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 been one year today since we got 'The Call'. We had dropped the boys off at camp. We really weren't expecting to hear anything, after all it was a Sun afternoon. When we got back to the truck, we both had missed calls on our phones. When we looked at the number - it was America World. We called them back and left a message. Within minutes, Melissa called back. They had a baby for us! Since we were an hour from home, I knew I couldn't wait that long. I had her send the info to David's phone. By that point, we were in 'Michaels', dropping off a picture to be framed - that's where we first saw Leila's face. Then we had to go back to the camp and find the boys to tell and show them. We stopped first at a Chinese restaurant and bought fortune cookies for the boys to pass out around the campfire that night in celebration. Then we had to fly up the road to make it to church in time.
And look how rotten she is now!
3 comments:
Happy anniversary!!! Just can't imagine life without our girls now!!
(I need to e-mail you about the trip to Ohio-- I will in tomorrow!)
Isn't it hard to believe that it has been 1 year?! Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Hi Lois, I just talked to your Mom and got the info about how to contact your blog, so I just read your updates and saw the pics.
The pics of Leila are "precious".
She looks like a pretty little doll baby.
I hope we get to see her at the Plants reunion this year in Sept.
I really enjoy reading your blog entries and seeing the pics.
Love, Sue I.
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