Some new pictures and a short post....

I have been extremely busy with a new baby and the holiday's. Jia had a blast eating paper and putting everything possible into her mouth. We are off the St. Louis soon to visit my side of the family. Jia will love her cousins. I will try to update more often... trying to get the hang of this mommy thing still.

Jia at Grandma's

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Orli....check out my shoes

Jia just loved your shoes so much she HAD get a pair of her own. Miss you! We watched some videos today and I laughed at all my friends.
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Baby so tired....

And Mommy and Daddy are too.

She is still on China time. Wants to sleep all afternoon and play at night. She is in a deep sleep in the afternoon too. Today Jay let her sleep an hour and a half and she was falling asleep and smiling while Daddy was feeding her. Too funny.
Last night was the first night she slept four hours straight. Would not fall back asleep so she ended up in bed again but this time we had one cat, two dogs, one baby and mommy and daddy in a queen size bed. A bit crowded.
We are going to try our best keeping her awake today and hopefully she'll sleep more than four hours.
We brought the animals home last night as well and she is not really fond of the dogs. Sookie loves her and Peanut looks like we betrayed her.
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Bunnies slippers

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Consulate appointment today

We have our consulate appointment this afternoon. Two more nights at the White Swan Hotel and we get to come home. Yippee! Tired of living out of a suit case.
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Dianjiang Girls

Jia Lan is not so happy in this group photo but I have to share. From the left is Jia Jia, Airis, Jia Lan and Orli Jia-Mei.
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Happy red couch photo

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Barbie

We got our Barbie yesterday.
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Medical Exam, Visa photo and other adventures

Yesterday 11/30 we had to walk over to get Jia's photo taken for her visa and her medical exam for the US.
The whole exam took about 10 minutes. They checked her hearing, vision, heart, lungs, weight and height. Little girl weighed 20.4 lbs. She was very good for her exam and only cried when the nurse took her away to weigh her.
Next we were off to the pearl market. Really good prices on strands of pearls. Purchased a necklace, bracelet and earrings for Jia.
Came back to the hotel so Jia could take a nap and then grabbed a bite to eat with Ted, Corey and Orli Jia-Mei. Jia Lan was not on her best behavior at dinner. I am thinking it was from all the running and missing her morning nap.
Today we have to hang around the hotel at for a phone call. Kathy and Jason are taking our paperwork to the US Consulate today and will give us a call and let us know if there are any questions or if everything is OK. At 12:30 all the babies are going to get their photos taken on the red couch. Bought a cute dress for Jia to wear. More to come.....
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Break through and tour day

From yesterday 11/29/09

Just wanted you to know that Jia is letting her daddy hold her today without causing a fuss. She is starting to realize that I am not going anywhere and is letting Jay get closer to her. We had issues when we went to the regisration office for her adoption. This is the place where we picked her up and she didn't like it. Of course I don't know what was going on in her little head but since that day she went backwards with Jay. She would let Jay feed and change her in the morning since I would sneak out of the room before she would see me.... in the past once she saw me it was history but now she is sees me and doesn't cause a fuss. She is even letting me leave the room and she doesn't cry.

Today we toured the city of Guangzhou. First stop was the Six Banyans Temple to see a Pagoda and be blessed by the monks. Jia was taking a nap in the carrier which she does well while we check out the Pagona. The smell of insense was overwhelming. Jia and myself went it to get blessed and it was to funny....Jia was in a deep sleep and once the Monk started beating his drum and chanting she woke up and started bobbing her little head.

Next stop was the Folk Art Museum which was built 100 years ago. Beautiful cravings on the outside of the buildings and beautiful artwork for sale.

Third stop was the Guangzhou local arts and craft store run by the Guangzhou Municipal Government. The artist working there were talented. This young lady was painting inside tiny bottles and glass globes, another lady was painting intricate artwork on porcelain vases and the list goes on.
Headed back to the hotel and a couple of other fellow families went to grab a bite to eat and enjoy an ice cold local beer. Jia is taking her nap and then it is a group dinner at the Cow and Bridge Restaurant for some Thai Food. Yummy! I dig Thai.

