Day Four- Part Two- Gotcha!!!

We stopped at the bank to exchange our US money for the adoption to Chinese money. We got there a few minutes before the bank opened and waited in line outside. When they opened the doors, there was a mad dash for everyone to get inside and pick a number (like going to the Revenue Dept) and then have a seat and wait for the number to be called.

We waited less than 5 minutes because we were able to go behind a partitioned wall to the VIP section. When it was our turn, we stepped up to the window and the teller sat behind a glass wall with a little pass through at the bottom. There was lots of Chinese being spoken rapidly between our guide Ming Ming and the banker, lots of documents to be signed, etc. We handed our US money over and they counted it in their bill counter then began preparing the Chinese currency to hand back to us. Jason had the US bills in a money holder that went around his waist—when they started stacking up the Chinese currency, we realized pretty quickly that all of those bills were never going to fit back in the pouch! With the exchange rate, the large US bills took up WAY less space than the equivalent of Chinese bills. We had the teller put the bills in a large brown envelope and then Jason took my cross body sling purse and put the envelope of money in it. He took his jacket off, put my purse across his body and then put his jacket back on top. Our transaction took a while and there were several people in line for the VIP section behind us that were loudly yelling out that we were taking too long. We know that because we asked Ming Ming what all the fuss was about. Again, we were the only westerners in sight, so it was a bit of an uncomfortable feeling. We finally finished our transaction and we headed out the doors back onto the street. The social welfare office was just about a 5 minute walk from the bank, so our driver had already taken the van over there to park and we walked. That’s why Jason was wearing the purse-full-o-money :) He wasn’t about to put that burden on me to walk around with all that cash on me. I was dying laughing every time I got a good luck at  him with his floral purse, though. He tried to hide it under his jacket, but the purse was FULL and it was hard to hide :)

When we walked up to the building and Ming Ming said, “We’re here.” The nervous and jittery anticipation turned to full on excitement and the “Mamma Bear” started to come out in me. I knew I’d be holding my baby in a matter of minutes and I just wanted to take off running into the building to go get her!!

We stopped at the van to grab our diaper bag and cameras before heading into the building.

I took this picture as we were waiting for the elevator to go up.

As soon as we got up to the room we were to go in, we were told we’d have to wait because there were other people using the room already. As we were waiting in the hall, I heard a baby’s cry in the next room. I listened to it for a few seconds and I knew it was HER! We already knew that we were the only adoption in Shanghai that entire week, so who else’s baby would be in there crying. I asked Ming Ming if that was her and she went to find out. Yes! We did find out that she was already there waiting for us. Let me tell you—it took ALL that was within me not to run in there and grab her!!! I started shaking and I felt a little light headed. I can’t fully describe the emotions that began to run through me. It was almost like, as we sat there standing quietly in that hallway, that the last 3 1/2 years of my life were just flashing before my eyes like in a movie. This was it. I looked at Jason and we didn’t have to say a word. It was happening to him to. We just smiled at each other and we both had eyes filled with tears.

After a few minutes, the other group of people exited the room and we were escorted in. After a brief introduction and handshake with the official, we were led to a table where we would fill out, sign and complete the last bit of paperwork needed before they brought her to us. I could still hear her fussing down the hall, by the way. By the grace of God I was able to fill out the papers even though my mind was racing, my hands were shaking and I could hardly catch my breath.

Here we are filling out the papers.

As soon as we filled out the last paper, the official grabbed all the papers, arranged them neatly stood up from the table. Ming Ming said, “Ok, now we can go pay the money.” Jason stood up to go with her while I stood up to begin pacing the room while they were gone. They had gone to another room down the hall to complete the transaction. Jason came back with his purse considerably smaller :)

Right when they walked back in the room, Ming Ming grabbed our camera and said, “Ok! She’s coming” and just then we heard them coming down the hall. Jason grabbed the video camera, Ming Ming went out the door to take pictures of them coming down the hall and I stood in the middle of the room waiting. I saw the flashes of the camera and knew she was RIGHT there! Outside the door!!

Here are some pictures that she took while Jason and I were waiting in the room.

Right before they walked into the door, I had a brief panic moment where I thought they were going to walk in the door with the wrong child… but…. here’s the picture Ming Ming took right when they walked in the door to the room.

These were our first glimpses of our baby girl! It’s HER!!!

Saying Ni Hao and looking into my daughter’s eyes for the very first time.

Hi, Baby Girl! Come to Mamma!

Right in this moment, it was like everything in the world just stopped and everything was just playing out in slow motion. My baby girl that I had dreamed about, longed for and that my arms and heart had literally physically ached for was in my arms. Finally. Nothing else mattered in the whole world. 

Oh, she was so upset :( Poor thing! I know she must have been so scared.

