Alex & Malia

Malia walking more and more plus Alex gets 3rd place in 1st grade Science Fair competition

2012-01-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Malia just recently has been taking more and more consecutive steps!! Way to go Malia! Soon we'll be done with occupational therapy because the last goal is walking. After that, we will be stepping up the speech therapy sessions and concentrating our efforts there.

Alex made a homemade volcano for the science fair this year. We had a lot of fun putting that together and learning about volcanoes along the way. Way to go Alex!

Trip to H.E.B. for lunch with Gem'a

2012-01-19T09:38:00.001-08:00

Malia had great first post cleft palate surgery check-up

2012-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Malia's cleft palate surgery was on December 21, 2011, and her first check-up was yesterday, January 4, 2012. Her palate looks great! Hooray! She is also very excited to get soft foods again and not just pureed foods. Alex had his last hurrah at Brooke's birthday party (Happy 10th bday Brooke!) yesterday at Gatti Town before going back to school today after the winter break.

Recuperating after palate surgery

2011-12-27T08:32:00.000-08:00

Malia is doing fine. She is on a puree diet for two weeks and then soft foods for 4 weeks. She really wants regular food and is not happy about all the puree, but we are experimenting with different soups and yogurts and lots of blending of whatever we are eating. We enjoyed Christmas with both sets of grandparents and Uncle Nick, Aunt Rocka, and Uncle Gavin. Thanks to Linda and Paul, Marc's parents, for keeping Alex during the time we were in the hospital with Malia. Thanks to Amy and Dan, Dianne's parents, for keeping our dogs, Hobo and Oscar, and giving Hobo his insulin shots. Thanks to everyone for coming together for Christmas. It was perfect (except for missing Kate and Don ~~ understandably though since they were visiting Don's side of the family this year).

Cleft Palate Operation Done!

2011-12-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

We are home from the hospital. Malia's operation took about three hours and we had to stay 2 nights at the hospital. She's doing fine and eating pureed foods. I'll post pictures tomorrow (maybe). We are pretty tired and going to bed early. Good night good people.

Train Time at Grandma & Bapa's House

2011-12-16T13:54:00.001-08:00

Nothing like a hug from your big brother in front of the Christmas tree

2011-12-14T08:40:00.001-08:00

Busy weekend

2011-12-12T08:31:00.001-08:00

Roxanne and Nick had a family holiday get together on Saturday afternoon, and then we had an office party, and the next day, we had Alex's 7th birthday party at Star Gymnastics followed by some play time at home with family and friends. Whew!

Two doctor appointments in two days

2011-12-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

We saw all the nurses at Dell's Children's Hospital/Pediatric offices for Malia's 2-week prior to cleft-palate surgery appointment. She got the green light even though she's a little stuffy and has a cough. Her lungs are clear and she doesn't have a fever and has a good appetite. Still, we brought her to her pediatrician this morning to see if we could knock out the stuffiness and coughing before the surgery, and while we were there, Malia got two more immunization shots and a flu shot. Not a fun morning! Her pediatrician prescribed antibiotics and ear drops (slight drainage in right ear). So, she should be in tip top condition for the surgery on December 21. Here's a picture that Gem'a (grandmother) took just a few minutes ago...
After School Fun

2nd Surgery Scheduled

2011-12-04T15:00:00.001-08:00

Malia's palate surgery (for cleft palate) is scheduled for December 21. We are confident that everything will be fine, but well wishes and prayers are welcome. =)

Malia's first surgery was for her cleft lip in September 2011 (3 months ago). It went just fine and she looks as awesome as before, just with a different upper lip.

Alex and Malia going to the Austin capitol building for the tree lighting

2011-12-04T14:47:00.001-08:00

Mom and Dad (Dianne and Marc) got to go on a date night while Malia and Alex went to see the tree lighting at the Capitol with Gema and G-dad.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Speech Therapy and Rembrandt

2011-11-29T11:08:00.001-08:00

Malia had a great speech therapy session today. She's picking up sign language more readily and also making more sounds. She even said "up" during the session! Also, Alex is taking an after-school art class that he enjoys. This is a picture he drew yesterday in that class of Rembrandt.

5 steps!

2011-11-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

Malia took 5 unassisted steps this weekend! Everyone clapped including Malia!

Malia and Dianne on Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T07:48:00.001-08:00

Malia is beginning to take her first unassisted steps!

Malia's School Picture

2011-11-23T07:33:00.001-08:00

Weekend in College Station

2011-11-22T08:51:00.001-08:00

Malia Enjoying a Lime at the Oasis

2011-11-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO20HmwkuG0

The Oasis

2011-11-14T10:23:00.001-08:00

Nice morning running in a 5k with Allyson and Brooke (Brooke's 1st 5k!), playing pitch and putt golf with the family, and early afternoon lunch at the Oasis.

Marc and Alex

2011-11-11T09:45:00.001-08:00

Enjoying a father & son lunch at Waterloo and then canoeing.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

All the neighborhood kids trick-or-treat together after pizza and lemonade in the cul-de-sac. Malia is captain of the Enterprise and Alex is a very scary skeleton.

Malia is posing on the playground this morning.

2011-10-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Alex's Art

2011-10-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

Alex drew this dog at school for a fundraiser. We think it's fabulous!

Tuesdays

2011-10-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays are spent with Grandma Amy and Bapa! If you have a phone or a remote, you should just hand it over to Malia as quickly as possible!!

Fun weekend before Halloween

2011-10-24T07:12:00.001-07:00

Group hug with G-dad.
Very scary dinosaur!
Alex gets to enjoy the model train weekend event in College Station.

Cub Scouts

2011-10-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

Alex joined Cub Scouts. Here he is ready for a pumpkin fun pre-Halloween meeting. He doesn't like posing for pictures sometimes.

Starbucks outting with Gem'a and Gdad this morning

2011-10-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Delicious passion tea! Thanks for sharing, Gem'a.
I'll do it by myself!
Starbucks has tops on these cups!!
Ahh....good to the last drop!

Spoons and ice cream

2011-10-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

Malia is enjoying some lasagna and insists on using the spoon herself. Then Alex, Malia and I go to Austin Scoops. Those kids love each other!

Another Stroll to Starbucks This Morning

2011-10-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Gem'a!

Serious work with new stacking cups and nap time

2011-10-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

Ducks in College Station

2011-10-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

We went to College Station for the weekend to spend time with Marc's parents and to see a production of Charlotte's Web at Opas Jr. These are a couple of pictures that Linda and Paul took when they took the kiddos out to feed the ducks early Saturday morning.

Meeting Ava

2011-10-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mary & Ava, Dianne & Malia
Our friends, Mary and Jeff, have a son who is Alex's age and they also just had a baby girl, Ava. Malia is crying in the picture because I was just holding Ava, and Malia did not like that one bit!

