We finally made it home. About 28 hours after leaving our hotel room in GZ, we made it to our house. It was a long journey - 3 flights. The 1st flight went really well. The 2nd flight (the 12 hr one) started okay and ended okay, but had a bad spell there in the middle. The 3rd flight, was not good. Thankfully it only lasted a little over an hour.
We almost missed our connection in Chicago. We had very little time to begin with. We had to go thru customs, go thru immigration, get our luggage, recheck our luggage, and go thru (it seemed like) tons of security spots. We never stopped once. We were almost running thru the airport. We made it to the plane, just in time.
Our luggage however did NOT make it. I can't actually say I was too surprised. We got home about 11:00 Sat night. Our luggage made it about 10:30 Sun night. We ended up leaving our stroller in Chicago, because we simply couldn't wait for them to get it off the plane. I can picture still it going round and round on a baggage thing in the airport.
When we got to Charleston, my parents and my brother and sister-in-law were waiting for us. They were SUCH a welcome sight. Leila was very pleasant at that point. She let everyone hold her.
THEN, we started the hour drive home. See, she had a seat on the plane coming home. I had originally planned to buy an infant carseat while in China to put her in. That way, she'd be better able to rest, and so would we. That didn't happen. They don't use car seats there. (We saw a baby sitting on the dashboard one day, and a small child with his head out of a sunroof another day.) We did have a car seat in the truck at the airport, but you have to remember - this child has never been strapped down before. She did NOT like it at all. She screamed (not cried) herself to sleep. Thankfully, by this point, she was so tired it didn't take long.
At this point, I'm exhausted. Jet lag is catching up fast. I now have luggage to unpack, mail and papers to sort out, laundry to do, etc, etc, etc. I'll post some pictures at home later.
We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
Monday, September 29, 2008
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3 comments:
Hi Lois and family,
Congratulations on arriving home safely. Sounds like it was quite an experience. I know what you mean about Leila screaming herself to sleep-hating the car seat. Allen and Kelly's Gracie was the same way when they brought her home from Guatamala. It will take a while for Leila to get use to being strapped in the seat.
I tried to call your Mom to check on you guys but she wasn't home.She'll probably call me back later. I told Allen and Kelly about your Leila. They're happy for you too. I'm sure if you have any questions or anything they could help you with, they wouldn't mind you calling them at all. Their # is 675-3899.
We're all really happy for you and wish you every happiness and blessing. Love, Sue
PS: Thanks again for the blog postings. It was so nice to be able to follow along with you. We really enjoyed it.
Welcome Home.
Sounded like a long long trip.
But bet you are glad to be
back home...
Welcome Home!! Don't you just love the fresh air, cars stopping for people in crosswalks and drinking the water... and flushing your TP?! I'm glad you made it back safe and you finally got your luggage! Stay in touch!
Tim, Tanya, Austin, Kailey & Kaitlyn :)
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