Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Fun Times



Well we are at the point where Haley can't crawl but is just dying to walk. She is actually pulling herself up but boy is she wobbly after that. I think the walkers in the orphanage have just conditioned her to move her feet without thinking about things....and boy oh boy does your back get sore just doing laps around the kitchen. She hates anything that confines her...jolly jumper...exersaucer....the girl wants to move and walk! I swear she will be going soon...and we are in for lots of falling and crying!

A little Peking Duck for Lunch!

Christmas fun

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Barb's Favorite Things


I'm very pink and very fantastic. My mother will not take this outfit off!
PS her mother loves it!

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Auntie Sue Blogs


Ahh, the parents and grandparents are inspecting the child's bum. I myself can't quite tell what this is all about. They seem quite intrigued...strange. Eh, what do I know about these things! (Ans: nothing). However, in all the bum excitement they left me to do the blogging - ah finally, something I know a thing or two about!
Haley loves her new cow flashlight (who comes up with these toys?). All in all, Christmas may be a wee bit lost on her - but that won't faze her family a bit. We'll dazzle her with sensory overload -and as usual it will all end with the spoon from China! As it should!
Has it only been three weeks? Seems impossible, Haley has already changed so much... She's such a joy - a squiggly, giggly worm! Wish you all could see her!

Merry Christmas!

Friday, December 23, 2005

Christmas Countdown


Luckily for us Haley hasn't figured out Christmas. She probably thinks we have a tree all the time. She's good with it. We are great with this. I know.....our time is coming. This is our usual position after bathtime. I call them the 3B's bath, bottle, bed. Down by 8:45 tonight and up at 8 probably. Alas, this is Andy's weekend...he thinks he might sleep in until 11:00. I think he explained this to Haley before the last B. I don't think she was listening. It doesn't really seem like Christmas to us. Probably because the last month has just been one giant fantastic holiday! With so many good wishes and lovely gifts and a fantastic little girl that continues to amaze us. Today I think she actually enjoyed tummy time.
We also went to Calgary to catch up with our great new friends. Megan, Lily, Kendra from China as well. We also saw Matthew, Sarah and Joshua. What fun. Megan and Haley slept beside each other in China. Though we missed Wei Ling. Warm wishes to Mike, Sheri and Wei Ling.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Sleepy Haley


I'm going a little overboard with postings today but I thought I should share that Haley is changing so much. Physically she moves around so much more than when we first got her and she didn't even like sitting on her own. She now twists herself all over the place, tries standing, loves walking with someone holding her (ps. jen your walker toy is are all time favorite. We do tummy time all the time and she is so much better. I think she is getting some real shoulder muscles. Go Haley Go.

Daddy & Haley



Everyoe likes the pictures of Andy and Haley. And they look fantastic together.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Life goes On

So life has mellowed. We are trying to find our groove. It took us about one week to convert to Canadian time...nobody else is wide awake from 2-4am so really we had no choice. One absolutely delightful change has been Haley's desire to sleep from about 9pm-8pm. I know that we are so lucky. Nap times are still a bit of a puzzle....sometimes she goes down and sometimes no. Partly my fault....consistency is probably key...we will get it. Her mother has to figure this out too. Meals are easy...she loves food and thus I can make too many sweet potatoes and freeze the leftovers for later. My mom and dad arrived for Christmas a few days after we got back, which was a little difficult at first, just because Haley was on a different schedule but it has been great to hand off Haley in the mornings for a bit while I get some stuff done. My lovely mother has also been cooking dinner at night. Wow this is very nice. My dad has been fixing everything in the house which has also been a huge help. As everyone who has been to our house....our screen door was never quite right. And boy oh boy do I have shelves now! This is going to change and well with all the beautiful help that everyone has been offering we will miss our grandparents dreadfully but other wonderful friends will help out. Life changes and true friends go on. Thanks everyone.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

The longest day


It's not that I don't feel pretty good from midnight until 4am, but we can't keep this up. So we have kept her up as much as possible today. Only 2 quick naps. Hopefully we are so exhausted that we will not feel the need to get up at midnight. I'm not exactly counting on this. But we have to go this way.

