This morning started out with a nice skype visit with the kids. It had to be a quick one as we were running a bit behind. We ran down and got breakfast … very fancy buffet here at the White Swan. Definitely a level or 30 above our Nanjing buffet.

After breakfast we ran back to the room to get our paper work and discovered that they had made up the room and left Claire a little present.  A blonde Barbie holding a little Chinese baby girl.  Sandy is convinced that there is something worthy of offense there … but she’s trying to let it go and roll with it.  Picture below.

Next was the “the clinic” (insert theatrical “duh-duh-duhhhhh”).  Wow, they really move them in and out of rooms with different doctors and nurses.  But Claire hated it … no wait, let me try again.  CLAIRE HATED IT!!!  We have not heard her cry and scream like that yet.  We’ve had sobbing cries before as we’ve mentioned, this was a big old scream and cry that you expect from a little girl.  Sandy was crying along with her.  She hated getting her ears looked at and didn’t want to say “Aaaahh” for the doctor.  Maybe the Steeds or others have some insight on that?  Was there something painful that previous doctors would do in the ear or mouth?  The reaction really was beyond with what we’ve seen with her before.

And then came the needle.  We had to restrain her to get through that one, just so we could do it quickly and be done with it.  It really was a traumatic and difficult experience for Claire and it took her about an hour before she was back to normal with us.  Sandy thinks she was mad at us for having to go through the experience … which may be true.

Anyway … glad that’s over and hopefully the TB test comes back good.  If not, we’ll have to spend a bit more time at the clinic … pray for her, please.

I’ll blog more about today later … but I wanted to get caught up on the morning first since I know the last day or two I haven’t posted much.  As a teaser/cliffhanger … Announcer Voice: In the next episode we learn that Barbie doesn’t fit in Chinese clothes … will she dare to wear them anyway with the extra slit?  Find out next time on Family Rice!

Well, Friday saw us say goodbye to Nanjing.  We got up in the morning and had breakfast … I actually took some pictures this time which are posted below.  Along with breakfast pictures are some shots of Claire’s breakfast choice.  They are “tea eggs” (we discovered later) … basically eggs soaked in a tea soup.  They look disgusting … but she loved them.  Further proof that she is our least picky eater!

After breakfast we skyped with the kids at home for a bit.  It was good to see them.  We honestly don’t know how we would survive this long trip away from them without skype.  It’s so nice to be able to see their smiling faces while we talk to them.  While technology and the internet have definite downsides for kids and families … this is not one of them.

We then headed out on the town for the morning.  One last trip to the bank in Nanjing to exchange some cash and then one last exploration of the shops in our section of town.

Denise was waiting for us as we walked into the hotel.  She was early, but it was good to see her.  She came up to the room with us as we did our last little bit of packing.  We then went back downstairs and checked out.  I forgot to blog about this earlier … but it reared it’s head again, so I’ll mention it.  On Wednesday morning as we were eating breakfast, Claire accidentally broke a salt shaker.  It looked as if it were made back when Chairman Mao was in power (old school).  Anyway, a staff member cleaned it up and we finished breakfast a few moments later.  As we were leaving the restaurant the same staff member came running out after us with a bill for the salt shaker.  The bill was for 30 yuan (about $5).  I was happy to pay for the accident … but it cracked us up.  You can nearly buy a car for 30 yuan, not really, but they were definitely making a profit on that exchange!  Even after 60 years of communism in China … you can’t kill the Chinese capitalistic instincts (they were THE MOST enterprising culture in the world for thousands of years) … make some money at every opportunity!

The drive was uneventful except for the fact that is was so smooth!  We wished we could have had that van on the way to the orphanage … Claire would not have gotten sick.

It was sad to say goodbye to Denise … she was great.  Sandy and I were talking last night about how she really suited our temperament.  She was brutally honest, even blunt and would just tell us what we needed to know.  But she was also kind and very good to Claire.  We’ll miss her.

We arrived at the airport VERY early and so had plenty of time to sit around.  Below is a video of how Sandy and Claire spent some of the time.

The flight was a bit frustrating.  They boarded us about 15 minutes late and then we proceeded to wait for 45 minutes on the plane.  No explanation or word from any of the crew … just waiting as if that’s what you do after you board.  Claire became a bit anxious and had a bit of a panic attack … but so did Dad, so I don’t blame her:)

Once we finally got flying it was all good and she liked sitting on Sandy’s lap looking out the window watching us go higher and higher.  The iPod was a life saver as Claire watched Little Einstein’s on it for the duration of the two hour flight.

