Brooklyn's New Beginnings

Beijing Tours, Day One (part 1): Tiananmen Square

2007-11-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Picture one: Mao's masoleum. The tiny thing in the center of the building was the count down to the olympics.
Picture two: Memorial to all those killed fighting for their country.
Picture three: The senate building
Picture four: Rita, our tour guide. We absolutely loved this young woman. At the end of the next day's tour, she gave us a tassle-momento to remember her. We have it hanging in Brooklyn's bedroom. It's said to bring us good luck. It's a shame I didn't think to ask for her address before we left Beijing. :( A year later I still kick myself for that.

We woke up early, had breakfast and were soon picked up by the tour group. Our first stop was Tiananmen Square.

I still can feel the sacredness I felt as we walked around Tiananmen Square. Everyone has heard about the massacre that occured there in the late 80s. My heart still swells with both pride for those standing up for democracy, and with grief over their unfortunate demise. Our tour guide never breathed a word about the massacre. It makes me wonder if it is because she does not know anything about it (surely not, being a tour guide. And yes, some people in Beijing and other Chinese cities do not know about this) or if she was forbidden to talk about it. Either way, that is sad.

It is said the square is the largest in the world and can hold one million people in it. This is where Chairman Mao gave his infamous speech standing at the gate of the Forbidden City while his supporters held up his red book of quotes. (This book is illegal to own in America, but I happen to know someone that bought it while in China. heh.) Chairman Mao's still lies in a masoleum (is that what it's called?) in Tiananmen Square. I wanted to view it, but the lines were very long.

We got to see the senate building, and if I recall, it was in session while we were there.

As we made our way out of Tiananmen Square a couple beggars approached us. These people had it SO much worse off than anything I have ever seen or could have imagined. One was accompanied but what appeared to be his brother. The poor young man looked like he had been burned quite severly and was missing the upper half of some of his fingers. It seemed like he may have been tortured. I went to give him money but the tour guide discouraged us. When she turned around, I quickly gave it to him. Just a few dollars is SO much money to them. How could I in good concious not do it?

People have asked us about the safety of being in China. Edward and I felt absolutely no threat while we were in either of the three cities we stayed at in China. When we were in Kunming, there was a day when Edward went out with Josh on a tour while I stayed at the hotel with Brooklyn. I didn't want to just stay in my room so I pushed Brooklyn in her stroller all around Kunming for a couple of hours by myself. I never felt that we were in danger. I've heard that there is a horrible punishment to those that bring harm to tourists, since China does not want to discourage people from visiting their country. We loved walking around and getting to converse with people there. Some loved getting to use their english with us. :)

Even though this was not as "glamorous" as other sites we saw during our tours, this was still one of my top favorite sites we visited because of the overwhelming humility I felt while we were there. So many sacrificed themselves in the name of freedom. I can only hope that one day their cause will come to fruition.

Departing night, August 23rd, 2006

2007-10-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

As promised, I am going to chronicalize our days in China. Not only because I was a lousy blogger while in China (imagine that!), but i also need to write everything down before i start forgetting some of the details. First off, that picture of me? Gorgeous, but totally not staged. I really was that delirious from lack of sleep. It wouldn't be right for you all to see me in all my glory in the coming pictures w/o seeing this treasure.

It was the longest flight of my life. In Dallas our flight was delayed by 2 hours. The stupid plane finally arrived, and I have to give the flight crew credit. They cleaned up that plane and we were on the runway in 10 minutes after the people coming into Dallas unloaded. I've never seen anything like that before. I was nervous that we were going to miss our flight to China. Thankfully we arrived at LAX about 45 minutes before the flight took off.

We met several other families on the flight that were also going to adopt a child and had opted to take a Beijing excursion instead of going straight to the child's province. It was nice getting to meet people that I had actually "met" online several months before. It was also the first time I had ever met a Buddhist monk and nun. They were on their way to Lhasa, Tibet and I was SO jealous. I enjoyed getting to talk with them a bit.

