Happy Halloween

Will's first Halloween. Boy, did he LOVE it. Aaron explained what happened on Halloween, and I just don't think he believed him. It was beyond his wildest dreams to knock on a door and get candy. Can it really get any better than that? You can't beat being Superman and getting candy from every house. He was so excited. Once he hit his first house and he discovered that Aaron was telling him the truth. He couldn't be stopped. As soon as he finished one house, he ran off to the next. Once there He quickly bellowed "Trick or Treat" followed immediately and equally as loud by "Thank You". He was delighted.

This year, Hope was an old hand at Trick or Treating. She showed Will the ropes and he ran with it. She was thrilled to get to be a puppy. She is wild about animals. Hope and Will wore their costumes all month. They loved dressing up. It was hard getting the costumes off!

Aaron and Robbi decided to re-visit Hogwarts again. They both went as Harry Potter characters. Robbi was really tickled. She made a tote bag in her sewing class, and she used to to collect candy. She loved it because it looked like a book bag she imagined would be used at Hogwarts. Aaron was thrilled because we found a Sorting Hat at a 1/2 price sale. He got every complex in his costume. He has two wands, a sorting hat, a cauldron for candy collecting, and a broom. I did notice most of his accessories stayed in the car once the serious trick or treating started.

Jacob was a wise Chinese man. He wore his Chinese costume he bought in China. He was thrilled to find a huge walking stick shaped like a snake. We spent a lot of time looking for a bald cap at the Halloween stores so his head matched his mask. They are getting particular on me. A few years ago, they wouldn't care if their hair matched their mask.

All 5 looked really good. They had a spectacular Halloween. Their only complaint was they needed to do more Trick or Treating. You can't have too much candy!

The Smokies

We spent Labor Day at the Smoky Mountains. It was so incredibly nice and relaxing. We camped at Cosby Campsite. The site was beautiful, except to get to the main part of the park, you had to go the Gatlingburg. This was not a problem until Friday night. Friday thru Sunday to get through town took 2 hours. What a nightmare! We had a very busy time - wading in creeks, hiking the hikes, touring some historical sites and enjoying the company of the Godfrey's who joined us. I think we could have qualified for group camping.

The kids had an exceptional time and greatly enjoyed a trip up to the Chimney's. I was so incredibly proud to hear Robbi was in the lead the entire hike. Our grand hikers were Jim, Jacob, Aaron, Robbi, Max, and Jasper. Jasper amazed me, he just entered 2nd grade and he made it to the top too. All the kids agree, this was the highlight of the trip. Cathy and mom ran herd on the 3 - 3 year olds. Hope, Will and Debora were inseparable. They were so cute.

We spent Thursday through Monday, and were really depressed to leave the quiet solitude. It was a really nice time.

Hope is officially a US citizen.

We got very good news in the mail this week. Hope is finally officially with all the i's dotted and t's crossed a US citizen. Since Jim travelled without me to get her, we had to officially apply for her citizenship. It too was a long and involved affair. Nothing with international adoption is easy!

Hope was really excited because we had a cake to celebrate with her name and candles on it. She insisted on the candles, because everyone knows it's not an official celebration without candles to blow out! I'll post some new photos as soon as I get them downloaded.

The kids have started school again. We have once again decided to home scool another year. They are still going to Friday classes. They are really excited about them. These classes give them the opportunities that I can't do at home, like band, sewing and Lego Robotics. We start early (Aug 3), so they have December off. So far, everyone loves their classes even the serious ones like Math games, Science and Literature.

Hope and Will are thrilled with classes this year. They actually get to go to pre-school. It has been such fun listening to them talk about their day. They definitely approve.

Robbi has added Ballet to the circuit of activities we do. Now, we have to be in Huntsille 2 timees a week. Her goal is to get to point shoes, so she has a lot of work to catch up. The only thing I dread about school starting is the start of all the activities - music lessons (violin and piano), Ballet, Girl and Boy Scouts, Girls in Action (Mission's program for Robbi), Chinese, etc. We spend a lot of time in the car.

That's all for now. I'll post pictures soon.

Holly

Proud Daddy

Well, I had to laugh about our weekly trip to Sam's. Will, Hope and I met Jim at Sam's to catch a quick lunch and do our bi-weekly milk run - we are up to 4 gallons of milk a week. We need our own cow! We eat at Sam's a lot because we all can eat for under $10.00 - not bad for a family of 7. A whole pizza is under $8.00. I wonder if my kids will be traumatized when they are older. Not many kids think eating out at Sam's is fine dining!

Anyway, Will proudly showed Jim his purse that Robbi just gave him. When we sat down for lunch, Will pulled out his chapstick. Jim wasn't too worried until he came home and found pictures of Will and Hope dressed as princesses...not my fault. They were nice and quiet playing in Hope's room. I was enjoying the nice respite. Will seems to be giving us lots of ammunition for his teenage years.

Jim had a nice quiet Father's Day. We kept it very low key since we currently are trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip financially. Jim is such a good sport! Aaron and Robbi wanted him to play the Neopets board game in the worst way, so there he sits. I just heard him travel to "fairy land". Jacob is being our computer nerd and is sitting in front of the computer. He just bought an introduction to game programming, and is trying to figure it out. He is scarying me with his devotion to learning how to program. I am amazed that he is only 12 years old and learning C programming language on his own. He definitely is his father's son!

Neopets game must be over, I hear the losers trying to justify how Robbi skunked them. My boys are too competitive! That's all for now!

Holly

What a Day!