Landing in Guangzhou brought another short lived frustration.  We collected our bags and exited to find that no one was waiting for us!  We spent the next 15 minutes or so grabbing a map and figuring out how to make it to our hotel.  Finally a woman came running up to us holding a Sign that said “WASATCH”.  We are with the Wasatch Adoption Agency … whew!  Apparently there was an accident on the freeway that delayed our ride.  Glad they showed up. Our guide here in Guangzhou is Helen. A very nice lady with a 6 year old boy … her picture is included below.

We finally made it to the hotel and crashed … very tired after a long day.  Our hotel is called the White Swan and is located in a part of GuangZhou called Shamian Island.  The White Swan is the traditional hotel used by parents adopting children, and so the area around the White Swan is a bit more western than one might otherwise expect.

Pictures below …

Today was our only “free” day while here in Nanjing.  Everything else has been programmed for the adoption.  The only thing we really wanted to do Nanjing related while here was to revisit the campus at Nanjing University where Sandy and I each spent a semester studying.  So after our standard morning breakfast buffet … that’s the direction we headed.

We stopped on the north side of campus so that we could walk through campus down to the south end where we lived in the international student dormitory.  We walked through campus and recognized a building or two … a spot here and there … but in reality, it is completely different.  We finally found the dorms where we stayed and recognized the entrance gate … but every other thing about the place was different.  It was so weird … and a bit disappointing.  We now know it was naive to think that all the same old haunts would exist for us to revisit.  It was a bit sad for us, though.  The cafe where I would buy steak and eggs every Sunday morning? Gone.  The old pizza joint, The Black Cat?  Gone.  The dirt road leading over to a couple of broken down apartment buildings?  Gone, replaced by a MAJOR thoroughfare and high rise buildings.  Weird.  Progress does have some downsides … but only to our sentimental side, I guess.

After a bit of a let down we headed over to the Nanjing museum.  Calling it a museum is a bit of a misnomer.  It’s really an elaborate front of interesting historical items and documents all apparently collected to sell you on buying fairly cheap looking silk coin purses.  I don’t know, maybe because Sandy and I have already spent significant time in China … we’re not all that interested in the shopping side of things.  We’re getting a bit tired of being sold to.  I was actually interested in the weaving process and the beautiful robes that took 8 years to make … just charge me 10 yuan and let’s get on with it.

Anyway, back to the hotel after that.  Claire was cold and Dad was tired.  So we got back to the room and I fell asleep.  Sandy did some reading on the Interwebs and Claire did her puzzles.

So far every entry and exit into the hotel has included a stop by the lobby water feature, which has goldfish swimming around.   Claire loves to watch those fish.  This afternoon she called hello to the fish and asked them to come play with her.  Surprisingly, they kept right on swimming and ignored her.  The next time we left the building we asked if she wanted to stop by and see the fish, but she declined, saying that the fish wouldn’t talk to her.   Luckily, she shrugged off the rejection like a pro and was happy to go back out into the city.

We finally had what was supposed to be a snack around 3 pm.  The snack consisted of 2 chicken skewers and 12 dumplings, or so we thought.  But after Claire ate over 1/2 of the dumplings and most of the chicken, we ordered another round, at which time she proceeded to eat another 5-6 dumplings.  Seriously, when she wants to the girl can pack it in.  We then went into the SuGuo community store, which is a local community store similar to a Wal Mart in that it has clothes, tents, food, etc.  Anyway, Claire wanted apple juice, so we obliged, and also some chocolate ice cream, again quick to oblige.  We reluctantly obliged when she said she wanted these “corn curls” that were orange flavored and in a bag like potato chips.   Seriously?  Sandy thought we had signed up for some bizarro Chinese version of orange flavored cheetos. (why not?  They have french chicken and braised pork flavored Lays here)   Turns out our girl knows her stuff – they were essentially cheeto-puff-shaped and smelled like an orange creamsicle, but tasted like fruit loops.   So our snack pretty much turned into an early dinner.

