Coming Home!

After a long night of packing and carefully weighing our suitcases on the hotel's bathroom scale, we received a wake up call bright and early at 4:30 am. After jumping in and out of the shower, brushing our teeth and hair, we packed the remainder of our items into our checked luggage and put it outside of our room to be picked up by the bell boy. After checking over our room one final time and getting our carry on luggage set, we headed down to the lobby and left for the Guangzhou airport around 6:30 am.

There were four different families headed to the airport at this early hour and when we arrived our guides did an excellent job of getting us all where we needed to go. After taking care of one family, Rebecca trekked us all the way across the terminal to the Air China check-in counter and got us and our luggage all checked in for our three hour flight to Beijing. Unfortunately, Mommy and Daddy ended up with seats in different rows and Madison was just a lap ticket. We were not looking forward to the flight!

The plane to Beijing was as big as the plane we had flown all the way to Beijing from Washington D.C. They took us out to it on buses and we were one of the first groups our to the plane. After everyone from the buses got situated, there were several empty seats, so Daddy had Mommy move back with him and Madison. Soon after that, it became apparent that another two buses of passengers began loading the aircraft. We stood our ground, maintained our three seats and ended up breathing a sigh of releif when the passanger in Mommy's seat simply switched with her. Then came the third wave of passengers and it we were certain we were going to have to move to two seats and put Madison on our laps. That would have happened, except that the older Chinese gentleman that was assigned the seat next to us demanded that he was not going to sit next to our screaming baby all the way to Beijing. We just played the part of dumb tourists and they eventually found him another seat and we were all happy. Way to go Madison!!!

Once we arrived in Beijing, we had to retreive our luggage from the Air China flight, walk to a completely different terminal and get checked in on our United flight to Chicago. We were somewhat worried about how easy this would all be since we were now without any guides and in a strange airport in a foreign country. In actuality, it went as smooth as it could have possibly gone. We got our luggage and followed the signs dirrectly to the other terminal. All of the signs were in Chinese but had English in smaller letters below that. We actually arrived at the United counter early. They had not opened yet to begin checking passengers in for our flight. After waiting about 30 or 40 minutes there, we got checked in and headed to our gate.

We had about three and half hours until our flight departed so we stopped and got lunch and then found a small children's play area where Madison was able to play for an hour or so.

The twelve hour flight to Chicago was pretty uneventful. Madison slept for much of the flight - across two of the tray tables. We had three seat on this flight and we upgraded to the premium economy seat, so we had a whole row to ourselves and an extra five inches between us and the row in front of us. When we got to Chicago, we had been up and travelling for a full 24 hours and now we had to navigate customs and immigration.

The line waiting to enter customs was the hardest part. Since Madison was technically entering the U.S. as an immigrant and was travelling on a Chinese visa, we were required to wait in line with all of the other foreign people coming into the coutry. Once we got through that line we retreived our luggage, again, and were directed to the immigation officer. Here, he stamped and approve whatever documents they had given to us the day before at the U.S Consulate in Guangzhou. Then our baggage was scanned and we were told we were free to move about the country. Luckily we did not have to re-check luggage in Chicago. We were able to simply leave it with the airline after we got through customs.

Here is where our O'Hare adventure begins! In Chicago, we had to navigate our way to different terminal as well, just like we did in Beijing. In all honesty, it was at least ten times more difficult to navigate our way through this U.S. airport than it was to find our way around in the Beijing airport! We were taking elevators and escalators up and down, crossing parking garages and genrally being confused. We still are not sure how we made it to the security check point to clear security so that we could board the final leg of our trip. After that and grabbing a drink we discovered our flight had been delayed. Argh!!!!

Actually, it was only delayed an hour, but we had travelled so far and we were so close to home we could smell the Orlando air. We didn't need this delay - not now! We had travelled halfway around the world and back, including three different flights in China, without one delay. But now we had to wait, one more hour.

The short flight to Orlando, seemed as if it were the longest flight of the trip. Madison had slept on the long flight, so she was wide awake and squirmy as ever for this one. Luckily for us, the couple seated behind us, had a fun time and did a good job of keeping her entertained. As our plane landed, excitement and andrenaline began to fill our hearts. We de-boarded and walked through the same dirty, under construction, terminal we had left from two weeks earlier. We could wait to see our family. We couldn't wait to introduce Madison to everyone. We couldn't wait to see the little girl we left behind for two weeks to bring home her big sister and we couldn't wait to intoduce Madison to her little sister Hannah. It all happened sometime close to midnight on September 27, 2007 in the baggage claim area of the Orlando International Airport. Welcome home, Madison!!!