Austin Children's Museum

2011-09-26T07:41:00.001-07:00

Alex and Malia had fun at the Children's Museum on Sunday.

Malia's old smile and twinkle are back

2011-09-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Malia on new rug

2011-09-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Grandma Amy bought a new rug just so Malia has something soft to play on when it's Grandma Amy day. Yay!

First Cool Morning

2011-09-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

Malia got her nose stints out on Wednesday. She's doing very well and playing and eating as much as ever. Here she is wearing a sweater and heading to the park with her Gem'a on the first cool morning we've had in Austin in a long long time.

Recovering from Cleft Lip and Ear Tubes Surgery

2011-09-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Malia got through the surgery like a pro. She even drank a whole bottle of Pedialyte/Apple Juice in the recovery room which apparently has never been seen at that hospital before. :) She did develop a little fever in the afternoon, but Tylenol took care of it. She stayed over one night in the hospital and we took her home the next day. Her ears were full of puss and gunk from being infected too, poor baby! The ear tubes will help her so much. She is feeling much better and is as active as ever. She gets her nose stints out this afternoon. Yay! We are hoping to schedule the palate surgery right after Christmas. We'll see.

Cheers!

Lip Operation and Ear Tubes Tomorrow Morning

2011-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

We are leaving very early in the morning for a 5:45am check in at Dell Children's Hospital. Malia's procedures start at 7:00am. Here are some pictures from Sunday morning at Galveston.

Fun at LifeTime Fitness

2011-08-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

We had a play date today at LifeTime Fitness with Mary and Holden. Alex and Holden had a blast swimming, going down the slides, and climbing the rock wall. Malia enjoyed swimming too and took a little nap on Daddy's shoulder.

Malia's Re-Adoption in Texas

2011-08-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

We took Malia to the Travis County Court House yesterday to her re-adoption. That's when Texas officially recognizes the adoption so Malia can get a US birth certificate. The birth certificate will have China as her place of birth, but having that certificate makes other things a whole lot easier down the road. Yay Malia!!

Malia's lip surgery is coming up...September 9.

First Day of First Grade

2011-08-22T06:56:00.001-07:00

Alex was very excited about starting first grade! Malia, Marc & Dianne walked with him all the way to his classroom. It's going to be a wonderful school year.

Our China Trip Video (it works in IE - Internet Explorer; not sure about other browsers)

2011-08-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

View in New Window

Summer Time Blues

2011-08-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

This morning, Malia had to go to school and Alex had camp. Malia did not want us to leave her, but she was okay 5 minutes later. Alex did not want to go to camp (his last day), so an emergency call to Grandma Amy saved the day. Alex was delighted to have a change in plans and told Grandma that he already had his snack, lunch, and bathing suit packed, so she didn't have to worry about a thing. =)

I'm attaching a picture of Alex swinging with Malia in the backyard after we played with the water hose misters yesterday.

Some recent pictures

2011-07-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Malia and Alex and Marc's parents, Linda and Paul.

Alex's Not Bummer Summer Day with Gem'a and G-dad

2011-07-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Alex didn't have any friends today at summer camp, so Mom let him come home. Lucky for Alex, his Gem'a and G-dad happened to be in town today and jumped at the chance to spend a fun day with Alex.

1st Surgery Scheduled

2011-07-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Malia will be getting lip surgery and ear tube surgery all in one on September 9. She has fluid in her ear canals which is expected in almost all cleft palate patients. The palate surgery will be in November or December.

Wearing Momma's Sunglasses at the Grocery Store

2011-07-13T13:09:00.001-07:00

July 2011

2011-07-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

We joined our neighborhood July 4th parade, though it was so hot at 9:00am when the parade began, we bailed after a few blocks. =) Malia did get to meet some of our neighborhood friends before we skedaddled for air conditioning.

I'm also attaching some cute pictures of Malia at the Austin Children's Museum. We went to Emelia Coffey's 2nd birthday party there last weekend.

Happy Anniversary Hon!

2011-06-29T09:21:00.001-07:00

9 years since our wedding. 10 years since our engagement. 11 years since our first kiss.

Malia Growing By Leaps and Bounds - Already Feeding Herself!

2011-06-28T19:14:00.001-07:00

All of Malia's tests for diseases came back negative from the pediatrician. Yay. Also, the doctors, nurses, and staff at Dell Children's all met Malia. We are set up!! Malia will get lip revision surgery in September and cleft surgery probably in the November time frame. A speech therapy initial consult was given as well as discussion with a social worker about helping Malia and the family with other people's questions, etc. We are set with professionals lined up to help.

Chuy's

2011-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

We met Allyson today at Chuy's to firm up plans for Mary's baby shower. Alex was having a good time but didn't want to pose for a picture. Silly kid! Malia loves TexMex food.

We have our initial appointment with the doctors and nurses on the Cleft Team at Dell Children's Medical Center tomorrow morning. We are anxious to have them meet Malia and hear what the process will be for setting up her surgeries.

Malia already had her initial visit with our pediatrician, Dr. Chiapetta. Lots of tests and immunizations. Not fun for Malia or Momma!! The only test result we got back so far was the tb test. Negative. Yay.

Hiking with Daddy

2011-06-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

Barton Creek Hiking

Swimming and strolling

2011-06-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

Malia had a great Father's Day swimming with the family at grandma's. Here she is hanging out with Aunt Rocka.

This morning, Marc, Alex and Malia are going for a little stroll before it gets too hot outside. Alex loves the job of official stroller navigator.

Malia feeling great after a little nap

2011-06-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Malia has adjusted to the time change already. Her parents - not as fast. Alex is loving being a big brother and enjoying summer camp which he says is a million thousand ten times better than school.

Welcome Home Malia

2011-06-13T07:11:00.001-07:00

We were greeted at the airport by friends and family. We want to thank them all for being there!!! There's also a picture of big brother Alex paying special attention to Malia. They have been bonding so well and making everything that much easier for Malia's adjustment home!

Hong Kong and Home

2011-06-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

We have as much wanderlust as practically anyone. And yet, there's nothing like taking care of your new baby daughter for two weeks in China to really, really, REALLY make you miss home. Thankfully, that's exactly where we are now as this is posted.

On Thursday we packed to leave. Marc & Malia had one last adventure to the Sun Yat-Sen memorial before we all headed to the U.S. Consulate to pick up Malia's passport & Visa and head to the station for the train ride to Hong Kong. The trip lasted about 2 hours.

Wow. Hong Kong. We only got to spend an evening there, and vowed to return one day. Marc has always thought of Hong Kong as the "perfect city" (dense not sprawl, tall not wide, foreign yet english, and Texas temperatures), and it did not disappoint. The transportation system makes you simply envious. This is how you build a city.