Today, we were busy. We started off the day on a historical tour of old Madison. We learned about the ghosts, murders, plumbing, etc. of the historic area. My kids were really impressed that a civil war battle was fought on there. What grossed them out was when they found out one of the buildings was a funeral home. It has huge windows in it...this is what got my kids...when the kids rounded the corner on the school bus, they could look in the windows and see the dead bodies. It was really interesting a fun. I enjoyed what a could riding herd on Hope and Will and the many potty breaks Hope needed. Very interesting. I didn't get any pictures because my camera's batteries were dead.

The rest of the day went down hill. Hope and Will were wild. What one doesn't think about the other does. It ended when Hope came screaming into the kitchen that "Baby Will" had flushed some stuff down the toilet. What a joy! Luckily, nothing appears to have gone done, but heres what I pulled out - 1 large pink comb, 1 2" foam checker, 1 blue baby croc, 1 pink baby croc, and last but not least a magic draw board. What Hope didn't tell me is that they both contributed to the mess in the toilet. Will's just the one that pulled the lever! I was very happy to see Jim today!

We did get some good news. Aaron is offically allowed to start a campfire and carry a pocket knife at Boy Scout Events, and Jacob got his 1st class. Nice way to finish the day.

Holly

Off to PaPa's

We spent the weekend at PaPa's. Will met a huge portion of his extended family this weekend. He met cousins - too many to count- and his Aunts - Donna, Karen, and Paula. After watching Hope, he decided Papa was GREAT! Papa always had two little shadows - Hope and Will. We discoved Will watched Hope. If Hope likes you that's good enough for him.

We had a great time. A chance to send time with family. The kids loved the chance to spend time with cousins - video games and pokemon ruled. I thought I'd lose my mind if I saw another sponge bob or pokemon TV show. It made me appreciate our cable free house. The kids don't veg in front of the TV when you just have 5 channels. They just try to veg in front of video games.

We had a Memorial Day Picnic at the lake. It was so nice. We got the best spot under two cottonwoods and right next to the playground. After dinner, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, we had a chance to sit around and catch up with everyone. In the afternoon, we were sent running to the cars due to a downpour. We headed back to Papa's. Alabama is in the middle of a severe drought so it was kinda nice to get drenched in a downpour. Too bad we were in Missouri instead of Alabama.

All is Well

I keep catching myself coming and going. We finally have finished our school for the year - 180 days! Now, I have to spend sometime trying to figure out what we are going to do next year. This summer, we are going to start writing a novel. It is a grammer curriculum specifically designed to use what we have studied. Show the kids why we learn grammer. Next week, the kids start working on their main characters. So far they have LOVED it. Jim is the Editor in Chief. They have to run everything by daddy.

Jacob has been amazing me. I found a beginning C programming book. The back of the book said "If you can't spell C, this book is for you." Jacob has been plugging away. Jim checks him periodically and says he's got it. Jacob's real goal is to learn how to program his own games.

Aaron attended his first Boy Scout Camporee. He loved it. He is so excited to finally be a Boy Scout! He just had his 11 birthday. I can't believe that he is 11 years old. Where does time go!

Robbi is very excited she is officially a Girl Scout. She flew up last weekend. Her leader is staying on. We are so excited. LaConta has done such a good job. She seems to have found the right mix between working on try-its and having fun.

Hope and Will are doing so great. Will knocked my socks off. On the last day of Friday classes, he willingly stayed in the nursery. He joined Hope in her P.E. class. (Mrs Boyd graciouly allowed Hope to join her 3rd thru 5th grade class.) Will still amazes me. He really seems to feel that he has come home. One thing, I do know, he LOVES having a daddy. Jim tilled up the garden this weekend and Will was right there with him. Where Jim is your are sure to find Will. All though I will say, he likes mom too.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. We were blessed with A.J. being able to spend the night with us. It was just like old times. We started the weekend off with a roasting hot dogs outside in the firepit. The boys had 3 of their buddies (A.J., Simon, and Noah)over for the day. I left Jim to go grab some hot dogs to feed the crowd and left him with 8 kids. He was really happy when I made it home. Boy was it cold, even by the fire! After dinner we retreated inside.

1 Week Home Update

Will has completely impressed me. For being home for only one week, he has done a great job transitioning. He is warming up to Mommy and he loves Daddy and the kids. He had his first doctor's appointment, and the doctor was really impressed with our little fellow. He recommended that we don't do anything with his arm until he has stopped growing. This seems to be the leading piece of advice. A coworker of Jim's, who is also missing a hand due to an accident when she was a toddler, highly recommend doing nothing. Her boss was very skeptical that she could do the job, so he put her on 90 days probation. Within 30 days, she was hired full time and never looked back.

Will also had the trauma of having blood work and shots. The pediatrician was very skeptical of the shots he received, so he STRONGLY recommended that we redo them. The shots have definitely put Will in a touchy mood along with a running fever. It's been a long two days. Last night he slept like a champ so I'm hoping we are through the worst of it.

Today, we are a bit nervous. We are heading off to Mobile to visit the USS Alabama Battleship. Jim and the our older boys are going to be spending the night on the ship. Will is staying with mom and the girls without daddy. That's why mommy is nervous. Hopefully, he will sleep well and not wake the entire hotel up!

I'll post pictures on Sunday when we get home from our first adventure.

Holly

Will made my day!

Sunday night, Will finally decided I may not be too bad. Jim was putting Hope to sleep, and he left Will with me...glup! He was sitting in the chair and started to whimper. I quickly got a Clifford book and it successfully distracted him. He contently sat with me reading the book. When Jim came back in the room, I expected him to spring from my lap and run to Jim, but he didn't. This time he just settled in and ultimately fell asleep. It was so nice.

Holly

Great Story

Jim had a very touching story about China. The second day after he got Will, they had to run back to the to civil affairs office to complete the adoption. On the way home, the taxi driver asked Chris, our facilitator, about Will. Chris filled filled him in on his story, and the taxi driver turned around, and gave him a huge smile and a thumbs up.