Coolest Toys


Okay so she has the coolest exersaucer and what does she prefer?...the lid off a margarine container.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Saturday at Midnight




Okay, there are no good ways to convince a baby that the time zone change requires a different sleeping pattern for a few days. Does this look like someone who is ready for bed? Sleeping is hard work around here. Tomorrow I don't think we will be allowing any extensive napping. We just have to exhaust someone here. Really life is pretty good she just gave me a famous "bah" and is presently fixated on the cookie I gave her. Well in my blogging I forget to look at her and she is a little tippy and she conked her head on the computer. So I think we will play some more in the dark. Considering that she probably thinks she is in the strangest place where midday is dark and midnight is light...she is coping surprisingly well.

Friday, December 09, 2005

December 9th - Haley's Home







We are finally home in Canada and were able to sleep in our own bed – at least a little bit. The last 36 hours or so have been quite exhausting with all the travel and stuff but life in Canada will soon be back to normal. That’s our goal anyway.

We were packed and on the bus heading to the Beijing airport at 1:00pm Beijing time on December 8th (that’s 10:00pm December 7th for those of you in Alberta). After a quick 45 minute trip or so we were at the airport and went through the various tasks for international flights which in Beijing includes a five step process (departure kiosk, baggage unloading, quarantine desk, security clearance and one final departure desk). Everything went very smoothly and we were at the gate at about 3:00pm for our flight at 5:45pm.

We were very concerned about how Haley would react on the flight as her only previous flight from Nanchang to Beijing was a bit of a nightmare – especially for the parents who are troubled when little Haley is not her normal happy self. But wonders of wonders Haley fell asleep on the plane before take off and didn’t wake up until we are leveled off some 30,000 feet or so in the air. Not a peep. The flight takes about 11 hours to Vancouver and we only had two economy class seats for the three of us so the comfort factor was not high. Still, Haley had a GREAT flight by all accounts. She played with us and her grandparents for the first couple of hours. Then she had her first taste of ice cream and could not stop licking her lips afterwards. Given it was nighttime in China, Haley then slept for about five hours straight and woke up about an hour before we landed. A bit more food, a quick trip around the plane and she fell asleep again for the landing. What luck. We landed about 12:30pm on December 8th Vancouver time. There were 29 babies on board (all adopted just like Haley) and many were screamers so the rest of us got very little sleep.

Once on Canadian soil, we had to pass through customs (which took forever) and then we were off to immigration to get Haley’s paperwork processed. The folks in the immigration area had been pre-warned about us and all the babies were fast tracked so it only took a few minutes. Then we got our luggage and were off for our next flight – our last flight for a while – to Calgary at 3:15pm Vancouver time. We cleared security (and Andy promptly forgot the baby carrier at the security desk – something we still haven’t got back but are trying) and were at the gate by about 2:00pm. Haley was irritable by this time and we again worried about the take off and landing. We got on the plane as scheduled and she was quite annoyed. However, wonders of wonders, she fell asleep on the taxi ride and didn’t wake up again until after we landed in Calgary. Can you believe our luck?

Well our luck was about to come to an end. Andy went to get the car at Park ‘n Jet while Barb waited with Haley and the luggage in the nice warm airport. Haley would need to go into her car seat for the upcoming 90 minute care ride. Haley was gently placed in the car seat and was then strapped in to the back seat with her mommy. Instantly panic set in as Haley has never seen such a device and couldn’t see outside which she loved to do on the busses in China. She cried and cried and cried for what seemed like five hours but truthfully was only about 20 minutes while we crossed Calgary. Her parents couldn’t bear to see her in such distress and finally relented and took her out of the car seat. Very illegal of course and not at all smart but we just couldn’t take it – we are weak. We will need to get her a bigger car seat and one that she can see out of the windows from.

