Wednesday: great weather, the zoo and tears all around

This morning we visited the Hefei zoo. The weather is great--a little chilly but nice and sunny. It's a pretty good zoo...not huge, but lots of nice walking and some cool animals. The kids seemed to like it though they were pretty wiped after the two hour walk. The favorite animals were these cute little brown guys that are somehow related to pandas (there was one real panda but he was asleep).

The honeymoon with the kids, such as it was, appears to be over. They had a big fight this afternoon when Jack kept wanting to touch the DVD player and sent Annie over the edge. So he cried for the first time. It just broke my heart because I know he was crying for so many reasons. So he and I sat on the bed for a while and played with his Spiderman figures. They are all tired, Bethany has a nasty cold and cough and it seems like Jack is getting it too. And no one wants to take a nap (except Charlie and I). They are getting very territorial over their th :)ings and it's causing a lot of strife. We probably better get used to it.

On a more positive note, Jack is letting us pick him up more and loves to be carried. He just brought me a little piece of paper and asked me to write his new name on it - which he is pronouncing something like Jahn-Kuh. And by the way Ke is pronounced Kuh too.

More pix from today and the best comment of the trip so far

Bethany to the driver:

Ni Hao! Como estas???

Introducing Jack Chunke Brundage

It's official - Jack is now a Brundage! The adoption was finalized late this afternoon. This province has a very quick process, we were there only about 1/2 hour.

Jack is doing amazingly well. He told the guide he is happy--no tears yet at all. The kids are playing together very well--you would think they'd known each other forever. They are fighting like that too!

After the Civil Affairs office we went to a supermarket, which was kind of like a Fred Meyer and got Jack some clothes that fit, some shoes, diapers to give to his orphanage and some other stuff. We were the object of much attention, which we seem to be wherever we go. Oh and we of course got more Ultraman stuff. The ones we bought last night quickly became double amputees and died an early death. Charlie and all three kids are sitting on the floor putting together an Ultraman puzzle right now.

Today Jack got the photo album we sent him, opened it up to a picture of Charlie and went over to Charlie to point at the picture and say "My BaBa." Then he did the same thing to me, Annie and Bethany, with a big smile on his face each time. Pretty wonderful stuff.

We have been so blessed by this little boy and our two girls. Three years ago yesterday, Annie's adoption was finalized. We had no idea at that time how rich and full our lives would become!

A Short Walk and Ultraman!!!

No nap and the kids were getting restless so we decided to take a short walk to the little grocery store. On the way was a teeny little toy store and right in front was a display of....Ultraman, which we know from before is Jack's favorite toy. He went totally wild when he saw it and of course we are now back at the hotel with the new
Ultraman set. It was very cheap, which explains why Ultraman's leg fell off within the first 5 minutes. The girls are happy with new Hello Kitty pencil bags.

Jack couldn't wait to play with it, so we just went back. He gave us a running monologue the entire 5 blocks back to the hotel. I have no idea what he was saying except third word or so was Ultraman.

I can't see the posts to the blog but apparently they are posting, so here are a few more pictures from this last hour

We have Jack!

We have Jack

Wow, what a whirlwind of a morning. We thought we were going to meet the guide at 9:30, go over the paperwork and meet Jack around 10:30. Instead she called at 9:30 and said they were ready for us--20 minutes later we walked into the office and there he was. He was very shy and wouldn't look at us at first, but they asked him if he was happy and he said yes. We signed a couple of pieces of paper and that was it for today. Probably 10 minutes altogether and we were back in the van.

So now we are in the hotel room, probably for the rest of the day. Jack appears to have instantly bonded with his sisters. They tore through everything in his new backpack, everyone changed into their PJs and they've been jumping on the bed and chasing each other around the rooms. He's been giggling up a storm.

We just had a Skype call with my sister. Jack is totally fascinated with the computer and the Skype webcam. When my nephew Ben made a face by pulling his mouth open with his finger. Jack immediately imitated him and laughed and laughed!

He is quite a bit smaller than we'd thought, so the clothes we bought mostly don't fit. He's pretty skinny, but if he keeps eating like he's been eating for the last hour or so he will fatten up a lot. One pair of pants works if we roll them up. We will be shopping with the guide tomorrow to get him some things.

He is just adorable. It's amazing to see him in person after all these months of staring at pictures.

