More Cousins!!!

They have arrived! On Tuesday, November 13th, Aunt H and Uncle J welcomed two healthy babies to their growing family. We cannot wait for RJ and Zachary to meet their new couins. We are pleased to announce the arrival of Caroline and Gerald, III. Both are doing well. Caroline weighed 4 lbs. 14 oz, Gerald weighed 5 lbs., 12 oz. , both were 18 inches long. That's a lot of baby in a little woman like Aunt H. Hopefully, with their persmission we can post pictures soon. We havent seen any yet, as they have been busy with the twins and 2 year old Catherine. What an adventure and a true blessing. The holidays are going to be chaotic and wonderful with all these babies.

Love,
QDawg, The Wife, RJ and Zach

thinking today...

We are anxiously awaiting the birth of our twin niece(s)/nephew(s)? and thoughts wander...to babies!!! Our babies, the newbabies, and the families waiting on their babies. Babies are just so wonderful and a true gift from above. As we adjust to our new family of four we have to contemplate whether this is it for our family or should we have more?!? Now having experienced the true joy of both biological and adopted children, which would we choose next? I was visiting the blogs of other families who just received referrals of their children waiting in China and came across this poem. I've read it before, but today it just got to me. Seeing the huge smile on Zachary's face everyday, watching him thrive and grow, it's humbling to know that a very brave woman in China gave him the gift of a better life. We don't know her circumstances or anything about her. But, having held my RJ in my arms after he was born I know that she must have made the most difficult decision in her life. I know it will haunt her. I want to find her, to tell her that he is happy, that he is funny, that he is sweet and determined. He is amazing. She is amazing. I want her to know that I will tell him about her, what she did FOR him and that she loved him so much that she gave him to us. Here is the poem:

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women who never knew each other.One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.Two different lives shaped to make you one.One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.One sought for you a home that she could not provide.The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.And now you ask me, through your tears,the age-old question unanswered through the years.Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.
~ Author Unknown

UPDATE _ Month #1

Hello - if you are still out there!! We've been home a little over a month now and are getting into a routine. Zachary is amazing and is growing like a weed!! He has put on a lot of weight and have filled out nicely. RJ is having a tough time with all the change, but he will adjust eventually. He is much more clingy than before always wanting mommy or daddy even sleeping with us. He does love having his brother around to play with and enjoys his new 'big boy' room. We've moved on from RJ shoving Zachy into the carpet to big hugs, a little strong for Zachary, but at least they are hugs!!! Having two babies is a challange, but we are blessed to have them both. It is hard to corral two busy boys, but they are so fun and it is never dull. Developmentally, Zachary is amazing too! He's close to walking at only 10 months. We are looking forward to a little settling down after the holidays and as the boys grow closer. Our family is growing larger with the impeding delivery of Aunt Heather and Uncle Jerry's twins and my mind drifts to the holidays to come with all the little cousins playing together. It's just too good....

We are Home!!!

Finally, after 30 hours or so of travel, we touched down at San Antonio International Airport on Friday night. The quiet, almost abandoned terminal, was a wonderful sight after the busy, bustling, madness of Guangzhou, Hong Kong and LAX. Our wonderful family and friends met us at the airport and stocked our house with neccessities and BBQ!!!!! We were successful at getting the boys off China time, but unfortunately Zach has picked up another time zone instead!! He wants to sleep at 4 am and wake at 1 pm. Needless to say, this has been a challenge but we are working through it. RJ was overjoyed to see his house, toys and dog. Zachary is enjoying the space to run around and loves the cat. Strangely enough, the cat doesn't seem to mind Zach all that much. RJ must have broken him in! The boys had their first bath together and are getting along great. It is so good to be home!!! Now we are just going to get started on life as a family of four. Enjoy the pics of the boys enjoying themselves.

Love,

Q, M, RJ and Zach

Hong Kong - Again!!!

