GOTCHA!

Welcome Jiang officially to our family! Our given name to her is Kristen Jade Woodward. For now we are calling her Jiang, because that's what she'll recognize. 3pm had finally arrived, we were at the Civil Affairs office first, and actually bumped into the other couple's baby on the way in, so that was a nice surprise for them, no waiting. Jiang arrived with the director soon after, as we waited in the waiting room, and seemed restless even with her, at first smiling at us, then wiggling around. I don't blame her after a 7 hour car ride in from the orphanage. It took a few times transfering back and forth, between myself, the orphanage director and Roger, but she seemed just hungry and tired, so we asked our questions with Lily as translator, and then went on our way back to the hotel for food and playing. She actually did really well and I'm glad there was crying, because that shows her ability to "attach" with her caregiver. Once in our hotel room, and after some milk formula mixed with rice (as instructed by the orphanage), she settled, and full of smiles. She has DIMPLES!! She is going to be an active one, already I sense the constant activity in her legs moving, or her arms reaching and grabbing things, or her looking around, swinging her head. She does have quite a flat head, but the rest of her development seems alright, although she's not standing or walking yet. This is not unusual for orphans I suppose.

Anyways, I am fading fast, I finally got her to sleep, so I should do the same!

I still have to figure out how to download pics to this labtop, so I can post some pictures...

Sounds of Changsha

And smells...

What a difference this domestic flight was compared to our international flight. No health surveys or temperature scans, we pretty much just walked off the plane onto the tarmac, bused over to the luggage pick up, and walked out to the parking lot! A lot of commuters on our flight, regular daily or weekly routine for them. And the heat! Felt it right away, the humid type of heat that makes you want to jump into a cold pool. We noticed the abundance of GREEN and vegetation, as we rode the van into the city, with little high rises, just a lot of run down plain concrete buildings and lots and lots of rubble, and construction. It was actually quite deceiving, because little did I know that we were in just the outskirts, and about to enter Changsha, a city of 10 million people! I expected Beijing to be fairly Westernized and large (17 million), but I imagined Changsha to be much smaller. I guessed wrong, because here we were, entering a bustling commercialized city, with many "high" rises, and like Beijing, Hong Kong and other big population dense cities, lots of cars honking and mopeds scooting by. And smells of heat and pollution. And coming from somewhere where smoking is banned pretty much everywhere, here there's smokers everywhere. We were impressed we didn't see any accidents with all the crazy driving happening (is there a point painting lanes?), although there were some very close calls! We arrived at the Dolton Hotel, beautiful, huge impressive front lobby, and settled into our roomier (the Beijing hotel room would not have fit a crib) 30th floor hotel room. We explored the reputable hotel, and to Aidan's excitement, there's a bowling alley and beautiful swimming pool! Lily, our guide took us out to the streets to explore a little, and buy drinks and water (watch those toes, these mopeds seem to want us to share the sidewalks!). She took us to a local restaurant, where we experienced a few "mild" dishes, which to me put my tongue on fire, as well as the other couple's, and Roger who loved it, did agree that it was more than "mild". I was warned about the spicy Hunan foods! It was very tasty though, just before the "hotness" burnt off the taste buds...

After a game of bowling, I was ready to call it a night, to prepare for our big day, but Roger and Aidan fit a swim in too before retiring. I slept a little better - 5 hours before waking, but still not quite adjusted. I guess also I am just too excited, I could feel lying in bed, my heart rate to be just a little faster than usual. This is IT, next sleep we will have a new member of the family to wake up to! I rolled over in bed looking at the empty crib next to me, thinking, am I ready for the whole baby stage again? I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to already be a mother. We've had a break from diapers and sleepless nights, but here we are, stepping back to that wonderful sleep deprived dependent stage. It really goes by fast, and I know the importance of how that nurturing stage has on bonding. What we get from that stage can be indescribable. The little hands, the little feet, the innocence, the babbles. Yes, I am ready. Just over 8 more hours until GOTCHA!

Chasing the sun

Yes it's 3am and I've been up since midnight! I was exhausted by the time we settled in after dinner, slept 3 hours, and here I am. I guess this is that internal clock, doesn't matter that I only slept 1-2 hours on the plane, it's been awhile since we've travelled across times zones. Quite amazing that the whole flight it was never dark, from Friday Cobourg day time, to Saturday Beijing day time. We were just chasing the sun!

