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| Lexi's orphanage in Jinan |
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| Meeting my baby girl |
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| Daddy's baby girl |
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| Welcome sweet baby |
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| The adoption is complete! First night together |
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| First smiles are the best |
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| A little Dutchiness at a local park |
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| It was hot. |
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| Sisters face timing |
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| Pool party with the other adoptive families |
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| Dinner anyone? |
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| Our Bethany adoptive families group |
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| Leaving our hotel, it was home for a week |
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| Yes, let's ride an airplane for 14 hours! |
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| Our family reunited |
July 6- it was time to meet Lexi! We were excited and nervous on the drive to her orphanage. We waited in a play area and a caretaker brought her out. She told us Lexi wouldn't be afraid of us because she was used to alot of people. Well, that's not exactly a good thing.. Lexi let us hold her, but she soon began sucking her thumb. A sign of her feeling stressed. Nate played with Lexi while I asked the caretaker some questions. We wanted to go inside the orphanage, but they did not let us because of chicken pox issues. We then headed out with our guide to spend the rest of the day driving to government offices all over Jinan to complete the adoption. Jinan is a huge city- 8 million people. Lexi did amazing with all the sitting in traffic, dragging her into office buildings and so forth. Her adoption was finalized at 4 pm on July 6, 2015. We had an awesome guide, Jane who advocated for Lexi. We are so grateful. Once back at the hotel we got some take out and spent the evening in our room. I gave Lexi her first bath. She was very quiet and still that evening, but she seemed to be enjoying our attention and being outside of a crib.
July 7- Lexi slept well and we had an early in country flight to Guangzhou. We brought some yogurt in a cup for Lexi to eat on the plane. Security was not impressed. They kept saying, drink it! And I was saying, "the baby can't drink it!" Finally we figured out they wanted me to take a bite in front of them so they knew it wasn't explosives or something. Nate had a lighter in his checked luggage which they confiscated. Nate wasn't happy, he liked that lighter. Lexi did well on the plane and we even got her to laugh- she's ticklish. She also cried for the first time, when Nate pulled her bottle away to burp her. Both good signs! We arrived at the Marriott China Hotel, where many other adoptive families stay.
July 8- Lexi had a medical appointment for her visa. She needed a blood draw done and it was traumatic. We also found out she needed the sputum testing for TB 3 days in a row. She can't have a bottle after 8 pm and we have to keep her lying horizontal until the test is done. And the sputum removal process is not pleasant. The medical procedures have been challenging on many levels. We took Lexi to the pool that afternoon and she liked splashing her feet. We took a walk at a nearby park after supper, it is so hot and humid. And so busy! There are people everywhere you go.
July 9- We took Lexi for her first TB test and chest x-ray. Again, not an easy morning. We went on a group tour with the other Bethany adoptive families (7 families) to a botanical garden. It was pretty, but we spent most of the time finding shaded areas. Next our group went to a local history museum, it wasn't great. That afternoon Nate ventured to the supermarket for diapers and formula. He took the subway, which is always crowded. The store was 3 stories tall and he struggled to find baby supplies. He found the formula, but they wouldn't let him take it! He finally figured out he needed to pay for the formula in that area before he could go to other areas of the store.
July 10- We took Lexi for her second TB test. The traffic was horrible and we forgot Lexi's formula so we couldn't feed her when the procedure was done. Parenting fail. While we were at the appointment a boy practiced his English with Nate. He gave Nate a packet of tea. We asked our guide later what the tea was called and she laughed. The tea is used for a woman's "special time" as she put it. Obviously the boy had fun playing a joke on Nate. We walked to a pizza place for lunch, yum. Nate then took the subway to Beijing street, an outdoor mall. The clothes were expensive and the owners didn't bargain. Lexi got bad heat rash, so we tried to keep her indoors as much as possible. She was miserable when we brought her outside. For supper our group went to a local Cantonese style restaurant, really good food. After Lexi was in bed Nate and some other guys from our group took a subway to Canton Tower. The tower is lit up at night and very cool. There are cable cars that go around the tower at the top, but they didn't want to wait in line for that feature. They had a very entertaining taxi ride back to the hotel, the driver was very aggressive. Nate thought it was great.