Tonight is low key.  We head over to Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon to finish everything up.  We’ll be there from tomorrow night until next Thursday … our longest phase of the trip.  So we’re getting things packed up a bit and watching a bit of TV.  I’m ready to hear the “true” Chinese Wah (language), Cantonese, and eat some real Chinese food from the south!  (That sentence is for Sandy who continues to be under the illusion that Mandarin is the “true” Chinese language … as if!  Everybody knows it is an ugly mix of real Chinese, Manchurian, Mongolian and Korean!  Just kidding … it’s all good:)

And our night just ended with this little moment with Claire.  She kept on saying something that sounded like “XiaXia went bye bye!”  We weren’t sure what she was saying, so kept asking.  Sandy eventually figured out that she was saying, “Sunshine went bye bye.”  Once we realized what she meant she ended by looking out the hotel window and saying, “Goodnight sunshine … we’ll see you in the morning!”

For today we scheduled a trip to the orphanage where Claire spent the first four years of her life.  It wasn’t exactly a “fun” or easy day … but it was very good and worth the time spent.

We started (as usual) with a quick breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet (I really need to get a picture of that before we leave).  Claire was in the mood for Congee (spelling?) at breakfast which is one of my personal UNfavorites.  It’s basically rice … watered down … and then watered down some more until it becomes a soupy, bland joke of a meal.  I really don’t get it … but hey, at least we know she isn’t a picky eater!  Well, this breakfast choice becomes important in just a minute in the narrative.

We met Denise at 8:00 am for our 3 1/2 hour trip to SuZhou.  It started out … slow.  We left right in the middle of rush hour and didn’t even make it out of the city until about 8:45 am.  It was also a VERY bumpy ride and just plain not fun.  Well, Claire started to cry at about 9:15 am and was really unhappy.  We thought maybe she was feeling the stress of returning to Baba Mao (the orphanage director) and SuZhou.  After about 15 minutes … breakfast made a revisit.  I then discovered one very good thing about congee … it looks the exact same coming up as it does going down.  She threw up her entire breakfast and felt a bit better.

We made a quick pit stop, got some Sprite and moved her to the front back seat of the van and she was good as new for the rest of the trip.  Only one other issue on the way into Suzhou … when we were about 45 minutes away she decided she really had to go to the bathroom.  We were in the middle of the city but nowhere near a toilet so the driver stopped in the middle of the right hand lane (freeway “shoulders” don’t really exist here) and Sandy and Claire jumped out for an impromptu potty break (to be clear … only Claire used the “facilities”).

We then proceeded to get lost for what seemed like an hour until we finally pulled up right in front of the orphanage.  YEAH!

We pulled up to the front door and Director Mao was waiting.  I then had one of the most comforting experiences I would have at the orphanage.  I hopped out of the van first to help Claire and Sandy out.  I stuck out my hand to Director Mao and he brushed me away and said quickly in Chinese, “In a minute”.  He went straight for Claire and gave her a big hug and talked to her for a little bit before he would even acknowledge Sandy and me.  You have to know one thing about the Chinese … they are very formal.  But Director Mao could have cared less about formality … he wanted to see ChunYi (Claire).  What a blessing to know that Claire was truly loved not only by this wonderful man … but all of the Nanny’s that cared for her.

Director Mao was extremely gracious to us after that and was, in fact, hilarious!  A very unique man with a huge heart.  It was a pleasure beyond imagining to be able to meet him and see how he was with Claire and the other children at the orphanage.  You’ll see his picture below as he is (I believe) the only man besides me in any of them.  At one point he left the room and came back with his business card so that we could send him copies of the pictures we took today, as well as “updates” about Claire as she grows.

We then had the opportunity to go to the main orphanage room (where all of the pictures of the children below were taken) and see where Claire spent most of her time.  Claire was very uncomfortable for about the first ten minutes and would not leave Sandy’s arms.  Sandy kept repeating to her though that we would say goodbye to Baba Mao and the nannies soon … this was just a visit.  She settled down and ended up having a great time playing with Director Mao and the nannies and what I assume was one of her favorite toys … a big “ride in” plastic car.

Sandy was chatting with the Nannies and so asked me get pictures of all the children I could.  This is how we have ended up with so many baby pictures of Claire … adoptive parents taking pictures while there to pick up their children … so hopefully we can return the favor someday.