We landed in Guangzhou after a total of 21 hours of flying, not including layovers. Not so much fun being stuck in a tin can that long buzzing high over the Pacific ocean. Thankfully we paid $500 more per seat to take Business Economy. I seriously could not imagine being in coach that entire time.

It took forever to go through customs and get our bags. We had one more flight to catch- to Beijing, another 3 hours. I was exhausted but knew this was the last one.

A young man that worked with the airport came up and offered to show us to the other flight since it was clear across the airport. He walked so fast that I was getting pissed. I finally told him bluntly that he doesn't need to jog a marathon since I was running on 36 hours straight of being awake. We finally got to our desination and he said it would be $20. I about told him to go to hell, but since I was making sure we had all of our 80 bags and our son, Edward gave him the money. I then agreed with his decision that he likely needed it more than we did. We sucked up our loss and learned our lesson.

The next few hours were a blur from the severe sleep deprivation. All I remember was being relieved to see a woman holding a sign with our name on it. I vaguely remember walking into the hotel at 1:00 p.m., but do remember all of us completely crashing on the beds. I literally fell on the bed and about broke my chin.....i had forgotten that people warned of chinese beds- hard as cement. Nice. We woke up at 4:00 a.m. the next morning but we were completely on Chinese time at that point and we were very pleased. The itinerary timing I intentionally set up this way had actually paid off.

Last set of zoo pics....

2007-09-25T20:21:00.001-07:00

More zoo pics....

2007-09-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, you all better start commenting or.....OR ELSE!

Day at the zoo....

2007-09-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

Going on a short trip...

2007-09-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

I will post the long-awaited zoo pictures after I return on Sunday. Believe me, they are worth the hyped-up wait.

In the mean time, here are a few pictures from when we recently went to the aquarium. We had a blast with a friend of mine and her daughter, who is Brooklyn's best friend. Josh read every single piece of information about every animal and could have spent hours watching the otters. Too cute! Brooklyn was truly studying every creature with great awe. I loved watching her soak it all in.

I know you are giving an odd look to the flamingo picture. There they were with their bent up necks loudly threatening to peck the other. I couldn't resist laughing and taking a photo.

Candid Camera...

2007-09-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

No time to chat, but I knew you would appreciate photos....

Zoo photos up next time, then in the following posts I will borrow an idea from a friend. (I would link, but her blog is pw protected.) It is her two year anniversary of becoming a family so she decided to detail each day she was in China with photos and commentary. I thought this would be a great idea for me to do since I wasn't able to post much in China (sloooow computers and restless baby :) ) and there are SO many photos I've been wanting to show.

~~please note the prestine clean kitchen floor. Miracles do happen.

Why, yes it is a new post.....

2007-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

I knew all of you were tired of looking at my mug, so since all of you come here solely for pics of the children, I can say I have now appeased the masses.

Obviously by the pictures, it was Brooklyn's 2nd birthday a few weeks ago. It was her first bday with us, and the last of our "firsts" with her. Then August 29th was the anniversary of when Brooklyn was placed into our family. Of course the day after that was also significant- she had been with our family longer than she had been in an orphanage. So boomboomboom non-stop celebrations. This year has been full of joy, but also a long year of adjustments for both her and I. I promise I will elaborate more on the adjustments at a later time. It really is hard to believe that one year ago we were in China. It truly was the trip of a lifetime.

So the birthday party. It couldn't have been more beautiful. We had family and close friends over to celebrate with us. She enjoyed chowing down slice after slice of pizza, playing with her friends, making sure she socialized with the adults, and ripping open presents. She now fully understands the concept of opening presents. Christmas will be even more fun this year.

She has played with every single toy she received and has worn every outfit given to her. Not to my surprise, her favorite toy was the asian baby doll we got for her. (Don't get me started on how difficult it was to find an asian babydoll!) She will not put her baby down. In fact she is the only baby Brooklyn will even hold now.