We have arrived in HK and are preparing for the long flight home. Zach was seen at the clinic and has a cold, respiratory infection, sore throat and ear infection (only in the canal). He is doing much better since we have gotten him some antibiotics and other medicines. We are so excited to come home and see you all. We should arrive 8:45 p.m. on Friday nite - American Airlines from LAX. We should have cellphones ready upon landing in LAX and will call.

Love,

The traveling Stansells

Update

Sorry that we haven't been better about the blog, but
it is difficult to get down to the business center
during the day and we are so tired by night time that
we forget! We have been enjoying Guangzhou very much.
What a difference from Kunming. Walking around
Shaiman island is so interesting! It feels like
Paris, London, and New Orleans rolled into one with
everything written in Chinese. There is lots of
European architecture so you really don't fee like you
are in China. The boys are doing great, starting to
get along. We are still getting to know little
Zachary - who bites to get your attention if he is
hungry or sleepy. Mommy's shoulder is getting sore
from his little nips. We see the doctor today and
file our paperwork with the Consulate tomorrow.

Zachary and RJ had some swimming time yesterday and it
was a huge hit! There is also a great playroom in the
hotel where we spend time playing with all the babies.
The entire hotel, and island, takes care of adoptive
families - it's amazing. The hotel is first rate and
we are getting quite spoiled. When we come to our
room after dinner, they have turned down the beds,
laid out our slippers and placed a dish with chocolate
by the bed. I hope Q doesn't decide that this is how
we should live - I can't compete!

Zach is a pistol - just like his brother. We are
certainly in for the ride of our life. They are both
stubborn, demanding and silly. It is great to get one
of Zach wide smiles when he is really happy. We are
seeing more and more of them lately. RJ is doing
better, especially since we have relented and let him
sleep with one of us. Q and Zach in one bed, Mommy
and RJ in the other. It keeps them happy and we get
sleep - to heck with the rules, schedules, etc.

Well, time is short and we are off to the doctor. See
you all soon!!!

Love, Q, M, RJ, Zach & Grampa Mickey

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Guangzhou!!

Hello All! We have arrived in Guangzhou. There are
not computers in the room, like in Kunming, but that
is the only difference we would prefer. The hotel is
amazing, beautiful and first class. We are so happy
to be here with all the adoptive families. At
breakfast there were 40+ tables, all with little
highchairs - it was adorable. We are settling in
nicely and enjoying Shaiman Island where the hotel is.
It is very nice to be here and counting the days
until we are home.

The boys are getting along okay. Zach seems to have
one good day, then one bad. I think he is still
working out his tummy issues. We had a long one last
night and I am sure our neighbors are requesting a
room change. One thing for sure, Zach has GREAT
lungs.

We'll try to post some pics later today or tomorrow.
Miss you all!!

Love,
Q, M, RJ, Zach & Grampa Mickey

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Dinner choices

Okay, so we've already posted today but we had to get
this in there. Finding something to eat in Yunnan, or
more correctly, where we are in Yunnan (affectionately
known as "East LA") has been a challange to say the
least. It has been several years since there have
been children referred to GWCA from Yunnan, so they
might be behind the times on where to stay. The
breakfast buffet included with the hotel stay is nice
- it has bacon. That is really all one needs - bacon.
There is also a very sweet lady who will fry you and
egg. Other than that it is alot of stuff we cannot
make heads or tails of - really.

Tonite was our last night in Yunnan and although we
would have liked to had a nice meal at the Chinese
restaurant next door, which was unbelievably good and
cheap, Zach was having a really tough day. His fever
reached 102.5 this afternoon and he has been pretty
miserable, which is to say we have all been miserable.
Also, since we have only just met it is hard to
decide what exactly is wrong with the poor little guy.
We decided to brave the dinner buffet at the
'revolving' restaurant in the hotel. Revolving is
relative because it doesn't usually go all the way
around. Weird.

