When we got home on Sat, I found that our friends (Lisa and Renee) had cleaned my house. AND, Lisa made and left me homemade chicken & noodles and brownies (my favorites). That helped so much. I've had so much to do this week, with getting settled - that was something I didn't have to worry about right away.
Every day gets a little easier. Night and day is finally switched back to US time. Jet lag is almost gone.
Up to this point, Leila has only had a bottle with cereal in it - no 'regular' food at all. I didn't want to try to change anything while still in China though. I thought I'd wait until we got home and then start food. I thought I'd start with cereal, since she has it in every bottle anyway. I figured it would be the same thing - just a different method of delivery. She does not agree with this new approach. We started on Mon. She screamed. Every time she'd open her mouth for a breath, I'd stick some in. But she still absolutely refused to swallow it.
On Tues, same thing, but she merely cried instead of screaming. I thought we were making progess. Today - she actually swallowed a bite! WooHoo! At this rate, she'll be eating table food by the time she's 5.
I took her into Darrell's school today so everyone could meet her. (His 6th grade class has been following the blog.) When we got there, they had a basket full of baby gifts for her! How neat was that?! All the teachers passed her around (and a few students too). Thankfully she didn't spit up on any of them.
I tried to appy for her US birth certificate today, but I got nowhere. There was one particular woman at the courthouse that was just really hateful too. If she didn't know what to do, she could have just said so, w/o being such a witch about it.
Even though her adoption is legal and binding in China, it's suggested that we re-adopt her in the US. Another lady at the courthouse said that she thought we needed to do that first. I don't think so - I think they just didn't know what to do, so it's easier to pass it off on someone else and not bother. I guess I need to consult an attorney and go from there.
So now, I've got to get the insurance straightened out, get her re-adopted, get a US birth certificate, and possibly a US passport. I don't know if that's all or not. I keep thinking - I made it thru all the other paperwork, surely I can get thru this too.
Oh, and someday - I'm going to print out the pictures we took while we were there.
Something else that I kept meaning to mention but always forgot - you don't have to tip in China. Tipping waiters and people like that, is considered insulting. The only people we had to tip was the bellboy. $1 USD for 2 medium size bags is about 'right'. And yet, we got absolutely excellent service at all the restaurants - WAY better than you normally get in the US.
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.
1 comment:
I thought I would let you know, you do have to re adopt to be issued a birth certificate. At least that is how it is in Ohio, every state is a little different though. We should get a pack from AWAA with info on how to do most of this. You will also have to wait till you get your citizenship papers to do most of the
"welcome home" paperwork. While she is a citizen already (the stamp in her passport proves that) she needs the papers you will get in about 45 days or so, so really at this point you are on hold, yet again. As far as insurance goes all they need is a copy of your "red book" to prove the adoption was final on said date! Hope this helps!
Talk to you soon!
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