Once they got back to the hotel, the taxi drive refused to accept any money. He was adamant about not excepting any fee. Chris tried really hard, but the taxi driver would not accept any money. That gesture meant so much to Jim, he asked Chris to express his appreciation.

Holly

They are Home!

It's been a whirlwind since Wednesday, but what a joy. Hope's wildest dreams have come true. Will loves her. They play amazingly well together. It is great to see. He even readily shares Jim's lap with her.

Will is doing really well. I am amazed at how well he is taking all the changes in his life. The main sticking point is Jim must be available to him at all times. He constantly must know where Jim is. He will be playing in another room, and will coming running to where Jim is. He climbs into his lap, kisses him, and moves on. We have had several meltdowns, when he comes back for his quick check to find Jim gone.

So far, mommy is not really rating too high. He will let me hand him stuff - juice cups, cookies, etc. He will go to anyone but me. He loves the 3 older kids, but mommy is someone to be concerned about. That will change with time, but boy would Jim like that to change quickly.

At home, we have a few too many pets for Will's taste- 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, 5 goats, and 1 turtle. So far, Will is very unimpressed with the pets. He has finally gotten to the point where it doesn't jump into Jim's arms when one comes close too him. He still growls at the them as they pass by. So far, we have been keeping the dogs outside until bedtime so he doesn't get too stressed out.

That's all for now.

Holly

Last Day in China

[Jacob’s Comments]

Today we woke up around 9:00 (last night we stayed up watching Lost and Star Trek - TNG – the episode were Picard is turned into a Borg) and went to eat breakfast. The food tasted fine, except my favorites food there was out. I mainly ate cereal [Dad’s Note: He also ate two very large helpings each of fried rice and Chinese noodles.]

After breakfast, we took a walk and bought the remaining souvenirs we needed. Then we went to the embassy.

The embassy was located in a rather large building that was an hour drive away. Once there, we went up 5 floors to the U.S. Consulate. After they called us, we went up to a desk and they gave us Will’s VISA, and asked Dad where’s Mom. It was the only question they asked. We then sat down again and then 20 minutes later, a U. S. official appeared made all the parents swear an oath that basically stated that all our paperwork submitted and signed was true and correct. That was it and then we went back to Shamian Island.

Once back at the hotel, Dad began packing and getting things that we would use to entertain our selves during the long flights home. (You might not know, but this is our last day here)

And here I am now, typing an entry for the blog.

[Jim’s Comments]

Today was a very busy day for us, as I essentially waited until the last minute to finish all our shopping – Holly made a rather hefty list of things to consider purchasing while here. I think we did pretty well in what we got – I think the kids will all be happy with what Jacob and I picked out for them – assuming it all makes it home (one item won’t fit in our luggage and will have to make the journey checked in by itself – which I’m greatly concerned about!)

Unlike Jacob, I found the consulate appointment interesting - it’s not everyday you get to see a large room full of new U.S. citizens (Will technically won’t be a citizen until we readopt him in Alabama – this is the price we pay by Holly staying home. Adopted children whose both parents travel, come to the U. S. on an IR4 VISA and are automatically citizens the moment they step off the plane in the U. S. This is not so when only one parent makes the trip. Those children get an IR3 VISA and won’t become citizens until they are readopted in their home state.). It was also comforting when the U. S. official came out for the oath. I felt he was someone who really cared about what we were doing and that he would have done everything possible to help us along our way. I also felt just a bit like I was at home (you might be able to tell that I’m feeling just a little bit homesick and am quite ready to be back home!)

I remember the feeling of elation on my first trip with Hope when we crossed into Alaskan airspace (after having so many problems at the Guangzhou International airport) and the incredible relief of stepping off the plane in Newark, New Jersey. There really is no adequate way to describe the feeling of being back home (and Newark did feel like home, or at least close enough!) I’m sure I’m going to have the same feeling on this trip home too!

That’s all for now.

Jim

Red Couch

Here are Will's Red Couch pictures. The "Red Couch" is a red couch at the White Swan where it is a tradition to get your new child's picture taken. Usually, you will get a group shot of all the babies/children in your travel group. It's a really nice space to gather all the kids together.

Holly

Embassy Excitement

[Jacob’s Comments]

Today dad woke us up around 9:00, and went down to eat breakfast. Once we ate, we went to the room and waited there in case Chris was to call. Sure enough, at 10:15 am he called. He needed my Dad to go to the embassy for more paperwork. He left me to do my math. 5 minutes later, Dad came in AGAIN and left me with Will. He said my math could wait until he got back. I think I would rather do my math than listen to Will’s crying. Will is SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. (And Dad thinks Will would be calm if I held him long enough. I did, but It just made it worst) so, while Will is screaming, I am typing this.

[Mom's comments]

Hang in there Jacob. You are almost home! I'm proud of you. It's never easy taking care of a fussy baby, but you really gave Dad the needed time to get the paperwork right. That was really important to get done. 2 days to go and we are ready to see you! Then you will have two fussy babies chasing you down!

[Dad’s comments]

Will was fine when I got back. I was gone for about 1 ½ hours (the embassy used to be only a 5 minute walk from the hotel, but now it’s about 45 minutes away by taxi.) I had filled out the NEW I-854EZ form instead of the EXPIRED I-854 form. The new I-854EZ form had three questions that if all were answered yes (which I did), allowed you to use it instead of the traditional I-854 form (per form’s instructions) – it also didn’t matter that there wasn’t an updated I-854 form available.

It turns out that the Department of Homeland Security had released the new form earlier, but our U.S. embassy in China won’t begin using the newer form until next month (less than 6 months before it too expires!)

This wouldn’t be all that bad if the 2 forms weren’t virtually identical AND that I hadn’t already given them the exact same information requested on the form repeatedly on other similar immigration forms!