Anyway, the buffet consisted of some strange stuff as
Quintin remarked - "It was difficult to decide between
the jellyfish and the elbow." Grampa Mickey wanted to
know what kind of elbow, but I didn't think that was
really relevant. I'm sure most of you will be
surprised to hear that the most adventurous member of
Team Zachary was Grampa Mickey who tried the
jellyfish. There was something called 'steak' (it's
cow, it's cow, it's cow) that was alright. Best of
all there were chicken nuggets. My darling RJ ate at
least 7 and put himself in a chicken nugget coma. He
napped very little today and was falling asleep with a
chicken nugget in each hand, chewing with his eyes
closed, and enjoying every mintue. He has been asleep
every since.

Zach is doing much better I am happy to say. He
actually ate some dinner (yea!), and a member of our
group whose daughter is from the same orphanage
brought her stethescope (she's a nurse) and listened
to his lungs and heart which sounded fine. We are
still planning to see the doctor tomorrow in Guangzhou
as a precaution.

One week down, one to go. Love to you all!

Q, M, RJ, Zach and Grampa Mickey

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Missing Posts

I think one of our posts didn't make it because we
attached too many pictures. I will attach a few from
our outing to a horticultural park.

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Our last day in Zachary's province.

We spent our last day in Kunming touring the minority
village park. It was beautiful, as is everything
outside the city. You can see by the pictures that it
is amazing to behold. There were parks dedicated to
each minority and we visited most, but not all - it's
a big place!!! We were mobbed often because of "the
twins."

We are all pretty tired, except for RJ, because Zach
didn't have the best night. He has been crying most
of the time since 11 pm last nite. He has a
tempurature and we aren't quite sure what is wrong.
Thankfully, we will soon be in Guangzhou where we can
see a doctor. He is hot by nature, but the poor thing
is burning up. He won't sleep unless held and rocked.
He did eat this afternoon, but we just want to have
him seen by a physician. RJ slept most of the entire
time. He did wake up once and was a bit confused that
Zach was in bed with mommy and had to join the party.

It's quite an adventure thus far...counting the days
until we are home.

Love, Q, M, RJ, Zach & Grampa Mickey

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Green Lake Park (Cui Park)

How lovely the park was today! Lush and green. There
were groups of Chinese women dancing along the lake
with fans or scarves, men playing the flute, and
plenty of people walking around holding hands. It is
customary for friends to hold hands (of the same sex)
but not for romantic couples. RJ was certainly
popular. Everyone wanted to look at the American baby
and make him smile. They just loved the double
stroller with Zach and RJ in it. The weather is
fantastic, cool and breezy with bright sunshine. We
spent a couple of hours there just walking around.
Both boys ended up taking naps (at different times)
during the excursion. You can see from the pictures
how lovely it was.

Tonite we have a traditional Chinese dinner with the
group. So far we have managed to get by without too
much indigestion, but both boys have 'something'. We
have some serious diapers going on! It's like combat
training for parents. Two babies with digestional
issues at the same time is interesting. Aunt Heather
and Uncle Jerry are going to have their hands full.
It is pretty much traditional Chinese immersion here,
there is only one McDonalds or Pizza Hut - far from
here. There is no inbetween. I know we have only
been gone one week, but we have began to dream of
barbeque, mexican food and steak (Mickey & Quintin)
and ICE, blessed ICE for me.

Thanks to everyone for holding down our fort - we
appreciate it so much and look forward to seeing you
all soon. Hope you enjoy the pics of our outing.

Love, Q, M, RJ and Zach

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Typhoon!

We didn't realize until this morning that some of you
might not know exactly where we are without looking at
a map. We are far from Shanghi and the impending
threat of the typhoon. Depending on when and where it
makes landfall, we might feel the effects of the outer
bands of the storm, but we cannot tell from the local
weather because it is in Chinese. I will confirm with
our guide, Rui, that we are not in danger. We are in
the southern part of China, so we feel confident we
are safe.

Another night with the boys. RJ crawled from his crib
into mommy's bed last night. He's doing okay, but did
shove Zach down into the carpet this morning. He does
not like sharing us. It is better when we get out of
the hotel room. Unfortunately, where we are staying
there is not a lot for us to go and do outside the
hotel. We have to travel by bus to find a park. We
have resorted to letting the boys play in the hallway
which helps alot with the tension. Of course, threem
ore days of cabin fever and we will all be nutty!