Tomorrows agenda...visa photo and a medical exam for Jia. This leg of our a journey is for the US of A. Talk to you all later and her is a snap shoot of the museum.
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We made it to Guangzhou

We made it to Guangzhou with no issues.
Jia handled the plane like an old pro. I think the only issue we may have is keeping her occupied on the plane ride home.
Paperwork tonight and off to the Buddhist Temple tomorrow.
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Ready to go to Guangzhou

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RAWR!!!!! I am a dinosaur

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Bath time fun

Jia does not like taking a bath at all. I don't know if it was always this way or she is just not used to the baby bath tub on the hotel room. Take her out of the water and she is fine. Gotta run! Group photo.
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This is for you Carrie and Matt

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Day at the Chongqing Zoo

Little Ham Bone ....this is Jia Lan's nick name, actually its Lan Lan but she is a character.
Today we took a trip to the Chongqing Zoo to see the giant Panda and few other animals. Last night Jia decided she prefers me holding her instead of Jay so I strapped on the baby carrier and stuck her in and boy does she love it. She gets to face out and see all the action. She did fabulous on our outing. She loves being on the move, outside and around people. She was hamming it up with some local Chongqing women at the Zoo laughing at them and showing them her crinkle nose smile. Too cute! All the outdoor activities wore her out and she fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel. Got her back to the room, Jay mixed up her medicine with some water and sugar and put it in her sippy cup, which worked better than mixing it in her formula (Thanks Ann!) then Jay went to get Jia some Congee for lunch. Come to find out the girl loves food more than formula. She is not a picky eater either....good for us.
Speaking of traveling.... by auto or bus it is an adventure in itself in Chongqing. I am quite surprised that there are not more accidents. Oh and you better get out of the way because pedestrians do not have the right of way. You'll get honked at.....that is all I hear from our hotel room.

The weather is wonderful in Chongqing. No rain.... just extremely foggy which I hear its foggy all the time. I would say it is around 50 to 60 degrees outside and that is cold to the people of Chongqing. In the summer I hear it's miserable 110 degrees and very humid. Dressed Jia in layers today for our outing, she is a sweaty baby and tomorrow it will be more in the same. Heading to Old Town tomorrow hoping we can find some treasures there.
Talk tomorrow!
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Jia day three

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Just a picture....

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More about Jia Day

Yesterday was a busy day for us. In the morning we had to fill out all the paperwork for Jia's adoption once that was done we headed underneath the hotel and Anita showed us were the grocery store and good restaurants were. I swear it is like Vegas or the local casino. Clouds and blue sky painted on the ceiling and cigarette smoke lingering in the background.

We grabbed a small bite to eat and met everyone in the lobby by two o'clock then started our five minute walk next door to meet the babies. I could spot Ted and Corey's little one but for the life of me I could not spot our Jia. All the girls from the Dianjiang SWI were there. Jeff and Teresa were the first up, then us and then Ted and Corey.

Jia was not happy at all. She cried the entire time we were at the registration office. She was not happy that we were holding her either, she kept pushing us away and wouldn't look us in the eye. My heart was breaking for her....she was so sad. Brought her back to the room and it didn't get much better. She was needing a diaper change which helped for five minutes and then she was back to crying. She cried for five hours and kept calling for Nai Nai which means Grandma in Chinese. I think she had a belly ache from all the traveling because once I started rubbing her belly she went to sleep. Woke up smiling, drank some juice and had a good poop.... all was good in the world.
Dr stopped by the room to check her out. Found out she has had a cold and was in the hospital because she was dehydrated. Dr gave us some antibiotics and some cough medicine so hopefully she will be feeling better soon.

She is a sweaty little thing too. I am afraid if I go lighter on the layers she'll get chilled and her cold won't get better. Thank goodness for Jeff and Teresa next door. They have raised five boys and are there to help us with our questions.
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Start of day two...