It was at this point where I had my own personal touching/difficult moment of the day.  As I went around to the different cribs to get pictures I would also try to hold the child’s hand and stroke their skin (usually their face).  I got essentially the same response every time.  First a bit of shock, then an immediate smile.  With one child in particular I couldn’t help but cry.  He is a little blind boy who I believe is missing at least one eye.  I touched his foot first and he immediately smiled.  I then grabbed one of his hands and he reached and grabbed my hand with his other as well.  He then pulled my fingers to his face.  At this point he started giggling and I lost it.

I want to be clear here … what the director and nannies do is remarkable and nothing short of divine service in helping and loving these children.  I do not want to diminish their work in ANY way.  They do the best they can and more with the time and resources they have.  But clearly … the children need more.  If we had the time, money and resources we would have packed up the entire orphanage and brought them home.  What beautiful children and what an amazing place.  I personally spent the rest of the ride home thinking about what we could do more in the years to come.  I just hope God will allow our family the blessing of helping further in some way, some day.

After this (about 20-30 minutes) we went to the orphanage conference room where we chatted and waited for Rae who I’ve mentioned before.  She arrived about 20 minutes later and we then proceeded to have another amazing experience meeting and chatting with one of God’s true lights here in China.

It would take to long to describe everything she does or has done for Claire and many, many other children and people in China.  Basically, she was born in northern China (Manchuria) and then moved to the States (Upper State New York) at some point.  She returned about 10 years ago when her husband was sent on a work assignment.  She has a (20 year old?) daughter that lives in New York.  She spends her time in China constantly on the move and mostly, from what we can tell, blessing the lives of others – volunteering at at least two orphanages, one hospital, and using her vivacious and driven personality to create guanxi that results in good things for lots of people.

She is extremely well connected and was the driving force in getting Claire well.  She asked a doctor friend of hers to look at Claire a few months ago.  It was at this point that this doctor discovered that Claire had been misdiagnosed four years ago.  She was about to be scheduled for a bone marrow transplant by her regular doctor in Shanghai.  This doctor realized that that wouldn’t even help and would be unnecessary and dangerous surgery for Claire.  This doctor called Claire’s regular doctor and told her the results she was seeing.  They performed some additional tests and determined that a spleen removal would eliminate all of her symptoms and put her on track for a real recovery.

Rae then went about to raise the money for the surgery.  About $11,000 was needed.  One man … Stephan Albrecht of Germany footed the entire bill.  Others also gave money, but what Stephan gave was enough and more to cover the cost.  We believe at least a portion of the overage went to help other children in the orphanage.  We don’t know all of the details about the money but we do know that at least the following families/people were involved.  Rae, Stephan Albrecht, and the Steeds.  We think there might have been more as well.  Special thanks to Karen Bristol, as well – Karen, we still don’t fully understand your role in Claire’s medical care, but we know it involved at least one trip to Shanghai and much more, and for that we sincerely thank you.

Anyway, it was Rae who saved this little girl’s life and made it possible for her to be healthy enough to enter the adoption list.  It is because of her that we have her now.  It is because of her that our family now feels more complete and whole.  It is also because of her that we feel a need to be better and do more to bless the lives of those around us.

And so the one regret we will forever have from our trip to the orphanage is that we didn’t pose for a picture with Rae.  I don’t know how we managed not to do that, but we did, and we are truly sorry.

While we did all this chatting Claire played with the aayis, played with Baba Mao, and generally had a great time.  Every now and again she would come over to us and we would reassure her that we were going back to the hotel soon, then she would go play some more.  When it was finally time to go she gave everyone hugs, waved goodbye and blew kisses to everyone, and we were off!

Before leaving Suzhou we wanted to stop and get some silk from a famous factory in the town.  Some silk for Claire from her hometown.  We purchased a piece of white silk that could be used in a baptism and wedding dress someday.  We also bought her a traditional red and gold Chinese dress that she can wear now.  Pictures of the factory are also below.  There was also a “fashion show” going on at the factory at the time … thus, the pictures below.

The drive back was MUCH more uneventful than the drive there, for which we were all grateful.

The night ended with ice cream for dinner.  Two scoops of Belgian Chocolate from Haagen Daas.  I’m not much of a chocolate ice cream fan, but I have to admit that is was pretty darn tasty.

