It was another laid back sort of day. Kaitlyn woke up around 6:00 a.m., had a bottle and then we went downstairs in all of our bead-headed glory to eat breakfast. Our human garbage disposal..um...I mean Kaitlyn ate like a champ again today. This morning we added french toast to the list of things that she just can't get enough of.

After breakfast we came back to the room and took our time getting ready. I think Kaitlyn might have had a nap too, but it's all a little foggy right now. We dropped off some laundary at the store next door to the hotel and spent some time with our new friends, the girls who work there. They took Kaitlyn again and I wasn't sure I was going to get her back this time!

With Kaitlyn once again in our arms, we walked down to Lucy's for a bite of lunch. Kaitlyn ate an bowl of mashed potatoes and an entire piece of chicken quesadillea.

We met our group at 4:00 p.m. for our Red Couch picture. It's a tradition here at the White Swan that all adopted babies have their picture made on the couch. Our group was so large that the couch wouldn't fit all our babies, so they were separated by orphanage. The FengCheng girls were first (that was Kaitlyn's group) and they did great. It was so neat to see all the girls in their new silk outfits. I don't really know how the others groups did because I couldn't see what was going on. Flash bulbs were flashing and all the parents were jockeying for the best camera angle. It was quite a sight indeed! With the red couch behind us, we all headed downstairs for a group picture. We needed an area large enough to hold us all.

The gift exchange was next. Imagine that! We've traveled close to 10,000 miles, been gone from our homes nearly two weeks, our babies are tired, we are tired and yet, we stopped in the middle of the day to have a baby shower. Kaitlyn received a beautiful pair of silver anklets. They are native to her province and have small silver bells attached.

We ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant right down the street. It was quite an adventure. The waitresses spoke very little English, but we somehow managed to order some delicious food. The ladies all took turns playing with Kaitlyn. A couple of them took her out of her high chair and bounced her around the restaurant. I don't know how this child is going to deal with it, when people aren't focusing their attention on her every second.

She made a huge mess of herself at dinner and required a bath upon returning to the room. I got in with her tonight so that we could play. It was a calculated risk because I feared a repeat of last night's bath. Tonight she had another surprise in store for me. She put her face under the water and blew bubbles!!!! It terrified me the first time she did it, but she came up laughing. She did it several more times and had a blast. I held her out on her stomach and she began kicking her arms and legs just like she was swimming. She has NO FEAR and I love it!!! We'll just have to keep an eye on her once we get home and make sure that she doesn't jump off the roof or drive off in the car.

Well, Naked Gun is on Cinemax and, despite the fact that I've seen it several times already, I feel compelled to watch.

Tomorrow is our last day in Guangzhou and then we're headed home. YIPPEE!!!

Nik

Today made up for all of the stressful, last-minute, diaper bag-grabbing moments that we have had since getting Kaitlyn. It was the first day that we didn't have to be anywhere at a given time. How wonderful!!!!

We slept until 8:00 a.m. The extra time in bed was great, considering that Kaitlyn woke up at 3:00 a.m. this morning with the munchies. We had a big breakfast and I ate like a cow, so did Kaitlyn. She will eat just about anything we put in front of her. This morning she had congee, watermelon, apple, banana, and some fried rice.

After breakfast, we hit the streets for a day of shopping. Our first stop was the shop next door to the hotel. They offer "loaner" strollers for the duration of your stay at the White Swan, so we took them up on their offer. We weren't sure how Kaitlyn would deal with it, but she loved it. One of the young girls in the shop immediately took to her. She asked if she could hold Kaitlyn and I said sure. Kaitlyn went to her without any problems and the two of them danced and twirled around the store for the next 30 minutes. We bought a Beijing Olympics T-shirt for Larry and a silk outfit for Kaitlyn and headed out for a day of exploring.

The area around the hotel is gorgeous. The weather isn't bad either (mid 80's and sunny). It reminds me of a mixture of Charleston and Nassau. There is a park about a block away. Every morning you can walk by and see many children and adults playing everything from badmiton to soccer. It's fun just to sit and watch all the activity. Kaitlyn is really a people watcher so she enjoys it as much as we do.