Once we got home – Auntie Sue was waiting for Haley and made sure that everything was ready. By this time it was after 8:00pm Calgary time on December 8th. By my math then it was a 22 hour trip door to door. Haley quickly warmed up to Auntie Sue and one of those big smiles and Auntie Sue was also hooked. We played with her, ordered some pizza for ourselves, gave her some food and formula, and by midnight we tried to get her into bed. Andy was already in bed and Barb took her to bed with her to ensure she was comfortable. Haley slept a little bit off and on but it was the middle of the day in her world so the sleeping thing is just not going to work perfectly. By 4:15am Barb was relieved of her duties and Andy played with her. Naturally at 4:45pm she pooped and Andy was again alone to deal with this mess. A little more playing and another bottle and Haley fell asleep just after 6:00am. Then Barb, Andy and Haley all slept through until almost 11:00am. Not bad considering.

When Haley awoke, she was all out of sorts. And who could blame her. This was her fourth home in just over two weeks and everything again was new. Between the travel, her persistent cold, and all her new surroundings she was not herself. However, as usual she quickly adjusted and began playing again – with three people all huddled around her to make sure every little need was satisfied.

As I write this edition of the blog, she is again asleep in our bed. She has taken over our lives and our bed. The first two pictures attached are Haley in our bed in Canada. The next three are of Haley in the hotel room in Beijing on our last morning.

Thanks to all who have contributed comments to our website – we could not read the comments in China but have now read each and every one of them and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks also to everyone who helped out in China including Gary and Joyce who were more help then they can imagine. We also met lots of new friends in China and will maintain contacts with some Calgary families for years to come.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

December 8th - Travel Day

Okay, it is 7:30 in the morning. Little Haley was up at 5:30. She gave us one of her famous "bah". Now she has fallen asleep again, on her father, and taken a dump. Her father is refusing to put her in her crib. hehehehehe Boy has she got him figured out already. Not only is she very stinky, but she is also sound asleep. I think I'll go down for breakfast!

Her favorite words are aba, dah and bah. Which she will repeat in a variety of ways but her favorite is definitey bah, sometimes softly, or quickly or loudly, but it is always Bah. Now much to her father's delight (taking the present stinky sleeping situation into consideration) Bah bah means daddy in mandarin. Now to an english guy repeating bah bah or da da (her other favorite word)this is all good. Her father is hooked. Yep I think I'll go for breakfast. See you all very soon!

December 7th - Last Full Day in China

Today is our last full day in China. Due to the unexpected virus that attacked Barb, there was no sightseeing today by Barb or Andy. Instead a leisurely day was had by all.

In the evening a “Farewell to China” party was planned for the group by FOI complete with a magician, dancer, cake and presents. It was quite good and by 8:00pm or so everyone was ready to get back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep. Haley has been great again but has not had much sleep yet today. Grandma and Grandpa have played with her a great deal and she has enjoyed every second of it. It is now about 10:00pm on our next to last day in China and I can tell you that I will not forget a minute of it. Despite a few rough patches it has been simply awesome. A beautiful healthy baby girl will soon be landing in Canada for good. We cannot wait until you all get to meet her. We are ready to come home and begin our new life with our precious gift from China. It gives the whole "Made in China" logo a new twist for us.

This is the last communication that we will have from China. We will chat more when we arrive back in Canada. We hope that all are well.

December 6th - Bargain Hunting

Well – today was an interesting day to say the least. Not one of our better days. More to come.

The day started off with the usual breakfast and then it was off to the textiles market for some bargain shopping – and I do mean bargains. We purchased lots of neat little things including some outfits for Haley (for when she gets a little older) and some shoes (Barb loves the shoes even if they’re not for her).

Because of our busy schedule, we decided that only one of us should visit the afternoon outing which was a trip to see the “Summer Palace”. Barb went on this trip while Andy stayed home (the hotel room is now just like home) with young Haley. Then Andy would go sightseeing tomorrow while Barb stayed home with Haley.

Andy and Haley had a whale of a time. Andy changed his first diaper EVER on his own which was a very large and polluted mess. 15 wipes were required and the process took at least 30 minutes in total. Let’s hope that the learning curve is fast on this one.