May God bless you as much as He has blessed us and our family,

Angie and Mike

Day Thirteen

Wednesday - This morning we caught a cab back to Shamian Island to do a little more shopping. We got to the island just in time to see the school children, all lined up in perfectly straight lines, file their way into school, one line at a time.

Shopping today was a little less rushed, but we still did not feel like we could just leisurely stroll through the shops. Today we tried to be a little more ruthless with our negotiating tactics, but we're sure there is a shop owner somewhere who is laughing at us.

After Shamian Island, we took a cab to a local wholesale maketplace for children's clothing. While there was tons of stuff to see, it was actually somewhat overwhelming. We experienced a little more of a language barrier problem, and all of the really interesting and intricate clothing we would have like to purchase was all special order. They only had samples in the stores. After that, we successfully hailed another cab and rode back to the Garden Hotel.

Around 3:00, the entire group headed out, again on two buses, to the U.S. Consulate. Once we arrived we went up several floors, through security and into a pretty decent sized waiting room. There we waited as they called us up one family at a time to verify the pictures on our passports and on the children's visas. After that, they handed out some of the paperwork and visas for all of the children, then we took a group oath. That was it - all of the children were ready to come home!

After leaving the consulate, we headed back to the hotel and several of us planned on one more group dinner together at the Italian restaurant across from the hotel. When we got back we realized that we also were waiting on the shirts that we had ordered on Sunday to arrive. So, Daddy and Madison went to the restaurant while Mommy stayed behind at the hotel to wait on the shirts to be delivered.

We enjoyed ine last meal with several of the families in our group and reflected on the past two weeks and what a difference the children had gone through in such a short amount of time. it was a great way to wind down the evening and the trip. It was mixed emotions leaving the restaurant. None of us were looking forward to packing and flying for hours and hours, but everyone could not wait to get home.

God Bless,

Angie and Mike

Moon Cake Festival

Day Twelve - Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - Today was the Moon Cake Festival and to celebrate we took a night time cruise on the Pearl River. We spent the morning trying to track down some 2008 Olympic merchandise in the shops and stores around our hotel, but it has actually been pretty difficult to find in Guangzhou. It was everywhere in Beijing.

For the cruise, we headed back to Shamian Island to board the boat. The crowds were incredible. This is one of two or three major celebrations of the year for the Chinese, so there were people everywhere. Our group had to go in two buses and we ended up waiting around for about an extra ten minutes on the second bus. On the way to Shamian Island, traffic was horrible, but we apparently had one of the best bus drivers in all of Guangzhou, possibly the entire Guangdong province. He maneuvered through the traffic like it wasn't even there and about 25 minutes later we arrived on the island about two minutes before the first bus and just in time to make a 100 yard dash to the boat.

On the boat they had a pretty extensive buffet and, of course, moon cakes for dessert. The real treat though was getting to step outside on the deck, enjoy the breeze and take in all the scenery and lights.

Tomorrow is our last full day in China and we head to the U.S. Embassy to get Madison's visa!

God Bless,
Angie and Mike

Medical Exam and Shamian Island

Day Eleven - Monday, September 24, 2007 - This morning we made a trip to Shamian Island for Madison's medical exam. Basically, they told us she was very healthy. The only somewhat negative comment we got was that she had ear wax. When we checked with the other families in our group, it became apparent that everyone was told that.

The medical exam itself was three different stations. At the first station we went to, they checked her hearing - they used a squeaky toy and a toy piano to see if she would turn her head when she heard different noises. They also looked in her ears here ans this is where we were told about her ear wax problem. Here they also checked her mouth and throat. She was not very fond of the tongue depressor. At the second station, they weighed and measured her and sort of gave her a once over visually. At the last station, they took her head measurement, asked us some questions about whether or not she was talking/walking, etc. Then they gave her a very quick internal exam, just feeling and pressing around on her belly. That was it and we were done before she had too much of a chance to get very cranky.

After Madison's medical exam, we had about an hour and a half to walk around and shop on Shamiam Island. Unlike the Liwan Plaza, Shamian Island is much more of a tourist trap. This is where the White Swan hotel is located and that is where adoptive families have traditionally stayed over the years. It is a very nice hotel and used to be close to the U.S. Embassy. However, because the embassy has moved and because the White Swan is going to be closing very soon for a complete renovation, our agency placed us in the Garden Hotel, which is in downtown Guangzhou. Back to shopping on Shamian Island - because to the White Swan and the large number of adoptive families staying on Shamian Island, several vendors have set up shop and cater to the needs and wants of those families adopting from China ans waiting to make their trip home. Prices vary widely from vendor to vendor and negotiating prices is absolutely expected and necessary to get a good deal. If you are not used to this, it can bee a little intimidating and when you have to try and remember the currency conversion, it can be even more difficult. For our entire trip, so far, the currency exchange has hovered right around 7.5 yuan (Chinese dollars) to 1 U.S. dollar. So when you see a price of 150 yuan on something, it's about 20 U.S. dollars, and if you are a good negotiator, you may be able to talk them down to 75 or 80 yuan (or $10). The vendors here can be fairly aggressive too. Their eyes light up when they see Caucasian parents with a Chinese child! I think it was P.T. Barnum who said there is a sucker born every minute.

