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!
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.
It's good to be home again. We just spent a week in Cincinnati. David's dad passed away last Monday, so we've been out there. He went into the hospital between Christmas and New Years. Sadly, he did not make it back out. At one point, we thought he was going to get better, but that was not the case.
He leaves behind 5 or 6 children - 16, 20 or 22 grandchildren (depending on who and how you count them) - and 2 great-grandchildren.
Leila is especially glad to be home. She has apparently decided that she has a home, a room, and a bed - and she likes it. She likes to go, but she likes coming home even more. She's a baby that needs a lot of sleep. While we were gone, she just did not get enough. Since we've been back, she's been sleeping 15-16 hours a day. Having enough sleep makes all the difference in the world with her.
As for the rest of us, it seems that the 2 1/2 weeks in China has cured us all of the travel bug for awhile.
We got a letter from Children's Hospital last week. Leila's surgery is scheduled for March 6. I don't know the time, but at least I do know a date now. (That's all we know, but at least we do know that much.)
We have our post-placement adoption visit with the social worker coming up on Feb. 20. We're also in the process of re-adopting her in the US now. And her baptism is going to be Feb 15. It's going to be a busy month.
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