Here’s where the day gets bad. Barb, while sightseeing, begins to feel nauseous and begins to cramp up. Let’s just say that nothing would stay in Barb and she gets back to the hotel at about 5:30pm or so a few pounds lighter. Whatever she picked up gets worse and worse and by 8:30 pm the doctor is called (actually it was a very nice man in our group who is a doctor – as luck would have it, there are four doctors in our group). Anyways to make a long story short it was a very long night and Barb was feeling much better in the morning and was completely recovered by dinner time the next evening. Joyce and Gary helped out with Haley which was very much appreciated by Andy and Barb.

As for Haley – she is still just a joy. She did not seem to even notice the festivities and was in bed by 10:00pm for a good nights sleep. Sorry, no pictures today as the days events did not lend themselves well to pictures.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Auntie Sue Speaks - Again...

I must begin by complimenting Barb on this whole blog idea. It is fabulous, I love it. And when I read the comments, I can see just how many others share my opinion. In a small way, it’s like we are all right there with you. It also has the unique ability to bring together your geographically dispersed extended family! Not only do us bloggers get to travel with you, but to read the comments, allows us to feel the excitement of others that know and love you. What an amazing thing. You’d think this thing would be a bit impersonal, but it is exactly the opposite….

I have heard through the grapevine that the Euro relatives love it too. Too frightened to post a comment, I suppose. I am hoping that a good taunt will coax them to try (I mean YOU, Manuela!). I do feel a bit spoiled being able to post to the site…but not so spoiled that I won’t take advantage of my ability to share my feelings with the (quite large) viewing audience!

Two more sleeps and I will get to meet my niece for the first time! The home town is a buzz. Everywhere I go people tell me about the blog…you really have no idea! Haley has so many fans – she’s become quite the media darling!

Haley, first thing, we’ll put those exhausted parents of yours to bed and we’ll hang out. We’ll chat, just aunt to niece stuff, you know. We’ll laugh at your parents, you’ll spit up, I’ll pee myself, whatever! We can switch it up, I’ll spit up, you can pee! It doesn’t really matter what we do, I just can’t wait to finally meet you.

Two more sleeps…

Monday, December 05, 2005

December 5th - Pearl Market





Hey its Barb again. Wow this is quite the trip! You can read that literally and in slang “trip”. I have been so exhausted at night I just let Andy do the blog. Last night Andy was in charge of our potentially crying girl. Mama got to sleep. It is hard to sleep, I just worry too much. Is she cold, hot……breathing…you know that kind of thing. FOI has quite the schedule and so much to do. Haley and her parents are skipping the silk market today…..Gary and Joyce are going. I really would like to get rid of Haley’s cold which has been persistent. A little regular napping and Tylenol should get rid of it. It is so hard to be consistent on all the outings. I really have so much to be thankful for, she will eat anything, she is happy, and she only has a little cold. Some of the other kids have ear infections, some have had fevers, and others will not eat. Haley is a big girl and a busy girl. Loves to move around and look at things. Switching to Canadian formula was very easy, we could have brought more. However, she has absolutely no desire for Cheerios. Well, only as a play toy. They are great to throw on the floor. We have the right amount of clothes for us and Haley. Her favorite toy is a spoon, the lid from her bottles and the rolling balls that make noise. I think we will need to haul out some Tupperware at home.

Our hotel room is a mess, stuff everywhere. Her parents look tired. It is a true joy to have Gary and Joyce along with us.

What about Beijing….Bei means North and Jing means capital. Northern Capital. 30.8 million people. This is hard to fathom. It used to be the city of bikes it is now the city of private cars. Too many if you ask me. We could never drive here….it is chaos and the rules don’t make any sense. Traffic jams are the norm even on Sunday night. It is the strangest mix of new, old, very old and ancient. They have some very modern new buildings. Steel construction must be difficult, everything is made of concrete. The modern new buildings incorporate steel. It is why they look so “wow” modern in this city. It is a very big progressive city. Construction is everywhere, all over China. The people are absolutely lovely. You really get into the “harmony, happiness, good fortune” talk being here. They have such strong customs for eating and being social. They are very polite and from what we can see….very hard working. At the jade factory yesterday, we saw a master carver working. He makes $4/day. It was a government factory. We have received so many great greetings from the locals we meet around town. They just love our baby girl. The Chinese people have been absolutely lovely. I think they are very much looking forward to inviting the world to China for the 2008 Olympics. So much is written in English.