We taxi'ed to the airport Marriott, checked in, and then headed out via subway to Hong Kong island for a quick tram trip up to the top of Victoria Peak for dinner & views. Before leaving for China, Marc had mentioned how Victoria Peak would be the "end" of the trip for him. So our subway ride back to the hotel was technically the beginning of the journey home.

And yes, a short beginning. Friday was a 24 hour day with a shuttle, two very long flights (HK - San Fran - Austin), and unfortunately zero hours of sleep for the parents. Both of us went from "not tired" to "too painful to sleep" somewhere off the west coast. Malia, however, did fine.........sleeping, eating, and more or less respectful to her fellow travelers. The 12 hour nightmare flight from HK to San Francisco was not nearly as bad as we feared.

It's Saturday, and we have more or less recovered from the trip. Family greeted us with excitement at the airport. We are so thankful to the grandparents for their help back home while we spent 17 days on the other side of the globe completing our family.

More than anything, we are just thrilled with how Alex has taken to Malia. It's like a big brother "switch" has been flipped, and he is showing an intense interest not frequently seen before. We are thankful for this, as we intentionally titled this blog as "a little sister for Alex" and have been hoping that a sibling would benefit him just as much as parents for Malia and a daughter for us.

More posts will come as Malia goes through the surgery process and as we enjoy special events with friends and family. But they will be less frequent.

Now comes the fun part. Raising our daughter to work hard and enjoy life in Austin, TX. Hope you enjoyed our China story. We certainly did.

Pandas & Paperwork...the U.S. Consulate and getting ready for Hong Kong

2011-06-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

It's just about time to head home. All Chinese adoptions by Americans are handled by the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, and today we had our appointment with 10 other American families. The consulate was full of Chinese waiting in line for Visas to study, travel, or do business. We were lucky to get into the adoption express lane, which consisted of a fee, some signatures, and an officially administered oath declaring all adoption related documents to be accurate. Then, we were done and headed back to the hotel.

All that is left is to pick up Malia's Visa to travel to the U.S. tomorrow. She will officially become a U.S. citizen when we touch down in San Francisco. Back in Texas, we will likely "re-adopt" so that we can get a U.S. birth certificate in her American name. But that is pretty much just post travel paperwork. After picking up the Visa, we'll head straight to the Guangzhou train station to catch the 4:12 Guangzhou-Hong Kong express.

Marc's always wanted to go to Hong Kong since he was a kid. Upon arrival, we'll head to the Airport Marriott, check in, and then take off with Malia back into town in our to take the Star Ferry across the harbor and tram up to the top of Victoria Peak. At the top of the Peak, we'll have a little celebration and officially begin our trip back to the States. We depart Hong Kong around noon Friday Hong Kong time, and arrive around 6:00 p.m. Friday Austin time.

Sunday through Tuesday was primarily spent sightseeing, bonding with Malia, and waiting for our appointment. Monday included a trip to Southern China's most famous Buddhist temple, as well as a trip to the top of Canton Tower (third tallest structure in the world behind Dubai & Tokyo). Tuesday was a relaxing day at Guangzhou's safari zoo, the highlight of which was of course seeing the Chinese pandas. After the appointment, we had picture day at the White Swan. Our family, all of the adopted kids, and all of the families together.

Over two weeks ago, Dianne & I were about to go to sleep and wake up to start this incredible journey. We had two thoughts....."what the heck are we doing?"............and "I can't wait for Hong Kong". Well, we are even more thrilled with what we are doing now, and tomorrow Hong Kong arrives.

Guangzhou, Li Na, & Lili

2011-06-04T08:27:00.001-07:00

Outside of the tennis world, very few in the west are familiar with Francesca Schiavone and Li Na. And yet, Li Na's victory tonight over Schiavone in the French Open final not only has given China their first grand slam champion, it may very well have been the most watched tennis match in history. Some are estimating that nearly half of the 1.4 billion in China were watching; that figure includes two Americans in Guangzhou (not Malia, who was more interested in a snack). That's the huge impact a nation that is 1/5th of the globe can have on statistics. Development economists at the UNDP & World Bank are also familiar with how China can skew statistics. China's phenomenal rise out of poverty since 1978 has forced economists to always measure human development two ways.............including China and excluding China. The former makes the world look pretty doggone good! The latter? So-so. Measurements with the phrase "(excl. China)" are almost always requested to get an accurate picture on how the rest of the world looks.

We've arrived in Guangzhou, and we are impressed. Southern China is booming, and this city (like Hong Kong to come) is busy & glowing. We arrived late Friday night with a few of the families with whom we had met in Beijing. We all are staying at the White Swan hotel on Shamian island. The White Swan is constantly frequented by American families adopting in China because of its proximity to the American consulate, which handles all U.S. related paperwork for Chinese adoptions. There were at least 20-25 American families at breakfast the next morning, from all over the country. The hotel is extremely nice; before arrival we were ready to go home, but now we are joking about asking for "an extra week". :)

We had wrapped up Changsha nicely on Thursday & Friday. The Hunan provincial paperwork was all done, and we were just enjoying the sites. Dianne felt a little under the weather on Thursday, so Marc headed out to Orange Island and took a little tour to see the new "Young Mao" monument where he was one American among 400 Chinese and a big hit with the locals. After getting a joking "Mao Tse Tung" thumbs up from one of them in the group, Marc's reply (thought of earlier) of "Deng Xiao Peng" with a thumbs up got a good number of laughs. In China, I guess you gotta figure out how to criticize Mao without criticizing Mao. On Friday we took one last long walk around Changsha, packed, and headed out to the airport.

If you've read about traffic in China, you will not be surprised to learn that we had a wreck on the way to our flight. In America, this is a big deal. It's rare, stressful, you exchange insurance, your rates go up, and you are glad everyone is ok. Not so China. Here they drive like they walk. No space, bumping, no rules. Before the accident, rush hour traffic leaving the city literally took over an incoming lane of traffic. Our guide pointed out how there was now one outbound lane ON THE OTHER SIDE of the yellow line. Then we got rear ended. The driver who hit us made a monetary offer, which was accepted. And off we went. No big deal in China.

On the flight to Guangzhou we met a doctor who told us that the lion's share of the funding for cleft lip / palate surgery in the provinces comes from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. I had been wondering who these groups were that traveled around the country doing this repair work in areas that can not afford it. It's no surprise to learn that the Gates foundation and its heavy emphasis on health & education would be putting its resources there.

Saturday was spent having breakfast at the White Swan alongside the Pearl river, working on U.S. consulate paperwork, and taking Malia to her exit medical exam (all thumbs up!). The rest of the week will primarily be sightseeing in Guangzhou (Canton tower, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial, Baiyun mountain) before getting Malia's visa to travel home to the U.S. on Wednesday and heading for Hong Kong on Thursday.