We visited several stores and bought something in each of them; dresses, squeaky shoes, formula and diapers were the major purchases. Kaitlyn LOVES the squeaky shoes. She can't walk yet, but she loves bouncing up and down and making them squeak. It cracks her up, everything cracks her up. Did I mention that she's a lot like me???

We had a huge break through tonight. She finally began enjoying the bath tub. She enjoyed it so much, that she got water all over the bathroom floor. She splashed and played like she never had before. It was so fun to watch her giggle. Unfortunately, the bath ended abruptly when she...well...um...did a #2. It caused quite a commotion because I had to yell for reinforcement. She seemed pretty proud of herself and didn't mind finishing the bath in the sink.

I forgot to mention the fact that Kaitlyn is a contortionist. This morning she woke up but we didn't get her out of the crib right away. We just wanted to see what she would do. She sat up and a few minutes later fell asleep sitting up. She fell face forward onto the mattress and eventually poked one leg out of the crib. She winds up in those screwball positions all the time. It's fun to go to sleep and wonder what position she's going to be in when we awake. It's getting close to 11:00 p.m. here and I'm getting tired.

Until tomorrow.

Nikki

My goodness! Yesterday was quite the experience. We loaded up the bus in Nanchang at 10:30 to pick up our passports. When I write "we loaded up the bus" I need for you to understand what the really means. Fourty-four diaper bag toting adults, 6 children and 21 babies all cram onto a tour bus (please see the entry from Beijing regarding seat size). We're all concerned about the recklessness of the drivers here in China, but we take comfort in knowing that if our bus ever gets hit, we won't be injured. We're packed in so tightly that we won't be thrown around on impact!!!

Since the passport office wasn't quite ready for us when we arrived, several of us stepped out of the building and sat on the steps. We caused quite a commotion. Nearly everyone who passed, stared and smiled at the babies.

With our babies' Chinese passports in hand we headed back to the hotel for a quick lunch before departing for the aiport. Departure time was 2:00 p.m. for our 4:10 p.m. flight. The inexperienced parents (me) packed the diaper bags pretty lightly knowing that our flight to Guangzhou would only be an hour long. Ha! That was a big mistake. Upon arrival, Shiyan was informed that our flight would be delayed 1 1/2 hours. Yikes!!!!!! We checked in and went to the holding pen...um...I mean gate area. You should have heard those babies. Oh my goodness. The American kids traveling with us (mostly between the ages of 5 and 8) had a blast. They have really formed tight bonds and they kept themselves occupied the entire time with no problem. The babies were a different story though. Some were happy, some slept and some just cried for no apparent reason. Truthfully, I would loved to have joined the criers, but I was trying to set an example.

Someone from our group talked to a lady from the Phillipines who told her that our flight was delayed because the Chinese government was conducting an "air expercise". What the heck? Was it not enough that President Bush nearly made my bladder burst twice? Did we really need to get the Chinese goverment involved????

Oh well, our plan arrived at 6:00 p.m. and we boarded at 6:30. The flight to Guangzhou was uneventful, except for the man sitting next to Larry, and Kaitlyn was a real trooper. She finished up a bottle on take off and didn't seem to have any problems with her ears. Once the bottle was gone she fell asleep and slept the entire trip. She got a little fussy on the descent, but I think that's because her ears were bothering her. We fed her Cheerios and that seemed to help a bit. I'm finding that Cheerios can cure many ills.

We collected our luggage and boarded the bus. Babies and parents were all exhausted by the time we got to the hotel. One family fed their little girl a bottle on the bus ride from the airport. Once we got the hotel lobby, the baby got very sick. She made a mess of herself and a mess of her momma. Baby cried and so did mom. Someone shouted for baby wipes and everyone immediately started going through their bags to offer assistance. We could only contribute one wipe to the cause because that's all we had left (that's another story altogether). Everyone is doing fine this morning though. We all think that the baby just had some motion sickness.

Kaitlyn passed her medical exam with flying colors. Her temp was 97.4 (low just like her mom) and hearing was fine. The nurse did say that Kaitlyn's throat was sore. We suspected that this morning when she didn't eat much. We gave her some Tylenol Cold and she seems to be feeling better. She's working on hour two of a nap right now, so I'm hoping that she'll be back to her old self when she wakes up.