I just kept gently swaying and rocking and telling her, “It’s ok. I’m your Mamma. I love you.” It was so surreal. I loved her already, but as soon as I laid my eyes on her that day and as soon as they put her in my arms, I was “done for”. So totally and completely in love. It didn’t bother me one little bit that she was screaming. I knew I wasn’t letting her go and I’d stop at nothing to make sure she knew what it was like to have a Mamma that loved her so much and would do anything and everything for her.

Starting to settle down. I love this picture. You can see the glow on my face and the pride and excitement on her Daddy’s face as he was videoing every moment.

First family photo!

Daddy’s turn!!

Here’s the social worker from the orphanage showing us the photo book they made for her.

After about 15 minutes, Ming Ming grabbed her jacket and said, “Ok, let’s go.” And that was it. We grabbed all of our stuff and headed back downstairs and to our van.

Daddy took about 100 pictures in the van on the way to the grocery store and back to the hotel!

Here was the very first. One word to describe this picture for me in this moment. Heaven.

After we left the Social Welfare office, we went to a grocery store to get snacks/food and bottled water. Then we went back to our hotel room.

Life with our baby girl had just begun!

Day Three- Part Two & Day Four-Part One

After the Hutong Tour, Rocky took us to an amazing dumpling house. We asked him to take us to his favorite and he was happy to do so. We were starving and excited to eat some of this delicacy we’d been looking forward to.

I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat because my nerves started really acting up. In just a matter of a couple of hours, we’d be on a train headed to Shanghai! Wow!!

Here is the outside of the restaurant.

Right as we walked in, we saw the ladies making the dumplings through this window.

Here was our table. This place was fancy! It was just so beautiful to see all the crystal, and the vibrant red and gold colors everywhere.

Taking pictures of our food was an afterthought at this meal :) They brought the different dumplings we ordered to our table plate by plate and we started eating them right when they brought them to us so we could enjoy them while they were still hot.

We really enjoyed everything we ordered. There was a beef and carrot dumpling that none of us were brave enough to eat except for Scott. The meat looked pink and WAY undercooked, but we were assured that’s how it was supposed to look. Um… no thanks :)

Our favorites were the noodles we ordered- way different from any noodles we’ve ever eaten here but SO delicious! My favorite dumpling was the fried pork and leek dumplings. They also served us the most deliciously tangy and thick soy sauce I’ve ever encountered. The fried dumplings dipped in the delicious, rich sauce was heavenly. By far, my favorite thing we’d eaten since we’d been in China! The meal was also surprisingly affordable considering how fancy the restaurant was. It was a wonderful experience. If I ever find myself in Beijing again, I will have Rocky bring me here again!

After we finished eating, it was time to head to the train station. It was a short 20 minute drive to the train station. The station was large, modern and clean. And we were the only Westerners in sight! Also, very few, if any, of the signs were in English. Thankfully, Rocky went through security with us and walked us to our gate before he left. We had about 1 hour before our train would be boarding, we all took turns going to the restroom and finding snacks. Low and behold! We found a Starbucks! We cleaned them out of their sandwiches and desserts in their cold case to take with us on the train and got some yummy-licious coffee, of course! They had a limited coffee menu compared to what we’re used to here, so they didn’t have my “usual” drink. But a vanilla latte did the trick nicely.

The announcements for boarding calls, etc. were being made constantly but none of the announcements were in English! About 30 minutes before our train was to begin boarding, we saw people starting to line up, so we decided to go ahead and get in line so we didn’t get left behind at some point.

They began boarding and we made our way through the ticket gate and to our train. We had no idea if there was assigned seating or if it was first come/first serve on the train… a great question we should’ve asked Rocky before he left. The tickets were written totally in Chinese and there wasn’t a soul that could speak English as far as we had discovered anyway.

We made our way to the car that we thought we were supposed to be on, stowed our HUGE duffel bags and carry ons and sat down just in time to have someone gesturing that we were in their seats. We began to look at our tickets and try to figure it out. Best we could tell, we were supposed to be on car 4 and we were on car 7. So, we gathered up all of our stuff and headed for car 4. By this time, there were people EVERYWHERE and it was hard to get through. We found an attendant, showed her our tickets and asked for help. She escorted us to our seats. Come to find out, we were in First Class! The seats were much bigger and there were less of them in the car. Jackpot!!! We stowed our luggage again and sat down. Scott and Rachel were several rows in front of us. As soon as they sat down, a young lady gestured that they were in her seats. What?! The attendant showed us where our seats were! Well, sure enough… the attendant was wrong and they were in the wrong car! They were supposed to be in car 17! By this time, there was less than 30 minutes until the train would be leaving! We were all a bit flustered and confused, but they quickly grabbed their luggage and took off looking for their car. We were in the right car, thankfully, so I just stayed in my seat while Jason went to help them find their car . A few minutes after Jason had arrived back to his seat, I looked at Jason and said, “I hope they grabbed the right bags.” He didn’t respond for a minute or two, then he gave me that “look” and headed up to the front of the car to inspect the luggage. Sure enough, in all of the stressed haste, they had grabbed one of our bags and one of theirs (you see, we all had the same duffel bags! We didn’t realize it would be a problem with all of us ordering the same bags!) Jason grabbed their bag and exited the train to high tail it back to their car. I had a mini panic attack in the meantime…. realizing that if we were separated, we would have no way of communicating with each other! I was so upset and nervous! And I couldn’t believe we weren’t all in the same car together like we were supposed to be!

