Adoption Finalized & Passport Trip

Bright and early the next morning. we were back at the civil affairs building. Nathan had already met his first few milestones. He had his first poop, and ate well, drank well, and slept from 7pm-5:30am. We kept this information to ourselves, because we were the only ones with a full night of sleep, and a baby who was not struggling with feeding or potty problems. He was even content to be with mommy or daddy. Most babies choose one person to care for them and the other parent may or may not be allowed to touch them. We were winning the lotto on well adjusted babies. I know that all these things were well prayed over by many people, and trust me we were felling your prayers being answered.

After sitting around for about an hour we were handed our adoption certificate, and shuttled off to get our documents notarized and to hand out more gifts. We were on the first shuttle because we had to leave at 1pm to Pingdingshan for his passport trip. We do not have photos of our visit to the notary office, but it was a hike up 6 flights of stairs to a small room where we posed with the notary officer for another official picture before we were whisked back to the hotel to prepare to leave on our road trip. We were given 1 hour to copy our adoption documents, gather one more gift for the passport office, pack a diaper bag full of snacks and eat lunch before our bus ride. Robert ran and ordered food while I packed. By the time I was all packed our pizza was out and ready for us to devour. Our trip was 3 hours each way. Nathan slept half the way there and then charmed all the people in the passport office. As soon as we walked in there was a young Chinese man who stood up and offered me his seat. He and several others were standing there trying to get Nathan to smile at them. They gave him a brochure for him to play with. The orphanage director for Pingdingshan SWI was there and was telling me how adorable Nathan was. She also told me that we looked alike. Robert then leaned over and asked if Nathan looked like him too. They laughed and said yes.

On our way out of Pingdingshan we asked if they didn't mind stopping by Nathan's finding spot. Here it is. A busy side street, just down a ways and across from the police station. I was hopeful when they said he was found near a park it would be a beautiful place. It made mea little sad to see such an industrial place to leave him, but as Robert pointed out, it is a heavily traveled area, which we think is why they left him there knowing he would be found quickly. His city is a big coal mining community. They say that people from there are darker skinned because of the coal.

This picture posted out of order, but this is our first breakfast together as a family of 5. 

 

Gotcha Day!

 

 We were supposed to meet  in the lobby at 9:30 to board our bus and head to the civil affairs building to meet Nathan. Our group is so big that they divided us up into two busses. The first bus loaded and were on their way. We were still sitting waiting on our bus to arrive. Our bus was delayed due to heavy traffic and rain. We were told they were 20-30 minutes away. We kept getting reports that they were stuck behind a bus wreck but would be there soon. About an hour later they decided they were stuck and called out a new bus for us. We were on our way around 11am. When we walked in the door I was told by several people from the first bus, that Nathan was there when they arrived. We had our guide Vivian help us find him. She was calling out his Chinese name. He was walking by us as we asked Vivian for help, and I recognized him pretty quickly. He instantly reached out and grabbed my name tag to play with. I talked to him and said hi, and then he was handed to me. You can see from the picture his first reaction was to cry. His nanny handed him some cookies, which he threw across the floor. As soon as he heard the crackle of Robert opening the cookies, the tears were gone.

That is right, we bribed our baby with cookies to be happy. He has the softest little cry. His voice is very deep and hoarse sounding. I'm not complaining about the quiet cry. We are very thankful that his crying is quiet and very short lived.

The nannies rushed us over to get a picture of us at the red curtains. This is where our official adoption certificate picture is taken. They ran  the official over gave him our name and snapped our picture. We had to stand him up to put his face in between ours.  

We traded out and let Robert hold him and he did great. There were no tears as long as we had cookies.

Family photo the boys were in love. Nathan really did fabulous considering he did not know us. His nannies gave us a bag of things we had sent him as well as some of his favorite treats. They also gave us his bottle. That is a really big deal. The families who did not receive their child's bottle said that their child is no longer taking bottles. Considering that Nathan only spits out water from a cup, we would have had struggles getting fluids into him otherwise.

The nanny in black was Nathan's nanny. She really was having a hard time saying goodbye. She asked to hold him again, and I passed him over. Our guide Yisha came up and yelled at her to give him back. I was okay with her saying goodbye, but I guess it is not good for the baby.

Robert was filling out our temporary guardianship papers, while I was putting together the gifts for the orphanage workers and directors. I asked Luke to hold Nathan while I got the gifts. He was so happy to get to help.

 

As soon as we were on the bus, Nathan fussed for a second and then just passed out. He slept the whole way back to the hotel.

The boys wanted to smother him with love. They really are in love with their little brother.

Sweet restful hands

Jon finally gets to hold Nathan. It was so crazy at the civil affairs building, this was his first opportunity to hold him. He let us know that he was ready for his turn.
Nathan's tricks the first day. :
Clap hands, blow kisses, wave bye-bye

 While I spent time in the room getting to know Nathan, Grammy took the big boys swimming, and Robert spent 2 hours filling out passport paperwork for tomorrow.

