown skyline, which is rather large. There was a guy who lives in Chicago that is in our group that said it was bigger then the Chicago skyline.

They had a display of birds there and I think we picked the ugliest bird to snap the fifth picture of Colette and Olivia (eventhough you cannot really see it in the photo, it was one ugly sob). And the last photo is just of Olivia and Bob. If you want to get technical, you can see Colette taking the photo in the left lense of my sunglasses.

The parks for the locals seem to be a place were people go to exercise and play. We saw many doing their exercises, playing badmitton, and hacki sac is really big here.

Overall, it was a very pleasant day. It was really nice to see a lot of green and blooming flowers.

I am ready for spring!

Bob

A Day In The Park

Olivia's New Clothes

I bought Olivia's out-fit, dress, tights & shoes (all but the hairbow) for a total of $15, last night here in Guangzhou, Isn't she cute? She is playing with her "Squeaky Shoes"... she loves them.

The picture of Bob holding Olivia is with the Golden Pig. We were told they were taking the statute down tomorrow because today is the last day of the Chinese New Year. This is the year of the "Golden Pig". Olivia was born in the year of the dog.

Colette

Shopping

This is Olivia's first ride in a stroller. She seemed happy as long as we didn't stop too long.

First Night in Guangzhoe

We went out to eat with the Howards & Robinsons at the famous "Lucy's" reataurant. Then we walked along the Pearl River. It is beautiful!

Guangzhou is very different the Changsha. Many more Americans since all US citizens adopting babies must go through the US embassy located in this city. It reminds me of Cancun a bit. The White Swan Hotel is where most Americans who are adopting stay. Needless to say there are lots & lots of babies.

One Last Post From Changsha

The last post from Changsha and thought we should give a great big thanks to our guides. Lina (on the left) has been with us since Beijing and has been awesome and will continue with us to Guanzhoe. She is a great story teller and could be a comedian. Equally as awesome has been Vicki on the right. She has been quiding us through Changsha and has been a great help in making sure we have all of our documents together as well as knowing the local sights to see. Without them as guides, we would be quite lost and have no clue on what to do.

Shopping in Changsha

Here are a couple of photos of shopping in Changsha. One is of the boulevard which we did not have to worry about traffic. The other is a photo starting from the left of Colette, Olivia, Sophie, Katie, and Marc. We met Katie and Marc here in Changsha and have become good friends. Olivia and Sophie came from the same orphanage.

We were shopping for embroidery which is really big here in Changsha. Everything is up for bargain and all of the shop keepers were extremely nice. We got some really good deals.

Traffic in Changsha

These are photos of some of the traffic around town. I would describe it as organized chaos (only organized since I have yet to see an accident). There are a lot of people in a small space.

Smiling Photos

Colette and I noticed looking back through the blog, we do not have any photos of Olivia smiling, so we snapped a few of her smiling. These were taken this morning after a game of "Peek-a-boo".

Lobby of the Dolton

Photos were taken in the lobby of the hotel after breakfast Friday morning.

Breakfast in the Dalton Hotel

Olivia will eat anything we give her. She has tried steamed eggs, scrambled eggs, bananas, yogurt, congee, french fries, smashed potatoes, peas (althought she did not seem to care for these), & ice cream. You can tell that she wasn't given food in abundance. Whenever Bob & I have been eating she has to eat to. She is a bottomless pit. She is sure to put the pounds on quick. She is in size 9-12 month.

Colette

Not Much

We did not do much Thursday. Colette stayed behind today with Olivia but I went on the morning tours. We first went to a local park which was really nice just to get out and walk around. Especially being able to walk around without having to worry about all of the traffic. We then went to the Hunan Provincial Museum which had artifacts from an archeological dig. One of the artifacts was a fully mummified corpse. It was unbelievable of how well preserved the body was as well as most of the internal organs (which was also on display).

Well that was about it for our day. We pretty much just stayed in our room and ordered room service for supper.

Now a word about the traffic in this city. Crazy!!!! There are cars, buses, scooters, bicycles, motorcycles, etc. all vying for the same space. You literally have to watch over your shoulder to make sure you do not get run over by someone. And that is on the sidewalk! But, I have yet to see an accident. Go figure. Hopefully, we will be able to get some photos that will adequately describe it.