After walking Shamian Island and shopping, we enjoyed another traditional Chinese meal. This time since we are in the Guangdong province, our meal was Cantonese dim sum. Although, their are similarities, the meal was definitely different than the more northern Chinese cuisine. Although we could have ordered it separately, our guides made sure not to order any chicken feet for our tables. And let me just say, the guides our agency has provided for us have been absolutely amazing and we would be lost without them. Our coordinator "Dennis" met us in Beijing and has been with us our whole trip. In Hefei, our local guide was Jane, who was extremely knowledgeable of the local region and with most of the orphanages in Anhui province. And again, in Guangzhou, our local guide Rebbecca, has been absolutely incredible! She was the one to take us out privately they other evening so we could order shirts. All of them have also been extremely good a choosing Chinese cuisine that gives us the real flavor of each region without getting too "authentic" - like we said, no chicken feet for lunch today! Actually, Cantonese are known for eating very "weird" things and even Chinese people from other regions are surprised by some of the Cantonese cuisine.

Tomorrow is the Moon Festival and it is a real treat for us to be here is China with Madison on this day. This is a very big family holiday in China. It is one of two or three holidays that Chinese families all get together. Think Thanksgiving or Christmas, only in China. Once again, our amazing guides have come through with a great dinner for us. We will be night cruising the Pearl River, enjoying a buffet, moon cakes and the lights of the city at night. It is the one Chinese holiday that we will get to celebrate in true Chinese style (in China) with Madison. We are so very happy to be here with her for this exciting celebration.

God Bless,

Angie and Mike

We made it to Guangzhou

Day Nine: Today was travel day. Madison's first plane ride! We were up very early and said so long to the Hefei Holiday Inn. It was a nice hotel, but we were happy to be leaving. Our home sickness is getting worse by the minute. We can not wait to be home!! We are missing simple things, like being able to run your toothbrush under the tap to rinse it off, ice in drinks, and our own soft, comfortable bed.

The plane ride went very smooth. Daddy was dreading the idea of having to coral little Miss Madison for the duration of the just under two hour flight. She loves to squirm and can not sit still for more than three nano-seconds. God must have been sensing Daddy's frustration, because right as the plane was taking off, Madison went right to sleep on his shoulder for about an hour. When she woke up we were enjoying our meal and drinks, which kept her busy for about a half an hour more.

Also, while we are on the subject of airline food - the Chinese flights have incredible food on their airlines! Even on our two short in-country flights, we were served hot meals with plenty to drink. We had a hot pork sandwich from Beijing to Hefei, on a sesame seed bun and grilled, kind of Cuban style. And from Hefei to Guangzhou, we were served hot chicken (or beef) and rice along with bread, muffin and salad. So far, the food on our two short China flights has been ten times better than what we were served by United on our international flight. I guess that is one downside to capitalism - bad airline food!

Anyway, we made it safely to Guangzhou without much incident from Little Miss Squirmy Pants.


After arriving in Guangzhou we took about a half hour bus ride to the Garden Hotel, got checked in, unpacked and re-situated. We found it to be a temporary cure for our home sickness. This hotel is VERY nice! We did upgrade to the Deluxe room, which is twice as big as the standard room and gives us a place to put Madison down for a nap, where we can close the door and watch TV or continue organizing and re-organizing luggage without disturbing her.

Here, we were also able to meet up with the other Orlando Dad, who has been in Guangzhou for his entire trip, so it was nice to see a familiar face. He also was able to fill us in on where to eat and what to do around the hotel, since he has had a whole week and a half to explore. Guangzhou is much more westernized than Hefei or even Beijing. Within ten minutes walk from the hotel, we have McDonald's, Pizza Hut, 7-11, Starbucks, and several other western style restaurants (the Italian place is awesome!). Here like in Beijing, you are much more likely to run into Chinese people who speak very good English. It was very difficult to find anyone who spoke English, even in the hotel, most of the staff knew little more than hello, good morning, goodbye, thank you and your welcome. Of course, even their little knowledge of English was far more than what we know in Mandarin, even having studied before the trip. The way people conduct themselves here is also very different and again, more of a westernized feel. The traffic here, although heavy, is far less chaotic than either Hefei or Beijing. And nobody toots their car horns here - because it is against the law! Even in Beijing and Hefei, when drivers honked, it was only to let other drivers know they were there - it was never followed with nay hand gestures or obscenities afterword, like back in the states.