I can't wait to go shopping!!!! There are so many cute little shops around the hotel. We're finally going to buy Kaitlyn some shoes, including squeaky shoes, and we're also going to buy her a silk dress or three. :) From what I've seen, Guangzhou is a beautiful city and I can't wait to explore.

My arms were killing after yesterday so I finally, grudgingly, broke out the Hip Hammock. Oh my goodness. I can't believe I waited this long to use it. It is amazing. Kaitlyn can ride on my hip and be close to me, but it takes the strain off my lower back and arms.

Guess that's it for now. I hope to hit the pool with Kaitlyn later on this afternoon. That should be an experience.

Nik

Today was the day when everything became official! We were supposed to meet the bus at 8:00. We started getting ready in plenty of time, but somewhere along the way we got sidetracked. It's hard for me to figure out where the time went, but the next thing I knew we were grabbing coats and the diaper bag and flying out the door so that we could get some breakfast before boarding the bus. I suppose that the "getting me AND Kaitlyn ready" thing is going to take some time. My fear is that makeup will be the first thing to go and in an extreme event I could let my hair go. It's amazing how quickly vanity flies out the window when all you can think about is getting your child some congee.

Our travel companions Cory, Julie, and their new daughter AnnaLei are next door to us. They were also running late so we made the mad dash to breakfast together. Our girls are pigs! We've decided that they will eat anything we put in front of them for as long as we put it in front of them. Just when I think Kaitlyn couldn't possible eat more she smacks her lips and smiles as if to say "keep shoveling it in mom!".

The first stop of the morning was the Jiangxi office of adoption affairs. We had a family photo made and had an adoption interview. The entire process lasted about 5 minutes per couple. After all the couples had their interviews we were presented with adoption certificates. These certificates make the process official. When we left that building Kaitlyn was ours!!!! The entire process seemed to not phase her much. She was just happy that she had some quality time with her Cheerios cup. She usually grabs a handful at once, but if she's lucky one makes it to her mouth. She usually winds up shoving that one in with the back of her hand.

The next stop was the "notary". The process for each family lasted about three minutes. We went into a room where the gentleman asked us for our names, ages and date of marriage. He asked us to confirm that we were adopting Kaitlyn of our own accord (like somebody was forcing us?) and then made us swear that we would never abandon her. I found the last part pretty darned ironic, but I won't get into that here. :) We then handed over $500, signed our names and returned to the waiting area. I'm still a bit in awe of the price paid for notary services. I'm a notary in Michigan and I always do everything for free. I'm thinking I'll either have to change my policies or move to China to pursue the notary profession.

Several of the families were desperate for some American food so Shiyan, Bethany's guide, placed a Pizza Hut order for any interested families. I LOVE Chinese food, but the appeal of having something delivered to our door upon our return to the hotel was too much to pass up.

Once back at the hotel, Kaitlyn finally took a bottle and we both took a nap. I woke up just as the Pizza arrived (good timing huh?). It was either the best pizza I've ever eaten or I was starved. I learned that two spoonfulls of fried rice and a glass of apple juice don't last very long, especially not for seven hours. We pretty much slept and ate all afternoon. Larry went to the store and brought back Gerber peaches and pears and apple juice. Kaitlyn ate an entire jar of peaches.

Later this afternoon she had her first bath. She loved it and loved playing with the toys. She was less than amused when my hand slipped and she tipped backwards. She didn't go under the water and her head didn't hit the tub, but it did give her a mighty scare and after that she was finished. I hope the trauma will be short lived.

Tonight we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and Kaitlyn ate mashed potatoes, congee, fried rice and watermelon. The thought of all that makes me gag, but she liked it and I can't argue with that. We came back to the room, she took a bottle and she's out for the count

Tomorrow we are going to hang out here in the hotel and I'm going to go with some other families to visit FengCheng. We won't be able to visit the orphanage but Shiyan did arrange to have someone show us around the city. I plan on taking plenty of pictures so that someday I can show Kaitlyn her hometown.

This hotel is full of babies. Several groups from the US and the world are here this week to receive their little girls. I feel sorry for the assorted few business men who are also here. When you walk down the hallways you can hear babies laughing and crying. It sounds like a nursery.