Aren’t bureaucracies wonderful?

This afternoon I think we’re going to take another walk off Shamian Island to do some last minute shopping before we start packing up (doesn’t that sound great?) Tomorrow we have our swearing in ceremony at the embassy (assuming no other “problems” are found in our paperwork,) and then Wednesday we’re homeward bound!

JIm's comments - March 17

Here are some pictures from today. Will has been a pistol today. I think I wrote too many good things about him last night and he’s making me pay for it today. He started off great – he actually sat all by himself at breakfast this morning. From there it has been all down hill. Shortly after breakfast, we were getting ready to go out and get some shopping done when he had a total meltdown. I ended up having to hold him in the manner we used to with Hope – we never did get the chance to go shopping.

We met Chris at 2:30 pm were he took us to Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Memorial Hall. He was responsible for the revolutionary party and uprising in 1911 (it’s the party that fled to Taiwan when communism took over shortly after WWII.) He stood for nationalism and democracy for China.

Our second stop was at the Chen Family Ancestral Temple. The temple was filled with some of the most amazing artwork (Ivory sculptures, embroidery, stone carvings, wood carvings, and some amazing micro sculpting. Unfortunately Will didn’t allow us to stay that long and we had to leave after only about an hour. The amazing thing is that Will now seems to have snapped out of his bad mood and has been playing with Jacob and himself for the past hour without any fussing! Go figure…

I sure hope Will does better tomorrow. It is our last full day with nothing scheduled and I’m hoping that we can get all our shopping done (I talked to Jacob about a Pearl River cruise, but he wasn’t interested. I will try to find us something fun we can do, but I get the feeling that the only thing he wants now – and really I feel the same way, is to come home.) We have to stay in our room most of Monday while Chris is at the embassy in case someone there needs to contact me about our application. Tuesday afternoon is our embassy appointment and then Wednesday!

I cannot think of much more to say for now. Jacob’s complaining about being hungry, so we’re heading out for Supper. We’re all quite ready to get home. Wednesday cannot come too soon!

Note from Mom: Picture of the boys at Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Memorial Hall was added to the bottom of the blog.

Thoughts from Jim

Today we picked up Will’s passport at the Guangzhou Civil Affairs office. The last step remaining is the immigration approval from the U. S. Consulate which should come Monday with our swearing in ceremony Tuesday. Chris (our guide) and I sat down for 2 hours yesterday filling out all required documents (many of the forms seemed like duplicates of each other and were at times confusing – but each serves a unique purpose to the embassy officials.) I have to say that this last step makes me almost as nervous as the day we were waiting to receive Will.

Will has continued to amaze me with how well he’s doing and how well he has accepted Jacob and me. While he obviously prefers me, I’ve been able to leave him with Jacob on a couple of occasions (such as when I had to do the paperwork for Immigration) and they have done relatively well together. While I know that we are going to have to work hard with him in the upcoming months and years, I know without a doubt that he’s going to fit well with our family. His progress here reminds me a lot of how well Hope did when she and I were here 2 ½ years ago.

Will has an amazing kindness about him – he loves sharing, especially when it comes to food. He also has excellent sense of humor. Hearing his hearty laugh (which he has done on regular basis over the past several days) is touching.

Saturday and Sunday are off days for us – Chris is planning on taking us to another temple tomorrow. I’m hoping to go to the local Christian church service Sunday morning – The last time I went it was one of the most touching experiences of my first trip.

Well, that’s about all that I can think of for now.

Jim

What's the rest of the gang doing?

Several people have asked what the rest of us are doing to fill our time. We have spent our days doing a bit of cleaning, decluttering, and home schooling. Several bags of stuff have found new homes. Since there would have been a rebellion if that was all the others got to do, we headed up to Ohio to visit some very good friends. We visited and got to see a bit of farm life, watch maple syrup get made and eat pancakes. They were really good. We also got to go to the zoo on a cold, dreary, Ohio morning. The kids absolutely loved it. What they loved the best was just playing with their friends (Debora and Jasper)- romping in a creek, looking for golf balls and just hanging out.

After Ohio, we headed to Grandmas. More home schooling...yuck! Robbi is particularly struggling with the injustice of having to do school work at Grandmas. We head back home on Sunday to finish our preparations for the homecoming. The boys will be home on March 21, and we can't wait!

I attached one picture of Debora and Hope at Cathy's. Hope and Debora enjoying breakfast - they are 1 month a part age wise. I tried to post the zoo picture, but gave up. Blogspot was uncooperative.

That's all from our end,

Holly

Confucius Temple

Yesterday, we woke up around 6:30, got dressed, and went to eat.

After breakfast, we went to the grocery store, bought will some more soy milk, and went back to the hotel. At the hotel, we met Chris, who took us to the Confucius temple

The Confucius temple was a place were peasants could go to school. In the early 1900's, Chair man Mao was a principle of the school and graded the homework and gave out lectures and tests.

The artwork there was similar to other temples, and quite interesting. The walls were old Chinese architecture (that recently must have been refurbished). The roof looked as if it was cut from the Forbidden City. BUT-there was no pagoda. In the front lawn, there was a Chinese fish pond. Will liked the fish because they looked yummy.

After the Confucius temple, we went back to the hotel, and Dad and Will took a
nap. After the nap, we went across the bridge (to the main land) to explore. There
were some interesting foods (but nothing I will ever eat. There was another electronics market near by but the only thing they seemed to have were items for building and customizing your own cell phone. We left the market, ate at McDonalds, and went back to the hotel and then went to bed.

I woke up early, and am writing an entry for the blog. (Not entrée.)