This evening our local guide, took the three of us on a private shopping expedition. She took us to a local fabric market where we were able to pick out fabric for a local tailor to sew two traditional type Chinese shirts for us. We will be able to find these for Madison, but they don't carry Mommy and Daddy sizes in any of the stores here.

Day Ten: Sunday - today was our first big shopping day. After a short detour to the photo shop to get Madison's visa photo, our guides took us to the Guangzhou Liwan Plaza. This is a local mall and this is where the Chinese shop. It is not a tourist destination. They had several children's clothing stores, shoe stores, jade shops and pearl outlets. Although still expensive, the jade and pearls here are far less than what they can be purchased for anywhere else. Our guides took us to a few specific shops that they use and trust for these items and had worked out group discounts. China has different grades of jade and they made sure our group was aware of exactly what we were purchasing. Mommy and Daddy are not big jade fans, but we were able to find Madison some wedding day pearls bought in China. And in typical Mommy fashion, we found a few different pairs of shoes and some clothes for Madison. The good thing about the Liwan Plaza is that it is literally like going to a mall in the states. All of the prices are marked and there is no negotiating required. Everything we purchased was very reasonably priced and could be touched for the same price back home.

Tomorrow is Madison's medical exam. She is not looking forward to it.

God Bless,
Angie and Mike

We got our first boo boo

Friday, September 21, 2007 - It didn't take us long. We got our first boo boo. Learning to walk can be dangerous. The night stand got her right in the corner of her left eye. Just in time for her visa photos!

Last Day in Hefei

Day Eight: Friday - this was our last day in Hefei. We were free most of the day with the exception of filling out some of the visa paperwork in the afternoon. After completing the visa paperwork our local Anhui province guide presented us with a calligraphy of Madison's Chinese name (Lu Xia Ye - we did ask about the pronunciation of this and the closest pronunciation we can provide you over blog is loo shyah yeh). The calligraphy was done by a very distinguished professor in the region and was completed using paper, ink and ink stone from Madison's region. The Chinese have four treasures of writing. They are the paper (rice paper), ink, ink stone and the brush. Anhui province is famous for their very high quality paper and ink and ink stones, which are used to mix the ink. Rice paper from the Anhui province has lasted thousands of years, so to have Madison's name on this paper is very cool indeed. The ink and ink stone used by the professor are from Madison's region. He also made a handmade chop for each of the babies - also with their Chinese names. A chop is a stamp, used in ancient times as a signature. The one given (actually both items were sold to us and for much less than they are worth) to us was made with stone from Madison's region and hand carved. These are available all over China, but are usually of much poorer quality and a lot are not made by hand anymore. After that they brought several other items specific to the Anhui region that we could look at and purchase. While we could have bought half of the merchandise they brought, we are still under the Chinese in-county flight restriction regulations and had to be mindful of our luggage weight. We did get a couple other items specifically from Anhui and we are carrying as much in our carry-on luggage as possible. Two very heavy carry-on's, a stroller and a very curious and "busy" baby for the flight to Guangzhou. Should be fun!

God Bless,

Angie and Mike

Day Seven - Thursday, September 20, 2007

Day Seven: We are still in Hefei. The weather here is much nicer today. The typhoon has left and taken all of the moisture along with it, just like the days after a hurricane blows through back home. We actually were able to see some blue sky through the heavy smoggy haze.

Today we made up for our lost day of sightseeing from yesterday. We visited a local museum and the Baogong Temple. The museum was intereresting. It was very small, but had several ancient artifacts from the surronding region. There were some very interesting peices of pottery and ivory carvings. The temple was actually not a temple, but more of a memorial to a judge who was very honest and honorable. Those two stops combined only took us through to about lunch time.

After the "temple" we were dropped off at a strip of shops located on streets closed off to automobile traffic. Here we got lunch at KFC. Madison enjoyed her first bits of chicken nuggets and even a few bites of french fries. She still prefers her custard and rice concoction though. This is steamed white rice with egg custard mixed in. Not sweet custard like we have in the states, but more of a salty custard. YUM! She also is enjoying her congee in the mornings for breakfast. This is a very soupy rice and can have little bits of beef or pork and sometimes vegtables mixed in. We are enjoying eggs and bacon on most morings. We haven't been able to bring ourselves to eat some of the other more authentic Chinese options available to us - at least not for breakfast. We would eat cereal, but the only milk they have is served warm.

