From Sampan to Dim Sum

Today we went on a tour guided by a local Chinese representative from our adoption agency.  He took excellent care of everyone in our group.  We are having a great time getting to know more people in our travel group.  I believe there are ten families total receiving eleven babies (one family is getting twins).

Our first stop was windy Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island




Me pointing out the tram to Gary with Hong Kong in the background.


Next we went on a Sampan boat tour in the Aberdeen Fishing District






We passed a huge floating restaurant that seats over 3,000 people


Our guide said he didn't recommend eating there and it did look a lot less appealing from the back.


Intertesting juxtaposition of old and new






Bauhinia Blakeana, the National flower of Hong Kong


A cool looking wall made out of scrap lumber


Inside a 500 year old temple there is a hole in the roof...


It's purpose is to allow the sun to shine on this bonsai tree


Our tour ended with an enormous meal of dim sum.  Now we are relaxing for a few hours and getting ready for our trip to Nanchang tomorrow.  We are not arriving in Nanchang until 5:00 p.m.  Since we will be meeting Natalie likely tomorrow evening I probably won't be able to blog until at least the next day.  I promise to post as soon as we have a moment when Natalie is sleeping and we are not.

Wandering Around Hong Kong

We arrived at the Central Park Hotel last night about 10:00 p.m. Hong Kong time and managed to sleep for about 9 hours!  Our room was tiny, but very comfortable.

The feel of the city of Hong Kong is very busy and upbeat.  It reminds me so much of New York City, but the cost reminds me more of London - very expensive.  Although it's fun to see Hong Kong I'm glad we are not staying here for long.  We leave the day after tomorrow to fly to Nanchang.

This morning we wandered around for a while trying to find a place to exchange money.  We got lost for a bit, but eventually found our way back to the hotel.


The father of Chinese medicine...sorry I forgot to write down his name.


The Waterfront view near our new hotel: The Regal Kowloon


Tonight we met up with two of my best friends and their families.  We are so lucky to be sharing this adoption experience with such wonderful people.


Tomorrow we meet our guide who has a full day planned for us of sight seeing in Hong Kong.  It will be great to explore more of the area and also to stay busy as we have less than 48 hours to go until we meet Natalie.

By the way, for all of Katie and Louie's friends and fans, we got a report from the dog/house sitter and they are doing great.  She is taking such good care of the Newfs that they probably don't miss us too much.

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

3:45 a.m. at the Little Rock airport our trip to China begins


From the Chicago Airport, 1:00 p.m...
After all these years of waiting for our daughter it's almost hard to believe that we are on our way to China at last. The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind for Gary and I. We both have been so busy getting everything prepared at work, at home and getting our amazing dog/house sitter settled in, that we haven't had much choice but to live completely in the present moment. Now with a 15 hour flight ahead of us there is time to daydream about little Natalie Wanhan and our future together. My immediate hope is that the transition is not too hard for her. We will be at least her fourth set of parents. She was abandoned by her birth parents and has had at least two different sets of foster parents during her 21 months at Shangrao orphanage.  It may take quite some time, but eventually Natalie will come to understand that we are her final and forever set of parents.

Our Itinerary:

11/4 Arrive Hong Kong

11/5-11/6 Tour Hong Kong and get on China time

11/7 Natalie Day :)  We fly to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Provence to meet our daughter.

11/8 Adoption Day - Natalie will officially become part of our family.

11/14 We get Natalie's passport

11/15 Fly to Guangzhou

11/17 Go to the U.S. Consulate to take the oath on Natalie's behalf that will allow her to become a U.S. citizen

11/18 We receive Natalie's Visa

11/19 Take a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong

11/20 Fly Home!! I'm sure we will be ready for our own bed and to see Katie and Louie.

Happy Birthday Dear Katie!

We are too busy packing for China to have a big celebration, but Katie doesn't care.  She split a can of tuna fish with Louie in honor of her 5th birthday.  That's all it took to make our sweet birthday girl happy.
Happy Birthday Our Dearest Katie!  We love you!