Malia's Chinese name is "Huai Xuli". The Huai last name comes from "Huaihua", the hometown of her orphange. The "Xu" comes from "Xupu county", where she was found. Li means "beautiful", and we've begun calling her "Lili"........her nickname in Huaihua........as well as "Tiger Lilly", given that she was born in the year of the Tiger. Watching Li Na win in Paris for China with your daughter "Lili" in China is not surprisingly a very beautiful thing.

Malia, Mao, and the sites of Changsha

2011-06-01T15:20:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday we made the adoption official with the Chinese government by, among other things, paying all of the required fees (we are done!) and stamping Malia's foot in ink on the decree. We also said one last goodbye to her orphanage staff. We met a few other couples adopting at the Civil Affairs office as well, from Wisconsin, Quebec, and Washington state.

The rest of our time in Changsha has been (and will be) spent getting to know Malia & the city. Tuesday afternoon we took a long walk to the Changsha City Museum, where an imposing 1968 statue of Mao was built during the cultural revolution. Changsha was completely destroyed by Chang Kai-Shek in the 1930s, so it feels very new with few relics from China's past. It is also, like many Chinese cities, experiencing tremendous....almost unrestrained....growth. And all of this is occuring on the banks of the Xiang river, a tributary of the Yangtze.

While walking to the museum, I asked Dianne what American city she'd compare it to. What industrial, fairly non-descript city on a river in the heartland is most like Changsha? While I was thinking of my answer, Dianne blurted out the same guess. Cincinnati! Yup, we got our daughter in China's Cincinnati.

Wednesday we met up with our guide Amy and toured Martyr's Park, dedicated to Hunan's contribution to the 1949 revolution. Much of it was devoted to Mao's family. He had three wives, the first of which was murdered by Chiang and the last of which was associated with the Gang of Four. He also had children from all three. One died in 1950 in Korea fighting the Americans. One died in Beijing in 2008 around the time of the Olympics. It was National Children's Day in China when we walked through the park, and we got to enjoy the immense crowds. Now this is China. It certainly felt like a nation of 1.4 billion.

After the park we spent an hour at the Hunan embroidery museum. China is known for silk, which comes from the silkworm, which calls Hunan its home. The work is tremendous; in fact, it's hard to distinguish between the thread portraits and a picture portrait. We watched the staff work, picked up a few embroidery gifts, and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon off to play. The evening activities involved us caving into a McDonalds crave, which Marc volunteered to take care of since he enjoys walking around unknown cities speaking unfamiliar languages with multitudes and ordering a fish sandwich knowing only two words of Mandarin (and zero words of Xiang / Changsha dialect). Dianne ended the evening with the hotel's traditional Chinese massage, which was different but enjoyable.

Today we head to the Hunan provincial museum. Friday we hope to visit the huge "young Mao" monument on an island in the Xiang river. The monument is Rushmore in size. We will also get Malia's passport, say goodbye to Amy, and head to Guangzhou. Amy has been wonderful and a tremendous help. She has visited the northern U.S., and we hope she will visit the south one day and pay Malia and us a visit. We will miss her, but we are excited to get to Guangzhou, see all of the other American families with kids on Shamian island, and begin the last part of this journey.

Gotcha Day! Meet Malia Parrish

2011-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

This morning could not have gone better. We made our way to the Civil Affairs office with our guide Amy, and Malia was waiting for us in the lobby with the Huaihua orphanage staff. She looks great. She's active, very responsive, healthy, and an all around good lookin' kid. She does cry pretty well, but for the right reasons..............when hungry and tired for example. Otherwise, she is very content & inquisitive.....even with a mommy & daddy she does not know well. We are back at the hotel now having a nap after a long morning of playing, eating, and adjusting. The cleft looks about what we expected. Bilateral lip & palate, minor on the right and more significant on the left. No lip repair done given that she is being adopted so young at 10 months.

The staff was wonderful, and we learned a lot. She can eat solid foods, and we'll be feeding her rice, soup, & eggs in addition to formula. Steamed eggs are her favorite. She sleeps 9 hours a night and naps at noon. She is very active and has a "temper" when her demands are not met. No history of illness or infections. A solid eater in spite of the cleft (the baby fat confirms). She was taken care of by one woman........her nanny.......from the time of her arrival until yesterday. The nanny could not make the trip to Changsha, but we do have an undeveloped picture of her. Dianne earlier sent a care package to the orphanage with a camera, and we'll get to develop those photos and see the nanny, orphange, & Malia this past spring.

So we are all breathing a huge sigh of relief here. Everything is gonna be a-ok.

The Great Wall & Changsha

2011-05-29T00:37:00.000-07:00

Marc, Dianne, & Mao at the Forbidden City entrance

The Great Wall adopting families

Dianne climbing the Great Wall - least threatening Mongol hoarde ever

Saturday started at 2:00 a.m, after 7 hours of sleep; these early mornings may stick around for a while. So instead we read, watched a movie, hopped online, and waited for the hotel breakfast to open. Today was tour day! We've been looking forward to tour day to see the Forbidden City & the Great Wall, and just as much to meet the other Great Wall families who are adopting with us.

We'd been told to gather after breakfast in the lobby before departing on our tour with our guide Grace, and we met the other five there. They are from New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and yup.............Cedar Park, TX. And four of the five families (including Shane & Elena from Cedar Park) are adopting girls with cleft lip & palate. Needless to say, we were thrilled to meet them. All six families are going to a province by themselves to adopt, and we'll all meet again this coming Friday in Guangzhou with our new additions in order to complete the final rounds of official adoption decrees and such before heading home. It was wonderful to be talking specifically about Dell Children's hospital in Austin with a family in China before we've even gotten Malia.

So off we went to the Forbidden City, passing right underneath Mao's portrait. It's a city. It's forbidden. It's big. It's got a lot of rooms. Mostly unfurnished. We downloaded The Last Emperor to Marc's laptop, and we were wishing we had watched it again before we went in. Mainly, it's the size of the place that gets you. Pagoda after garden after plaza and on and on. It's pretty dang impressive. The day before we were wondering whether the lack of attention to Dianne & me might be due to the lack of blonde hair. Yup. Elena has blonde hair, as does a 4 year old named T.J. in the New Jersey family. All day long they were asked by locals to have a picture taken with them. Rock stars, literally all day.

Just as the day before, one of the big impressions we got was that there are a LOT of Chinese now with money interested in spending it in their nation's capitol. Absolutely huge numbers of families from places like Xian, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Tianjin, and elsewhere visiting the Forbidden City like a family from Cleveland might go see the Smithsonian. The only thing that seemed to be forbidden was Starbucks, for which we were not surprisingly thankful.

