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.
We had Leila baptised yesterday. It was our 17th wedding anniversary. Instead of your typical long white flowy dress, we decided to have it done in a red silk dress that we'd bought her in China. (Nothing about getting/having her has been 'typical' so far - why should that be either?) Once she saw the water, it was all over. All she wanted to do from that point on, was play in it.
This is what we looked like 17 years ago. Oh, how we've changed.
And oh my, how different our lives are than what we could have ever imagined back then.
On another note, my computer crashed last week. I lost most of my email addresses. If someone is reading this that I normally email, please send me your address so I'll have it again. Thanks.
We got our paperwork back in the mail on Friday. Leila is now 'officially' ours in the United States too! Although her adoption was finalized in China back in September, it's generally recommended to re-adopt her here in the States. Well, that was officially completed on January 29. (We didn't even have to go before a judge - which I thought we'd have to do.) We've now adopted her in 2 different countries.
Also, we got a letter yesterday telling us that her surgery has been rescheduled. Instead of March 6, it's now going to be April 3. At this point, I just want to get it over with.
I really don't know why we bother to buy her toys. Her favorite thing is still paper. She's also started getting into the cabinets now. The best cabinet is not the one with canned food or even the one with pots and pans. Noooooo, it's the one with napkins and paper plates.