After KFC, we took a stroll through Parksons. This is a four story department store. It is very similiar to Macy's or Dillards both in appearances and prices. There were not too many bargains and for the most part things cost about what they would back home. The did have a small section of 2008 Olympic items, but we are going to wait until we get to Guangzhou to get those. Anything bearing the Olympic mascots is a very big sellers here. From Parksons were walked back toward our hotel pass the rest of the shops and did find one outfit for Madison at a much better deal than anything in Parksons. We were also able to buy her a small ball. She saw one of the other children with one yesterday and wanted to steal it from her, so we got her her own to play with. The only excitement the rest of the way back to the hotel was navigating ourselves across the streets. Most intersections here do not have traffic signals and we were told that drivers just use their "intuition" to make their way through. For pedestrians, on the other hand, it is much like playing Frogger. We found that the best strategy was to find a local person and follow closely behind them.

We are here in Hefei for one more day. We should be getting Madison's passport tomorrow and then we can apply for her visa.

God Bless,

Angie and Mike

She's officially Ours!

Day Five: Yesterday afternoon we made the same bus trip back to the local Civil Affairs office to complete Madison's adoption. After our harmonious period or "free trial" we decided we would keep her. It actually took far less than the one day to make that decision - more like seconds. We fell in love with her instantly!

The trip back to the Civil Affairs building was interesting. All of the children had just expeienced a life changing traumatic event there the day before and their memories were still fresh. Only one day prior, they were torn away from everything the had ever known, given to strange looking people who looked different, smelled different and sounded different than anyone else they had ever seen. Most of the children had a hard time going back to this place again.

At the civil affairs office we had our first family picture taken with Madison as part of our official Certificate of Adoption. We then visited, one family at a time, with the Adoption Officer who asked us a series of simple questions - "Are you married?" "When were you married?" "Do you have any biological children?" "Have you ever adopted before?" and the most important "Do you promise never to abandon or abuse this baby?" We gave her a small gift as a token of our thanks and we were done. After that meeting and waiting for the other familes to complete their interviews, we all met with the notary at one time to fill out another form and to give another gift to the notary officer.

While we were waiting on the other families to complete their pictures and interviews we did have a chance to meet with two officials from the Lujiang SWI (Madison's Orphanage). They werevery nice and were able to tell us that Xia Ye was a "busy" and "very curious" little girl. We agreed! They also told us that whe was a good eater and because of this she had never been sick. We can confirm that she is definitely a good eater. After meeting with them, we gave them ea ch a gift, one for the orphange director and one for them to take back to the Nannies as our sign of our immense gratitude for having cared for Madison this long.

This second trip to the civil affairs office was far less rushed and chaotic than our trip the day before. We were there for about two and a half hours. The building was quite warm and the only relief to be found was to stand by a window that was able to open about 5 or 6 inches and to catch as much of the cool breeze as you could. All of us were happy to leave by the time we were all done. And the children were all happy to be leaving with the same person they came in with. We left with Madison and our official Certificate of Adoption.

Day Six: This was suppose to be a sightseeing day in Hefei. However, a nearby typhoon is causing rain all day today in Hefei. Since our agency had a bus and driver lined up for the day, we did make another trip back to a local market. We were able to buy Madison some new shoes. They ones she was given to us in were already too small for her. We also purchased a few outfits becuase we were running out of clothes that fit her. Right now she is wearing 18 month clothing and very close to 24 months, depending on the style and manufacturer. Of course those numbers mean nothing in China. There is no universal sizing here and each manufacturer uses their own system. We just had to hold thing up to her in the store.

Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to stop and we are going to try and make up for our missed day of sightseeing by visiting a local musem and temple. One family in our group is going to visit their daugter's orphanage. We have decided not to make the two hour trip to and from Madison's orphanage for many of the same reasons the other families are not going to theirs. Madison had a somewhat difficult time seeing the familiar faces of people from her orphanage and we felt to make the long trip their would not only be very tiring for her, but would move us back a step in the bonding process for her to see her Nannies again. We have also been very blessed to have received a lot of information and pictures of Madison's orphanage from antoher family who adopted from their recently. Because of this and having met with the two officials from her orphanage, we feel that we have plenty of information to share with Madison about the place she spent the first months of her life when she is ready to hear about it.

We are in Hefei for a couple of more days, while we wait on Madison's passport. The weather here has been very tollerable, other than the rain. It is somewhat cool outside, but inside most buildings it can get very warm and stuffy. The hotel has a good air conditioning system, but it still gets fairly warm in the room. When it is not raining and the breeze is blowing we visit the outdoor children's playground area on the sixth floor and cool off. After we receive Madison's passport we wil be on our way to Guangzhou for her visa. Then we can bring her home!