We finally made it through the entire city from south to north, and headed out to the Great Wall at Juyongguan. The wall here is less meandering as in Badaling, and much more of a narrow climb...........which of course we did, all the way to the highest point in that section. It took about an hour up, and 30 minutes down. Let's just say that only two families made it, and both were from the Travis/Williamson county area. :) I'd say the picture of Dianne above was worth the fairly strenuous hike. On the way back we passed by the 2008 Olympics sites, before heading back to the hotel at 6:00, where we promptly crashed.

And wouldn't you know it, Sunday started at 2:00 a.m.......again. This time, we spent the early morning watching The Last Emperor and basically repeating our tour route by way of the 1980s epic. At 5:30 we headed down to the lobby again to meet all of the families for the trip to the airport; all of our flights left that morning, and we wouldn't see them again for another 5 days. Our flight to Changsha was a fairly uneventful 2 hours south, the highlight of which was being able to watch the Yangtze flow east from 30,000 feet above right before landing.

Our guide Amy met us at the Changsha airport and drove us to the Dolton hotel, where we are now and will be for the whole week. And guess what? Tomorrow morning is the big day. Malia will get on a train from Huaihua tonight, and at 9:30 a.m. we'll have our "gotcha" day. How will she react? Will she take to us? Will she protest? Who knows? Anything and everything is expected and acceptable. :)

The two best things about the hotel? They put all the adopting families on floor 30, and have built a playroom for the adopted kids on that floor. Also, $15 massages in the health room. We plan on doing the latter tonight, and the former every day the rest of the week.

Walking around Beijing

2011-05-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Dianne looking fabulous at Tiananmen

Marc at the Temple of Heaven

Over a big hotel breakfast buffet while deciding how best to see the city on our free day (metro? taxi?), Dianne had the best idea of the day. "Why don't we just walk it?" And walk we did. 8-9 miles or so of "walking around, looking around" and taking it all in.

Before we headed out, we exchanged money and skyped Alex back home. He was excited to see us on the computer before quickly becoming bored. Skype is a wonderful tool that will allow us to avoid breaking the normal tedium of home life. haha. I'm sure when we skype Malia for the first time there will be much more interest.

We headed west from our hotel on the Second Ring road at Dongsishittao, stopping only at a grocery for water. Crossing streets immediately became an issue. You've got cars. And scooters. And bikes. And they are all coming from all angles with no regard for rules or safety. We'd try to follow local pedestrians, but that's no good because they are 100% fearless and cheating death just as we would be without them. Eventually we just started looking around 360 degrees and preparing to Walter Payton at any moments notice. That seemed to work well enough.

We reached Beiheyan avenue and turned south towards Tiananmen. It's a park lined street, where we saw old Chinese men playing something that did not look like chess,
and lots of families and babies. Marc was disappointed that we didn't seem to get the bewildered stares he was hoping for. Maybe it's because we are not blond. Maybe because it's Beijing. Maybe because it is 2011. Look at us people! We've got big noses and should be stared at! :)

At the end of Beiheyan we reached Changan avenue and headed west to Tiananmen. Lots of people, lots of tours, lots of security cameras, lots of open space. A flag we did not recognize was being displayed level with the PRC flag. We later learned that the head of state of Myanmmar (Burma) was in town. Also, Kim Jong Il ended a trip to Beijing the day we arrived, heading by train back to Pyongyang from the station just down the road from our hotel. So, uh, THAT'S happening. :)

After a lot of photos and taking a pass on the Mao mausoleum (too many people, maybe not even his real body), we headed south along the shops of Qianmen avenue where we stumbled upon..........wait for it........a Starbucks. We instead opted for a little Chinese cafe where we had two Chinese beers and some mystery meat (nothing goes to waste in China!). The highlight for Marc was asking for the restroom and being led out of the restaurant through a windy Chinese Hutong (historic neighborhood) to a community "bathroom" with locals. Awesome! Also spotted our first KFC. Not the last!

By the end of Qianmen, a rickshaw driver tracked us down. Sure, a rickshaw to the temple of heaven, why not? So instead of being a nearly squashed pedestrian, we'll try being a nearly squashed rickshaw rider. Got a great video of the mayhem from the back.

The temple and its surroundings were beautiful and a welcome relief from the city. We walked the entire complex, and were disappointed only by the lack of locals doing Tai Chi for our benefit. Marc made Dianne do an impromptu Tai Chi on video, which will have to suffice. By now, it's late afternoon and we are beat. So we hoof it to the metro. Two lines and seven stops later we are back at our hotel.

And yes, Marc fell asleep at 6:00. And woke up at 2:00 a.m. And is now starting the day at a ridiculous hour by typing this entry. Need more time to adjust.

It's tour day today! We'll meet other American families adopting and see the Great Wall & Forbidden City. We are well rested and ready to go, unlike many of them. I'm sure we will hear "I told you we should come a day early Fred" at least once. :)

Greetings from Beijing

2011-05-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

Now that's a lot of flying. 16 hours from Austin to Beijing. We'll never complain about Lubbock again.

Our day started at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday 5/25 in Austin, and ended at 6:30 p.m. Thursday 5/26 in China. We saw sunrise leaving Travis County, sunset from our hotel in Beijing, and no night in between. Marc was able to sleep quite a bit on both flights, Dianne less so. That probably explains why Marc is up at 1:00 a.m. on Friday ready to start the day! Ohh boy. He may have some more adjusting to do.

We arrived early so that we'd have time to adjust and to have a free day in Beijing for a few sites not on Saturday's tour. There's nothing more fun than a day to conquer a foreign city and enjoy the frustration and helplessness that comes with the unfamiliar.

Marc sat next to a little old lady from Beijing who spoke no English, slept with a blanket over her head, and chastised Marc for eating United Airline hot noodles with a spork. She was also wonderfully open, and we managed to have a conversation using nothing but hands, pen & paper, & patience. She has a doctor son in Oregon, and she knows our adoption story as well. It difficult to talk to or watch elderly Chinese without thinking "my goodness, the things you have seen in the last 50 years." I'll leave it at that until we get back to the States. :)

Our experience so far is confirming all we were told about China. Yes, there are no lines. Elderly women seem to be the worst of all. Yes, driving is reckless. Almost took out a bicycle? check. Passed between two cars with no lane? check. More honking than NYC? check.

Also, chinglish chinglish everywhere. Marc swears he is going to offer a modest salary to the PRC to correct it all. Can't they just run this by some dude in London? We may write them all down and do a separate Chinglish post.

Our agency guide Grace is extremely helpful, and offered some good advice for Friday's free day on the way to the hotel (avoid rush hour metro! Shoot, that sounds like fun :)). We'll see her again on Saturday with many other American families. She believes that all of this week's families will be traveling alone to their respective provinces.

