Day 1

It's 4:00 AM  Beijing time.  Nathan and I are wide awake having slept for the last 8 hours.  Noah is still conked out, thankfully.  I cannot tell you when the last time was he fell asleep in the car during the day time, but after lunch yesterday we could not keep him awake. 

I have to tell you that the entire trip is a little surreal.  Part of me feels like it is a normal vacation, except we are coming home with a child.  Part of me feels so out of sorts and knows this is really monumental but I can't quite wrap my mind around it.  We have 2 families that have adopted previously and it seems sort of the same for them.  It has been interesting to see many of the Chinese people really staring at us.  Also, since two of the families are traveling with older adopted children from China,  many of the locals will stop and openly stare.  It will be interesting for us once we get Arwyn in Guizhou.  I am wondering how people will react to us.  With a population of a billion, I suppose the 10, 000 or so children adopted out each year are not really very many, so I am guessing many people have never seen a foreign family with adopted Chinese children. 

We began the day with a great Western style breakfast buffet in the hotel and then our group of 4 families left for the tour of the Temple of Heaven.  It is an incredible example of Chinese architecture and Feng Shui.  It is a sacrificial temple where the Emperor made sacrifices to the God of Heaven for the prosperity of his people.  We were there for quite a while and I can tell you that it is cold in Beijing.  The Temple park as it is now covers several hundred acres and much of it is barren of any landscape (right around the Temple) and it is cold and extremely windy.  We did not bring heavy coats but we are very layered and fared well in the cold.  Some of the families were not entirely prepared and as we were out in the cold most of the day, were quite chilled.

After the tour of the Temple we were taken to a traditional Chinese restaurant complete with entertainment.  We were served Chinese family style and it was quite tasty.  While we ate, dancers did traditional Chinese dances on the stage in front of us.  Today several other families will join us but yesterday there were 4 of us and two of the other families each brought a 6 year old girl with them.  One of those families has 5 girls (they brought one and the other 4 stayed home).  They are an amazing family.  One of their children is a bio child, 1 adopted from China and the other 3 are adopted from Ethiopia.  We were so touched at lunch yesterday as they shared their Ethiopian adoption story. 

She told us of a young mother that was clearly starving that showed up at the guest house where the Mom from our group was staying.  She was in labor and the families staying at the guest house held a piece of plastic over her while she gave birth on the doorstep.  They brought her in.....there was more, but in the end they helped her to the orphanage where she could get formula for her child as it was apparent that she was too malnourished to make milk.  Her stories were touching and heartbreaking and to hear them reminds me that while we are not adopting to save a child, in the  back of our minds, we know that these kids need help.

After lunch we headed to Hutong, the last remaining part of old Beijing.  Around 20 years ago, the older traditional areas of Beijing began to be torn down to make room for the hundreds of skyscrapers that are here.  We had the pleasure of taking rickshaws through this old city area and visited a traditional family home.  In fact, this family has owned this courtyard home for 40 years and one of the grandchildren was there giving tours of the family home.

By this point, we were all quite chilled having been outside since early that morning and we took the tour bus to our final destination, the Acrobatic show.  Noah and one of other children slept through the show, as well as myself and a few other parents.  Jet lag has definitely set in. 

After going to bed around 8PM last night and getting a full 8 hours of sleep, I think we are finally acclimating to the time change.  We are all starving - no dinner last night - too tired!  Today we are seeing the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.  If I had it to do over again, we would have hung out at the hotel all day yesterday and rested.  Oh well. 

I'm posting some photos of our tours yesterday for you guys to see back home.  There is Temple of Heaven, Noah, and the 3 of us in the rickshaw.  I have my face covered as the area we were in was very dusty and the wind was blowing.  Will post again tomorrow of the adventures of the Croys in China!

Hugs (2 days to Arwyn).

Dana

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
-Henry David Thoreau

We Have Arrived!

Hey Ya'll, we have arrived in Beijing.  I won't give you all of the dry details of the trip, but here is a brief synopsis.  We left the house at 4:45 AM Nashville time on Wednesday.  Our first flight was on time and after a couple of hours layover we prepared to leave Newark on a Boeing 777.  After boarding the plane, we sat on the runway for approximately 2 hours as a maintenance problem was checked out.   Luckily, we were seated with and within a couple of rows of several other adoptive families.  2 other moms and I got up and "visited" the empty business section and chatted while the dads and kids vegged out in front of the seatback entertainment systems (every Waldorf child's dream - movies and games on demand!).

After 2 hours we were told the fuel pump needed to be changed (not exactly reassuring) but they allowed us all to disembark and gave us vouchers for lunch.  The fellow adoptive families regrouped after lunch and hung out until we boarded once again.  The flight itself was uneventful (what we want in a flight).  13+ hours later (6 hours late) and we were met in Beijing by a representative of our agency and taken to the hotel.

The hotel (the Radisson SAS) is an older but very nice hotel.  We had a very late dinner and hit the bed and are now back up (only 5 hours later) to prepare for a day of sightseeing. Nathan and I are very tired but ready to go.  Noah slept for at least 6 hours on the plane so he was not that interested in going to bed.  Now that we are here we hope we can get back on a good schedule of eating and sleeping.