More later,

Jacob

Update on Will

Talked with Jim today. He is very pleased with how well Will is doing. He really seems to be settling in nicely. Jim said it's hard to believe how far he has come in the last few days.

Holly

Buddhist Temple

Today we woke up at 8:30 am, (We slept in late again, because we watched a movie-again) and after getting dressed, we went to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we went to our hotel room and gathered up our dirty clothes and took them to get washed. After we dropped them off, we went to the hotel room, got a few things, and went to the Buddhist temple.

At the Buddhist temple, it looked like all the other temples, until we saw the pagoda, which was really neat (the other things were neat too.) It had 9 different sections, each one perhaps 12 feet tall. The first section was perhaps 20 feet wide, and as you got farther up, the sections got narrower. It had 54 solid gold statues inside of it. But, although neat, it was somewhat dark inside each level. Once out side, and on the top section, you had a GREAT view of Guangzhou. At this point, Will became quite upset because we wouldn't let him run free and kicked his shoes off (something he does whenever he gets mad!) We were probably over 100 feet in the air with only a little hand rail to keep him from falling off - the hand rail would never meet USA safety standards! After we got done with the pagoda we went back to the hotel, and put will down for a nap. He was really tired from climbing the entire pagoda by himself.

Will took a nap, and Dad fell asleep with him. I stayed up playing on the computer until Will woke up. (Dad has forbidden me from playing on the computer when Will is up - Dad thinks this might help Will and me bond.)

Right now, Will is awake, and he is attacking Dad, trying to wake him up. While he is doing that, I am writing this entrée.

That's all for now.

Jacob

P.S. The weather is STILL dreary.

P.S.S. Aren’t you glade I did not end the entrée with what I usually said???

Note from Mom: There is a new picture of Will and Jacob at the bottom of the page.

Today there were very few interesting things, so expect this to be short.

We woke up around 7:30 am (We slept in late, because we stayed up late watching a movie), and went to eat breakfast. I think I am going to explode. The food is getting SO BoRING. (not the chinese food) They only have omletes, toast, bacon, noodles, and fried rice. I eat alot, though forcing myself to.

After breakfast, we went to the hotel room and put our coats on. My dad wanted to take a walk. We walked the Shamian Island again, and it is getting smaller by the minute. I think I just want to be home.

After the walk, went back to our hotel room and stayed there until 2:30.

P.S our walk ended at 11.
P.S.S. breckfast lasted till 10:30.
P.S.S.S. oh, forget it. when my dad left for the police station. I decided to stay at the hotel. So, I am about to end this with what I usualy say-so here am-typing an entry for the blog.

P.S.S.S.S. This is probaly getting on your nerves-all the P.S's- but the weather did not improve.

Electronics Market

Today we woke up around 6:30 to eat breakfast.The food is starting to get bland because I have had it WAY too many times in a row. Will ate (as always) like a Hippo with a weight problem. I had orange juice and ate a bowl of cereal.

In the hotel room, we ran out of soymilk. Since Will drinks a lot of soy milk, we left the building for a walk to the Super market.

The supper market had none, so we decided to take a walk. We practically walked the ENTIRE SHAMAN ISLAND. (push comes to shove - it is tiny.) On the walk, we saw no overweight Chinese people. (my dad said it proves his point- Americans eat a lot of fatty foods.) I guess that means Chinese eat very little fatty foods.

Once at the hotel room,I played Runescape for a little, when our guide, Chris, rang our doorbell. He said that it was time to go to the Buddhist temple. When we got to the car, there were several other adopting families. They were all going to the temple too. There was no room in the car, so my dad said we would get out of the van to make room(bad dad!). We then decided to go to the electronic market.

Ounce there, we found tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and etc. etc. etc. of electronic stuff-not only neat, but some that may have been black market stuff. We found a ton of movies that were not even out yet!And we found pokemon diamond and pearl-for the gba. (all poke fans know that diamond and pearl are for the ds}.PLUS the backs of the boxes on them both said yugioh things- like duels and gettig cards to fight with. Illegal. (I did buy what I think are used copies of Rpg Maker (completely in Japanese. How I know is the lady at the counter said-I can't read that,it is Japanese.) Advance and Tales of Phantasia and the Sims Advance. Then we left, thinking that if we stayed a little longer, we will get thrown in China prison. PS: we bought nothing from the black market.

once we left, we went to our hotel again, were we put Will down for a nap. I played the computer for a while, then my dad told me to write (or type) an entry for the blog. and here I am. Typing my blog.


Jacob C.


[Dad's entry]

Today (Sunday) we were scheduled to to go to a Buddhist temple, but unfortunately our van to take us there was too small for us and the other parents our guide is assisting. Jacob, Will, and I opted to skip the temple for now and decided to catch a taxi to Guangzhou's electronic market. This was our first outing off the Island without a guide.

The Electronics Market was enormous, but it was definitely "Buyer Beware." I bought a 8 GB Sony USB memory stick and 2 GB Kensington compact flash card for my camera for approximately $40. Both seem to work ok, but the price seemed too good to be true.

Will, for the most part, did much better today than yesterday. Except for our time at the electronics market, he walked everywhere holding my hand. This is a big step for Will and me - I think he's developing a little more trust in us, and my arms and back is getting a much needed break.

Tomorrow we head to the police station to apply for Will's passport.

Update on Will

Will had a rough start to yesterday. He had his medical exams and he was not a happy! Jim has he cried the longest and loudest of all the kids there. Jim ran into the Pat and Doris at the medical exams. Pat and Doris are the ones who helped bring Hope home.

Will appears to have ruled the roost at the orphanage. He really dislikes the word "No". He seems to be settling in, but will only let Jim hold. That's actually a really good sign as far as attachment issues. Yesterday, they were heading to the police station to get his passport and then were going to check out an active Buddhist temple. The weather has been rainy, so they haven't had a chance to really get out and sight see yet. It's supposed to improve today. I'll post their next update when I get it.