Our guide said he is the nicest boy she's ever seen adopted - I think she meant he was the calmest - but she hasn't seen him running around with the girls. He is touching everything. I suspect we will have some issues tonight as he gets tired and overwhelmed by all the new stuff, but that's okay.

We are in Hefei

I am writing this from the nicest hotel room we've ever stayed in. More on that later - we are in Hefei and just hours away from meeting Jack!

Today we took the high-speed train from Shanghai to Hefei. I have to admit I was a little nervous about the whole process since we've never taken the train in China before. Our guide in Shanghai, Jenny, stayed with the other family since they were doing more touring. The wife our our driver (never heard her name) was with us at the train station. It was kind of weird because she doesn't know any English. She kept trying to talk to the girls and they kept asking me what she was saying. Anyway, she got us settled on the train safely. It's a new train, very, very comfortable. It has an amazing amount of leg room - our big suitcases fit in front of us on the floor. And real toilets, though I think I violated the rules since there was a sign not to throw anything, even toilet paper in the "stoolcase," Not sure if that meant toilet or not. Sorry, probably TMI.

Anyway....it was nice to see some of the countryside even though it went too fast to get pictures. The only really not-so-fun part of the train trip was after we got off. We had to drag the suitcases down several flights of steep stairs, walk a little while and then back up more stairs. We were in a sea of people and Chinese people have a very different concept of personal space than we do. Charlie used many choice words, but luckily no one seemed to understand.

Anyway, our guide, Jane, and driver, Peter, were out front to meet us. Jane seems great. Her English is very good. The personal space concept in China seems to be the same with cars. We have never been so close to other cars as we have in China-literally inches apart. Peter is..intrepid? pushy? aggressive? I don't know the right word. At one point we were on a multi-lane road going down the wrong side. Cars were coming straight at us. You just have to try to relax and even enjoy it because everyone drives that way (though for some reason Shanghai was much better).


We got to the hotel safely and have to say, it is amazing. It's only a few months old. We are on the 21st floor. The girls went crazy when we walked in. We have a nice living room with couch, chair, big flat screen TV and a big desk with free internet. Double doors open into a bedroom the size of our living room at home. There is a huge curving wall of windows looking out over the city. It's dark now and the lights go on forever. A lot of the tall buildings are lit up in neon and some have moving light displays. We have a big armoire, another flat screen TV, chaise lounge and a king-sized bed with a REAL MATTRESS. OMG, it's so comfy. Our beds in Shanghai felt like an inch of foam over plywood.

Off the bedroom is a bathroom with a shower and a separate, deep tub that has windows overlooking the bedroom. And there is a half bath off the living room. We are so glad we have this kind of space, in case we end up spending a lot of time in the room - all depends on how Jack is feeling. The hotel has a couple of restaurants and a pool and there is a park a few blocks away. We do have some sightseeing stuff planned, but we want this week to be pretty low key.

Jane will be here at 9:30 tomorrow am and will go over the paperwork. We will go to the government office and meet Jack around 10:30. We do the temporary custody paperwork tomorrow (the adoption is finalized Tuesday).

It's so hard to believe that we are so close to meeting our son, after 15 months of waiting. Somewhere in this big city, I think he is thinking about us too. In just a few hours just about every single thing in his life is going to change forever and he must be feeling scared and happy and worried and excited all at the same time - just like we are. I am going to go get his backpack ready for tomorrow and then we are off to bed.

Our next post will be as a family of 5!

Saturday in Shanghai

We spent today sightseeing around Shanghai with another Heritage family. It was rainy when we got up, but dried out during the day although it's still very cloudy. The Oriental Pearl Tower was pretty cool, reminded me of the Space Needle - at least the observation deck did as you walk around the whole building high up in the sky and can see the city in a 360 degree view.

After lunch at a dumpling and noodle restaurant, we visited a shopping area that was in an old section of town and that led to a beautiful walled garden with a lot of ponds and koi.

Our final stop was at the Bund, which is an area of old colonial-style building. It looks more European than Chinese. There is an area where you can walk along the river front there and we were really the object of a lot of attention. At one point there was a whole circle of people surrounding us. It wasn't completely clear what they were interested in, though the guide was answering questions about adoption and several people were very concerned about Bethany's lack of a jacket (she'd left in in the van). One older lady was very insistent that Charlie take off his vest and put it on Bethany and the crowd was happy when he finally did. Bethany just thought it was a hoot.