It has been years since I have traveled on a long flight such as this one and now I remember why.  Noah and Nathan did very well but my severe motion sickness kicked in.  I snacked, wore sea bands for acupressure relief, took Bonine and ginger pills and still was extremely ill.  We have two short plane hops to take while in China and the plane ride home is 2 hours longer than the one here.  So, happy thoughts are appreciated for our trip home if you want to send them my way.

I have talked about this before and will tell you that the adoption program in China is slowing down and it will not surprise me if it comes to a complete halt within the next 5 years.  My personal thoughts are this is a good thing.  For China to no longer have the need to find homes for its children outside of its own walls means that it has reached a good place economically and more people can either afford to pay the fines associated with additional children - thus bringing the abandonment numbers down; it means more as well, but I will not write about that in this post. The reason I am saying this is all of the families we met are travelling for a special needs placement.  With the slow down of healthy China referrals the placement of SN children has increased and I cannot tell you how positive I believe this is on so many levels.  

Well, we are off now to breakfast, the Temple of Heaven and a Chinese acrobatic show.  I hope you can see the photo I posted of the Croys at the Nashville airport getting ready to leave.  Nathan's sister stayed with us and took us to the airport and we are so appreciative of her.

I'll try to post each day a little something.  We have 3 days before we will be given Arwyn and we are looking forward to that day but trying to stay in the moment and appreciate the time we have in Beijing.  Hugs to all and we miss you.

Dana
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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
-Henry David Thoreau

Less than 2 Days!

Hi All.  I have only minutes to spare as we are on the countdown.  We leave in about 36 hours for Beijing.  We are so thankful for so many of our friends and family and the support that has been given to us.  We look forward to seeing you all upon our return.  We'll be posting about our trip and uploading photos. 

Please keep Arwyn in your thoughts as she transitions over the next few weeks.

With love and thanks.

Dana

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
-Henry David Thoreau

Getting Close

Well, I thought I would update where we are!!!

First, we are waiting for the US Consolate to grant us an appointment prior to leaving China. So, a few prayers in that direction would be great!!!!

I am busily getting us ready to go. Today, I am cleaning the den and putting it back together after the plumbing work we had a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, Nathan did some deep cleaning on that front as well.

Tomorrow...committee work for school and on to Yankee Candle.

Wednesday and Friday will be spent painting Arwyn's room. Yes, I know we leave in a week.

Saturday we'll just be cleaning and doing laundry and getting ready to go.

Sunday Nathan's family is coming over to see us.

And Monday will be serious packing mode getting us ready to leave Tuesday or Wednesday, not sure which!

Anyhoo....it is all good and we will be ready.

We'll post in China, so stay tuned for more updates. As you can see, right now I can do more than create simple sentences!!!!

17 Days

Happy Day of the Dead. Or, Happy New Year in the Pagan World! I'll post later on Halloween, but right now my focus is....you guessed it.....our journey of a million miles. Okay, 11,402 miles according to Google to be exact.

We are slated to leave on November 17 and are anxiously, and I mean anxiously, awaiting a final document allowing us to travel. It's our I-171. It had to be updated with new fingerprints. Along with the fingerprints, our social worker had to send and updated homestudy detailing our new home and our updated financial information. So, that's where we are.

The next two weeks for me will be so wonderful and intense. I am not working much, thankfully. I will be putting the house back together from the major plumbing overhaul we had last week, deep cleaning, finishing Arwyn's room and prepacking.

We are all getting really excited. Last week Nathan shared with me that he is "ready" to get Arwyn. We are so ready to be parents again. So ready to bring this little bundle of joy into our lives.

And, can I tell you how supportive folks have been? It has been wonderful.

Now, if I could just get my little girl shower Thank You's mailed out, life will be good!

Radnor

Much needed relaxation at Radnor Lake on Sunday. The "difficult" trail nearly did me in! But, it was a glorious day to behold.

Another Photo of Our Girl

I have to say she really resembles me in this photo. Amazing. The older Noah gets the more he looks like Nathan, maybe I'll have one that looks like me!

4 Weeks and Counting

Well, the countdown has begun. I cannot even begin to explain the excitement and anxiety that is running rampant through our home right now!!!!!! We have lists of things that need to be completed and I am attempting to stay very organized about the entire thing!

I'm going to be blogging lots more as it is sort of like releasing the lid to let some of the steam out as we move quickly through the next few weeks. Today I began looking at packing lists and started making my own lists of what we will be taking.

I also did a little more shopping for Arwyn's room as we try to get that wrapped up! If you are up for a little painting, give me a buzz!

I've posted a map with this blog posting so friends and family can see where we are going to be going.

We will begin in Beijing where we will visit for two or three days - just the three of us and the 6 other families we are traveling with. Then, it is off to Guizhou where we will be given this precious gift. The four of us will stay there for 5 or so days and then it is off to Guangdong for more siteseeing along with official appointments to get the important things...like visas, medical appointments (all for Arwyn), etc.

Keep checking back as we progress toward our (tentative) travel date of 11-19-09.

Peace Out.
Dana