Hunan, like Sichuan, is known for its spicy food. And girls from Hunan are commonly referred to as "spicy little girls". That's what we'll be getting in Malia, so says Grace. :)

16 hours of flying for two is doable. 16 hours of flying for two and a half on the way back will be, uh, interesting. Touchdown in Austin will be the most welcoming landing ever.

Some Advice for Alex

2011-05-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

Alex's classmates threw a baby shower and gave Alex a book of advice with drawings. It is so cute. Thanks to all his classmates and the Tiger Parents for the gifts for Malia. We appreciate all the open hearts more than you know!!! Thanks also to Mrs. Necak, the most fabulous Kindergarten teacher we could ever wish for!!!

Here's the advice:
When she stinks, you should change her diaper.
Feed her when she is hungry.
Always go outside with her.
Change her diaper if she cries.
This is how to train a baby. When it cries, you make it go to sleep or help it. I know that because I babysit sometimes.
Burp her if she has air in her tummy.
Alex, you are gonna be a great big brother for your baby sister.
When she is crying, rock her.
Take her to the potty so she doesn't wet her pants.
Be nice to her!
You can play with her.
Sing to her!
Give her milk when she is thirsty.
When Malia wets her diaper, give her a clean one.
Baby is drinking (describing picture).
She is jumping in her high chair. It is Malia (describing picture).
I wish I could see her! You will be a good big brother Alex.
When she coughs or throws up, take her to the doctor.
I will love you forever Malia!

Thanks Gem'a & G-dad

2011-05-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

A quick note to Marc's parents who will be staying at our house with Alex. Thanks for holding down the fort for us!!! We will skype with everyone as often as we can! Take lots of pictures of Alex's Kindergarten Graduation. =)

What we'll be doing with Malia the night before we fly out of Hong Kong

2011-05-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Marc just emailed this to me:

After two weeks in Beijing, Changsha, & Guangzhou, we are hopping on a train to HK. We arrive around 6:00 p.m. and our flight leaves for the U.S. the next morning. We'll go to the airport Marriott to drop off our bags.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Will we call it a night and sleep? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Hong Kong subway to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6vHfweYtvQ&feature=related

and then the tram up to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Xru5EVeyE&feature=related

and maybe a quick trip to Vietnam if we can squeeze it in. ;)

Hon, they have a Starbucks at the top of Victoria. I'll get the Grande for you. :)

Gotcha Day

2011-05-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

The day we get Malia is called Gotcha Day. Our Gotcha Day will be May 30. That's the same day as Malia's grandmother's (Amalija, a.k.a. Grandma Amy) birthday.

Our very general schedule...

2011-05-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Leaving Austin May 25, Wednesday
We will be in Beijing Thursday-Sunday
then going to the Hunan Province to get Malia at the Changsha capital Sunday-Saturday
then Guangzhou Saturday-Wednesday
then Hong Kong Wednesday-Thursday
then fly home on Friday

Congratulations! The American Consulate has confirmed your appointment for June 8th @ 8:30am!

2011-05-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Leaving next Wednesday, May 25! Alex will be staying home to finish Kindergarten and Gem'a/G-Dad will be staying with him. Hobo and Oscar will be vacationing at Grandma and Bapa's house.

Still waiting for the US Consulate Appointment in Guangzhou, China

2011-05-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

We were told by Jenny (at our agency, Great Wall China Adoption) that it would be 2-5 days. Today is the 5th business day. Come on Jenny, email us the good news so we can make our flight reservations!!

Painting from Malia's Bapa (Dianne's dad)

2011-05-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

We hung this painting over the bed in Malia's room. Thanks Dad!

Malia's Room

2011-05-16T10:42:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Malia's room.

Consulate Appointment

2011-05-16T10:31:00.001-07:00

We are still waiting on the Consulate Appointment. We can't book our flights until we have the consulate appointment. The more we have to wait, the more we think we'll be delayed a week. Come on Jenny, email us with Consulate Appointment Confirmed!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of Alex swimming with his Uncle Gavin this past weekend in College Station (@Gema & G-Dad's house)

Got the Travel Approval!!

2011-05-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hip Hip Hoooooooooray!! So, now Jenny at Great Wall Child Adoption Agency is working to make our consulate appointment happen in China (in Guangzhou). If everything works out as we expect, we will be leaving on May 25 or May 26. We'll find out about the consulate appointment in 2-5 days. Then we are going to book our flights through Jenny and Delight Travel travel agency.

Below is a general outline of what a typical Inner-China Itinerary looks like:

Day 1 - Departure from your hometown to Beijing, you will meet the other families in your Group when you reach China. (If you wish to depart early for China, we will transfer you to your group hotel once you arrive in Beijing, and handle all hotel arrangements, etc from that point forward. Unless otherwise noted, families arriving early will be booked into the group hotel.) As a general suggestion, it is advisable to go at least one day earlier than the group departure date, especially if you are planning to do the tour in Beijing. If you miss your flight or if any flights are delayed and you miss the tour, there are no refunds. (*If you are skipping Beijing, skip to Day 4.)

Day 2 -Arrive in Beijing (Great Wall Guide will be outside customs holding a green flag with “GW” or holding a sign with your last name on it., and transfer you to your group hotel. If they are running late, please wait for them. If they are over 45 minutes late, please call their number provided to you on your Great Wall inner-China itinerary)

Day 3 (Saturday, if you are participating in the tours. Please note that this is the only day that Great Wall schedules the group tours) - Beijing Cultural Tour: The Great Wall, Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. (Full day touring. Make sure all of you wear good walking shoes!)

Day 3 Saturday, you will need to be in your province, if you are skipping the Beijing tours. Gotcha Day can be on Sunday or Monday, therefore you must arrive in your province on Saturday. Please note that when scheduling your international flights, and skipping Beijing you are responsible for getting yourself into your province. If using Delight Travel, they will fly you directly into your province. If you’re using another service, you must fly directly into your province. Once in province, Great Wall will have arranged all hotels, transportation, etc. A guide WILL be there to pick you up.

Day 4 – (Sunday) Travel to your child's Province IF you have participated in the Beijing tours. You will receive your tickets for the capital city of your child’s province at the airport in Beijing from your guide. You will also receive your tickets for all other Inner-China flights from your guide prior to your flights. Your guide will hold your airline tickets until that time. (Great Wall will have a Guide meet your flight and transfer you to the hotel once you arrive in your province.) Your child is usually brought to either your hotel or the Civil Affairs office and it will be listed on your Inner-China itinerary. This could be Gotcha Day.