God Bless,

Angie and Mike

Hello from Hefei

Day Three: Day three was a travel day from Beijing to Hefei in the Anhui province of China. Other than our flight being delayed about a half an hour, the trip went very smooth with no complications. A driver picked us all up at the airport and we stopped a local market for anyone who needed to purchase any last minute baby supplies. From the market we drove straight to the Holiday Inn in Hefei. The hotel is fantastic and much nicer than the hotel we stayed at in Beijing. The Raddison in Beijing was not bad, but there is definitely a difference in the rooms.

When we got to our room, we were greeted by the sight of a stroller and crib that had already been set up for us. Our hearts were racing. Our little girl was going to be sleeping here tomorrow. Although we were drop dead exhausted from touring Beijing and still adjusting to the time change, sleep was very difficult for all of the families in our group due to the anticipation of meeting our children.

Day Four: Monday, September 17, 2007 (Gotcha Day)! Today we got our baby!!! We left the hotel at about 8:40 am and drove about 25 minutes to the local adoption center office. It took three elevator loads for all of our group members to make it to the seventh floor meeting room where several babies were already waiting when we entered. We immediately scanned the room to see if we could recognize Madison. Several other families did recognize their children. each family had to wait until their name was called and then the could officially meet and hold the newest member of their family. It was literally a complete blur and a whirl wind. In the midst of waiting, Mommy noticed one Nanny walking out in the hall with a little girl and said "There she is!!!" Mommy knew right away. We took several pictures and video of her while we continued to wait for that official moment.

Then our name was called, and we FINALLY got to hold our little girl. While it was a momentous and joyous occasion for us, it was really a terrifying and scary experience for Madison. She cried and reached out for her Nanny, who has given her the only comfort and security she has know for the first fourteen months of her life. Slowly, we were able to introduce some small toys and food to try and distract her from the trauma of the situation and very slowly and tentatively, she allowed us to feed her and start gaining her trust in us.

By the time we felt as if we were making any progress at all, it was time to be whisked away and back to our hotel. We were at the adoption center for maybe two hours - it felt like 5 minutes and was a complete blur. Thank God we had cameras and video being shot for us. One of the other couples waiting to meet their daughter was nice enough to take some pictures and use our video camera to capture our first moments with Madison. We are so grateful! Also, our agency hired a videographer to document out "Gotcha Day" from the time we left the hotel until the time we returned. We will be getting a DVD of that later in the trip.

Once we got back to the hotel, we once again had to start gaining Madison's trust and reassure her that we could be her source of comfort and security. It took us several hours walking her around the hotel in the stroller, as we allowed her to cry and mourn for the loss of her Nanny. Slowly, she started to gain our reassurance. With food (some little puffed rice balls we bought in China and Cheerios), she slowly began to feel some level of security. She actually felt safest in the stroller and stayed there even after we returned to our room after several hours of strolling her around. Once back in the room, we started introducing her to some more of the very simple toys (stacking cups and some small board books). Slowly but surely, she began to want out of the stroller. Once out she would investigate the toys, making sure she still had one hand on the stroller. After awhile she ventured away from the stroller and before long she was walking all around our room and checking everything out.

Our Madison is a very curious little one. She is very inquisitive and loves trying to figure out how everything works. She is walking and walking all over the place. When she is tired she will crawl if she really wants to get somewhere, but she really does prefer to walk. She loves books and loves turning the pages. We did give her a bath and she actually loved playing in the water and playing with some of the plastic toys we had placed in there for her. She was a little unsure when we washed her hair and had a little bit of a difficult time when we rinsed the shampoo out. She is a little bit congested, so she had a little bit of a hard time breathing if the water happened to run down the front of her face. Madison is definitely Daddy's little girl. She has really bonded with Daddy and is actually still a little unsure of Mommy. Mommy is feeding her and changing her when Madison will allow it and staying close to Daddy as much as possible, so that Madison will continue gaining trust and security with Mommy too. Other than a few little issues that were expected, we have had a fantastic and relatively easy experience transitioning Madison. Actually every family in our group is doing really well. One family did get a sick child yesterday and it has been hard for them to have to deal with that on top of worrying about bonding and all of the normal adoption issues. We have been praying for them, and we know everything will eventually work out wonderfully for them.

Day Five: Day five is our official adoption day. Today we will return to the local adoption center office and officially adopt Madison. Yesterday, we signed an agreement which just granted us temporary custody of her. It is a sort of trial period. Today around 2:30 pm we go back to sign the official adoption paperwork. Once that is done, she will be ours forever. We can't wait to sign those papers!

We will be in Hefei through Friday and leave early Saturday morning to go to Guangzhou. This will be Madison's first plane ride! It's a short one (less than two hours) so we are happy about that. We are tired of planes already! We can't wait to bring Madison home and introduce her to everybody. Be prepared, because she will steal your heart away!!!!

