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.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

A Hospital Visit

Okay, Leila was sick last week and saw the doctor twice.
We thought she was getting all better.
Other than being cranky and tired, she was fine over the weekend.
Then, on Monday she got up with a temp of 101.
Well, that didn't bother me too much - except for the fact that she was still on antibiotics.
It went to 102.3 on Tues, so I called the doctor.
She wanted to see her, so back we went.
They ran a few tests, but couldn't figure anything out.
On Wednesday, it went to 102.4.
No other symptoms - just fever.
Dr. Bailey wanted me to take her to the hospital, because she was at a loss at that point.
We went to Cabell Huntington on Wed afternoon, and they admitted her.
They ran LOTS of tests, for lots of things, but everything came back normal.
That was good in that she didn't have all those things - but bad in that we still didn't know what the problem was.
After being fever-free for 24 hrs, they finally discharged her on Friday afternoon.
Still no answers.
Possibly it was a virus and that got better and then came back.
Possibly it was one virus last week and then another one this week.
Who knows?
But she seems better - and we're home now - I guess that's all that matters.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Oh How They Grow

Kids grow up WAY too fast, but animals grow even faster.
We got our new puppy in Dec.
He wasn't quite 2 months old.
This was him then:

This is him now:

He comes in sometimes to visit and play, but the majority of the time - he's an outside dog. That was the agreement when we got him.
He's a good little dog though. And I really think he tries to be good. Sometimes, it's just hard. (Not so different from kids after all, huh?)

Leila's been sick this week.
She got up on Mon with a little bit of a fever. Motrin brought it down, so I wasn't worried. Plus, she acted fine all day.
BUT, then on Tues - she got up with a fever of 105*.
Now, when it comes to things like this - I am the calm, rational one.
David used to be. Not anymore.
The older he gets - the worse he gets.
He wants to take her to the ER for every little thing.
I am the one that says - no, this is something we need to treat at home - we don't need to go - there's no point in spending the money and the time for them to tell us to go home, etc.
Then he usually tells me I'm a cheapskate or something like that. I am, but it's not that - I just know that some things do NOT require a Dr visit.
I have to say though - 105* scared me. (Not that I let on to David though.)
I gave her Motrin, put a call into the Dr, and took it again 20 min later.
It did go down, but they said I still needed to bring her in.
They did blood work, and her WBC was 31 (normal is 10-14).
They gave her a shot and antibiotics.
I took her back today. Her WBC was back where it should be - which is good. And she hasn't had a fever since.
But she still must not feel good, because she's whiny, whiny, whiny. I can't even put her down without her crying. I hope that whatever it is, goes away soon, and she starts feeling better.
3 comments

Friday, February 12, 2010

Chinese New Year

Sunday is the first day of the Chinese New Year.
2010 is the Year of the Tiger.

The Chinese calendar is set to a 12 year rotation with each year being represented by one of the 12 zodiac animals - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
Legend has it that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality.

Leila is a pig - she's supposed to be sincere and smart.
Austin is a rooster - honest and bold. / Darrell is a rat - generous and optimistic.
David is an ox - strong and confident. / I am a sheep - shy and creative.
Hmmmm.......

Chinese New Year (also called Spring Festival) is the longest and most important of the traditional Chinese holidays.

Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later.
The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements.
This is why, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving.

In China, customs and traditions vary widely.
People may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
People buy presents, decorations, material, food, and clothing.
It is also tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes of making way for good incoming luck.
Windows and doors are decorated with red color paper-cuts with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”.
On the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families.
They end the night with firecrackers.
Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes.
(Red is a very significant color in the Chinese culture.)

The Chinese New Year tradition is a great way to reconcile forgetting all grudges, and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.


We celebrated Chinese New Year early last night.
We got together with our International Adoption group at Pizza Hut.
As always, we had a great time visiting and catching up.
We had 'representatives' from China, Vietnam, Guatemala & Russia.


I was so impressed by and liked the felt 'fortune cookies' that Erin made for the kids at our 'China Reunion' last summer - I decided to try my hand at it for this.
I studied the ones Leila had been given and made some to take last night.
I put them in cute little containers from the Dollar Store - along with a real fortune cookie from the Chinese restaurant and gave them out to the kids after dinner.
All 3 of my guys said that Erin's 'cookies' looked better, but softened their criticism by telling me that the real cookie was a nice touch, and it was still the thought that counted anyway.
That's okay - I still felt good contributing something, and hopefully they'll like it at least a fraction as much as I did.
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