Stay tuned because shortly (!!) I will be posting more pictures of the day we had today---the zoo! My favorite part of the day was watching my kids and hearing them laugh, play together, and then break out in little screams of excitement. Can't get any better than that.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

2007-05-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been 10 years since we were married. That is so hard to fathom. Last weekend (yes, i'm just NOW getting around to posting) we celebrated by going to a very nice restaurant in downtown inside the Reunion Tower, on the 26th floor (I think the rest. was called Anatares?). Anyway, the food was divine and the views were breath-taking. The restaurant actually revolves, so we were able to see all around the metroplex from each direction.

We then drove over to Las Colinas where we were married (and had our first kiss at, and got engaged at...). It was relaxing to be alone with each other and sit and talk in the place we said our vows. It was incredibly romantic. While we were there, Edward gave me a mother's ring. It is a gold ring with Joshua's birthstone on top, the Brooklyn's on the bottom. It is gorgeous.

I love you very much, Edward. I couldn't have chosen a better spouse. I look forward to celebrating the rest of our anniversaries together.

Thoughts from a 7 year old

2007-04-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

As I shuffled through Josh's backpack yesterday afternoon I found an illustration along with a comment of "what I was doing August 1999". His response? "I was in my daddy's tummy" with a bristley haired man sporting a round belly. I had to laugh at both what he wrote and of him, for some odd reason, not remembering that babies are in MOMMY's tummies. I told him, "honey, in August 1999 you were 3 months old, and you were born out of MOMMY's tummy".

I'm sure that was on his mind when this question came up tonight. As I sat here working, I happened to glance out the window as Josh was pulling down his undies taking a whiz on the grass. Then I noticed Brooklyn was looking on curiously. She went over to the same spot, tried to undo her bibbed overalls and stood in the same position with her hands strategically placed like Josh's. I about fell out of my chair laughing. Then she went over to the forbidden tomato plant and decided it looked better pulled out and laying on the ground. again.

I pounded on the window "stop that!", and went outside to replant the discarded vine and beat the hell out of my child. As I was walking back in, Josh said "you need to be pregnant with Brooklyn". I turned, puzzled, and said "but she is already born, and don't you think she is a little big to be in my (fat ass) tummy?" He said "yah". I then explained to him that she was born from another women's tummy, and the other women couldn't take care of her so she lived with Mr. Z and he took care of her until we went to China to bring her home. I went on to tell him "mommies and daddies have children through their tummies or through adoption, and both ways make families".

Simple enough for him, and he went on playing basketball.

Who are you?

2007-04-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

I know there are alot of you out there still (or recently) reading my blog. Since I am making this effort, then I want to hear from you!

I am going to start keeping this blog updated for all of you, but I want your help too. It encourages me to read your comments. *hint hint* What you like to see here? Obviously I will put up more photos of the kiddos, but what else would you like me to post about?

Also, do you have a blog you would like me to link? Just last night I figured out how to do that.

(The picture to the left was taken an hour before we left Guangzhou, China to head home. Don't zoom in on me though- make up less, no contacts, etc.....The picture on the right was taken about a week ago. Fun in the backyard with a sprinkler ~ that girl can't get enough water play!)

Easter Pictures

2007-04-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hang on!

2007-04-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

I promise I am still here. I didn't know having another child would heave another 5,000% more work upon us. Laundry for such a small girl caused us to triple the amount of loads we do. I just don't get it.

Work is hectic and I have zero time to myself, hence why my posting has been...., um....sparadic since we came home from China. I have a zillion photos I want to show everyone (my friends and family that have given up on this blog, understandably), but have no time to wait the 30 minutes it takes to upload a single picture.

I promise I will post at least one or two in the next week or so. Brooklyn has changed so much!

2006-09-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

This will be a very short post as the internet fees are outrageous here in Guangzhou. We are all doing just great. Brooklyn's cold is almost completely gone and it is helping her sleep better and have her personality come out even more. She is such a joy. We are beginning to figure out her sleeping procedures, so getting her to nap/bed is becoming less painful for all of us.

The White Swan Hotel is amazing. It is beautiful and has wonderful amenities. The breakfast bar is incredible. It has all the western food we have been craving- except Mexican food. Darn!