God Bless

Angie and Mike (in Hefei)

Day Two - 9/15/2007

Yesterday was Day Two of our journey to Madison. After getting settled in, we started a full day of sightseeing in Beijing. We visited TianAnMen Square, the Forbidden City and The Great Wall.

TianAnMen Square is the largest square in the world and can accommodate about 1 million people. It is a huge open area with a few monuments and statues honoring various people. TianAnMen then enters into the Forbidden City. The familiar picture of Chairman Mao overlooks the square and is the entrance to the Forbidden City from the square side.

The Forbidden City is a very large series of buildings that used to be home to several of the Chinese emperor's. It is about 125 soccer fields large with several different areas and gates leading to different areas of the city - there was even an outdoor basketball court there. A lot of the city is under renovation in preparation for the 2008 Olympics and it was very interesting to see the renovated parts next to sections still under renovation. The newly renovated sections are very ornate and colorful with lots of gold leafing. The un-renovated parts have been faded over time, show several layers of peeling paint and are less vibrant than the renovated sections. Because of our schedule, we were only able to walk from one side of the city to the other, pretty much in a straight line. We did not have time to see inside any of the buildings or to see any of the rooms. Even that took us a couple of hours to walk and at times it felt like the Forbidden City was the never ending city.

From there we went to lunch and were served the world famous Peking Duck. It was a traditional Chinese lunch with the highlight being the duck. It was very good and today we even got to use forks!

After lunch we drove about an hour and a half to The Great Wall. It was so exciting to get to see this icon in full living color. The reality of being in China and halfway around the world really set in. We felt like we were standing in a postcard. No, we did not climb to the top - there were only two in our group that did, and one of them was a thirteen year old boy. We did go up to the first observation tower and decided that was far enough for us. The steps were very steep, unlevel and have worn with time so that they are somewhat rounded. It made it very difficult to go up and coming down was even worse.

After the Great Wall we got on our bus to drive back to the city of Beijing and drove by the Olympic Village and several of the Olympic stadiums, including the one that will host the opening and closing ceremonies. It was very cool to see. Also on the way back, our guide Dennis, walked us through Children's Hope orientation and prepared us for the reality that we will be getting our daughter in two days. It was a chance for reality to sink in once again that we will actually have Madison in our arms so soon.

For dinner, several of the families in our group decided to try out Pizza Hut after having had traditional Chinese food for the last two days. It was a welcomed familiar meal to us and gave us even more opportunity to talk with and get to know the other families in our group.

Today we depart Beijing and fly to Hefei, the capital city of the Anhui province. This is where we will get Madison sometime tomorrow morning! We can't wait!!

All in all God is good and we have had a wonderful experience here. We can't wait to share all of the beautiful culture from Madison's home land with her someday. We can't believe that this long journey will see our prayers answered tomorrow when we hold our baby girl in our arms. Once again thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We truly can feel them here. The next time we get a chance to blog we will have a little one on our knee.

God Bless,
Angie and Mike (headed to Hefei)

P.S. - Everyone loved our Madison shirts.

We have arrived . . .

Well, our butts are black and blue and we can't feel our legs, but we have arrived in Beijing. We are one cell phone lighter (we are checking to see if the airline found it) but other than that we are doing well.

The trip was absolutely grueling. We had a two hour flight to D.C. and had virtually no layover before we boarded our 747 for the next 14 hours. We now know why they charge so much for business class and first class tickets - because they are worth every penny (at least on a flight like this). We both feel like we have now been through a full 24 hours worth of labor to deliver Madison to us, and like real labor, it will all be forgotten soon.

We have gotten checked into the hotel and our guide took us out to eat with another family that arrived at the same time we did. We ate real Chinese food at a real Chinese restaurant. Nothing too exotic yet - very yummy stuff. We didn't have forks though, so that was a little interesting.

We walked around downtown Beijing this evening soaking in the Chinese culture and loving it. We went to a local market (very big Wal-Mart type, but not Wal-Mart and two stories). We had to learn how to drive their shopping carts, because all four wheels swivel on them, unlike the one in our grocery stores that only have two wheels that swivel. We also got to experience being the minority and having lots of stares in our direction.

Tomorrow we will have a full day of touring. We are excited to see the Great Wall, The Forbidden City and TianAnMen Square.

If you want to send us an e-mail, please send it to thewinemillers@bellsouth.net. We will try to check that one as often as possible.

Sorry about no pictures. The connection is not very fast and it is taking too long to download.

God Bless,
Angie and Mike (in Beijing)

Our bags are packed . . .

