Have to interrupt the Update due to a blow out

As I was trying to upload photos and update the blog, Jann hollered from the living room, "Photo Opportunity!"
He came in holding Ying Li out at arm's length...she had exploded in her diaper and it was all up her back.
It was a mess! She is now bathed, the clothing is soaking in the washer and I have to go get Mei Li from daycare.
:}

"I've got some good news and bad news"..things you do not want to hear at the Consulate in China

Well, I am finally getting to the computer to post some more and to round out the trip home.
Before I do that, I wanted to go back to the day we took the bus to the US Consulate for the Swearing in and the US Visas so we could all go home.
There were about 55 families in the room from several agencies.
When the man came out, he said something like, "I have some good news and some bad news....I'll just have to go ahead and tell you that we have been having problems with the visas. The problem is with the computers in Washington. The paperwork is all done and ready as far as the Consulate in China goes- just they can't print them or something"....Yep! I bet you can imagine the feel of the air sucking out of the room as everyone's thoughts went to- How the heck can we get our tickets changed? How will we stay another night? The hotel was booked...etc.
Ends up they had trouble starting on Monday with processing visas- this time only 8 families got them. They hoped to work at it all evening...They thought they'd have them by the morning- but could not be sure.
On the way back, people scrambled to re-do their travel plans. Some got dropped off at Airline ticket locations to try to do it, others called from their rooms. We were lucky as we planned to go to Hong Kong the next day and spend the night- and we had exchangeable tickets!
Luckily the call came at 11:30pm from our guide who got the visas. Jann went to pick them up in her room and all was well. The families were able to get their flight arrangements changed back so all was well.

Red Couch photos

We got th ephotos but I need someone to email me a better group photo. Ours are only from the side and the kiddos are not looking our way.

Medical Exam

The medical exam was easy. Thank goodness we did it that day since it has rained since then. It's ok, cause we can go shopping. They have conveniently placed a Starbucks midway along the shopping street.
Got our major purchaces, grandma and papa gave the girls some money so they could get something together and I got them jade bracelets, dresses and shoes.
Ying Li was great for the medical. The MD who did the exam kept laughing because he measured Ying Li's head and Mei Li's head and they were the same size! then, he felt each of their bellies and he laughed some more, then he lifted Ying Li up and grunted and laughed some more.

Families with us

Here are a few families in our group.
Donald and Deanna Brown with Allie, Barbara and JC Haynes with June, Kenny and Sheila Chu with their son Robert and our family with Eng Ng and Dasa Hapsari with Aileen. Apparently the New Yorkers are quite thirsty. ;}

Good Bye Chongqing, hello Guangzhou

The airplane trip out of Chongqing was kind of sad and happy at the same time. Ying Li was obviously happy to be with us- heck, she is just plan happy to be anywhere, except if she has a wet diaper or if she thinks you should be dropping everything you are doing so you can hold her. :}
From the first night when she woke with a startle every half hour to cry out, to today where she sleeps through the night. She occasionally wakes to cry but she self comforts by making sucking sounds. She turns her head to either side, raises her shoulder and sucks the air- they must have pinned little suckers to the shoulders of the kiddos.

Walking around Guangzhou is wierd because it is so familiar.
More shops than before and I feel better trying my Chinese. Basically you need to know how to say how old the child is, where they are from, where you live and "oh, my Chinese is not so good" and you will be fine.

Liangping SWI

We made it to Liangping and took some photos- the staff was surprised we showed up.
we took photos of the building- the kiddos are on the 4th floor.
gotta feed her a bottle now.