Days 5 to 9 – (Monday-Friday) Bonding with your child, sightseeing, and all official paperwork appointments will be done during this week (Receive your child’s passport.) Your child’s passport is typically ready for pick up by your guide on Friday of this week, and it doesn’t matter the province, unless Beijing, which the passport is ready the 2nd week you are in Beijing on that Friday. If you’re child is in Guangzhou, you will still have to be in China for the full 2 weeks, as the first week is Province week and the 2nd week is Consulate week. The schedule doesn’t change because you are in Guangzhou, and sometimes the passport isn’t ready until the Monday after adoption process. Your guide will let you know. This could be Gotcha Day.

Day 9 (Friday) – Travel from your child's province to Guangzhou, unless you are already in Guangzhou. There is no need to travel anywhere else. You will stay at the White Swan your entire stay in province.

Day 10 - Have child’s brief medical exam. This is required for all children who are being adopted. This only applies to them. You will bring your referral medical documentation to this appointment. You may or may not have to present this paperwork. Please bring the English and Chinese version, and if the doctor asks, present. Otherwise, no need.

Day 12 through 15 - (Monday through Thursday) Consulate Appointment (Guide and families take your paperwork to the Consulate for review.) Please keep in mind that the American Consulate accepts appointments only on Monday through Thursday of each week. Families will participate in the Oath Taking Ceremony on the same day as their appointments.

Day 13 through 16 (Tuesday through Friday) – Depending on your Consulate appointment, your child’s visa is ready the following day. For example, if you have your appointment on Monday, then the visa is ready for pick up on Tuesday. Your guide will pick up the visa at the Consulate, and if you’re departing to Hong Kong on the train at 4:12pm, this gives you time to finish packing. If you’re departing out of Beijing, this is also time for you to finish packing depending on when you depart for Beijing. This is variable, so you will have that information before you depart to China from the US.

Day 15 through 18 (Wednesday through Saturday) - Morning departure from Guangzhou on a train to Hong Kong, or a flight to Beijing or Shanghai to connect to the US. If you are flying China Southern for a direct non-stop flight from LAX to Guangzhou, and from Guangzhou to LAX, and the airline flies the day/night you receive your baby’s exit visa, you can depart Guangzhou that evening as it is a 9:00pm or 10:40pm flight.

This itinerary should help you to understand what to expect while in China. (Remember, weekdays will vary and nothing is confirmed until we have received confirmed Consulate appointments.)

Nothing new with Malia's adoption, so here are some pics from Saturday

2011-05-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

Alex had a busy Saturday running the Chuy's Kid K and then going to an end-of-season Soccer party.
Alex & Marc - a few feet from the finish line
Alex & Dianne (me)
Cul-de-sac kids, Danny & Cailyn, running with Alex
Hand shake from Coach Mike
Medal from Brooke

Where oh Where is our Travel Approval?

2011-05-06T09:21:00.001-07:00

Just getting a little impatient. Come on TA!! Let's go!!

We are officially waiting for the Chinese government to issue travel approval so we can go get Malia and bring her home!!!

We've been getting the house ready. Grandma Amy came over yesterday to help arrange Malia's new and hand-me-down clothes and toys. Aunt Kate is making a quilt and diaper bag. Marc put together the new glider and foot stool from Uncle Gavin and Lesley (thanks for the super surprise guys!). We're busy nesting, but that TA needs to get here.

Happy 9th Month Birthday Malia!

2011-05-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

We love you! You'll be home next month!

An invisible red thread

2011-04-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

**An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."

Chinese Proverb

Marc's lunch with Alex in the school cafeteria today...

2011-04-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

No, if I guess their name....they will not mow my lawn
If I don't guess their name, I owe them a dollar (nobody won thank you very much!)
Elijah takes a helicopter to school in the morning!
Zach wants to know if I would like to hear a tall tale that's true! (sure, fire away Zach)
Who here is practicing swimming? Everyone
- I'm already can
- I'm faster
- No you are not
- I can swim with one hand
- you aren't doing it right
Who here is practicing reading? Everyone
- I already can
- Yeah but you can't read this word
- So
Who here is practicing riding without training wheels? No hands. Then one. Then all hands
- I have a race car!
I heard you all had a boring day yesterday in school doing nothing
- NO, WE WENT TO A FARM!
- No we didn't we went to Dick Nichols
- Oh yeah, and we went swimming
- No, it was a seal with water in its mouth shooting out
- That's swimming
- No it's not. Swimming means underwater.
- What if you breathe in the pool?
- That's different. Half your body has to be in water.
- No.
Alex's daddy has a story! Who wants to hear????????
ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well......Alex's mommy & daddy are going to China to adopt a little sis......
- WE KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOwwWWWWW!!!!!!! We know already. We already heard like a zillion times
Did I mention Elijah takes a helicopter in the morning?
- What is wrong with Malia's lip? (apparently they've seen photos)
- Will it hurt when they fix it?
- My daddy cut his finger!
Would you like to hear another tale tale Alex's daddy? (sure Zach, fire away).
Can you guess my daddy's name?
Can you guess my daddy's name?
Can you guess my daddy's name?
Eliza has been talking the whole time to nobody and nobody can hear her and she's ok with that.
Elijah takes a helicopter to school in the morning.
Check please.

http://movieclips.com/LhGa7-kindergarten-cop-movie-theyre-horrible/

I think starting the movie clip at the 1:16 marker sums it up....................

Alex Drew this Train in Perspective

2011-04-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Alex's Kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Necak) was so impressed, she laminated it and took Alex and his drawing to show to two of the school's art teachers. It is now proudly hanging in our kitchen.

MS 150 Bike Ride from Houston to Austin

2011-04-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Marc, whilst thinking he didn't have enough on his plate with the adoption process, work, and being a dad, biked from Houston to Austin with his little brother, Gavin. They got two flat tires each, but they persevered and made it! Way to go guys. And way to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis funding and research for a cure.

New Pictures of Malia

2011-04-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ann at http://redthreadchina.com/ got some new pictures and emailed them to us this morning. We weren't sure if Malia had already had the lip revision in China since the last pictures, but as you can see, she has not. You can really see Malia's spunk. She is gorgeous and we can't wait to get her.
Conducting the Philharmonic Orchestra

Shhhh! This is Symphony Number 5!

While you are up, could you get me an organic milk, please?

Hand signal to turn right. I know how to drive this thing!

Our letter to Malia's (Huai Xu Li) care givers at the orphanage

2011-04-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Wonderful Care Givers of Huai Xu Li of the Huai SWI,

My husband and I have been matched with Xu Li (date of birth: August 5, 2010), and we are thrilled beyond belief that we are about to have such a wonderful and beautiful daughter!! We have so much to be thankful for, and mostly we are thankful for the wonderful care she has and continues to receive at the Huai SWI. We have heard such good things about the staff there and the big hearts and love for all the kids. It makes us feel so much better hearing all the praise for the care givers at the Huai SWI.