The flight on Tuesday to GZ was quite the ordeal. If this was a taste of what the 15 hour flight will be like, I can tell you now that I will jump off the plane into the Pacific. She cried the entire 2 hours. I'm hoping it was due to what we think was an ear infection. Either way, we are going to buy medicine to knock her butt out.

Yesterday we had the exit physical exam. She is healthy as can be and actually did weigh in at 21 pounds. She feels much lighter though.

Today we had to wait in our room for 2 hours while our co-ordinator was doing the consulate work. He called about an hour ago and told us we are okay and all of our paperwork is fine. What a relief. So that means that tomorrow we go to the consulate and swear in Brooklyn. She will officially be ours in American eyes and will be a citizen when we pass through the port in Los Angeles.

I will not write again until we get to LA since the internet fees are expensive here. We leave in two days and can't wait to get back home.

2006-09-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

A quick post today with no pictures. I know, how boring. :)

We will be leaving the hotel in a couple more hours and going to the airport headed to Guangzhou. There will be hundreds of adopting parents there, since that is where the American Consulate is at. It will be great to meet others. We are excited to be on the last leg of the trip before we head home. We have loved the people, sights and ways of China, and we will miss it, but we are very anxious to get back home.

We started Brooklyn on the Amoxycillan last night. She has had a cough since we got her last week and the Triaminic wasn't doing much good. The cough had gotten worse and was keeping her up at night and we could tell it was painful for her to cough. So last night I called the international adoption clinic but of course it was a holiday and no one was available. I then called Josh's pediatrician, who will also be Brooklyn's doctor. I couldn't believe the run around I got by the operator, all on our expensive phone bill.

First off the operator wouldn't let me leave the hotel phone number because "it will be expensive to make an international call". I told her that if the on-call doctor wouldn't pay for it, we would gladly foot the bill, just let us speak with him for crying out loud! Since I apparently solved that problem, she then said she wouldn't put us through to him because Brooklyn is not a patient of his. I said to her "you've got to be kidding me!? She hasn't even been in America yet, how could she be a patient?!?!?!" I was frustrated and angry that she wouldn't even at least call him for our circumstance, and I told her that I will tell everyone I know about what has happened and to expect a big letter of my disapproval of how they handled this situation.

I had the powdered medicine but didn't know how much water to put in or how much to give her, but thankfully the other family traveling with us had all the instructions and dosages, so we were able to mix it up properly and give her a dose before bed. It worked wonders! She did not cough once last night (wow, a full night's sleep!) and this morning she is much more energetic and happy. I suppose she had never had an antibiotic before and that is why her body responded so quickly. We will continue to give it to her until it is gone.

I must get going and continue to pack our 49 tons. I'll post from Guangzhou tomorrow. Just a few more days and we will be home!

2006-09-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hello again from Kunming! I apologize for the two days of absence. We are all okay. We've have been so busy that by the time night comes around and we are back in our hotel, I am too wiped out to post.

Brooklyn is 100% attached to both of us now. It was a much easier transition than I had prepared myself for, and that is okay! Nap and bed times are now difficult. The honeymoon stage is over. Two days ago Edward wanted to go to the Stone Forest (picture above). I knew it would be too much for Brooklyn, so I told Edward and Josh to go and we would stay behind (mistake #1). Then I said that Brooklyn had been such a piece of cake, what could go wrong? (mistake #2)

All hell broke loose for her nap. She cried unconsolably for 2 1/2 hours. She was so tired that she just could not get to sleep, and I knew she was tired. After the 2.5 hours, I resigned myself to the fact that she was just not going to sleep so I fed her and we went for a long walk around Kunming. Yesterday and today have been the same. I forsee a very long flight home.

Our co-ordinator, Shulan, has been doing a great job for us and we have really enjoyed her. Tomorrow (Monday) she will finish up the paperwork at the police station so we will be able to leave for Guangzhou on Tuesday. We will miss Kunming, but we are ready for the last leg of our trip before we go home. All of us are craving our favorite foods, and from the picture above, we have acquainted Brooklyn with our fatty, American favorite- pizza. Welcome to our world, Brooke.