Kaitlyn cried tonight during the bathtub incident, but that's the only time she's cried since we received her yesterday. This little girl is a bundle of energy and smiles. This morning when she woke up, she looked at me and flashed her 8-toothed smile. Oh my gosh! It melts my heart every time. She's not strong enough to walk yet, but she loves to bounce. I've nicknamed her Tigger. She also likes to babble...REALLY loud. People know when we're coming becaue they can hear her trademark "ACK!". That's pretty much the only sound she makes, but she has certainly perfected it. Whether we're in the room or a restaurant I can't help but laugh. I think that that this stubborn, smiley, out-spoken little angel is a lot like me and that this must be the fullfillment of the curse that my mother put on me when I was in high school. It went something like this "I hope one day you have a daughter who gives back to you everything you've given to me...and worse". Thanks mom! Oh well, we can already see that she's going to be a pill, but that's alright. It'll be fun...won't it???? :)

We've got her!!!! She's a beautiful, perfect, baby girl with stubborn streak and a knack for entertainment. Hmm...sounds like this could be an interesting ride!

We arrived at the hotel at 3:00 p.m. and were told that the FengCheng babies would be here at 4:00 p.m. We had an hour to get everything prepared for their arrival. Oddly enough, the babies arrived before our luggage, so the only thing I had for Kaitlyn was what was in the diaper bag. Luckily, I'd packed a couple of small toys in there.

When the nannies brought the babies in, it was sheer chaos. New mommas and daddies were crying and videotaping. Some babies were crying and some were just kind of taking it all in. For the first few minutes Larry was taping the wrong baby! Eventually, I realized that Kaitlyn and her nanny were standing right beside me. The nanny said it was ok for me to talk to her so I did. She latched on to my finger and was holding it when I heard someone call "Branch!". The nanny handed her to me and the tears came quickly. Kaitlyn was so serene through the entire process. She looked at me and never made a sound. Her look was expressionless and I realized that on some level she knew exactly what was going on. We brought her back to the room and the first order of business was to peel off the layers of clothing. Underneath her heavy outer pants she was wearing "split pants" and a diaper. The diaper was only partially on and it was coming out the back of the pants. While I held her Larry pulled off her diaper. As he did, Kaitlyn began peeing. My sweatshirt and pants bore the brunt of the accident. My plan was to eventually give her a bath this evening, I just hadn't planned on doing it so soon. By this point, Kaitlyn was working up to a cry. She sniffled a couple of times and let out a half cry as I sat her in the sink for her first bath (first bath from me). The bath went well and she even played with a rubber ducky for a few minutes.

We dried her off and put a sleeper on her and her personality began to emerge. Kaitlyn's first report stated that she was a happy baby and that she laughed and smiled constantly. I was anxious to see this part of her. Larry had to go back to the lobby to complete some paperwork so that left the girls alone for a few minutes. By the time Larry came back, she had already begun devouring Cheerios and she showed the first hint of a smile.

At 7:00 p.m. we decided that we needed to have dinner. By that point, Kaitlyn was really showing us who she is. She kept our table and a couple of tables around us entertained. She bounced and smiled in her high chair the entire meal. Occassionally she would laugh and let out a shriek just to remind everyone that she was still in the room.

She fell asleep about 20 minutes ago in my arms. She's in the crib now sleeping peacefully. Larry is sawing logs in the bed and I think it's time that I joined both of them. It was a long day and we've got to be ready to head out tomorrow by 8:00 a.m.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers thus far. Today was wonderful...more than I could have ever imagined. Katilyn bonded with both of us readily. She's as happy when Larry holds her as she is when I hold her. That seems to be a trend with our group's babies. As you can imagine, this is a huge relieft to all the parents.

Yesterday was non-stop! We left at 8:00 a.m. for Tianmen Square and a Hutong Tour. Tianmen was majestic as always. An added bonus was that the American flag was flying along side the Chinese flag on the avenue in front of the Forbidden City. How cool is that!!!! The day was absolutely gorgeous; blue sky, light breeze and moderate temperatures.