We visited the pearl market today – great deals on all kinds of stuff – especially pearls of course. Fresh water pearls (the less expensive of the two types of pearls) are very common in China. We purchased a bunch for what seemed like a very small amount of money ($50 CDN would buy a full strand of pearls) but not much else. Gary and Joyce are much better bargain hunters than we are. There was no planned group dinner tonight so we went out for McDonalds of all things. A chicken nugget tastes the same in China as it does in Alberta.

After dinner we went to see the Chinese national acrobatics team perform. Kind of like Cirque de Soliel – they were wonderful. Of course Haley was a bit of a handful and spit up all over daddy. Oh well – these things happen. Tomorrow we will visit another market which specializes in textiles. Talk to you then.

Explanations for pictures:

#1 – Chinese acrobatics

#2 – Haley at the Acrobatics performance

#3 – Andy feeding Haley

Sunday, December 04, 2005

December 4th - The Great Wall












Today was truly an amazing day – and the Great Wall of China had nothing to do with it. We are seeing lots of changes already in our little girl and we have not even had her a week. It makes us wonder what the next 20 or so years will be like.

The day began with the usual breakfast and then a group photo (17 families and about 50 people with several screaming babies including our little Haley). After breakfast we began to prepare for our bus ride to the Great Wall. Haley and the grandparents (bless their hearts) were not going to make the trip as the cold and wind from the day before had scared them off. Only Barb and I would make the 2 hour trip to the Great Wall and back.

It was definitely the correct decision. It was bitterly cold and windy and the babies that did go could barely get out of the bus. It was a great trip and well worthwhile but it was really really really cold and windy.

Haley had a great day with her grandparents and they tell us that she was a dream, even with the “blowout” that was experienced. We did not arrive back from our trip until almost 7:00pm and had missed our little girl more than we thought we would. She was glad to see us and we had dinner in the hotel and then played with Haley for quite some time before bed. She is quite entertaining. She does lots of things that she did not only 7 days ago such as walk (with help), play by herself on the floor and kiss herself in the mirror.

She is truly a joy and I hope that some of the pictures will capture her infectious smile. By 9:00pm both Haley and Barb were in bed (hopefully for several hours). We hope that all are doing well back in Alberta and will see you in a few days. Tomorrow is the silk market and the pearl market.

Explanations for Pictures:

#1 – Barb and Haley / Shelly and Jamie

#2 – Barb & Andy on the Great Wall

#3 – Barb on the Great Wall

#4 – Haley in her Banff Hoody

#5 – Group Photo

#6 – Haley Walking

#7 – Grandma & Haley

#8 – Barb and Haley

#9 – Haley playing before bed

#10 – Haley still playing before bed

Saturday, December 03, 2005

December 3rd - Medical and Antiques Market

Yikes – what a night – I don’t think that we are winning any awards for the best parenting skills in the world – not even on our floor of the hotel. Haley (and therefore Barb and Andy) did not get a lot of sleep last night. Haley was up every hour or so and was up for good at 5:00am or so.

She was fussy all morning. This morning we went to the medical clinic to get Haley’s checkup for Canadian immigration purposes. A clean bill of health (except for the lingering cold which we, as bad parents, have not been able to get rid of). Her actual weight was 8.5kgs which is relatively normal for North American babies and quite large for Chinese babies at 9 months. The nurse called her “chubby” in her broken English which was fairly obvious to the rest of us.

Haley was not good at the medical clinic but by 11:20am had fallen asleep on the bus and did not wake up until 1:00pm when we went to the “antiques market”. The market was very cold. I’m sure that it was minus 10 or so and windy. Haley was bundled up very well and fell asleep again until almost 4:00pm when it was time to leave. Maybe this keeping her really warm thing is the secret to making her sleep.