We will stay in Guangzhou for 4 days and leave the night of the 9th. It will be a very busy few days in GZ- paperwork, medical exam, passport/visa for Brooklyn, and our Consulate appointment. Tomorrow I will post again. We will be going to the Western Hill (part of the Himalayas) and I will post more pictures.

2006-08-31T04:18:00.000-07:00

Today was another amazing day with Brooklyn, and Edward and I are wiped out. I would say Brooklyn is almost completely attached to the both of us, and the heat rashes and mosquito bites on her face have about totally disappeared. We are still working on her building trust with Edward, but it's only been two days with her and we are over the moon with the progress.

Yesterday and the day before she would not allow me to put her down, but last night I was able to put her down on the floor while we played with her (me sitting on the bed, Edward on the floor) and she was okay for about 10 minutes like that before she had to come back to mama. Then today she her out her arms to Edward and let him hold her. Daddy couldn't be happier.

Her personality is coming out more and more. She is starting to squeal and talk often. She has a feisty side when you play fight with her. She will growl and make this cute scrunched up face and then laugh. It is the most amazing sight to see her and Joshua play like this together.

A funny thing she does is every time after she drinks some water she makes this grunt "mmmmm". Last night after she drank she did her mmmm and then said "guu" like she was saying "mmm good!". All of us at the table laughed.

Miss Brooke does not want her image to be ruined. If her face is even slightly messy from food, she immediately wipes it off by flinging it on one of us, wiping it on my pants, or throwing it on the floor. It is funny to us that we had forgotten what having a baby was like. We had forgotten that you have to move everything off the table while she is sitting with us. I'm sure the hotel staff roll their eyes when they see us come in for breakfast. I love it!

Today we went to the Nationality Village and spent 6 hours there. Whew! On the way there we saw different buildings that were of Thai influence. Gorgeous.

China has 56 different Chinese ethnicities, and 26 of them are located here in Kunming, Yunnan, and that is what the Nationality Village is about. We got to see beautiful gardens (including a butterfly garden), housing, pagodas, ponds, and real Buddhist temples. It was a wonderful day.

AND! I can now say I've seen the Himalayas. As we toured the Village, a couple foothills of the mountain range were in front of us, and as we watched the elephant show we could hear the thunder rolling over the mountains. How much more perfect can this get, people!?!?!?

Sorry guys, I just tried 5 times to upload pictures but it does not work tonight. I will try again tomorrow.

2006-08-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Since I just typed out a nice long post for you and the computer decided to lose it, I will make this new typing brief.

Brooklyn is an absolute dream. She is no longer a hope, a distant dream, or a picture. She is really here with us. Edward and I just stare at her when we should be sleeping like her. She has attached very strongly to me and has had an easy adjustment. I had expected the transition to be difficult, but it hasn't been. She is an angel and loves her new family.

The girl is an eating machine. She has not stopped since we got her, and that is okay with us since she still has room to grow into her 12 month clothes. She is much smaller and lighter than we expected from her measurements. The weight and height must have been taken with her 74 layers of clothing on.

With each new hour she opens up more and more. We love seeing her sweet personality and hearing her laugh. AND! She took her first step today. I'm so glad we were able to be here for that first. Unbelieveable. I need to get back upstairs before Brooklyn wakes up from her nap and realizes I'm not there.

2006-08-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

I just had an entire post typed out and four pictures loaded on, but sure enough it did not post. *sigh*

We will be leaving Beijing for Kunming, Yunnan in just an hour. We will be only a few miles from Brooklyn and it will take every ounce of self-restraint to not go over there and have her in my arms. In less than 24 hours, she will be with us.

Yesterday was a full and tiring day. We first visited the Great Wall. As we drove along the flat valley of Beijing, knowing we were close to the Great Wall, out of no where beautiful lush mountains appeared and we caught our first glimpse of the Great Wall.