Holly

Update from China - We got Will!

Yesterday we recived Will!!!

Will is a 2-and-a-half year boy (who is twice the size of our my three-year-old sister) who is very active. He likes rice, biscuits, spoons, banging things together, being held, soy milk (yuck!) and water from a cup. He likes to take walks and ride in taxis. He grumbles alot if he doesn't get his way (reminds me alot of Robbi...). Even though he grumbles and complains, he is SO CUTE (but he will not let me hold him, only Dad.)

Last night Will ate enough to be make an overweight sumo wrestler sick. He ate two bites of food and took a drink of water.took two bites of food, drink water. Two bites of food drink water ect. ect. ect.

He is also a neat freak. for every bite of food, he wiped his mouth. If he did not wipe is mouth, he would grumble tell you gave him a napkin to clean his mouth.

When we first got him he kept crying for his orphanage caretaker. It was tear jerking. He settled down after, I don't know, a couple of hours.

Well, besides Will being so upset about leaving his caretakers, so far so good!

[Jim's entry]

We got our long awaited phone call yesterday around 3:30 pm and took a cab to the Guangzhou Civil Affairs office. We proceeded to a empty room on the 5th floor and then waited for Will to arrive.

At exactly 4:00 pm, Will and his caretakers appeared. Will was very bashful and did not want to enter the room. It was obvious that he had been well prepared for this event, but even so, he did not want to meet us. To try and break the ice with him, I sat on the floor and got several Thomas the Tank engine toys and rolled them towards him. This peeked his interest just a little. Will was clinging to a small plastic bag that contained some snack crackers, soy milk, and a few pieces of fruit candy. He then proceeded to one by one pick up the toy train and place them in his bag.

For the next half hour, Jacob and I tried very hard to get Will to come to us, but he was being very bashful. We then spent about 15 - 30 minutes were I was questioning his caretakers about Will (I had a list of about 20 questions that I wanted answered - as this would be my only opportunity to find out anything about Will's personality and previous life at the orphanage. This is something I failed to do when I received Hope and as a result, We know hardly anything about what she was like for her first 10 months of her life. Of course now it's not hard to imagine her bossing her caretakers around when she was there!) I asked the people if Will had an orphanage nickname. "General" was there reply (Hmm, I wonder why?)

After taking care of some administrative details, the orphanage director and caretaker left Will with us. This was nearly unbearable. Will wailed in pain from being left with us. Will continued sobbing for most of the half hour taxi ride to the hotel. Finally though he stopped and as long as I held him, he wouldn't cry.

Unlike Hope, Will was more than willing to sleep by my side the first night. I did put him in his crib around 1:00 am, but around 5:00 am he awoke with a cry. I moved him back to my bed were he slept until I woke him at 8:00.

Today we finalized Will's adoption by going back to the Civil Affairs office - basically we had to see two different officials and promise to never abandon Will and to take good care of him.

We still have a ton of work left, but except for the passport, it's all Alabama and U. S. immigration related stuff. From China's standpoint, Will is now ours!

Tomorrow - Medical, VISA and passport photos, and then nothing until next Monday!

Jacob's Thoughts on Beijing and His First Day in Guangzhou

Boy, Beijing is HUGE!!!!

The hotel lobby was very nice,but the rooms were not-so-nice. The lobby had a grand piano, stage, several stores for shopping, and a nice resturaunt. The resturaunt had a rather large breakfast (and nice) bar. However, our room looked like one from any inexpensive hotel in the States.

I had one rather painfull misunderstanding of the Great Wall: I thought it was going to be steep, but not very lengthy [Dad's note: I think we need to teach him a little more on Chinese geography and history!] ...Instead it length seemed to go on forever, AND it was very steep too in places! We reached the highest point of the Beijing section of the Wall and were tired from the hike. What made it especially difficult was that Beijing had just had a major snow storm a few days earlier and most of the Wall's steps were covered with a thick layer of snow and ice. At the top we were able to get our names ingraved on small plaques stating that we made it to the highest point in Beijing.

After the wall, we ate an authentic Chinese meal which was excellent (but some of flavors were quite unusual!).
After lunch we went to a family's house on Hutong Lane. Their entire family (4 generations) lived within a courtyard that was more than 200 years old. Within the courtyard were very old single story rooms (some connected by common walls). I thought that this would be a great way to live since my cousin Zachery would live with us too!

We visited the Temple of Heaven next. This was a place that the emperor burnt offerings to the gods and ancesters (I think.)

We were very tired by this point and went back to the hotel and straight to bed. The next day we packed, ate breakfast, and then headed to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. Tianamen Square wasn't very interesting (although Dad sure thought it was for some historical reason - I probably should have been listening to our guide more about this!) but the Forbidden City was amazing.

The Forbidden City is more than 500 years old and was the place where the Emporer and his family lived. The Forbidden City had really cool statues, engravings, and buildings.

We had lunch at a downtown Beijing resturant that also served very authentic Chinese food. The food was different, but good. some was kind of weird, but most of it tasted fine. The soy sauce was much thicker (almost like a paste) and wasn't very yummy.

After lunch we headed to the airport and after getting our luggage checked in, flew to Guangzhou.

This morning after breakfast, we walked to the White Swan Hotel were Dad stayed when he got Hope. He showed me the inside waterfall and some very interesting Monk statues! While at the White Swan we ran into a fellow Huntsville couple we know from the Huntsville Children from China support group who were there adopting a little girl. The little girl was very cute and gave Dad a "High 5".

So here I am now, waiting in our hotel for the phone call to tell us it is time to get Will. I can't wait!

Jacob

Got him!