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Day 2!

Hello All - Day 2 of our new family journey. We spent
the morning at the local wal-mart - WOW! It was so
great to see "Great Value" type products to give you
comfort in what you were buying. We got apple juice,
water, peanut butter and some M&Ms of course! To top
off our experience, there was a KFC in the walmart
where we had lunch. I have to say, we eat fried
chicken rarely but we ate this chicken with gusto.
YUMMY! Even Zachary ate some. He's an amazing
eater, ravenous. If you give it to him, he clamps his
little teeth on it immediately. He ate more chicken
than RJ. Of course, RJ would only eat chicken if it
had some skin on it so it resembled a chicken nugget
(my son!) We came back to the hotel to just hang out
this afternoon. All the babies were tired from the 2
hour adventure to Walmart, so we've just been getting
to know each other.

All the families and our guide are staying on the same
floor so I opened our door and just let the boys run
wild. They were getting stir crazy sitting in this
room. They really enjoyed playing together. Zachary
is liking us already. He will smile and crawl to me.
RJ is coming around...he can say something like
"Zachary" and "Brother". Mostly, he throws his toys
and cup at Zach. Lovely, it begins already. I think
by the time we get home he will be okay with his new
brother. We have to make extra room in the lap for
both when jealosy arises - good think mommy has some
extra lap already!

It is a beuatiful spring day in Kunming, sunny, breezy
and cool. It's a little like California. As we drove
to the store, the highway was lined with flowers and
arrangements that were amazing. We will try and take
pictures tomorrow. There were pillars, 12 feet tall
and 4 feet in diamerter, made completely of white and
red begonias. Begonias everywhere. Tomorrow we go to
Green Lake and it is supposed to be lovely. Hope the
weather holds up.

Love,
Q, M, RJ and Zach

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And Baby Makes Four...

He's here! He's Wonderful! He's Amazing! He and RJ
are getting along famously. Right now, he's sitting
on the bed eating crackers with Daddy and RJ. He's
smaller than we thought he would be, but he looks well
cared for and healthy. I have pure scientific proof
that he is my child...he has HUGE feet! Long, wide
feet - a perfect match.

We waited in a small room with three other families
from our group as they brought the babies in one by
one. We were told that our son, along with another
baby from the same SWI were not here yet. As we
watched the other families unite, we looked out the
window and there he was!! For what seemed like an
eternity we stared outside and watched him. Finally
they brought him in and called our name. He was
holding and chewing on a picture of us that we sent.
The nanny brought him to me, I said hello and he
reached for me and touched my face. It was amazing.
Q took pictures and Grampa held RJ. Q finally got to
hold his son and Grampa handed over RJ as well. You
can see the picture of my proud QH holding his boys.
RJ was very interested in his brother, touching his
face and hair. Zach has a bit of a cough and runny
nose, but that was to be expected.

On the bus back to the hotel, I made Zach a
bottle...and then another one. He cleared 10 ounces
of formula in under 5 mintues. He promptly fell
asleep in my arms.

Zachary sits up well and can kind of crawl in a circle
to get a toy. He has a lot of teeth, which he didn't
have in June. He is making lots of baby noises and
laughing. It's tremendous. Now, we are off the stare
at our amazing boys and thank God for all his
blessings.

Love you all and can't wait for you to meet our second
little charmer!

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Blogger in China

We have been unable to access our blogger page while in China. We can email posts to the blog, but we cannot access the page to view comments. Its a good thing we have used the computer a lot because when we do access things, sometimes the pop-up windows are in Chinese and we make an educated guess as to which to click on! So, if you would like to get in touch with us you can use our regular email address, which we can access. It's 5 am here in Kunming - GOTCHA DAY. We all went to bed at 8 pm and woke up at 4:30 well rested and ready! RJ's first word was TULA, of course. We pulled out the Who Loves Baby book and have been listening to "Tula" and "PawPaw" for 1/2 an hour. I know he mises home very much, but is adapting pretty well. We all miss home, but are venturing out a bit more today to see the city.