PS  Sandy posting here — when Tom says the night “ended” with ice cream, he means it ended for me and Claire, who fell asleep blissfully around 8:30 or something.  Tom, however, without sacrificing one ounce of masculinity, is a master at handwashing laundry and put his talents to the test when he managed to wash quite a bit of our stuff.  So Claire and I awoke to clean clothes and underthings hanging all around and drying, and we didn’t have to lift one finger!  :)

Today was a great day in so many ways.

It started out early with a trip back to the Civil Affairs office.  We sat down with a civil service officer who asked a few questions … Why do you want to adopt?  Why from China? etc.  We then promised never to abandon or hurt Claire in any way … that’s an easy one.

About 30 minutes in the office and they handed over our final paperwork … I think it’s essentially an order of adoption?  Not sure … I could ask Sandy … but she’s reading to Claire right now and I don’t feel like interrupting that.  One thing Sandy did tell me though is that it is the essential piece of paperwork … we are to never lose it.

And that was it!  We’re done!  With the China side of things anyway.  We have to remain in province a couple of extra days while waiting for Claire’s passport.  That should arrive Friday morning and then we are off to Guangzhou!

The rest of the day was all about fun.  We tried to run a couple of errands … but they mostly didn’t pan out.  We rested in the hotel for a bit and then headed out for a bank stop, lunch and play park fun!  Below are two videos at the play park.  It had all kinds of fun things for Claire to play with including a small slide, a big slide, a ball pit, all kinds of “twirly” things and (as you’ll see below) a balloon “box” which was her favorite I think.  In case, we’ve never mentioned it … she is HUGE into balloons.  She bathes with them, sings about them and loves to play with them. And lest you think we are crazy parents for subjecting our darling daughter to a germ-fest like unto the McDonald’s playland, well, this is one area that the Chinese have it right. Before Claire could go into the playground they took her temperature with a thermal forehead scan to make sure she wasn’t running a fever, and then she had to wash her hands with hand sanitizer. Of course, shoes are off. The floor of the playground is covered with those foam puzzle squares that fit together, and the workers walked around with lint rollers making sure the floor was clean of fuzz and hair and all things dirty at all times. A whole new level of cleanliness as far as kids playplaces go, I think.

The play park was a ton of fun and we had a great time.  Claire is getting more and more comfortable with us, which is nice for us and hopefully for her as well.  We got our first “lip kisses” today from her with barely having to ask.  She gave some squeeze hugs and cuddled with Mom for a short afternoon nap … all very nice.  She did wake up from her nap with a similar, although much reduced reaction to last nights.  She cried for about 3 minutes as opposed to 1 hour and was having fun again shortly after.  It has nothing to do with forgetting those she loves, I really believe that she is getting more comfortable with us … Sandy in particular.

Dinner tonight took us to a semi-familiar place as we’ve eaten there a number of times since we’ve arrived.  It’s just next door to the hotel and is usually fairly cheap.  They must have afternoon and evening pricing differences though as dishes were twice their normal prices for the exact same things we ate yesterday.  Oh well, I’ll never fully understand Communism and the odd, quasi-capitalistic variations it creates.

After dinner was tub time again … Claire loves evening tub time.

Well, I’ve been using every available moment to get caught up on these blog posts today.  We head to Claire’s orphanage tomorrow to look around, meet a few people and take pictures.  They are telling us the drive is over 3 hours each way and then we’ll spend 3 or 4 hours there.  That means it is unlikely I’ll get much posted tomorrow … although we’ll be creating a bunch of photos, etc. in SuZhou.

Make sure you look below at other posts … this makes the 3rd new entry we’ve posted since most of you have been sleeping.  There are some cute videos and pictures of Gotcha day and night.

Thanks again for all of your prayers.  We have felt the power of them and really feel like the Spirit has softened Claire’s landing … what a blessing the Comforter is in our lives.

On to SuZhou!

I’m not sure how this post will come off … I apologize if it seems to sentimental or sappy.  This is for the Steeds and mostly for Kohl and Keaton.

I ended our first Gotcha day blog post abruptly stating that Claire needed us.  She had gone to bed at about 8:00pm and then woke up at about 9:00pm that night.  All of the books we’ve been reading say that bed time and wake up time can be particularly difficult and vulnerable times for adoptive children.  Well, we experienced this last night.  When she woke up she definitely seemed disoriented, but more than that she seemed genuinely scared and out of sorts.  Not in a “screamy” or normal way … but in a very deeply disturbed way.  My heart broke.  It was clear that she was hoping the day had been a dream that she would wake up from … and she hadn’t.  As I said, she wasn’t “scream crying”, but sobbing in a way that a grown up would.  We asked her if she was missing “Kohl and Keaton” and she immediately started sobbing even more deeply and repeated their names.