We are back in the hotel having a rest for a couple of hours then going out to dinner with the other family. Tomorrow --Hefei!

We are in Shanghai!

It's been a very long day but we are safely in the hotel in Shanghai. It's about 7:15 am at home and 11:12 here --we think. It's a little confusing because the clock says 11:42 but the computer says it's 12 after the hour.


Anyway, it's rainy and little chilly here, but the guide said that it's supposed to be nicer tomorrow. We have a full day of sightseeing and then take off by train for
Hefei and Jack around noon on Sunday.


We are all exhausted and the girls are starting to get tearful, so will cut this short and get some sleep. More later!

It's midnight

and I am the only one awake. Charlie has given up and gone to bed. Annie fell asleep in the wooden rocking chair - it doesn't look very comfortable but she is out. The house is still a mess. A scary, scary mess and I am not even talking about the bathroom walls, which were covered with a decent-looking wallpaper until I had this idea that it would be nice to paint the bathroom before Jack came. Might have worked out okay if I'd started earlier than last week and if chunks of the walls had not decided to come off with the wallpaper. So we will have to deal with that when we come home.

We are packed, but one of the suitcases seems to have a zipper problem. I am imagining our stuff all over the cargo hold of the plane. Charlie thinks it's okay and is adamant that we are not switching suitcases at this late date. The dogs know something is up. We have a car seat for Jack sitting out in the living room and Lucy has planted herself in it, probably in an attempt to stop us from going. poor baby. She and Maggie are going to the same kennel that took good care of them last year.

It's now the day we will leave for China to meet our son. We know that he knows about us, but have no idea if he knows that it's only a few more days before his life changes forever. Adoption is such an awesome responsibility but what an awesome blessing our girls have been and Jack will be.

Off to try to get some sleep and think about how to convince Charlie to go up in the attic early in the morning and get the other suitcase.....

Next post from China!

The Countdown Continues....

Lots going on here trying to get ready to leave. We are partially packed and have most of the gifts bought. One more shopping trip should hopefully do it, though it seems like there are always a few things we think of at the last minute.

The house is still a mess but it's getting there. The de-wallpapered bathroom walls are going to have to stay naked and ugly until after we get back (I insanely decided I could pull off the wallpaper and paint recently and the wallpaper decided to bring some of the wall with it, so we have a very interesting look now).

The girls are thrilled that they only have 3 more days left of school. Because there is no school anyway for the week of Thanksgiving, they will not have to go back until December 1st.

We've managed to fit in a few fun things in between getting ready. The girls and I went to a Harvest Party for Halloween which was lots of fun. We visited our favorite pumpkin patch last weekend- this is our third year going there.

Today was my first day as one of the coordinators for the FCC Waiting Families group. We were so excited that Vicki from our agency came to talk about the Waiting (SN) children process. There are quite a few families that are switching over the SN path so it was a good topic. I was excited to meet a woman who will be in Guangzhou when we are and also another local family that has a daughter from Annie's orphanage.

Okay, back to getting things ready.....4 days to go....AAARRGGGHHHH!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Our Consulate appointment was confirmed today and we also confirmed our plane reservations! Here's the overview:

Nov 6 - Depart around noon
Nov 7 - arrive in Shanghai at 8:30 pm (lose a day)
Nov 9 - Take the train to Hefei
Nov 10 - Meet Jack!!!!
Nov 14 - Fly to Guangzhou
Nov 21 - Leave Guangzhou at 8:30 am - arrive home at 7:10 am (get our day back)

In a few days we will get more details about where we are staying, activities, etc.

It's really real now.

Still waiting for that last set of initials...

Okay, so far we've passed these milestones in our adoption of Jack:
LOI
PA
DTC
LID
LOA
TA

One to go and that's CA = Consulate Appointment. This is the appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou to get the final paperwork processing done and it's one of the last things ou do before you come home. We have requested several days that would allow us to leave here on November 6th and return around the 20th or 21st, but we are still waiting...waiting...waiting...while the airfares go up, hourly I think.

So we are hoping tomorrow will be the day we find out our CA and can really get the ball rolling. Prayers appreciated!