July 11- Lexi had her last TB test, yay! Lexi is smiling more and loves to be held. Our group went to the Chen Lineage Academy- a kind of folk art museum. We had a calligrapher do Lexi's name on a wall hanging for her bedroom. Next we went to the Pearl Market. It is a 5 story building full of shops all selling pearls, it is crazy. We bought a pearl necklace for Julia and Lexi for when they are older. The rest of the day was low key. We played at the hotel playground. After supper we borrowed a stroller from the hotel and walked thru a local park. Lexi seemed happier being in a stroller than in the ergo in the heat.
July 12- We finally could have a relaxing morning. The kids back home had a chance to talk with Lexi. Julia thinks Lexi is so cute. Finding time to talk with the kids when Lexi is awake has been challenging as there is a 12 hour time difference. Today our group went to Shamian Island. The island architecture is similar to the old US south, reminded us of Charleston. The US Consulate office used to be on the island, so all international adoptive families used to stay on the island. We did some souvenir shopping and stopped by a local Christian church. It was bizarre to see so many Chinese tourists taking pictures of the Chinese people worshipping inside. We had a relaxing afternoon and a pizza pool party with the other adoptive families.
July 13- Lexi slept til 8 am! We chatted with the kids, had a late breakfast and headed out to finish our souvenir shopping. We went to a mall, One Link Plaza. It was 6 stories of tiny shops mostly selling the same things. We had a relaxing afternoon, Nate and I have taken turns using the gym/pool. Our group met up for dinner at the Cantonese restaurant we went to previously. We looked at the tanks of eel, shrimp, fish, turtles, etc that customers can choose from for their dinner. We didn't go that route, our guide ordered food for us. Our guide, Shiyan (who is also fantastic) helped me buy tea sets and tea from a local merchant. Lexi did not want to fall asleep tonight, just very playful. She is showing more of her personality and seems to really enjoy our attention. She loves playing and wrestling on the bed with us. The kids back home are very stressed and ready for us to be home, we all are ready!
July 14- Visa appointment day! We've been waiting for this day so we can go home! The security checkpoint at the embassy flustered us. We then got up to the waiting area and realized we had left Lexi's documents at security! Heart attack moment. Thankfully someone from our group was behind us in line and brought the documents up. The visa appointment went smoothly and Lexi's TB test was negative, thank you God! That afternoon we went to the pool, kind of the natural meeting place for all the families. We took a walk after supper, but didn't last long. Lexi's heat rash is making her miserable.
July 15- We took it slow this morning, ate breakfast and began packing. It feels like all we are doing is waiting. We checked out of the hotel at 2 pm. It was odd and relieving to leave the China Hotel in Guangzhou. It was our first home with Lexi. We rode to the embassy and waited while Shiyan picked up Lexi's visa. It was relief to hold that visa in our hands- we could go home! We got in the van and had a 2 1/2 hr ride to Hong Kong. Hong Kong seems to be a fascinating city, it would be fun to explore it sometime. Our hotel was connected to the airport, which was convenient. Lexi wouldn't take a bottle before bed and struggled to fall asleep. I'm sure all the travel and a new hotel room made her nervous.
July 16- Time to go home! We got thru the airport with about 10 minutes before our flight boarded. The Hong Kong airport is huge. We had a 14 hour flight ahead of us, I was very nervous. Some friends told us to upgrade our seats to business class because of more leg room. We are so glad we upgraded. Lexi took a 2 hour nap and was awake/happy for a while. Once it was her normal bedtime, she was not happy. Lexi wants to fall asleep lying down in her crib. She was not happy that we had to hold her. She slept on and off for 5 hours. Nate and I did not sleep much during the flight. We were SO happy to land in O'Hare. Immigration and customs took a long time. Once we cleared customs Lexi became an official US citizen! We then had to re check our luggage and go thru security again, very frustrating. We made it to our plane just as the boarding process began. Lexi was happy on the 40 minute flight to Grand Rapids and was awake when we landed. We were overjoyed to see the kids waiting for us. They had made welcome signs and ran up to us. I started crying and Lexi did not know what to think of the whole situation. Amy Dozeman had been watching the kids so she was with them. Tim/Jenny and kids were there, Jenn Winebrenner and kids, Rebecca and Wendy and the Slot family. What a great welcoming party. Our luggage did not arrive with us, but that was ok. Our family was together again and we were going home.