Kohl and Keaton, she loves you two so deeply and continues to long for you.  You have affected her heart in a way that I don’t believe will ever fully leave her.  Thank you for that.  We know that because she has connected so deeply, she is capable of that and hopefully even more as we take her into our family.  I know it must be hard for you to give her up right now, and we promise we will do our best to be as great as your family has been in loving her.

We also promise to let you see her again some time in the near future.  A summer 2011 trip to Canada sounds like a ton of fun to us!

Thank you, Steeds … we love you.

P.S.  I’m posting two entries here at once.  Look below for updates on Monday’s “Gotcha” moments.

Well, I had hoped to get back to this more quickly than I, in fact, did. Oh well, it’s been a full two days. We are now at the end of Tuesday and what a day. I’ll get back to it in the next post … but I wanted to finish up yesterday’s information as much as I can. Sandy, when you’re reading this, feel free to edit and add to it … I know I’ll miss things.

Anyway, most of the actual time spent in the Gotcha room consisted of juggling between filling out paperwork and giving our attention to Claire.  As I mentioned, she was apprehensive at first, but settled down after a bit and really clung to Sandy … which was nice.  She had absolutely no interest in going back to the “Aayi” from the orphanage.  I think the last couple months of “skype time” helped with her being calmer and comforted at seeing our faces … thank you Steeds!  I know the day would have been much more difficult without all of the preparation that they went through over the last few months.

Back at the hotel she quickly made herself right at home by taking her moose, bear and baby and letting them rest on the head of the bed, comfortably reclining on the pillows.  Thanks to the Steeds, Claire is, I am certain, the first child to be adopted along with a suitcase full of Claire’s favorite things and thoughtfully purchased (and extremely cute!) clothes and shoes.  We have explained to her a few times that the hotel is not “home,” and we think slowly she is catching on to that, but it is a little confusing for her.  Oh, and she is a master at using the hotel key card to open the door, and a pro at the elevator, too.

I’ve mentioned to a few people some “scary” things that happened yesterday.  The long and short of it was this … they made a few comments about the picture Claire had of our family and our knowledge of her surgery, etc. that worried us.  It seemed that some of the officials were seriously questioning how or why we would have such information.  For a moment I was concerned that if the conversation that was swirling around us continued, they might decide our contact with Claire had been inappropriate.  I had these visions of them saying … “You know what, we don’t like what’s been going on here … why don’t you just head home without her.”  Needless to say, it didn’t go that far and all ended well.

Here are a couple more videos of our time in the Civil Affairs office …

Our time ended with our “First Family Picture” of Sandy, Claire and Me.  Then they said, “OK”, you’re free to go!

We headed back to the hotel with Denise and then went out to do some gift shopping for the director of the orphanage and for a very special woman named Rae.  We aren’t exactly sure what Rae’s role in Claire’s life was … but it was suggested that without her, Claire never would have had the surgery she so desperately needed.  She either put up the money or collected the money needed to have it done.  We’re going to try and find out more information about that, but it goes without saying that we are deeply indebted to her for her kindness and generosity.

Below is a video of our first walk out on the town … the “on the shoulders” ride has now become her standard means of locomotion.  Again, thanks to the Steeds for the tip on that one!

One very funny story/anecdote that continues to pay off for us:  As we were out on this first little outing we walked through a VERY busy shopping and tourist area.  And by VERY busy, I mean “Asia busy”.  Those of you that have been to Asia will know what I mean.  Not just people were speeding by, but cars, buses, scooters and bikes were all over the place and we felt like we were constantly jumping out of the way of one thing or another.  At one point Claire shouted … “TOO MANY PEOPLE!”  Our guide, Denise, busted up laughing and has continued to tell people about that.  The funny thing to us though is how that has continued to be one of her favorite phrases about everything.  So last night I had to run out and grab some gift bags and also decided to grab some McDonald’s because it was right next door and we know she likes milk shakes from there.  I got two large French Fries along with some chicken nuggets and a burger for Sandy and I.  After dinner we still had a full box of fries left.  Sandy was going to throw them away, but Claire wouldn’t let her.  She said, “Save for later”.  So she started packing them in her now empty chicken nugget box, but they wouldn’t fit.  So she said, “Too many people!” … not “Too many fries”.  Today as she was playing in one of those “ball bins” she said “Too many people!” … not “Too many balls!”  Anyway, we crack up because no matter what she is dealing with that is too much for her, she says, “TOO MANY PEOPLE!”.  We’ve decided this will be our family phrase.  Going to a buffet and don’t know what to choose?  ”TOO MANY PEOPLE!”  At a soccer game and the other team is getting shot after shot off?  ”TOO MANY PEOPLE!” You get the drift … oh well, maybe it’s funnier to us because it’s coming out of this beautiful little girl.