We live in Austin, Texas, USA. Xu Li will also have two sets of grandparents who live close to us and can't wait for Xu Li to get her so they can love her too. We have been waiting for Xu Li for many years, even though she is just 8 months now. It feels like it was always meant to be her, and that's why we had to wait.

Xu Li will have a big brother who is now in Kindergarten. He is sweet and very lovable. His name is Alex, and he likes math, piano, soccer and art. He is looking forward to being Xu Li's big brother.

We hope to be there in late May or June. We only have three pictures of Xu Li, and we are guessing they were taken in January. We hope to get some updates about her and maybe some pictures of her and the staff with her and pictures of where she lives now. We will keep any notes and pictures from you in a keepsake album that will be very special and shown to Xu Li as she grows up.

Thank you very much and we give you our deepest appreciation.

Sincerely yours,
Dianne & Marc Parrish

Sending a gift to Malia

2011-04-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

I just sent a gift to Malia through redthreadchina.com. I got her the PJ Care Package which includes a disposable camera (hoping we'll get some new pictures), one set of girl's pajamas, a blanket, candy for the staff, a letter for the staff that will be translated, and a doll. I'll post something if we get anything back (letter, updated medical file, new pictures) before we leave.

Malia's New High Chair

2011-04-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend, Kelly, is giving Malia this fabulous high chair. Her precious daughter, Emelia, just grew out of it. How fortunate for us! Thanks guys! Kisses and hugs.

Formal Approval today!!

2011-04-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Letter Seeking Confirmation came TODAY!!! It's OFFICIAL!! I'm off to pick up our packet from China so we can pour over the documents, get them signed, and send them back. Now I can post pictures of Malia. We think the pictures were taken in January when Malia was 5 months old. She's 8 months old now. Isn't she beautiful?!
We will probably be going to China in 4 to 6 weeks! Gotcha Day will be on the 2nd day there. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay - no government shutdown!

2011-04-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

Marc's passport is at the passport office getting renewed. Now we don't have to worry about passport limbo. Whew!!!

Malia's crib

2011-04-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

A friend of Marc's colleague at work no longer needed this crib and heard about Malia. She is graciously giving it to us. How wonderful! I love it! Thank you Laura and Judeene!

Got our Pre-Approval TODAY!!!

2011-03-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) gave us our pre-approval after reviewing our Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan for Malia, the China Centre of Adoption Affairs agreed to move the application file into the procedure for adoption of special-need children.

Timeframe to Travel:

2011-03-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

While our agency, Great Wall China Adoption, has submitted our documentation to the CCAA indicating our desire to be matched with our child, the CCAA must approve the match and formally refer the child to us. The CCAA will need to review our letter of intent and dossier first.

Families who have a current immigration approval under the I-600A can expect to travel in 3-4 months from submitting their LOI paperwork. That's us!

We are coming Malia!

GOT THE CALL!!

2011-03-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

We got a call on Thursday night at 10:00pm that our agency just got a file locked for us. We have had 72 hours to review the file and speak with medical professionals. We are sending in our Letter of Intent today! We can't post her picture or any identifying information until placement of the child has officially been approved by the CCAA. Everyone please send us your good thoughts and prayers. We are so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No call, no match

2011-03-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

We didn't get a call from our agency last night. The wait continues. Maybe next month.

CCAA posting tonight

2011-03-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hello! Our adoption agency just sent an email that the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) will be adding files to the shared list this evening. They will be up watching the list for potential matches for us and for their other families. If we get matched, we'll get a call. If not, we'll get an email tomorrow. This is round 3 for us on the Special Needs posting. Third times a charm, right?

Sherwood Forest Faire Spring Break 2011

2011-03-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

We went to the Sherwood Forest Faire on Saturday in Bastrop. Here are the pictures!

Petting Zoo.

Alex is Jousting.

Alex rings the bell on Jacob's Ladder.

First Try on Jacob's Ladder.

Pillow Fight (and there's Grandma in pink).

Our friend, Cindy, was playing the harp.

Strength test!

Fun swing. Pushed by pirates.

Alex's kindergarten class!

2011-03-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

Ready for St. Patty's Day!
Where does mail come from?

Mom (me), Alex and classmate friend, Eliza, made a volcano at home and brought it to show the class how to make lava with baking soda and red vinegar. They did a great job!

Story Book Parade

Chicks! The real ones will hatch in two weeks.

Referral review: Non-special needs

2011-02-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

Referrals came out today for families on the non-special needs (Not Waiting Child) queue:

On February 24, 2011, LID's of June 5-8, 2006 got referrals.
On September 29, 2010, LID's of May 16-18, 2006 got referrals.
On April 24, 2010, LID's of April 25, 2006 got referrals.
On June 7, 2010, LID's of April 25, 2006 got referrals.
On May 11, 2010, LID's of April 21, 2006 got referrals.
On March 1, 2010, LID's of April 11, 2006 got referrals.
On December 2, 2009, LID's of March 29, 2006 got referrals.
On October 12, 2009, LID's of March 28, 2006 got referrals.
On August 21, 2009, LID's of March 24, 2006 got referrals.
On June 19, 2009, LID's of March 16, 2006 got referrals.
On May 21, 2009, LID's of March 10, 2006 got referrals.

Waiting and waiting

2011-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Since we joined the Waiting Child list (kids with special needs), there have been two lists come out, but unfortunately, they were both very short lists due to the Chinese New Year and many offices being closed. We were not matched. Here's a note from Feb. 22, 2011 from our agency:

Good morning!

Last night, Cori and I were on the CCAA listing watching for new children to be added. This month, the CCAA only added a few children (fewer than 10-20) to the new listing. They continue to tell us the change in trends is due to holiday office closures, and not receiving as many children's files as usual. We hope that this trend improves very soon and that we will see more more children being added to the list in the coming months.

Please know we are actively looking for a little one to complete your family. If you have any questions, let us know!!

Weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida

2011-02-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

We spent last weekend visiting Aunt Kate and Uncle Don. They brought us to Parrish to ride the train (Alex's true love...trains), to St. Pete Beach for shell collecting, and to Busch Gardens. It was so much fun! Especially near the end of the day when there were no lines for any rides.

3rd Place in Science Fair

2011-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

Alex got 3rd place in the Science Fair for his project "The Friction Prediction." Lesson learned from his project..."Don't wear sandpaper pants if you want to go down a slide fast!" Ha ha ha (that's good Kindergarten humor)!

Skiing at Angel Fire

2011-01-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

This is from Alex's 6th birthday party on December 5, 2010
Skiing between Christmas and New Year's in Angel Fire, New Mexico

Here are a few of ski pictures and a family picture taken on Alex's birthday. For skiing, we went to Angel Fire with Marc's family and stayed with Marc's aunt and uncle, Joan and Jimmie.