The market was very interesting – we got 7 small oil paintings for 210 Yuan (about 32 CDN dollars). The paintings look very similar to a Peter Wyse painting that we paid over $600 for back home – hmmm. Lots of other great deals too but we didn’t buy too much. The haggling is very interesting. Most of the merchants start off at about 5 to 10 times the amount that they will settle for. Lots of fun and easy – calculators are used to negotiate to break the language barrier.

After the market was Haley’s picture for her Canadian Visa and then off to a local restaurant at 6:00pm for more great food. Beer, soft drinks, lots of regular Chinese food and the specialty – Peking Duck – all for 30 Yuan each (about 4 - 5 CDN dollars). Then we just went back to our hotel and hung out with the grandparents – Haley really likes Joyce and Gary – and they are really good with Haley – unlike their inexperienced, but always trying, parents – we will get the hang of it though. She is a great little girl and has a smile that will melt you when you see it – you’ll see. Haley went to bed after her bath and bottle at 10:00pm just as we scheduled for a change.

There are no pictures from today as we forgot the camera. Sorry to all of our faithful subscribers. We will put twice as many pictures on tomorrow as we are off to the Great Wall of China for the day. Take Care.

Friday, December 02, 2005

December 2nd - Beijing Bound






Today is our final few hours in Nanchang before flying to the capital city of Beijing. Our morning starts with the usual breakfast (by the way the coffee leaves a lot to be desired – no Tim Hortons anywhere). Then we are off for a visit to the porcelain district. As you may be aware China is famous for its – well china. It is all very nice and really well priced and many are buying – but we hold off as it is very delicate and would be very difficult to transport.

Then it is a trip to the Chinese passport office. Haley is a Chinese citizen and requires a Chinese passport in order to travel. This is a relatively simple procedure and Haley’s photo for the passport might be the best one I have ever seen – ever.

Then we head back to the hotel to pack and have a few down hours before heading to the airport. Our flight is delayed by an hour. This is Haley’s first flight so we are not really sure how she will react. We quickly get our answer on take off – the answer is NOT GOOD. Haley screams at the top of her little lungs for what seemed like an hour but was probably closer to ten minutes until we leveled off. Then she is so exhausted from all the screaming that she simply falls asleep for the rest of the flight. There is a god.

We arrive in Beijing to cold, seemingly Canadian like weather. It is minus 3 degrees and windy. We are shuttled to a waiting bus and are off to the State Guest Hotel in Beijing. We arrive after 10:00pm and quickly go to our rooms. The hotel and the rooms are very nice.

We would love to get some sleep but Haley will not cooperate (this is new but must be due to another change of scenery for her as this is a lot for such a small person to absorb). She finally goes down about midnight. Now it is our turn. We will talk to you tomorrow about Haley’s medical and Canadian landed immigrant papers.

Explanations for pictures:

#1 – Porcelain shops

#2 – Haley at the passport office

#3 – Haley’s passport (try to look at Haley’s grin)

#4 – Haley in the airport

Thursday, December 01, 2005

December 1st - Last Day in Nanchang






Today is our final day in Nanchang and is a bit less busy than the prior three days. Haley sleeps right through from 9:00pm to 6:10am and so do Barb and Andy. What a great kid. We then change and feed Haley and have a leisurely breakfast at 8:30am. Haley has three servings of steamed egg and a full bottle of formula – this kid can eat!!!

At 10:00am Haley is feeling a bit cranky and tired so she is “unloaded” to the grandparents where she sleeps for two hours. Andy and Barb go with the group to visit a local temple. The temple has apparently been around in one form or another since 563a.d. but this current version is the 26th reproduction of the original (the Chinese usually burn them down when at war).

We get back to the hotel at 12:30pm and go out for another great Chinese lunch. Pork, chicken, beef, vegetables, and some hot dish that Joyce can’t even eat a speck of. Haley takes another full bottle and several more servings of steamed egg. With lunch completed we head back for the hotel to quickly change and go out to a local street mall for some shopping. Only one problem, on the way down from the room, our hotel elevator gets stuck between floors. Ten people and one very well dressed baby make for one hot elevator. Twenty minutes later the local mechanics get us free and we are on our way (Gary insists that the hotel buy us a drink on the house which they graciously do.)