I just talked to Jim and they have Will. The transition was really hard on him. The caregivers brought him in to the Civil Affairs Office and he was obviously uncomfortable. He was the only child being adopted at the time, so they had a lot of time to talk and try to help him transition. Jim learned his nickname in the orphanage is "The General". Sounds like Hope is going to get a run for her money. He's also quite large. Jim thinks he weighs about 40 lbs.

Jim was able to spend about 1 hr with the caregivers, so this time he got a lot of information. Once they left, Will dissolved in to gut wrenching tears. He cried for about 2 hours. When I talked to them, Will was happily playing with the phone. He took great offense that Jim kept trying to get to talk on.

Will also really enjoys eating. Jim said he was amazed at how much food he put away. I will post pictures of him when Jim sends them to me. Jim said it was obvious that he was treated well. He is right on track developmentally. I'll post pictures when Jim gets them.

Holly

In Guangzhou

The guys have made it to Guangzhou. I didn't get a chance to talk with them when they called. Aaron had an early morning Doctor's appointment we had to make. We missed Jim's call by 10 minutes...but they are getting settled in the room. Jim tried to get onto the blog, but couldn't get logged in. He will try later. I am going to add two pictures from Beijing - Jacob at the Great Wall and Jacob at the Temple of Heaven. WOW! The pictures went to the bottom of the blog.

It is now March 8 in China. Today is the big day. They get Will. When we wake up in the morning. Jim and Jacob will finally be joined by their very special traveling partner - our new son - William Wyatt QiQi Cecil.

That's all for now,

Holly

Beijing

I just talked with Jim. They had a really busy day. After stopping at a shoe store to buy shoes for Jacob, they headed out. The first stop was the Great Wall. They made it to the top of one section. Jim said the scenery was Spectacular. The hike up was harder because of all the ice and snow! He was amazed at how steep some parts are.

After the wall, they took a ricksha to a local family's home. The family had 4 generations that lived together. They headed off to the Temple of Heaven as the last stop.

They had a great day. They are going to update the blog in Guangzhou. Tomorrow they head to the Forbidden City.

At 4:00pm, they head south for Guangzhou. They will update the blog when they get in. That's all for now,

Holly

They are there!

I just got off the phone with Jim. They are now in Beijing. They checked into the hotel and getting ready to go to bed.

Holly

They're Off!!!

With butterflies in our stomachs, we headed out to the airport again. Would we have a repeat or would they go? It was longest 2 hours waiting to find out. We did get good news right off the top, the plane was in the air and headed toward Huntsville. I am please to say that it made it. I wouldn't leave the airport until I knew they were gone. We watched the plane depart and headed to church with a big "Thank you to God". I don't know if Jim would have survived another delay.

They also made it to the connecting flight. As they approached the gate, they were already boarding the plane. Jacob caused a minor delay and a bit of panic for Jim, when he left a piece of pink Lego Cake in the bathroom. He turned around and headed back to the bathroom. He was NOT leaving without that special piece of cake Mrs Owen gave him. He had been looking forward to eating it in the plane on the way to China and that is what he did. Jim stuffed the tickets into a book and headed off after him. When they got back to the gate, Jim couldn't find the tickets. It took him 5 minutes of frantic hunting but they found them in the book he stuck them in. They called me on plane just as it was getting ready to leave.

Jacob is enjoying the trip. Jim said that in Huntsville, there was NO way he was riding next to the window. Fifteen minutes into the flight nerves calmed and he made Jim switch seats with him. On the flight to Japan, Jacob didn't even blink. He was getting the window seat.

Next step, Japan. Once they hit Japan, they change planes and head to Beijing. Thank heaven for Yahoo Groups. We were able to get Lotus Travel's emergency number and finally talk to someone. Ten O'Clock last night we finally talk with the agency and got it fixed. They re-arranged everything and we are back on track. I can't tell you how long a day yesterday was! The next post should me Jacob again.

Delayed

Today we left for the airport at 7:30 AM. We checked in and was told that the flight was "on time" - but 30 minutes later than what was stated on the ticket. After going through security, we waited about 2 hours, after which Dad decided to see what was going on. It turned out that the flight was more than 2 1/2 hours late - We only had a 40 minute layover in Detroit so Dad knew something major was wrong. Dad went to the ticket counter to discover that it was impossible to get to our connecting flight, and that all flights to China were overbooked for today.

This means that we will only get one day in Beijing UNLESS we can get a later flight out of Beijing to Guangzhou. The biggest problem so far is that we haven't been able to get a response from our travel agency (Lotus Travel Inc.) to help us reschedule our Beijing activities. Dad has managed to rebook our flights for the same time tomorrow but I know he is nervous that another glitch will occur and that we will be delayed again.


So here I am now, writing this my first update to the blog in Alabama not Beijing as hoped. Hopefully our next post will be from Beijing and we will have been able to make up for this delay.

Happy New Year

We rang in the New Year. This is the year of the pig. We attended three New Year Celebrations. Our first was with the Huntsville Taiwanese Association. The kids sang a traditional Chinese New Year song. They sounded pretty good. They had a wonderful pitch in dinner. This is where it dawned on me that Jacob will be fine in China. He ate everything. There was not a single dish that he skipped. Jim will lose weight and Jacob is going to gain. Jacob loves Chinese food.

The next day we celebrated the New Year with our local FCC group. It was really great. The kids had a great time. Robbi and Aaron got to perform the Lion Dance. They used a child's sized costume for the dance. They loved doing it. They did modify the dance a bit by adding candy tossing. All of the kids at the party approved of the modification. It was so fun to watch the little ones following them around. We got the best picture of my three oldest holding the dragon's head. Carla Blankenship Photography was kind off enough to take a picture of them for me. I only wish Hope had been in the picture. She missed the party due to illness.