Here is a collection of photos from the day yesterday.

Monday night ended with a tub.  Claire picked out some darling PJs with polka dots on them and got ready to hop in the tub.  But just before she got in she said, “Just a second” and then ran around the room looking through her stuff looking for something.  She just couldn’t find it, so of course, we said, “Claire, what are you looking for?”  She said, “baby.”  Luckily we knew she meant her baby balloon that she likes to take a bath with.  We told her that her baby was a Kohl’s house, but could we blow up a different balloon for her?  She readily agreed, so we grabbed some balloons that we had brought along, blew a few up, and headed back to the tub with a very happy Claire.  Of course, no tub time would be complete without washing Claire AND two balloons, right?  :)

So, Denise came to the hotel and met us at about 2:00pm to ride over to the Civil Affairs office where we would be meeting Claire.  We were dressed up and ready to go … and feeling a bit nervous.

As we entered the room 1 family was already with their daughter, who was crying and clearly shaken up by the experience.  We walked into the room with another couple and within a couple of minutes their son was introduced to them.  He, too, quickly began to cry.  I’ll just state right now that the crying continued the entire time we were there and the other little girl eventually vomited  from her crying.  In the midst of that, Claire entered the room.  I’m trying to post a video of her introduction to us … but honestly, the video thing isn’t going well and so I might have to put it in after I’ve published this post.  She was fairly apprehensive for the first 3 to 5 minutes.  She really didn’t even want to look at or talk to us.  Here aayi said, “Chun Yi, here is your baba and your mama.”  No real response.  We asked her, “Where’s Kate?” and as she looked around for Kate but couldn’t find her, we told her Kate was at home.  We weren’t trying to be mean, we just wanted to say something that would help her really understand who we are, and she regularly asks where Kate is when we Skype.  And it seemed to work, because then she started to warmup a little bit, like, “hey, maybe I do know who you are” and wanted to show us her stuffed animal flower on her suitcase and became more interactive.  She then discovered the cameras we were using to record the event and decided she wanted to try.  That turned everything around almost immediately.

She began video taping and shooting pictures with abandon and was having a great time.  She would take a picture of Sandy and then point to the screen and say “Mommy”.  Then do the same with “Daddy”.  Very nice.  And comforting.  You’ll notice a bunch of pictures of a fat guy in the gallery below … I normally try to stay on the other side of the camera … but all of those pictures were taken by Claire.  What was I supposed to do?:)  She warmed up to Sandy very quickly and would often just wrap her arms around Sandy’s neck as I really think all of the crying was bothering her quite a bit.  (In fact, on Tuesday when we went back to the civil affairs office to finalize the adoption, a couple who had adopted a precious-but-screaming little boy yesterday was amazed, asking  us why we thought Claire seemed to adjust so well during “gotcha day” and wasn’t screaming and/or crying and/or vomiting like the other children)

After shooting pictures and videos for about 10 minutes she saw the bag of M&M’s we had brought along with us.  She then sat in my lap for the first time and ate the entire bag … I think it was chocolate that convinced her maybe I wasn’t so bad.

Well, I started this post over two hours ago … but Claire needs us right now.  We are currently having one of likely many moments where Claire’s needs outweigh other things.  I’ll have to fill in more details later.

PS We are so grateful to everyone for their prayers and well wishes. We continually feel them and know that your love and faith are helping this process move along more smoothly for us all, especially Claire.

Claire is with us and what a day it has been. There is no way to record everything that happened or how we have felt this day … but we’ll try our best to cover the bases.

I wanted to separate the day into a couple/few posts. So this day in the adoption community is called the “Gotcha” day … thus the post title. This morning we spent some time running errands and doing a bit of shopping. Nothing big, just basically trying to pass time as the anxiousness increased.