With LESS than 5 MINUTES to spare Jason, sweating and breathless, slid into his chair next to me. Apparently, their car was no less than 1/2 mile back and he’d lugged a 50 lb duffel bag both ways! Whew! I started to calm down but it took nearly the first hour for my heart rate to return to normal!

The train began moving and it was such a relief! We were all on the train, with all of our luggage! AND next stop! Shanghai!!!!!

Despite the stress and the lessons learned, we are so glad we took the train. We were able to ride in great comfort and see so much of the China countryside. It was amazing. We tried to take some pictures, but with the High Speed Train zooming along at over 300 kilometers per hour, it was quite difficult.

Here is our car. I am on the back row to the left. Rachel had made her way up to our car after the train got on its way so we could exchange contact info and say our goodbyes for the week. They would be exiting the train about an hour before us and we wouldn’t see them again for a week when we met up again in Guangzhou.

We were so nervous and excited! The next morning we would be meeting our babies!!!

The trip from Beijing to Shanghai was just about 5 hours.

Some pictures of scenery along the route.

We were not able to get any pictures of the city as we approached Shanghai. We could see all the lights but it was totally dark by the time we reached our destination. We exited the train and just went off of instinct as to where to go and we found our driver holding a sign with our names on it. Apparently he and our guide, Ming Ming, weren’t sure which entrance to the terminal we would come into, so they had positioned themselves one at each so they wouldn’t miss us. We went to the other side and found Ming Ming, then we were on our way to our hotel.

It was about a 45 minute drive from the train station to our hotel in the center of town. We stayed at the Marriott Puxi. When we arrived, we were happy to find that this was a gorgeous, fancy hotel. The hotel in Beijing was nice, but it smelled of cigarette smoke (like so much of the city did) and my allergies and scratchy throat were getting worse by the minute there. Here in Shanghai, I could already tell that I could breathe easier and this hotel was very modern, clean and did not smell like smoke at all. They even gave us hot water to drink upon our arrival. It soothed my throat and was just heavenly. There was some drama when we tried to check in. Apparently, although we’d already paid for our room in advance and had this hotel on our itinerary, the reservation never actually got made for us… they were kind enough to go ahead and give us a room, but they made us leave a deposit to secure the room since they’d not received payment for it yet. The only problem was that we’d brought pretty much only cash for the trip and didn’t have a credit card that could be charged with that much on it! They wanted $1,200 US  as a deposit! Wow! Our guide did a great job explaining the situation and negotiated them down to $300 US since we assured them it would be taken care of in the morning.

Our room was very nice and we were just so exhausted and ready for bed! When I walked into the bathroom I did have a brief freak out moment when I realized there was no bathtub! Not only did I desperately want a hot bath, but how was I supposed to bathe a baby with no tub! We contemplated whether we’d try to get a different room ourselves even though Ming Ming was already gone, and then decided we’d just figure out how to make it work and it wasn’t worth the effort at that point.

We went down to the hotel lobby for dinner. We ordered chicken quesadillas and ice cold sprites! It was expensive, but it was quick, convenient and delicious in every way possible!!!

After we ate, we went back up to our room to begin unpacking. We would be leaving early the next morning to get Khloe, so we had to get the room in order, prepare our gifts for the officials, iron our clothes for the next day, etc.

We worked together as swiftly as possible, took quick showers, took our sleeping pills and hit the hay, praying for sweet slumber before our big day the next day.

Surprisingly, after we prayed together, I was able to fall asleep and I slept soundly for about 6 hours! Once I woke up about 4am, I was up, though. A ball of nerves and emotion.

We were able to connect with family via internet/skype and then went to breakfast. Once again, the breakfast buffet was amazing! To my great surprise, I had quite an appetite. Normally when I am really nervous, I can’t eat at all. I have such a horrible nervous stomach (I’ve struggled with this since middle school!) and I can hardly look at or smell food when I’m so nervous. But I was starving and my stomach didn’t feel bad at all! So I loaded up my plate and enjoyed quite a bit of my breakfast when it hit me. The nerves. Uh oh. Push plate away from me at the table and try to not ruin Jason’s breakfast by telling him I had to make a run for the room! I managed this successfully, but by the time we got back to our room, I was freaking out. My tummy was rolling and it was all I could do to keep my breakfast down. I was so worried that I would throw up right in the room in front of everyone at the social welfare center. Or in the car on the way. This really got my anxiety worked up! Finally, I decided I  had to throw up before we left or my worst nightmares would come true. I felt much better after following through with this decision and I was ready to go get my baby!