Jia woke up this morning a happy girl. I was concerned if she would be in shock but she was smiling and babbling.
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Finally got a smile!

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Jia Day

We just picked up Jia two hours ago and boy she is not happy. Very hard on her. Once we got back to the room we changed her diaper and she went right to sleep. More to come.
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We made it

We made it to Chongqing. Getting everything ready for tomorrow. I will upload pictures if I am able.
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Chongqing

We made it to Chongqing. Do you see what's in the picture? Can't wait.
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Hong Kong last night and our last day.....

We walked around Hong Kong last night and everything was decorated for Christmas. We don't even feel like we are in China. I could actually live in Hong Kong with no problem.
Heading off to Chongqing in five hours and we will arrive around 8:25 pm. We will do some paperwork when we get in tonight and try to get some sleep before the big day tomorrow. Hugs to everyone!
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Oh so sleepy.

Just waking up from my cat nap and I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Going to head out and see all the Christmas lights and see a laser light show. I would like to stay up a few more hours so I can sleep through the night tonight.
Group 1515 will get their girls tomorrow. So excited for them and can't wait to meet up in Guangzhou.
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Hong Kong....

We just made it into Hong Kong. Time is 5:30 am Saturday morning we should have made it in on Friday night at 8:30 pm.
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Newark.....

Newark is a beautiful city.... from the airport window. Our flight has been delayed 5.5 hours. We were supposed to fly out at 3:30 and now we are delayed until 9:00. Looks like we will get into Hong Kong around 2:00 am.
Positive point....it's going to be dark by the time we leave so I can take a cat nap and we're going to China.
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Phone setup for China.....check

Set up my phone for China. I will be updating and sending pictures this way instead of lugging around the laptop. For those of you that only have my work email address my personal email is kelly_hurst@sbcglobal.net
We leave tomorrow morning!
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Getting ready to travel .....

Started packing today and I think I have everything for Jia ready to go. Tomorrow I will work on packing up our things. Last time I looked the weather in Chongqing was in the 30's and Guangzhou was much warmer. Layers I suppose.....

Things to do tomorrow... pack, clean the house, finish up any extra laundry that appears and run some errands. Wednesday??? Thursday..... we are on a plane to China!!

Whew!!

Airline tickets purchased today. Whew!!!
I haven't been this stressed in quite a while. Airline tickets to China, work stuff, everything that we NEED to take to China and making sure we have everything for the Jia when we get back. We're getting it done.... slowly ... but we are getting it done.

Updated photos

New pictures of Jia arrived today! Here's one of them.
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We're going to China!

We need to start booking tickets! Need to arrive in Hong Kong on 11-22 and the we'll be in Chongqing on 11-22! Consulate appointment was confirmed today!
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We got our TA's!!

We received word for our agency that they received Travel Approval for our family!! We will be leaving for China the third full week of November! We'll have Jia by Thanksgiving. This will be a Thanksgiving that we will never forget. Can't wait to get our little girl. Chongqing here we come.

We got our Visa's today!!!

Hooray!! We got our Visa's today. We can now go to China! Well.... we do have to wait for the travel arrangements.

Got a call from our agency yesterday and they are telling us we'll either leave on 11/19 or 11/26. OMG!! As soon as 16 days... gulp. I am ready to go get Jia but my house may not be so ready. Oh well, if it's not done... it's not done.

Jia's Bedroom ....

Jia's bedroom is almost done. Just a few finishing touches and it will be complete. This room was known as the "catch all room" if it didn't have a home this is where it lived. We removed the wallpaper, removed the popcorn ceiling, painted the trim, replaced the doors and painted the walls. Now I am trying to get the rest of the projects around the house done before we bring her home. It's never ending.

Where is Jia....

Jia is at the Dianjiang County Social Welfare Institute in Chongquig Municipality. Research-China.org has some information about the area. I have contacted Brian about getting Jia's finding ad. Finding ads are published by the orphanage as the first step for international adoption. The photos used in the ads pre-date a child's referral photo by several months. Additionally, information contained in the ads is very valuable to adoptive families, especially those who have not traveled yet.