We'll go to get Zachary around 10 a.m. and then come back to the hotel and will post pics. I didn't tell you before, but we have a computer in the room. It's something like $10 a day to have unlimited internet, which according to Grampa Mickey is around what RoadRunner charges.

It's time for showers, breakfast and a blessed cup of coffee. The coffee is wonderful here. It's funny, you can go to the hotel bar and ask for a coffee list instead of a wine list.

Love,
Q, M, RJ and Grampa Mickey.

Pic of Kunming

Here is the view from our hotel window in Kunming.

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Kunming!!

Yes, we have arrived safely in Kunming. We are having
difficultly accessing the internet, so it has been a
long time before we could post. Kunming is a far cry
from Hong Kong. We are in REAL China now, no offense
to HK. I will have to post pictures to show you how
amazing the difference is. There is poverty here
which makes your heart break for the young and infirm
and glad that in less than 24 hours, Zachary will be
on his way to becoming a US Citizen. Our guide, Rui
is wonderful and very helpful. We are glad to report
that she will accompany us all the way to Guanzhou.

Here are the facts. Kunming has a lovely spring
tempurature which does not translate into a
comfortable hotel room. Our room was around 80
degrees all nite last nite. Raleigh did not adjust
that well to the time and was up at 1:00 a.m. He went
down again at 4 am, so did Q, but mommy wasn't so
lucky and has been up for the long haul. Finally this
afternoon the staff was able to work it out and we
have air! A delightful 23 degrees C (72ish?). We
went to the local Caffefour (English for Walmart) for
goods, etc.

Surprise! We will not be meeting Zachary at 2:30 pm
as we originally thought. Tomorrow morning 9:45 am we
travel to the Civil Affairs office to meet our darling
boy. It's very surreal. I'm sure I would have
trouble sleeping tonite if not for last nite, so we
are counting that as a blessing.

Raleigh is wonderful and has really done well. We are
all amazed. He calls for Tula often and I know he
would rather be home. He is enjoying 'no rules'
vacation where he eats nothing but 'cacker' and
"cackie'. Our discipline is shot - we just want him
to eat something!! He has developed a new trick -
saying "poopoo" when he needs a diaper change. I'm
sure when he meets the civil affairs officials, his
greeting will be POO POO. They are going to love us.

So, good morning family and friends! We miss you all
and home. Tomorrow I will be a mommy of TWO boys! Q
cannot wait either. We hope all is well with
everyone.

Love,
Q, M, RJ & Grampa Mickey

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The Griswold's Have Reached Hong Kong!!

WOW - What an amazing 24 hours it has been. We are in Hong Kong, which is absolutely gorgeous, clean and friendly. People go out of their way to help you wherever you go. But let's talk about the trip in order....starting with the Flight.

The flight from SA to LAX was uneventful and lovely. Believe it or not, the United seats on the flight from SA to LAX were bigger than the seats all the way to HK. Raleigh was amazing! He played in his seat and flirted with the other passengers - no trouble at all! Oh, except for the diet coke launched on daddy's pants, the seat, our bags and himself. If you haven't changed a baby's diaper at 35,000 feet you ain't living!

The flight from LAX to Hong Kong was uneventful as well, I just can't say it was lovely. It was long, really long. Grampa Mikey's great quote was that it was "Like flying in a flower pot." Sometimes, it is NOT good to be tall. The airline had an information channel on our television sets so at any given time you could see that you were NOT close. I will say that the staff on Cathay Pacific is wonderful! They took great care of everyone with a smile.

We arrived in Hong Kong around 5:00 a.m., grabbed a taxi and checked into the hotel in time for sunrise! We took showers, cleaned up and headed out for a day in the big city. There is a train in the shops next to our hotel, so we grabbed a train to HK. The countryside on this part of the island is amazing. Giant skysrapers with mountain backtops. There was a cemetary built into the cliffs along part of the rail line which was really beautiful. We made our way back to the hotel around 1pm for much needed rest. Around 8:00 we got up and had an interesting dinner at the Spagetti House - I'm still not sure what it was. Grampa MIckey is worn out and has taken his Oreos and Coke Lite to bed. Yes, we were able to find Oreos and Haggen Daaz on the way back from dinner in shops next to the hotel. I'm still not sure how much it cost, but it was fantastic!!

