Virginia Bound

The picture above says it all...

We will try to add some addtional photos and/or video to wrap up shortly.

Last days in Guangzhou

This is a group photo of the other familes from Small World Adoption who became our friends and advisors during our week in Guangzhou. Between the eight families, they have adopted a total of 26 children. Many (in fact most) of the kids have been special needs (cleft palette, various heart conditions, club foot, deaf/mute, etc). These families have endured and sacrificed much to change the world by changing the life of a child...26 times over. We were honored to get to know them to have them as part of our journey.

Bedtime Tuesday night...

Updates from Guangzhou

We've added some more photos and put a slide show at the bottom of the page. Today we visited the Guangzhou zoo in the morning. Jake had a good nap and we are going to pick up our laundry and go for a walk this afternoon. We are enjoying spending time with other families here who are also adopting. At least the kids can talk to each other and the parents can talk to each other....

Medical Exam today

Jake had has medical exam today to satisfy a requirement for his US visa. The exam is done by the Chinese at a public health clinic. He got a completely clean bill of health. The doctors that looked at him wanted to know why he was "special needs." We gave them the original medical reports saying that he had a cleft. An ENT doctor looked at him and didn't find anything abnormal, so they had they had a second ENT look at him, who also didn't find anything wrong. Needless to say we are very grateful.

More photos--January 1-3

In Guangzhou

We are happy to be in Guangzhou now. It is much warmer and the area immediately around the hotel is nice for walking. There are seven other families here in the same hotel who are all adopting through the same agency that we have used. Of the eight families, we are the only ones who are doing this for the first time. All of the others have adopted at least one from China before. There is lady here from Charlotte who is picking up their seventh girl...

Jake is doing great. Everyday he seems to adjust and accept us more. Today I asked a Chinese lady to ask him where his mom was, and he looked straight at Loree. He is full of personality and loves to talk. We can't understand most of what he's saying, but he's got an extensive vocabulary for a two year old. Several people have told us that boys are very much spoiled in Chinese orphanages, and he is certainly used to having his way. He's pretty stubborn at times, but in general has been very good and a lot of fun to be around. Here's video Loree took at dinner tonight.

New Year's Day

Happy New Year...

We rang in the New Year last night by going to bed at 8 o'clock. Today is our last day in Zhengzhou and we are looking forward to getting to Guangzhou tomorrow. Jacob is doing great. He sleeps well at night and takes an afternoon nap each day. It's tough to know what he may/may not be "going through" in his head and heart, but outwardly he seems to be good. He's got a great personality and is full of facial expression. He also seems to have a stubborn streak, during which we have started to call him "Chairman Mao." We are having fun trying to decipher his code and communicate with him. We are learning some essentials (i.e. bathroom, hungry, etc.). Yesterday we visited the museum for Henan Province, and this morning we visited a vista on the Li River that is the home to a couple of old emporers. It is a beautiful park for walking, but it is very cold today so our stay was short. As soon as Jake wakes up from his nap we will go pick up some clean laundry down the street and finishing packing the suitcases for Guangzhou.