A Shower for Natalie

Gary and I are both so fortunate to work with people that we really like and enjoy seeing every workday.  A few weeks ago the people at Gary's work place threw us a baby shower and this week my coworkers gave us a shower for Natalie.  Quite a few people picked up on the owl theme as you will see in the below pictures.  Natalie was given some very nice gifts which we greatly appreciated, but our favorite part was the loving support that we received from our friends.  Natalie is loved already and not just by us.









Gary trying out Natalie's new owl themed hoodie towel

Give Me a "T"! Give Me an "A"! What's That Spell?

We are going to China!!!


For those of you not familiar with the China adoption world, T. A. is the coveted acronym that stands for Travel Approval.  Today Gary and I, along with our travel group, received our beautiful T.A.  Now we just need our appointment date at the U.S. Consulate in China and we will be able to buy our tickets and rush around finalizing the last minute details.  Between two and three weeks from now we will be on a plane headed towards our sweet Natalie.

Two Newfs, Two Humans & Two Rivers

On October 1st, the day after we saw Natalie's face for the first time, we decided to take the new pedestrian Two Rivers Bridge for a test walk. The bridge crosses the Little Maumelle River and takes bicyclists, runners and walkers directly to Two Rivers Park which is nestled between the Little Maumelle and the Arkansas Rivers.




Twilight over Pinnacle mountain


After crossing the river we took a nice walk on one of many beautiful trails.








"When can we go back?"

What's in a Name?

Natalie's given Chinese name, which we will keep as her middle name, is Wan Han.  Although our adoption agency gave us a translation of it, I was having a hard time putting the meaning into words until I did some research on the characters myself.

 

Wan, the first character, literally means 10,000, but the figurative meaning is infinity.  It is considered to be a very auspicious and lucky number.  The Forbidden City is said to have 9999 1/2 rooms - one half room less than the 10,000 rooms that are in heaven according to ancient Chinese culture.

Han, the second character, means contain.  When I first heard this I thought it was a very strange meaning for a name. Now I understand that the two characters are meant to always be interpreted as a set.

When Natalie arrived at the orphanage she was given a name which says she contains an infinite amount of luck and good fortune...a beautiful name for a very special little girl.

Caring From the Other Side of the World

Natalie in August 2011 reaching for someone...wish it was me!

Two days after we got our referral for Natalie I sent her a care package containing a soft cuddly blanket and two of her favorite kinds of toys: a stuffed animal and a musical toy.  I also sent a couple of disposable cameras in hopes that her foster parents will take pictures of her and return the cameras to us.  The photo album we made several months ago to familiarize her with our faces was also in the box.  The chocolate truffles are for her foster parents - I hope the weather is cool enough now to keep them from melting.

Enough Red Threads to Make a Quilt!

“An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but never break.” -Ancient Chinese Belief

Since last Friday we have seen so many signs which tell us that Natalie Wanhan, was meant to be our daughter.  One of the first things we learned when we got the referral call for Natalie was her birthdate of January 27, 2010 - the same day as Gary's father's birthday!

This picture was taken on August 10, 2011.  Natalie was 18 months old at the time.

Another red thread...Gary, Louie and Natalie are all Aquarius and born in late January. (Katie and I are both October girls.)

During this long wait I have made some very dear friends who were also logged into the China adoption system in July of 2006.  Three of those women will be traveling with us in China to meet their daughters.  All three of them have daughters in the same orphanage, but Natalie is in a different one.  I had so wanted her to have that connection with some families from our close knit group, so when I first learned this I was a little sad.  But very soon thereafter I learned that several families in our group who are leaving for China this week have daughters from Natalie's orphanage.  There are estimated to be 1,000 orphanages in China so it is truly miraculous that Natalie will be able to share this connection with some girls in our little group.  There is a chance that one of these families might get to visit our sweet girl and take some pictures for us next week.

Now, the next incredible red thread... I was recently contacted by someone who adopted a daughter from the same orphanage as Natalie's in August of this year.  She said she thought she had some pictures of our daughter and she sent them to me.  I confirmed that "YES! That is our Natalie!"  I was so thrilled to get the most recent pictures I have to date of Nat. The above picture is one that she sent.