It was the most surreal feeling to be standing on the guard tower of such an ancient site, looking as far as the eye could see at the expanse of the Wall. I am not ashamed to admit that I did not make it far up the stairs. Each step was were extremely steep, about 18 inches tall (beat that step aerobics!) and were, at times, so narrow that we could climb up on only the balls of our feet. To get down we had to hold the railing and step sideways. Needless to say, we are all sore today.

Our next stop was to the Ming Tombs. Most in our group were disappointed that they didn't at least drag out the bodies or caskets, but we were all astonished at the treasures and formal wear that were unearthed and on display.

The picture that will hopefully load up completely is of the Summer Palace. It is one of my favorite pictures. We were riding on a dragon ferry across the lake as I took the shot. The Summer Palace was constructed for the "dragon lady- Cece" as a resort from the heat. It was mainly used as a prison for her husband from the years 1898 to 1908. Since he tried to escape several times, she eventually had brick walls installed at the entrance of his 4 room quarters. All of the rooms were locked but we were able to look into the windows of many of the 1000 room palace and view some of the original treasures and furniture.

I must be going now as I need to finish packing for our flight to Kunming. The next post you see will be of Brooklyn and her new family. Thank you all for your comments and support. They mean so much to read them.

2006-08-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

Ni Hao (hello) from China! I can’t believe we are really here. The food, the SIGHTS, the people, everything is amazing. We are having the time of our lives.

I’ll start from the beginning. Our flight from DFW was running quite late. We were supposed to leave at 8:30 and at that time, the plane hadn’t even arrived. I was about to lose it. I thought for sure we would end up missing our connecting flight because of the delay. Then the announcer came on and told everyone to line up immediately so we could all get loaded on and take off. The plane landed, unloaded, we got on and we were out of there in a total of 10 minutes of it landing. No joke. I had never seen that before.

We made the connection with no problem. Then the flight to Guangzhou. Only one word sums it up: painful. It was a 15 hour flight. Thankfully there were several other adopting couples on the flight so we all compared notes, show off our pictures, and play games. Barely any sleep was had, but not by choice. Then we had to board another plane to Beijing. The total amount of hours from the time we got to DFW until we landed in Beijing was 28. I weep a little every time I think of the flight home with a toddler.

So, after being up for about 42 hours straight (and only 4 hours of sleep the night before that) I was too exhausted to post yesterday. There was just no way. All three of us crashed and sure enough woke up around 2 a.m. this morning.

On to the good stuff. The sight seeing today was phenomenal. The itinerary had changed slightly, so today we saw the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, and Temple of Heaven. I would not be able to accurately describe these ancient sights, but we stood in amazement as we gazed at their beauty.

Lunch today was, well, interesting. I had committed myself to eating only vegetables but since they had a fried, battered fish I thought it would be fine. I went to cut the fish and first off, the skin was still on it (so were the fins and the tail!). I tried to look past that and eat only the meat, but when an eyeball popped out at me, I had to draw the line. I still gag a little when I think of it. Anyone that knows me is probably shocked since I’m a huge sushi fan. But no, that really creeped me out. However, I ate with no difficulty a raw worm at the silk factory and grossed out everyone, even the tour guide. It actually tasted quite good.
Tomorrow is the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. Only 3 more days until Brooklyn! I hope that I will be able to post pictures soon. The computer here in the hotel has an extremely slow connection and keeps disconnecting while I load the pictures. Hopefully tomorrow you can see some of the amazing pictures.

2006-08-22T21:48:00.000-07:00

<------ Isn't that the sweetest picture you have ever seen!? I can't wait to see a smile on her face. One week from today she will be placed in our arms. The week will fly by very quickly since our schedule in Beijing is full. Not to mention, we lose a day going over there so we will be that much closer to our baby!

Last week as Edward and I were preparing for the trip we were on cloud nine, grinning from ear to ear, stress free in la-la land, and soaking in all the good feelings. But then Monday morning came and full on panic mode struck both of us. Our feet running hit the ground running and have just now stopped. Stress levels were at an all time high as we both had so much to do. At one point I even started getting sick to my stomach from all the nerves, stress, and excitement, but since we are now done packing I'm fine. The suitcases are packed and in the car, our animals are with their caretakers, our papers and documents are in order, and other than a few last minute things I will have to do tomorrow, we are totally ready to take off!