Tomorrow at 12 Noon we fly to Kunming and get to see Zachary's part of China. We are thrilled to be here, not too terribly exhausted, and ready to get our baby boy! You should see the looks we get as we walk around with a double stroller, minus one occupant. They must think we are cracked.

It's 9:45 a.m. Friday morning your time, 10:45 Friday nite our time, and time for us to get to bed so we don't miss the plane! For those not checking the blog (Tami) could one of you call her and let her know that we arrived safely and that Grampa Mikey misses her very much! We are counting the days until Zachary is in our arms and we are safely home.

Love, QDawg, The Wife, RJ and Grampa Mickey.

We're Off!

We are done packing (we think) We are ready to go (we think) and we are very excited (we are sure about that one!)

Hopefully, you will be hearing from us in about 24 hours as we arrive in Hong Kong. We love you all and can't wait to get home!

WOW - it's really here!

Love,
Q-Dawn, TheWife and our two precious boys

Testing 1...2....3...

Okay, Here is our test run at emailing a post. Just
in case we cannot access our blog - or read it in
Chinese - we CAN email a post. Here's hoping it
works. If you see a picture attached, then we can
post pictures. If not - well then, you'll have to
wait for pics until we can post via our main blog site
rather than via email.

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travel, travel, travel!!!

WOW - Things move FAST. We have been approved to travel mid-september. God bless Aunt Heather and her connections in processing RJ's passport so quickly! We would have been stuck if it wasn't for her. We just can't wait to ge there and hold our darling boy. The packing list gets longer and longer and the suitcase smaller and smaller. My office has been great dealing with my distractions. SO! now we are just waiting to see how far they get with this month's referrals so that all the other waiting families will see their children's faces. Now that I know what it's like to get that call, I wish that I could call them all personally!

More to come...

Info on our Zachary

We have finally received our translated report on little Zachary. We found it hilarious that he has so many similarities to RJ - he MUST be meant for us! Here is what we have been told(this is the direct translation):

• He was found abandoned before the gate of Changchun Motel, Huang Cao Bam Manhao Town, Gejiu on 1-23-2007 and identified as an orphan by Jinhu police station.
• Development: his limbs are agile. He can raise head while lying on chest, turn over while lying on back, grasp toy near him, locate sounds, and fix eyes on moving toys or people. When he hears someone say his name, he would turn his head. He would laugh out.
• He lives in institute with other children. He has good eating and sleeping habits.
  Main Foods: milk
  Snacks: rice, meat, egg, vegetable and fruit
• He is active, clever and busy. He gets along well with others and reflects quickly. He likes to listen to the music and play toys. He is energetic, out-going and sometimes fussy and stubborn. He likes to stay with other kids. He has good social skills.

Introducing...

We have finally decided on a name for our son. The name he was given, was given to him by the Orphanage and holds no family meaning. We have found in our research (Qs) that for each calendar year, the babies at the Gejiu SWI are given the same last name, i.e., all the babies in 2006 have the name Zhang, or so we have heard. Regardless, we would like to make sure he has a connection to China, so we are keeping his initials, Z. H. To connect him to our family, he will have Q's middle name, Hallum, a family name. And so our son is named....

Zachary Hallum

Zachary = "God Remembered" and I think He did when He sent Zachary and RJ to us.

Where is Yunnan Province?!?!?

This is a map of China. Our son is in Yunnan Province. It is in southwest China near Laos and Vietnam

Here is a closeup map of Yunnan. Kunming is the capitol city. Gejiu is south of Kunming.

Here is a picture of the Gejiu Social Welfare Institute in Yunnan Province where our son is waiting

This is the view of the gate leading up to the Orphanage

This is the view from his front door

This is the view from his back door

What a day! REFERRAL DAY!!