Swim caps are required here in Zhengzhou. The boys are not fans.

 

Arriving in Zhengzhou

We left Beijing early this morning to catch our flight to Zhengzhou. Maneuvering 16 families with all of our luggage through security was definitely a feat. We entered the airport at one end, went through security, hiked to the opposite end of the airport to get to our departure gate only to get on a bus and be taken back to the starting end of the airport to board our plane.

The flight to Zhengzhou was about an hour and a half. The weather was not great. Very cloudy and raining. We were about 500 feet off the ground and just about to land when the pilot aborted the landing, throttled up and pointed the nose towards the sky. We found out shortly after that the airport was closed due to poor visibility and we were being diverted to Wuhan (capital of Hubei Provence). This was another approximately 1 hour flight. We landed in Wuhan then sat on the plane for about 45 min before they decided to fly back and try it again. The weather didn't look any better to me, but we landed safely.

We had to exchange money today to take to take with us to get Nathan. The bank closes at 5:00. With the plane delays we arrived at the bank at about 4:30. I think the workers were disappointed to see a bunch of Americans walking in right before closing time to exchange money. They money changing process at the bank is complicated. It is fair to say that they all stayed late today.

We decided to make a trip to Walmart and eat some American food next door. We were told that it was 2 blocks down from the hotel and then 1 block to the right. These blocks ended up being about 1/2 mile in length. The further we walked the harder it rained and the more the wind blew. We were forced back to the hotel about 1/2 way there. Maybe tomorrow.

After being battered by the storm we ate at the hotel restaurant. Robert and I split a pizza. We ordered it with peppers on one half. I guess they decided that if he wanted peppers that meant he didn't want cheese. My side was quite good but Robert's side looked like dry chips with a few peppers sprinkled on top.


Our room is very nice. The pictures do not do it justice. Already has a crib for Nathan. He will be in it tomorrow night!!

The Great Wall

Today was a long day, but a lot of fun. We started off early this morning and took a 2 hour drive to the Juyong Pass of The Great Wall of China. It was truly impressive seeing the Wall wind through the mountains.

This was the start of our climb. The boys and my Bob made it up to the tower at the top of the picture. The rest of us went almost to the top but didn't journey to the left. The steps were very uneven. Some of them were 1 brick tall. Others were 2, 3 or 4 bricks tall. 

Bob and Twila. The tower behind them is where the boys and Bob hiked.

At the top! This portion of the wall actually ends about 100 yards past this tower.

Ice cream to celebrate the climb. The boys got medals at the top with their names and date engraved saying that they climbed to the top!

 We, of course, spent about half the climb having to stop so the boys could pose for pictures with the Chinese tourists. Robert and I even got pulled into a few.

 

We visited the Jade factory to shop and for lunch. The pieces on display were magnificent! Here are a few. The first 2 cost approx. $10,000.

Jade Boat

Lunch wouldn't be complete without a fish head in the middle of the table.

On our drive back to the hotel we went past Olympic Village. This is The Cube. 

The Nest

Interesting sculptures all over the city

 

We leave very early in the morning to fly to Zhengzhou.

Snack Street

Many interesting things on a stick. We decided to keep the things on a stick and out of our bellies. The smell of all these "delicacies" was a little much for Jon and Luke. They spent the second half of the street with noses pinched asking "how much longer?"

 

 

Squid

 

Pineapples filled with rice and fruit

 

Crab

 

We have no idea, but they were cute

 

Beetle, Roach, Scorpion, Cricket

 

Starfish, Coiled snaked, Spider, Grub, Centipede

 

Centipede, Spider, ??

 

Shopping near Snack Street

 

The boys found Bumblebee at the kids store.

First Day in China

 

We got our passports and we're ready to go!! These were our happy faces before our 13 hour flight. The boys did very good. Luke slept for 7 hours. Robert and I found out our seats were changed away from the rest of the family as we were getting on the plane. We apparently got put in the middle of the baby section. All was well for the first 11 hours, then the babies were ready to get off the plane and they let us know!



 

 

We visited Tiananmen Square. It was very crowded. 

 







Jon and Luke were forced to take pictures with a lot of the locals. We even had a lady chase us down with her infant so she could take a picture of her child with Jon and Luke. Many people rubbed their heads or touched them on the shoulder. the boys were gracious and smiled for their photos.

 



 

Inside the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City)

 

 

Making friends with the dragon.

 

 

 

It is good to know that they have a toilet rating system.

 

We took rickshaws to The Hutong, which is the old part of the city. We ate lunch in a local residents house. It was very good. He told us that he normally is very good at cooking spicy foods but toned it down for the Americans.

Lunch at local resident house in The Hutong. This is the first of many courses. The food seemed to keep coming out and being put in front of us.

 

Going to Snack Street tonight...