We woke up early this morning at 4:30am … still trying to adjust, I guess. We had a good breakfast buffet here at the hotel … not quite to the level of the Crowne Plaza experience in Beijing, but pretty good.  Many more items of the Chinese “you eat what? for breakfast” variety such as: spicy Thai chicken fillets, steak/onion/green pepper stir fry, etc.  The highlight for both Sandy and I was actually the whole wheat toast … seriously good bread.

After that we had some great skype sessions with Seth, Kate, Zane, Grant, Grandma and Grandpa Weeks as a group. Then we skyped with Tim’s family. Then with Greg, Aimee and Anna. Thanks to all for the encouragement and good words.

The general area where we are staying is called “Confucius Temple” … the sculpture in the picture below is of Confucius.  Here’s a quick sampling of our morning walk …

Our night’s sleep in Beijing was fantastic, really.  The room was extremely comfortable.  Actually our whole experience in Beijing helped sway my opinion about the city a little bit.  It’s always been my least favorite Chinese city … but it’s come a long way since I was last here.  I think they are actually interested in joining global society!

Anyway, breakfast at the hotel was AMAZING!  They had a buffet that was loaded up with Chinese and American favorites.  It was huge, of excellent quality and the service was completely on point … very nice.  Next time you’re jumping through Beijing … try the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel … awesome.

So quickly after breakfast it was time to jump on the airport shuttle and make our way to the next flight … a two hour hop from Beijing to Nanjing.  The hotel staff recommended we be there at least two hours early to make sure we didn’t miss the flight.   It took us about 30 minutes to get through ticketing and security … so we read and talked for the next 1 1/2 hours before the flight left.  Below is a video of Terminal 3 at the Beijing Airport … it’s huge!  I don’t know if it will come through in the video, but seriously, it’s massive.

This flight was probably the best of the bunch in terms of turbulence, moderate in terms of food … but honestly, it was just so nice to be that close to settling down for a few days.

Upon arrival in Nanjing we met with Denise, our Nanjing guide who will help us through this first phase of the adoption.  She is a 33 year old mother of a 3 year old daughter and is great.  Excellent English and just a very nice person.  Below are 2 short videos of some of our trip from the airport to the hotel. By the way, this apparently is not the same airport Sandy and I experienced 15 & 16 years ago. This “new” one was built in 1997, but looks like it was built in 1887.

After arriving at the hotel (Mandarin Garden), Denise helped us go to the bank to exchange some money and then took us over to a VERY western style mall (there’s an H&M!).  We went to a grocery store and grabbed some water, fruit and other supplies.

Side Note: Sandy and I are both shocked at how much more modern and westernized Nanjing has become since we were last here.  The sea of bicycles we remember has been replaced by a sea of motor scooters.  It really is remarkable, it feels a ton like I remember Hong Kong.  I think most Americans would be pretty darn comfortable here as there are plenty of familiar services.  Immediately adjacent to our hotel is a 24 hour Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Haagen Daas, just down the road is a second KFC and a McDonalds.  The mall I mentioned has a Starbucks where Sandy has already purchased some much needed and appreciated hot chocolate (it’s a bit cold and rainy here).

Denise left us to ourselves after our grocery store trip and so we rested for about an hour.  We then headed back out in the drizzle to find a post office and explore a little bit.  We discovered a very cool shopping area and a neat little river front (Yangtze River outlet) area.  We then went in search of a place to eat and stumbled into a place that looked fancy on the outside, but was pretty unimpressive on the inside.  We shared a plate of sweet and sour chicken at a cost of about $3.25 US dollars (which was excellent … it’s amazing how different and how much better authentic Chinese food really is) and then headed back to the hotel.  Sandy lasted until about 7:30pm before she could no longer keep her eyes open.  I lasted until about 8:30pm before my time was up.  We are still pretty exhausted and trying to recover from the time difference (we are 14 hours ahead of Utah time).

It is now early Monday morning and we are about to go try find the gym and then off to breakfast.  We’ll skype with Seth, Kate, Zane, Grant, Mom and Dad Weeks in a little while.  Then at 2:00pm our time we head over to the adoption offices and receive Claire!  Unbelievable and what a blessing!

Here is a gallery of all of the relevant photos we’ve taken so far …