The rickshaw tour was breathtaking in lots of different ways. First, it's humbling to see how so many Beijing residents live. A family of four living in the space of a good sized living room is unimaginable to us. On the tour, we visited the Hutong home of Mr. Cricket. He was a lively older gentleman that told us all about the intricacies of cricket fighting. Cricket fighting! Who knew??? He also is the owner of two of the largest grasshoppers that I've ever seen. He keeps these beasts in a gourd house and coaxes them out by gently turning the gourd. Both crickets were probably five inches long! I've got pictures but I just don't think they do justice to the mutants.

After leaving Mr. Cricket's house we ventured to a different section of the Hutong in our rickshaw. This involved crossing several lanes of city traffic. YIKES! At one point, Larry and I were sure that our driver was playing chicken with a city bus. We made it through relatively unscathed. I've got some great video of the entire incident, but please pardon the profanity!!! By the way, I think our driver had a little "thing" for me. After each stop, he insisted on tucking the lap blanket under my butt and legs, always patting my leg before he got back on the bike. At first, I didn't think much about it, but I asked some of the other ladies if their driver tucked the blanket under their butts and they just laughed. I think I feel dirty!

We came back to the hotel after the Hutong Tour for a two hour break before the acrobatic show. We ate lunch, took a tiny nap and then headed out again. The show was amazing. The young performers demonstrated unimaginable feats of strength and flexibility. After the show we came back to the hotel and headed out for my favorite Peking Duck restaurant. With the duck finished, we came back to the hotel packed our suitcases and headed to the spa for a massage. Hey Mom, I spent my birthday money at the spa! You told me to buy something for something for myself that I normally wouldn't buy. An 85 minute massage turned me into a limp noodle. At midnight, Larry and I somehow managed to find our way back to the room and then hit the sack.

Joy, our guide, arranged for the bell boys to pick up our luggage this morning at 6:30 a.m. so that we don't have to check it at the airport. That's pretty cool! All we need to do now is shower, eat breakfast and prepare our carry on's for our 8:50 hotel departure.

Did I mention that today is GOTCHA day???? YES! All of the months of waiting have come down to this day. "This time next year" has become this afternoon!!!!!!

We'll try to write later once we have Kaitlyn depending on how cooperative she is. Please pray that she makes this transition well.

The Great Wall was today's adventure. First let me say that our bodies are officially screwed up. Last night we planned on going out for Peking Duck around 7:30. We both laid down to take a tiny nap around 4:30 and we woke up at 10:00. So much for the duck restaurant! We did the same thing tonight!!!!! We woke up at 9:45...Just in time to enjoy another less than satisfying and overly priced meal at the hotel restaurant. Ok, that's my rant. Now for the good stuff!

We left for The Wall around 8:00 on a tour bus. I feel the need to mention that this bus was most definitely designed with Chinese tourists in mind. There was no thought given to tall, big-hipped Americans!!! The drive to the wall was peaceful. The scenery was beautiful and I wish I could have taken a thousand pictures. The mountains outside of Beijing are breath-taking and so unlike the Appalachians that I love dearly. The mountains here are virtually devoid of vegetation. They are rugged formations of stone, dirt, and brush. It doesn't sound like anything remarkable but the mountains truly have a beauty all their own.

When we arrive at the wall our tour guide, Joy, informed us that everyone would get a ticket for the wall and the cable car ride to the top. I'd given Larry grief for the last couple of weeks telling how the wall was going to kick his butt. He was determined to walk it! He took the cable car ticket from Joy but also asked where we should go if we wanted to walk. Yikes! Fortunately, common sense prevailed and we got in line for the cars. Did I mention that I hate cable cars, chair lifts, and virtually any mechanized vehicle designed to carry people up the face of mountains? I'd love to post a picture from the cars, but I can't because I didn't take any. I was shaking and laughing too hard! We shared the car with David and Debbie, fellow southerners. Debbie is as fond of cable cars as I am (maybe more so) and it was an entertaining ride to the top.

Once at the top, we disembark and climbed the rest of the way. The climb was only about 200 yards, but it reminded me just how fat and out of shape I am. At the top there was about a 30 degree change in temperature and the wind was blowing around 25 miles per hour. Most of us were sorely unprepared for the dramatic change and chose not to linger. We took some pictures and then headed for the cable cars. As we were about to board, we noticed the interesting sign on the right. Glad we saw it, because I had already decided I was going to ride to the bottom with my legs hanging out!!!