The diaper bag was packed. The cameras were charged, packed and ready. We were dressed. My tummy was no longer an issue. I was still a ball of nerves, for sure, but I was ready to go. Daddy and I gave each other some hugs and high fives and goofy smiles before we headed down to the lobby to meet Ming Ming and our driver.

We met them, hopped in the van and we headed to our girl. But first, we had to exchange money first, which was quite an adventure in itself.

I will pick up with that story in the next installment!

Day Three- Part One- Hutong Tour

We woke up EARLY again despite being so tired the night before and taking sleeping pills… thank you jet lag… :)

We didn’t have to meet our guide quite as early, so we hung out around our room for a bit, skyped with the kids (where we found out Braden had been sick and running a fever since the day before :(  and made arrangements for Me Me to pick him up so she could take care of him. He ended up running a fever and being sick for several days and missed 4 days of school, poor guy!!)

When it was late enough, we got dressed and went down to the restaurant to have some yummy breakfast. The breakfast buffets were really the food highlight of our whole trip, for sure! It was included in the price of the room and there was so much yummy food everywhere to be eaten!

We headed back up to our room to finish packing up because we were leaving the hotel for good today to head to our girls’ provinces! What an exciting day! I woke up with MAJOR butterflies in my tummy. The very short “vacation” part of this trip was nearing its end and the REAL reason for our trip was beginning.

After checking out of our hotel and loading up in the van, our first stop was the Hutong Tour. This tour took us through what  you might call the historic area of Beijing. This area is protected by the government and is being preserved. So much of Beijing has become high rises to be able to accommodate more people in less space, but this area is especially neat because it’s the same as it has been for hundreds of years!

Here we are on the rickshaw with our driver looking on.

We took lots of pictures as we rode along. Here you can see all the rickshaws lined up waiting for customers. This was only 1 street lined with them. There were at least 6 more long streets lined with them! There were so many rickshaws and drivers in this area!

One of the many hundreds of alley ways in the Hutong district.

As we rode along there was a beautiful lake with shopping and restaurants all alongside.

Here’s a row of restaurants and bars along one side. We were told by our guide that this is a trendy spot at night and on the weekends.

Here is our guide, Victor, telling us about the Hutong District. One cool fact about this lake is that it connects to the lake at the Summer Palace!

Looking across the lake towards the city high rises.

Construction was going on here. It had been completely gutted.

Walking along through some of the alleyways.

This Hutong had been renovated in recent years.

The highlight of our Hutong tour and perhaps of Beijing (for me) was getting to go inside a family’s home. This was just as we walked inside the front door and turned to our right. You can see the front door with windows on the left of the photo.

We even got to sit on the couches and visit with the sweet homeowner! This house has been in her husband’s family for 300 years!

On the other side of the living room area, was their back porch area.

Also across the living room, and to the left of the back porch, was another little room which was the kitchen. This is it! The lady in the red shirt is the homeowner’s sister who was there for their traditional Sunday dinner. They spend all day preparing the meal to enjoy in the evening.

Right across from the kitchen was the one and only bedroom.

The other room in the home was the homeowner’s studio. We found out that he was a national award winning artist! Wow! His original work was amazingly beautiful. One of the main items on our must buy list was original artwork. As I looked at his work in his studio I was SO wishing we could buy some of his paintings!

As we were looking around and taking pictures, the homeowner (artist) came in for a brief minute to say hi. He had been hanging out at the neighbor’s house. I got the feeling that he didn’t love the attention and showing people his home because after saying Hi briefly, he went back to the neighbor’s house :)

Here is his medal he won for being the National Artist of the Year. It was in a glass front bookcase in his studio.

As we finished looking around, the homeowner pulled out a box full of artwork for us to look at. And they let us buy some!! We were so excited! We knew we wanted to buy artwork, but to get to buy the artwork from an artist that we got to meet and see his home… it was just incredible! It took us a little while to look through all of them, decide how many we would buy and then pick out the ones we wanted. They were all so very beautiful!

Here we are with the homeowner. She was a very kind lady who warmly welcomed us into her home that she was obviously very proud of. Her husband had lived his whole life in  this exact home and she moved here with him when they were married. They have one daughter whom they raised in this home. She is now married and living in a high rise in the city, but she does come back to visit often.

After we left the family’s Hutong, we walked back to where our rickshaws were parked to ride back to where we started. We saw lots of neat sights along the way back.

Here we are posing with our guide at the end of our tour. He did a great job and we all enjoyed this tour very much!