Our bags are packed and we are ready to go. Our nearly two and a half year wait will come to an end in four days when we will finally get to meet Madison Elisabeth! We can't wait!

Our long journey to this joyous occasion begins bright and early tomorrow morning as we begin a full day of travel long before the sun wakes up. Before our long anticipated meeting on Monday, we will have a chance to see some of the sights of Beijing (The Great Wall, TianAnMen Square and the Forbidden City), soak up some of the Chinese culture and see the busy preparations taking place for the 2008 Olympics.

Check back often. We plan on keeping the blog updated as often as possible why we are in China.

God Bless,
Angie and Mike

Madison will be home by the end of September!

Our travel dates have been confirmed! Madison will be home by the end of September!!!


CONFIRMED TRAVEL DATES (ANHUI)

Thurs, Sept 13: Leave the United States

Fri, Sept 14: Arrive in Beijing

Sat, Sept 15: Sightseeing in Beijing (TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, & the Great Wall (Juyongguan); Lunch is included.; & Children's Hope International Orientation

Sun, Sept 16: Fly to Hefei

Mon, Sept 17: Receive your child, sign initial adoption paperwork

Tues,Sept 18: to Friday Sept 21 - adoption process, sightseeing and free days

Sat, Sept 22: Fly to Guangzhou

Sun,Sept 23: Free day

Mon, Sept 24: medical exam for children

Tues, Sept 25: ACS appts

Wed, Sept 26: get visa back late

Thurs, Sept 27: Departure from Guangzhou back to the United States


Angie and Mike

We have our papers

We received our Chinese visas today, after sending our original passports off to a Chinese Consulate officially certified courier service in Houston and after sweating each day that we really had know idea where our passports were located. We are now official. We have our papers.

Our tentative travel dates have been set. We are still waiting to receive our travel approval which we hopefully be received today and then our agency needs to confirm our appointment time at the American Consulate in China. Once that is done, we will know our travel dates for certain. The tentative itinerary is as follows:

TENTATIVE TRAVEL DATES FOR HUNAN AND ANHUI GROUPS

Thurs, Sept 13: Leave the US
Fri, Sept 14: Arrive in Beijing
Sat, Sept 15: Sightseeing in BJ (TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, & the Great Wall (Juyongguan); Lunch is included.; & CHI Orientation
Sun, Sept 16: Fly to Changsha for Hunan families; fly to Hefei for

Anhui families. If you want to skip BJ, please arrive in your provincial capital city this AFTERNOON.
Mon, Sept 17: Receive your child, sign initial adoption paperwork
Tues,Sept 18: to Friday Sept 21 - adoption process, sightseeing and free days
Sat, Sept 22: Fly to GZ
Sun,Sept 23: Free day
Mon, Sept 24: medical exam for children
Tues, Sept 25: ACS appts (first choice) (other choices will be on Wed or Thursday)
Wed, Sept 26: get visa back late (do not make travel plans to return on this date)
Thurs, Sept 27: Departure from Guangzhou back to the US (depending on ACS appt date)

Angie and Mike

Introducing . . . Madison Elisabeth

After waiting and waiting and waiting . . . we are happy to announce the referral of our beautiful daughter, Madison Elisabeth. Madison was born July 1, 2006 and is currently waiting for us at the Lujiang Social Welfare Institute located in the Anhui province of China.

As of her last medical exam in May, Madison weighed 22 pounds, was 29½ inches tall and had six teeth. Her Chinese name, given to her by the orphanage, is Lu Xia Ye and is a reference to the season of summer. We are told she is healthy, active and quick. She loves playing games, has a ready smile and laughs out loud quite often.

We expect to make our long journey to her in about two month’s time. We cannot wait to get her home and introduce her to everyone.

Thank you to all of you who have lent your support, kind words and prayers over the past two years. The waiting is almost over!

Angie and Mike

We are next in line!

Our time has nearly come. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their offices before November 14, 2005.

Our log-in date is November 16, 2005 so we should be receiving information on our daughter with the next batch of referrals the CCAA sends out - about one month from now. Travel to China is usually about two months after a referral is received. This would put us in China around the beginning of October.

We are very excited!

Love,

Angie and Mike

Happy (Lunar) New Year!

Xin Nain Kuai Le!
(Happy New Year!)

Sunday, February 18th marks the beginning of the lunar (Chinese) New Year. It will be the year 4705 on the Chinese calendar and the beginning of the Year of the Pig (Boar). It will also be the year we bring our baby girl home!

So, as they say in Mandarin:

Gong Xi Fa Cai
(May prosperity be with you!)

P.S. - It is a Chinese belief that the later children stay up on New Year’s Eve, the longer their parents will live.




P.P.S - Wait time has exceeded fifteen months now!