Olivia loves "Peek-A-Boo". She giggles & giggles.

Bob

Wednesday night Thursday morning

Last night Olivia slept from 10:00 – 6:00 a.m. She would wake up throughout the night and I would just rub her back and she would go right back asleep. Anyway, once 6:00 a.m. came she was up. We went down for breakfast, Olivia had her first taste of banana, and she liked it. We met my cousin, Dan Mangers’ employee there. Him and his wife are adopting a daughter from China too. It really is a small world.

Bob is now with our group touring some museum. I am tiered so Olivia and I are staying back. While they were cleaning our room we went and checked out the playroom that they have here in the hotel. We came back and Olivia drank a bottle and feel asleep.

I am off to take a nap of my own. I will have Bob post about his outing after he gets back.

Colette

Crazy Americans!

Last night we went to eat with Katie, Marc & Sofie. We ate at the Chinese restaurant here in the hotel. It was quiet an experience. The staff there speaks very, very little English. We first ordered beer then after that they didn’t come back to our table. The only place in this hotel that has air conditioning is the lobby. Otherwise it is turned off everywhere else. We were able to get a fan from housekeeping and we open our windows in our room. Anyway, finally we were able to order, but then the food took forever. Later, Sofie was making quite a mess on the table trying to feed herself & Katie. Then Olivia tipped over my beer. We kept getting stares from the staff. They probably were saying "Crazy Americans"

First Taste of Ice Cream

Olivia having her first taste of ice cream (we think). She really likes it.

Changsha Group Picture

YuLu Academy

Olivia Is Officially Ours

It's official! Olivia is ours in the eyes of the Chinese government. This morning, we returned to the adoption center and finalized the documents.

The above photo was taken with the director of the orphanage that had Olivia. We learned that she was actual with a foster parent for approximately 5 months after she turned 6 months old. Apparently the orphanage holds the kids until they are 6 months old and then will put them in with a foster home. About 1 week prior to being adopted they move them back to the orphanage. We also learned how to pronounce her Chinese middle and first name, Min Ya (sounds like "me yah"). She didn't speak any english but she seemed like a very caring and likeable women.

Olivia is really starting to bond with Colette. Just as I was typing this, Colette was playing with her and Olivia leaned in and gave Colette a kiss. I have to say that the bonding has definately begun! For me, she tolerates me enough to let me hold her but I'm still working on her.

Bob

The 2nd Day

What A Face

Walking

Look Back on Gotcha Day!

I have been having a hard time putting my thoughts down on paper. The emotions are just so hard to describe.

When we got to the adoption center we went up the elevator. Right after we sat down, I looked over to one of the families in our group and they already had their baby. In our group there were 10 families. 9 of them were from 3 different orphanages and one was a special needs (cleft lip pallet) 2 ½ yr. old, from another orphanage. Anyway, after the family with the special needs girl, they announced the families with babies from the Xinhua orphanage to come. We walked over a little and they said "Robert & Colette Walker". We were the first in our group. I was shocked, didn’t think we would be first. They just handed her to me. Bob and I walked around the corner to make room for the next family to be reunited. I didn’t want to cry, but the emotions just came flooding. Bob and I both cried. This didn’t startle Olivia. She kept looking around at the crazy chaos. She didn’t look at us. Or at least I don’t think she did.

I sat down with her and held her on my lap while the rest of the people got their babies. Most of the babies were crying. Olivia, just kept looking around, eyes wide open. She wouldn’t look at me though. She was being so good that I didn’t want to startle her, so I kept quiet and didn’t look in her face. This seemed to work wonderful. She never cried at the Adoption Center. We then all got loaded up in the bus and headed to the the grocery store. Half way through our shopping I handed her to Bob and he held her and she did fine. After that we came back to the room in the hotel. She did not cry until I put her down, she wanted to be held. It still though wasn’t a bad cry. We then hung out in our room. We put her down on the floor and she was grabbing the different toys. She wanted something in her hands. Then we stood her up and she walked. YES, SHE WALKED. We couldn’t believe it. She is 11 ½ months old. Megan didn’t walk till she was 13 months. This was so unexpected, I expected her to be more delayed. Olivia is very curious about things. They had said this in the info that we got back in January, but I didn’t know how much to believe. Well, they were right. She took a 2-hour nap and I went and did some paperwork. Which was giving us temporary custody for 24 hours.