There really aren't words to describe today. Since this is a blog, words are kind of important so I will give it a shot. We were SURE, absolutely sure, that referrals were not coming today. I even left my cell phone at my desk for a couple of hours - unattended!!! At around 1:45 the call came in. I was on another call but saw the area code where my agency is. Needless to say, my caller got dumped and my world changed forever. I conferenced in Q so we could be on the call together. "Congratulations, you have a little boy and he's adorable" I don't think we said anything. A boy!?! We couldn't believe it. We didn't request either gender, but we were so sure we would have a girl. It took HOURS to get those pictures, but as you can see, he is the most adorable child with a sweet smile and bright shining eyes. "Cloud Nine" doesn't quite describe the ride we are on right now. So, all my little girl clothes are packed in a bag off to my neice and I am ready, ready, ready to become the mother of TWO of the cutest boys in the world. RJ is going to love being a big brother (except for the sharing part). A new countdown begins....travel. More on that as we get information. Until then, please meet....

Zheng Huang

born 12.23.2006

Yunnan Province

Gejiu SWI

As of June 5.2007

13.5 pounds

25 inches long



He is a light sleeper, loves to laugh, sucks his fingers, is active and restless.

He can roll over, grasp a toy and has no teeth.
AND he's CUTE!

Viewing Pictures of the Orphanages....

Below is a post from our favorite Rumor Queen (she keeps the lines of communication open and has saved us during the long wait). Before you view A Child's Right pics of the orphanges (see the Our Links section of the blog), please read her personal account with her children. some pictures are comforting, some are not. If you don't think you can handle the picture of a child sleeping in a cardboard box - only view the first 75 pictures or so.



Orphanages June 16th, 2007 From Rumor Queen (www.chinaadopttalk.com)


After having some conversations with a few people, I need to talk a bit about the condition of orphanages in China.

I have personally now seen two orphanages, and those two were the difference in night and day.
One of them full of sunshine, tile floors, music playing, colorful posters and pictures on the wall, and toddlers all over the place toddling around and hugging on each other. The other with teeny windows and not much lighting, concrete block walls, very little stimulation, and babies that mostly showed little emotion as they laid in cribs or were propped up in walkers.

Not surprisingly, the child that came from the dungeon-like atmosphere has lots of sensory issues, as do many (but not all) of the babies from our travel group.


That’s not to say that the caretakers were better at one than the other, because I know that my daughter with sensory issues was loved by her ayi. I saw the affection between the two of them, and the tears that her ayi was trying to hold back as she said goodbye to her.


Both of our girls came to us severely underweight, with marks that told us they had been tied to something, and developmentally about half or less of their age. Our daughter from the sunshiny orphanage came to us very soiled, while our other daughter came to us relatively clean.
What I’m trying to say here is that not all orphanages look like these orphanages. But even the ones that look like terrible places can have wonderful people working at them.


If you discover your child is from an orphanage that doesn’t look like these orphanages, don’t assume the child is getting substandard care. And the opposite can also be said, if you discover your child is from one of the “model” orphanages, don’t assume they are getting much better care. They could be, but I don’t think it’s a given.


Once you get your referral and join your child’s orphanage group you’ll be able to get a good idea of the condition of the children from other parents who have recently adopted. This will give you a good idea of what to expect, but you’re not going to know how your particular child fared in the orphanage until you actually meet your child.

My first blog posting...

It's June. Referrals have come out for this month for those persons with LID (Log in Dates) through November 7, 2005. Our LID is November 21, 2005. To most that might seem CLOSE and in some measurements, it is. Consider that it has been 19 months of waiting for us, so 'close' is an interesting term. We are starting to feel like it is going to happen soon, but due to the fact that it takes months to refer one month of log in dates, it isn't going to be very soon. Our fondest hope is Christmas. In the meantime, we are working on teaching Raleigh to share....it is going to be quite a lesson. He was fine with his cousin, Catherine, playing with his toys until she touched the car toy Nana gave him for Christmas - then he tried to bite her. I don't think I will mention to the Chinese government official that our dear son bites.



Okay, so I have made my first official blog posting...