We finished up the week of celebrations with the Huntsville Chinese Associations New Year Party. Hope got to go to this one. She absolutly loves the Lion Dance. She screams and laughs and acts scared whenever it gets near, but she is always sad to see him live. She loves the hóng bāo or the red envelopes given to kids during Chinese New Year. It was another sucessful year. Next year, Will will be with us. I still can't believe he wasn't home for Chinse New Year. Less than two weeks before Jim and Jacob leave to get him. I can't wait!

We did it!

The title says it all. Today was a VERY busy day. A big family it a blessing, but the activities sure keep you busy. Today started a 7:30 when Jim took Jacob to a Boy Scout Merit Badge Round up, then he hastily ran to meet Aaron's Cub Scout Den to gather up food for the "Scouting for Food" drive. Once that was done, he ran home and got me. We headed off for the Huntsville Chinese New Year Celebration. We had to take Hope, she LOVES the Lion Dance. She screams and giggles the whole time the Lion is running around. I felt bad because Jacob adores Chinese Food and he missed it. He will gain weigh while in China, and Jim will lose weight.

After we rung in the New Year, we ran home got Robbi's Brownie vest and headed out. First, we had to retreive Robbi from a sleep over. We spent the next 2 hours selling Girl Scout Cookies at the local Wal-Mart. It was so nice to get in our warm van. Our day is still going...we are now off to a School Social for Jacob. Family is invited. It was a pitch meal for the kids. We dropped Robbi off at a friends house and picked up her friend's sister and ran for the social.

It was a lot of fun. Chaporones dancing, kids sitting around laughing and talking. I felt bad for the middle school girls. They were dreaming of dancing and spent the night dancing together, while the middle school boys were hidden way playing board games. Once the party was over, we pitched in to clean up. I told Jim I work all my cleaning complusions out at school functions. No need bringing habits like that home......Then we headed home to get Robbi and and drop off our friend's daughter. The boys went home with a friend so it was a quiet night. Only 2 kids home.....it all starts again tomorrow. I'm tired just reading about the day.

Great News!

We just got the best news! Our appointment at the American Consulate is March 19. On that day, the adoption is complete and blessed by both governments. Jim and Jacob will get Will on March 8 at 4:00 pm. This translates to March 8 3:00 am cst time for us. We are bit nervous. Will will be 2 1/2 and very much aware of the strangeness of the situation. We are praying that two years of Chinese will pay off and Jacob will be able to communicate with him. This is assuming he speaks Mandarin Chinese and not Cantonese.

On March 9, our adoption is complete in the eyes of the Chinese government. The only remaining task for the Chinese government is to get his passport ready for us. Will will travel home on a Chinese passport.

Jim just finished booking the tickets. I am very excited - they are going to spend 2 full days in Beijing sightseeing - the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, etc. I can't wait to hear what Jacob thinks about walking the Great Wall. If they make it to the top, they can get a medal saying they made it with their name on it. On March 7, they will head to Guangzhou to get Will to complete the paperwork process.

Finally, it's almost over and our son will be home!

Will and Hope

Right now, I can tell you Hope loves "Baby Will." She tells us all the time fun little facts. She already knows what Will likes and doesn't like. The other day she was telling me "Baby Will" won't like that. When I asked why, she said, "because he's shy."

When we go to Sam's, she is quick to point out that "Baby Will" will sit here. She even demonstates how she will fasten his seatbelt in the buggy. Baby Will is always on her mind, and she carries his picture in her purse, which she carries when she goes to work.

Introducing William Wyatt QiQi Cecil

As I start this blog out, it dawned on me that I had better introduce you to our newest addition. I would say last addition, but every time we utter the words "Our family is the perfect size," along comes another child. Will will be our fifth child. We have 3 biological kids - two sons Jacob age 12, Aaron age 10, and a daughter, Robbi age 8. We are also blessed to add another daughter Hope age, 3, through the miracle of adoption. She will give Will a run for his money, since what Hopes wants, Hope gets because of her three doting siblings.

William Wyatt QiQi Cecil was born on July 8, 2004. He currently lives at XuWen County Integrated Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong Province. He lives in the southern region of China along the coast. He is described as being very curious, energetic, fond of others and likes outdoors. We also learned that he had a special need. He was missing his left forearm, probably due to amniotic banding.

I just knew when I saw his picture, I had hearts in my eyes. I knew he was meant to be our son. He is beautiful.

We picked his name like we did all the rest. William is a family name. It is the name of his great grandfather on his daddy's side. Wyatt, because Jim just likes it, and QiQi because that is his name given to him in China. If we can find out the name his nannies' call him, we will change QiQi to that. We will have to wait until Jim and Jacob get to China to find that out. Until then, he is William Wyatt QiQi Cecil. Quite a mouthful!

We are just ready to get him.

Will, here we come!

I can't believe it has been almost a year since we first learned about Will and decided to go on this newest adventure. It all started with an email from Amy Hall introducing us to Charlie AKA Xu QiQi. When we first found his file, it was close to being returned to China, but another family was trying to work out some details to adopt him. Jim was very philosphical about this. Everytime the kids and I said "wouldn't it be great to add this little guy to our family." Jim would say "Isn't it great he has a family trying to adopt him." We all had to agree.

One day about two weeks after we found his file, Jim was sitting in church and when the service was over Jim said, "You know it would be great if we could adopt Will." The next day, the agency called and Will was ours. The other couple couldn't get it to work out. They went on to adopt a baby boy also from China. They brought their new son home in December.

The paperchase was on for Will.

Along with once again trying to figure out how we were going to break it to our family and friends that we were adding another child. Most people think we are crazy with four kids, how do you break the news you will be adding a fifth child. Amazingly enough, most people did not seem to be surprised.