The day is really almost here. It's so hard to believe. In 24 hours from now, we will have just boarded the plane to China for the long, long flight. We will arrive in Beijing Friday morning, and depending on how completely wiped out we are, I will try to post soon after we are settled in the hotel.

2006-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here is our itinerary:

August 23rd: leave that night to LAX for our connection.

Two hour layover in LAX (with the new security issues I hope we will be able to make our plane on time!) and we fly to Guangzhou, China.

August 25th: Arrive in Guangzhou at 6:20 a.m.. (yes, I cringed as I typed that. It’s a loooooong flight, folks! At least it’s premium economy….as I repeat that 50 times.)

Leave Guangzhou at 8:20 a.m. and arrive in Beijing at 10:55 a.m.Force ourselves to stay up until bed time….3 p.m..

August 26th: Wake up (hopefully) refreshed and head out with a group to the Great Wall (!) and Ming Tombs (!).

August 27th: Go with same group to Forbidden City (that is one of my dreams!), Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace.

August 28th: Leave Beijing early in the morning for Kunming, Yunnan, the province where our daughter lives. !

Three hour flight to Kunming.

Explore beautiful Kunming, “the spring city”, the foothills of the Himalayas, and come to find out today, the daily high temps are around 70. ! Just slightly cooler than Dallas in August.

Get ready for the coming morning by gift wrapping the pot, I mean loose tea, and Godiva Chocolates and put together the diaper bag.

August 29th: okay, I can barely type this. My eyes literally are filled with tears. FuLuZhao is placed in my arms and will be known as Brooklyn from that time forward (although we will say “Brooklyn FuLuZhao” to her until she recognizes her new name).

For the next week we have to wait until police clearances pass before we can leave Kunming. And paper work. Then more paper work. From the pictures we’ve seen and things we’ve heard about Kunming, it is a glorious place to be “stuck” in for a week.

September 5th: Leave the birthplace of our daughter (with our daughter!) to Guangzhou. It makes me sad to think of leaving her birthplace.

That night in the White Swan Hotel (where we will be staying), we will party on with all the little ones that have already had their first birthdays. What a uniting time! The room will be filled with 20 or so families that just became parents (some for the first time!) and are gathered to celebrate the first year of their new children’s lives.

I’m not sure when we do from day to day while we are in Guangzhou, but we need to take Brooklyn down to the medical examiner’s office for an exit exam (very minimal check up), obtain her visa and passport, and complete a huge stack of papers for the consulate appointment. And more paperwork. All of this is necessary to finalize the adoption.

Also, we are going to go with a group down to the Six Banyan Trees (Buddhist) Temple and have our babies blessed by monks. How exciting!

September 7th: Consulate Appointment.

September 9th: Depart late in the evening for LAX and arrive at 6:50 that same night in LA (we gain a day when we cross over the int’l date line). The flights on the airline back to our airport were full so we have to spend the night in LA and then return home on Sunday, September 10th.

2006-08-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Ballantyne family travel blog. Edward, Joshua and I (Ashley) will be travelling to China to adopt our daughter, Brooklyn, August 23rd through September 10th. We are happy that you decided to come along with us (although physically coming with us would have been better!).

We will be able to access the blog daily from the hotels, or at least that is what I've seen others do. We are new to blogging and we also are new to our digital camera so I will apologize now if we are unable to post pictures from China since it needs a special software.

We hope you will enjoy getting to see and read what we do daily, and hope you will post us comments so we can read your reactions. It is easy to post a comment. At the bottom of each new post that I write, there is a little "button" you can click that says "post a comment" (or something along those lines), click that and it will bring you to where you can type out a message for us. It will ask you if you are a blogger or you want to leave an anonymous message. If you don't have a blog, you will need to check "anonymous" and then sign your name at the end of your message so we will know who left the comment.

But if you comment about the random Better Homes and Gardens picture below, I will ban ya. ;)

2006-08-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

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