Even better than the pictures though was finding out that her daughter is Natalie's foster sister.  I didn't even know that Natalie is in foster care.  Now we have pictures of her being held by both her foster mother and father, pictures of her with her foster sisters, and a connection to Natalie's past.  This is such a wonderful gift for our family.  The person that traveled in August had previously discovered another of the five foster sisters, so if we can find the other two in the next several months these girls will be able to have a lifelong connection to their whole group of foster sisters.  We are just thrilled about this.  I know it is going to mean so much to Natalie as she grows up.

Now for the grand finale of the Red Threads:  What does the above picture have in common with the two below?

Natalie's Room


A stunning red thread.   Do you see it?  It truly blew Gary and I away when we did.  There is no doubt in the world that this precious little girl is our daughter.  Amazing!  Yep, that's our baby :)

All About Natalie

Seeing our daughter's face for the first time yesterday, magically wiped away our 6 year, 8 month wait since we made the decision to adopt in the beginning of 2005.  All those years of waiting - sometimes patiently and sometimes agonizing over the slow process - make complete sense now.  If we had gotten our child match earlier we wouldn't have been chosen as the parents for Ling Wan Han.  Gary and I both feel a connection to Natalie already.  Even though we haven't met her yet we just sense that she was meant to be part of our family. Her Auntie Leah said the same thing.


The following pictures were taken May 30, 2011.  Natalie was 16 months old at that time.

Here's what we know so far:

Natalie is in the Province of Jiangxi in the Shangrao City Children's Welfare Center which has a nutritional program sponsored by Love Without Boundaries.  I was so happy find out about that.  She drinks milk and a rice-based formula.  She also eats porridge and noodles.

Her favorite activity is to play outside and her favorite toys are the musical ones.

Natalie is a deep sleeper and she is potty trained (her Daddy was particularly happy to hear this).  She can walk if someone holds her hand.   She is a talkative, extroverted girl who likes to play with toys and gets along well with others.  

I am so happy that I have been crying off and on since 10:30 yesterday.  My heart is just so full of joy that my body can not contain it.   Natalie Wanhan is a dream come true.  I am so ready to love her and do my best to give her the nurturing she needs.

Introducing Our Daughter Natalie

Natalie's referral photo.  I'm guessing she was about 12-14 months old at the time of this picture.
We are SO Happy!!!  More details to follow very soon.

Stay Tuned For a Very Joyous Announcement :)

Can you guess what it is?  :)  For now I will say that I am floating on a happy cloud and we should have wonderful information to share by tomorrow or Friday.

Coffee with a Canine

Do you want to find out the answers to intriguing questions such as:  "If Hollywood made a movie in which Katie and Louie could talk, who should do their voices?" and "If Katie and Louie could change one thing about you, what would it be?"?  If so, check out my interview by Marshal Zeringue at his Coffee with a Canine blog where he sounds out humans while they take their canine friends on coffee dates.  It's a very cool blog...lots of fun!  It's also a great distraction while we wait for China to match us with our daughter.

New AKC Therapy Dog Titles: THD

Hooray Katie and Louie just received a new title from the American Kennel Club. It's THD which stands for Therapy Dog. To qualify for the title dogs must be certified by an AKC recognized therapy dog organization (TDI - Therapy Dogs International in our case), they must be AKC registered or listed and they must have completed 50 verified therapy visits. Our Newfoundlands automatically qualified because they already met all of those criteria.

Katie and I went to our favorite nursing home tonight. I always dress her up when we go there because the elderly people get a huge kick out of seeing her with ribbons in her hair. We had not visited in a while because of the heat, so Katie was super excited to see a bunch of her human friends again.

Louie posing with his patch

Now Katie and Louie's official names and titles are...

Wilbon's What a Wonderful World RE THD TDIA CGC

& Wilbon's Katie Scarlett O'Hara RA THD TDIA CGC

Katie giving Mama some therapeutic kisses