Bob & I were exhausted and went to bed at 9:30. We put her in her crib, which was right next to our bed. Bob fell asleep right away. Olivia would fuss a little. I put my hand through the crib bars then took it out. She then put her hand through the crib bar and grabbed my hand. Then she would let go, so I would take my hand out, then she would grab my hand again. She kept doing this over and over. Then she started laughing & laughing. She was smiling and giggling. So, much that it woke up Bob. Olivia continued to do this for ½ hour. It was precious.

Colette

Daddy & Daughter

Bob's a father again!

First Food... at least for us.

This is taken shortly after we got back to the hotel. I am feeding her congee. Which is a rice type cereal. I also gave her some diluted apple juice. Wanted to give her some of the formula, but didn't know how to mix it. Everything is in Chinese. Our guide is going to show us later.

We Have Baby!

These pictures were taking in the "adoption room" after we got Olivia. She was very quiet, didn't cry. She was looking all around at what was going on around her. Which was quite chaotic. Many of the other babies were crying. She hasn't given us eye contact yet.

Today Is The Day

We just got back from breakfast; our group will meet in the lobby at 9:30. The bus will drive us to the "meeting place". We get our babies around 10:00 a.m. Our agency has 10 families each getting one child. We were told that with all of the different adoption agencies there would be 100 families receiving a child today. WOW! We are all staying at the Dolton Hotel, most everyone is staying on 2 floors here in the hotel. This place is sure going to look different after everyone receives their child.

I can't believe today is the day! The day we get Olivia! I am so excited! After the long wait…. we are finally here. "Olivia, I can’t wait to finally meet you, you are already loved very much, and your sister Megan is so excited to meet you".

We want to thank all of our family and friends for all of the love and support you have given us. We love all of you. Please keep Olivia in your prayers.

The next post we post will be after we get Olivia!

Colette

Katie

Sunday I got to meet Katie & Marc. It was so nice after all this time to finally meet in person. I have talked with Katie on the phone a few times and emailed a ton of times. This is the first child for them. It will be so neat to see them become parents today.

Colette

The Start of The Paperwork

After we were all checked in. We had to meet to start the paperwork. They needed one of the parents to fill out the papers. We thought I should do it since I was the one who had did all of the paperwork and was more familiar with it. Bad decision, I was brain dead for lack of sleep. I felt like an idiot. It can be hard filling out legal forms when the instructions are in Chinese.

Leaving Beijing

Sunday morning we left Beijing and headed toward Changsha Hunan. The flight was around 2 hours. We flew China Southern, the seats are not as wide as the US airlines, 2 inches smaller then US economy seats. The flight was full, so it was a little tight. I guess it is because the Chinese people are generally smaller.

Summary for Feb 24th

We started out with an awesome breakfast. The hotel had all of the common western breakfast items plus some Chinese type (dimsung(probably spelled that wrong), fried noodles, spring rolls, etc.). We visited the Forbidden City, TianAnMen Square, and the Great Wall. We had some awesome Peking Duck at a local restraunt and are trying to sooth our aching muscles from walking up the Great Wall. On the way back to the hotel, they drove us by the outdoor arena being built for the 2008 Olympics. It looks like a birdcage and is really pretty neat. We could not get a decent photo from the bus but you will see that next year.

Tomorrow we fly to Changsha in the Hunan province and will meet Olivia for the first time on Monday. Stay tuned!
Bob

Walking Up the Great Wall

We are starting our trek up the Great Wall! Actually, it is only a little piece of the wall since it is many miles long. Going out of Beijing, you start to see mountains in the distance which is a big change since most of the topography we have seen so far has been flat. And I really thought from a distance that the mountains were actually thunderheads building up on the horizon.

Wow! What a feeling of being on something that is so old and historic. This is the most favorite historic site that Colette and I visited so far.

Bob

A neat thing is dealing with the white stone over my left shoulder in this picture. The Chinese people think that you are a hero if you visit the wall so all of them were taking their picture with that small monument.