We have a name....

We have decided to keep her given name which is Jia Lan.

We are going to send a care package this week and I am leaning towards Ann with Redthread China. I need to get on the ball and dig up some pictures to put in the photo book. We are going to send the PJ package too.

This weekend was busy!! Trying to get every last home project done before we travel to China. This weekend we bought nine new doors for the upstairs and guess what.... every single one of them is about 1/8 of an inch to big. Nothing is as easy as it seems. Sunday was all about Jia, we went BabiesRUs and added some items to the registry and went clothes shopping for baby. Jay had a hay day!! I also started working on the travel paperwork and oh my is it overwhelming. These few weeks will fly by!!

Mommy and Daddy love you Jia and we'll be coming to get you soon. :o)

We are in love.....

We received baby girls information yesterday via "FedEx stork", signed the LOA (letter of acceptance) and ran out to Kinko's to catch the last FedEx drop.

She's beautiful and we are so in love!!

Do you notice that I am calling her baby girl??

Well, a while back Jay decided that Isabel wasn't "the name" anymore and really I am fine with that. I really love the name she has now....Jia Lan which means beautiful orchid. Love it! Still working on Jay but I think I am convincing him.....

Let me introduce......

Jiang Jia Lan was born on February 13, 2009 from the Dianjiang County Social Welfare Institute in Chongqing Province.

Isn't she beautiful!!

Has been in the orphanage since February 14, 2009.

Two teeth

Moderate sleeper

Holds head up

Rolls over

Grasps toys

Ready smiles

Closest to her caretaker

AND!!!! We travel in 5-6 weeks.

Tomorrow is the day!

Agency received the referrals today. We'll get the call tomorrow.
Can't wait to see that face!!

No rumor .... this is a fact.

Europe is starting to make phone calls!!
Hoping that our agency gets the package today!! If that is the case we'll hear tomorrow. Our agency always calls the day after they receive them in the mail.

We'll get to see that beautiful face soon! Can't wait to share.

Fly stork Fly.....

Rumors are floating around that the box at C2A2 has changed and the cut off date is 3.28.06. This could mean our referral is on the way.

Fingers and toes crossed!!

Rain, Rain go away.....

Time to break out the rain gear.

We are heading to Columbia, MO to see the Mizzou / Nebraska game tonight and of course rain is in the forecast all day long. JOY!!
We did get a hotel room since it is an eight o'clock game and none of us want to make the two hour journey back home. I am actually thinking that "tailgating" in the hotel room is sounding pretty good. Don't get me wrong I don't mind getting wet but when it's 40 degrees outside I mind getting wet. BRRRRR!
Go Tigers!!

This quote hits the spot....

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."-Joseph Campbell

Should I get excited.....

Are referrals arriving this week OR in the next two weeks???

There is news that a package has left China... is it referrals or TA's (travel arrangements) for last months referrals?? Whatever is in this package I am not holding my breath that they are referrals. Nope...not gonna do it.... absolutely not.

I had in my heart that we would have received our referral last week and when it didn't arrive....... I was sad and upset.

With that being said I am just gonna think they are coming the week of 10/12..... if they arrive earlier than that. Yeah for Jay and I!!!!

42 months......

Three years and six months waiting for baby. Enough said.............

There's a peep today.....

Word is another agency is saying the 29th is in the upcoming batch. Wonderful news!! I have met some great people with an April LID that really would like for the March peeps to get out of their way.
Now let's get that stork flying.....

Still quiet....

No news is floating around there today. Hoping for next week.

Tick, tock, tick, tock..... part four

Nada..... just going back to my numb state for a while..... wake me up if you hear anything.

Tick, tock, tick, tock..... part three

Still nothing. I thought for sure we would hear something by now.

Could they really be waiting to send everything out right before their extended holiday???

Grateful that I am busy at work but I am still ready to see that face.

Game day!!!!

Keeping our mind off other things.
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