Adoption Registration

Our CHI group had our babies already so we went to the Civil Affairs office. There were several other kiddos- some in yellow and some in blue outfits.
They were in a room with glass doors with the orphanage officials.
WI asked who the ones in the walkers (bumper cars) were and the guide said they were from Xiu Shan. Iasked if I could go in there to take photos and they said yes. They were getting adopted today too! There are some characters in those groups- one little one inn blue came up behind me full force and rammed me- then cracked up!
If anyone who was adopting that day wants to see the photos- I'll be glad to send them to you once we get back to the US. They must be in the October DTC group.
One Ayi was on the couch with 6 or so kiddos! If she can do it, I can take care of 2. Then as we were going to the elevators, we saw a big group of families come out of th eelevators- I asked if their kiddos were from Xiu Shan and they said, no, Liangping1
WHOOT! they were the other 6 families with another agency who had kiddos from Liangping! So, there must have been 2 groups of kiddos in there. We hollered that we were the other 2 Liangping families! so we were all there at one moment, if briefly- there was no stpooing them as they ran to get their kiddos.

We wish you a happy life

We went Monday afternoon to the Civil Affairs building to finalize the adoption! Ying Li is officially a Bonfils-Rasmussen.

The unveiling of Ying Li! The 1st of many 1sts

TaDa!!!
We picked up 2 Rugby balls in Hong Kong- looks like they'll come in handy!
First bath-peed as soon as she sat in the warm water.
We were surprised when we had her on her back and she promptly rolled over, stuck her butt up in the air and tucked her feet under in a runner's start position.....
like she was going to takt off runnung, then she sat down. Gotta keep an eye on her!
Hey cousin Jake- wanna play ball?
hehehehe

Gotcha DAY!!! April 2nd 2007

We all woke up early...so excited.
Got the call at 9:50am to come to the lobby, the babbies arrived!
They were bundled up so warm but their cheeks were cold. Both babies were great- no crying or screaming (that would have to wait until late at night)
Ying Li was sitting with a care taker on the couch. I went over to pick her up and she looked at me with those big beautiful eyes and her cute little mouth! And she smelled like fresh baby powder. She had on a brand new poofy light green jacket and pants with yellow socks and cool looking red shoes!
They said her primary ayi's name is Ding Qun. There are 30 children left in the SWI. One ayi takes care of 8 children. Ying drank only bottles of rice cerea land formula and we learned later she also occasionally drank something like a bottle with boiled egg in it- like "egg drop soup-bottle".
Mei Li was so patient and wanted to give her every toy at once but chose to bring the wooden rings for her.

CHI Chongqing March 2007 group

On Saturday, we left Hong Kong and arrived in Chongqing.
On Sunday, the other 6 families went to their orphanages to get their kiddos.
Here is a photo of the CHI Chongqing March 2007 group.


Just a few things before I forget- At the Sheraton in Hong Kong, Mei Li and I went into the restroom. They had what looked like a urinal, we turned around to be sure we were in the right restroom and we were.
Hmmm, she asked me “mommy, why dere’s dat thing on the wall?” I told her I have no clue. She said, “maybe it’s for girls to stand up and pee, or for girls with peanuts”.
I’m still wondering.

The Intercontinental Chongqing has VERY nice rooms. The AC was not working well so we had the guy come fix it, in fact, we are the AC ambassadors- Jann had them fix the AC at the other hotel too. David and Jody- there is opportunity to expand Greenhill Air over here!
Of course the moment Jann goes into the restroom, the guy shows up and ends up that he has to get into the bathroom to fix the AC……

We met up with Eng and Dasa who are getting their daughter tomorrow from Liangping too. We resolved to go to Liangping even if the CHI guides could not/would not be able to help us go there. The orphanage said they have to bring the children to us instead of us going there to get them because of construction or something. We all felt it was so important to at least try to go to their city where they were born and where they spent the first year of their lives.
Well, good news is that Jann talked to the concierge and we can arrange to go there. Eng speaks fluent Chinese and we have Tuesday as a free day.
********update: Hey! Our CHI guide Christi, just came by with lots of paperwork. Just before she left, Jann told her how much we wanted to go to Liangping and that we planned to go there ourselves. We explained why and she said she’d see about getting us a van! :} She warned that it was about 2 hours- we do not care how long it takes.
I told her the story about how our family and the Gilchrist family adopted at the same time back in 2004 and how well Audrey is doing now. She remembered you guys and said hello and told me the story of taking Audrey to the barber shop to touch up her hairdo!