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.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Babysitter

Still a lot of memories this week, but not as much as last.
Last week was THE week - one of the most amazing of our lives.
This week, a year ago, the days were starting to run together, and we were getting a little homesick.
Then:



And Now:







It was SO unbelievably hot there most days that it wasn't even enjoyable to be outside during the day.
I'm not kidding, as soon as you stepped out the door of the hotel, it was instant sweat.
I remember saying something about how miserable it was one time, and our driver thought it was funny.
He didn't think it was so hot.
Of course not, it only felt like 150 degrees!

A year ago yesterday, all the babies had their required medical exams. It was a little different than what we're normally used to.
For instance, on the hearing part, they plunked on a toy piano. If the babies turned their head to look - their hearing was fine.
Gosh, that was so much easier and quicker than the one they did once we got home!

Here at home (now), Leila had her 1st 'real' babysitter.
Yes, my mom has kept her some, my sister-in-law has kept her, and of course the boys end up with her at times.
But on Sunday, she had a real, full-fledged, paid babysitter for the first time.
A young lady from church came and stayed with her.
(Ironically, the girl's older brother used to keep the boys all the time for me.)
It was hard too. She screamed when we left. I waited about 15-20 minutes before I called back.
Jessica said she was fine. She'd only cried a few minutes.
Oh, what relief. And she was fine all evening. Oh, joy!

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