Shopping was relatively uneventful – a small purchase for Haley. We are all waiting for Beijing where we hear that the shopping is better and cheaper. We get back to the hotel about 5:00pm and are supposed to join the group for dinner at 5:30pm but we don’t, partly because we are not tired and partly because Haley is cranky.

90% of the time Haley is absolutely wonderful and smiles and laughs. However, 10% of the time she seems fussy and agitated and we can’t figure out why. About 6:00pm tonight we checked her diaper (we’re nervous parents you see) and while there were no signs of any problems, she began to do her thing (No. 2) while she was completely naked. It got us to thinking – did the orphanage use a diaper? If not this may explain some stuff about Haley and her seemingly lack of knowledge of the whole diaper theory. We will investigate more tomorrow.

After that it was bath time and play time and then more food (of course). Then Haley went to sleep at about 8:15pm. Tomorrow we fly to Beijing so I hope that the internet is as easy to use there – we will chat with you tomorrow.

Explanations for pictures:

#1 – Haley (were you expecting someone else?)

#2 – Haley playing with Mom

#3 – Haley with Grandpa

#4 – Temple in Nanchang

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Amazing Times

I only have to add that this has been fairly easy. Haley has been eating and pooping and smiling (to the delight of everyone). She seems to be a great talker, Sue you will appreciate this. She is healthy, except for a cold. Children's tylenol is a saviour. The hydrocortizone cream and vaseline. The cream is good for small skin irritations and the vaseline is excellent. She has no diaper rash. There is so much here, at the Walmart they have Johnson and Johnson's stuff. Haley loves steamed egg and basically anything else we feed her. Other than her parent's own confusion. she is great

November 30th - The Orphanage Visit







Today is a big day as we are off to visit the orphanage. The day becomes an even bigger day when we learn a little bit more about Haley’s brief history on this earth. But first – breakfast. Haley is being quite fussy this morning and we are not sure why. She has a cold (most of the kids do) so I think that we will chalk it up to not feeling very well.

After breakfast we board our bus and are off to the orphanage. The orphanage is in the city of Nanfeng which is about 200 km’s south of Nanchang. The bus trip takes three and one half hours. Haley seems to have resolved her inner issues and is a dream on the trip. She sleeps most of the way and when she wakes up she is a happy little thing. Of course she eats about three times as much as anyone else (including Mom and Dad).

We arrive at the Nanfeng orphanage and are greeted by the director of the orphanage and several care givers. Here is where the story gets interesting. Several of the caregivers immediately pick out Haley and three of the other babies (there are 17 in total) and begin to pay very close attention to them. Up until this point we have always assumed (based on previous correspondence that we received) that Haley had been in foster care from the time she was found until we picked her up. This is in fact NOT true. About three months ago, Haley was returned to the orphanage by her foster mom and has been living in the orphanage ever since. We are still not clear why she was returned but understand that there was a crisis in the home of the foster mom and she needed to be returned.

The care givers are VERY kind and obviously took great care of our little Haley. This was a blessing because the conditions at the orphanage, although not horrible by any stretch, are not ideal. We are taken to see Haley’s crib and are given the official name tag which still hangs on her crib.

We then tour the remainder of the orphanage and see the classrooms (there are older children who live and go to school in the orphanage) and we see some other infants all in primitive exersaucers the youngest one being ten days old.

We finally leave the orphanage and are shown the place where Haley was abandoned (it’s less than a block from the main entrance to the orphanage). What a day. More than we had bargained for but a very interesting visit to say the least.

We are then taken to lunch by the director where Haley has her first “blow out”. After that fun little incident it was back on the bus and back to Nanchang. We arrive at the hotel about 7:00pm and are wiped out so head to our room for some noodles and to play with Haley. Tomorrow is our last day in Nanchang before heading off to Beijing.

Description of Pictures:

#1 – Haley – stretched out on the bus.

#2 – Stairs where Haley was found abandoned on March 3, 2005

#3 – The four “orphanage babies” with the caregivers

#4 – Haley’s Crib

#5 – Entrance to the orphanage