At the bottom, David, Debbie, Larry and I headed for a small shop where we could warm ourselves. We sat down and placed our orders. Debbie ordered coffee and Larry and I ordered green tea. The coffee came in a small Pepsi glass and the green tea looked very much like grass clippings in a porcelain mug. I kept waiting for the leaves to sink but they never did! I made a couple attempts at drinking it, but had to stop when I got tea leaves lodged in my throat. We paid our bill and headed back to the bus. We stopped at a Cloisenne (sp?) factory and then headed back to the hotel.

I have a bone to pick with George W. Bush. He's interfered with my bladder twice and I'm not at all pleased!!!!! Coming in from the airport Friday night, we wound up in a traffic jam. Taffic in all four lanes was completely stopped and drivers were out, walking around trying to determine the cause of the hold up. That lasted for about 30 minutes. We've heard since then that the jam was caused by something related to W's visit. This afternoon on the way back from the wall I had to GO bad...very bad. Guess what? We got stuck in traffic because W's motorcade was coming through. The cool thing was that we actually got to SEE it. I'm still unhappy though and plan on emailing whitehouse.gov as soon as I finish this. It's crazy to come to the other side of the world and have your bladder infringed upon by your own president!!!!!

It's 12:05 a.m. right now. I'm not really tired...and shouldn't be considering the 5 hour nap that I had earlier. Tomorrow we're going to the Forbidden City, Tianmen Square and we'll also have a rickshaw tour. I feel sorry for the poor driver who gets Larry and Me!!!

That's all for now.
One more day until Kaitlyn!!!!!!!!!!

We're here!!! Whew! What a long trip that is. We left our house over 26 hours ago. Although it's 12:40 a.m. here in Beijing I'm not the least bit sleepy. There's not much on TV to entertain us. Larry is in bed watching an old Chuck Norris movie polishing off the last of his room service french fries and Diet Coke.

Thankfully, the trip was uneventful. Both flights were smooth and my special "happy pills" allowed me to sleep a good deal of the way. That probably has something to do with why I'm not tired right now!!!

There were about 10 other Bethany families on the plane with us. They all seem really nice. I think we all have the same thoughts in our minds "give us our baby girls!!". Only four more days until we hold Kaitlyn.

I'm going to go now and hopefully capture the Sand Man for a little while. Tomorrow is going to be our big shopping day. Lar really needs his rest because he has NO idea what he's in store for!!!

Nikki

I've recently been challenged by the idea of family. What defines a family? Who is a family? For most of my life I was sure that the ingredients for a family consisted of a father, a mother(who gave birth to a boy and a girl 3-5 years apart) maternal grandparents and assorted aunts, uncles and cousins. With the current state of society and the world, families rarely "look" like that anymore. I've come to realize that families have much less to do with blood relations and more to do with love.

In just over a week, we leave on a trip that will change our lives in ways that we can't fully fathom. We are bringing back from China a little girl who, through no fault of her own, will never know any of her biological family. She will never know whether her smile is that of her mother or father. She will never know that her nose is shaped exactly like her great-grandmother's. I grieve for her loss and I know that one day she too will grieve at the black hole that is her genealogy.

Does this loss of relations mean that she can never have a family? Absolutely not! Kaitlyn already has a family. She has a mother, a father, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Are all of these people related to me? No! I have family members that are close to me as family members should be. They care for me and my well being and they champion my causes. Other family members are as distant to me as a star in the night sky. They don't know me and have no desire to. On the other hand, I have friends who are as close as brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and I think of them in that way. They are my adoptive family. We have adopted each other over time and they have already adopted Kaitlyn into their hearts as their own.

Kaitlyn has lost much in her short life. The loss is profound and irrecoverable. Oh, but what a silver lining awaits this little girl! She will soon join a family that loves her beyond her wildest dreams. This extended group is rooting for her now and in the future. Her family wishes only for her happiness and success. They pray that she will grow into a beautiful, strong woman who will one day find the love that comes from having a family of her own. What will her family look like?