I've already forgotten all about the bumps we've had this week, and can't stop thinking about Monday (GOTCHA day!!) So far things have gone smoothly. Beijing airport is quite large, but what struck me when we got off the plane, was how empty the airport was, other than our own flight lining up at the "Health Inspection" stall. Was this effects of recession or swine flu? We had a questionaire to fill and have reviewed, then we walked through a temperature scanner. All airport personnel at these check points had masks (not even the N95 ones) and gloves on. We didn't use ours. We found our luggage quickly (good thing because Jim and Theresa, the other couple we are travelling with completely impressed me, they had NO checked in luggage!... and then there's me the over packer). We found Lily, our tour guide, very sweet, and quite fluent in English, and followed her to a very "clean" airport garage (shiny painted concrete) where two drivers met us and took us on an "Amazing race" style drive into Beijing. I guess seat belts are not required here...

Lily told us that during the Olympics months, there were restrictions on cars for traffic and air pollution control. It's too bad in this densely populated city, that they couldn't apply those rules ALL the time. License plates that ended in a certain number could drive on certain days. It would definitely help with this permament grey in the air they call smog.

We are so grateful to the Ley family for lending us their very compact travel computer. And for Mark, introducing us to Skype. It worked! After several unsuccessful attempts initially because Nathan and Brendan were still sleeping, we finally called to wake them up to go down and turn on the computer. Oh my very adorable Mighty Knights, freshly awoken, bed head, rosy cheeks and all. So great to SEE you on screen! After a brief report on everything, we booked them in for another video call at 7 again later today.

Oh I'm just rambling now, it's late, but I do have to mention the BEST shrimp dumplings ever! We survived our first Beijing restaurant experience on our own (tour guide left by now). I do have to say this is a most humbling experience, to be spoken to in Mandarin, because I am obviously Chinese on the outside (a CBC, jook sing, banana - white on the inside as they would call it). This is where I'm just kicking myself for not being more diligent when I was younger in Chinese school(Mandarin and Cantonese are the same written, but spoken different). In Toronto I get by with my limited Cantonese speech and my favorite dishes in Cantonese, but I have no Mandarin at all, and the waitress had extremely limited English. To my relief though, on the menu there were PICTURES! So ordering was easy that way. Roger even learned to say "beer" in Mandarin! Priorities! Aidan has been doing well up to now, but at dinner, I could just see the energy level draining exponentially out of him. Straight to bed he went after dinner!

In several hours now, we check out and head to the airport for our flight into Hunan Province. 30 more hours until GOTCHA!

We have arrived!

All settled into the Jianguo Garden Hotel. The Air Canada flight was not bad, left right on time, although it did make us a little nervous to watch from the gate waiting area, the maintenance crew changing the front tire prior to our boarding. Full flight, hot meals, and a movie marathon! I had difficulty sleeping, for some reason my seat would not recline. Aidan had a great time, excited to have his own TV screen. Roger was asleep before we left the runway. I guess staying up the night before worked. I couldn't NOT sleep Thursday night, I was so tired from the emotional roller coaster all week. Our travel package, including passports, China VISA, and adoption documents had been redirected for some reason, so by the time we got the package Thursday at 3:15 pm, (yes, for travel Friday am!) then finding a typo on one of the tickets... anyways, after the quarantining worries earlier in the week, I was more than mentally tired... had to sleep Thursday night for sure. So now that we've arrived, BIG relief and ready for what we're here for! We are waiting to try Skype for our first time to check on the homefront how our mighty knights are doing. Should be waking up soon...

So glad internet here is working for us... more to come

In full packing mode

My final work day yesterday was filled with excitement and joy, as the staff surprised me with a lovely luncheon to celebrate our long awaited journey. Just some loose ends to tie up at the office, and I'll be in full packing mode. Relief this morning, when they released the Canadian students out of their medical quarantine in China, so hopefully our trip will be smooth and without quarantining delays. We are prepared nonetheless, visiting our lawyer yesterday to have a notarized power of attorney, in the event Roger and I have to part ways in China if delayed, with him needing to return for work or other reasons, and then myself completing the adoption paperwork without him. We are trying to think of all scenarios, just to make the trip less stressful. Lots to think about, and I am so grateful to all who have sent me their words of advice and suggestions. We are truly blessed to have such supportive friends and family. Kristen will be here soon to meet everybody. 2 more sleeps!

Swine flu outbreak

As the media tracks the swine flu outbreak, in the back of my mind, I think, that won't affect us. But I got the call! Friday morning, our adoption agency Children's Bridge calls me, to say the CCAA has recommended we postpone our trip. At this point, it is like postponing labour after it's started! No! I said. We at that point were 1 week away, and there has been so much planning and coordinating of other people's schedule, that it just could not happen. This swine flu will not stop us. We have a daughter, even though she may not know that she's waiting for us, but we have been waiting for her for a long time, and we will overcome this hurdle, and come to you as soon as we can. And that will be in 5 more sleeps!