Send us your positive thoughts and prayers!

Mia is scheduled for noon surgery on 10/19/07 to fix her cleft palate. We are here in Chapel Hill. Tracey and Mia went to some appointments today - surgeon, speech, en&t - everything went great. She even weighed in at over 18 pounds for the first time!

Not only is above exciting (and yes, a little scary), but Tracey and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary today! Wow, it seems like only yesterday we got married in NYC...and now we are southerners.

Ok, enough of that. Here's some pictures from last 6 weeks or so since we've been home. Mia is adjusting to USA great, she's a little spitfire...we'll post more over the next week or so.

Ok Dad, enough with the pictures, can't you see I'm eating!

Mochas says, "I'm not sure I like not being the queen any more, but I do like all the food that falls from this thing!"

Hmm, I become a Yankee fan, they lose and Torre is gone; well there's always next year!

Get back you heathens!

Mom, Grandma has some weird animals in her neighborhood!

It's been a hectic week!! Safely home at 1:30am 9/7, story below...

It's been a crazy yet wonderful last few days. Quick recap, but mostly we'll just post pictures with some captions. In Guangzhou on 9/4, Mia had her physical along with 50 or so other adoptees - quick process, no problems. She weighs about 18 pounds, we'll fatten her up!

On Wednesday 9/5 we went to the US Consulate (no cameras allowed) along with 40 or so kids and families. It was pretty neat, our guide dealt with all our paperwork, all we had to do was show up and get sworn in. Mia properly said the Pledge of Allegiance and that George Washington was our first President.

Mia was great on the flight home. Unfortunately there was a sick passenger (she was convulsing about 6 rows in front of us, very exciting), so it turned a 14 hour flight into a 19 hour deal - just what you want with a 15 month old who doesn't know you well. But I think Tracey and I were crankier than Mia was. The only problem we've had with Mia has been her sleeping, but every day gets better. Yesterday and today she actually took a nap (and so did Mom). Mia has made the rounds - neighbors, friends, relatives, and both Tracey and my workplaces. She is very friendly and outgoing.

We met with the surgeon on 9/14 who we had consulted with prior to leaving for China. We have another appointment with someone else later this week, and then we'll decide what to do.

Ok, I'll just post some pictures with captions now. More pictures later on tonight or tomorrow.

Big sister Mocha and Mia are getting along ok!

First landing on U.S. soil is supposed to be Chicago. Nope, this is Anchorage, Alaska (FYI, Tracey spent a few summers there when her grandparents lived there). Not exactly a detour we wanted en route to Chicago.

Famous red couches at White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

We were always on the lookout for these...

Nice tea ceremony, we had 6 different kinds of tea.

Elvin, our guide in Guangzhou, was a great guy. Plus he's the only person I have met who has dated his girlfriend longer than Tracey and I dated, so we had fun with that.

Tessa and Mia did some good head-butting, haven't seen that since my college days a long time ago!

Nice Doctor where Mia and a lot of other children had their physicals.

Outside the clinic prior to the physical.

Instead of joining a gym (and then never going) a lot of the people just go to a park, exercise, dance, whatever.

Future and present Buddha, very impressive in person.

Anything to entertain Mia, nice parakeets at the White Swan Hotel.

Ok, I was there.

Tracey's Post (Eric did some of the pix and captions)

Hi everybody!

I'm getting a chance to post today! Mia is napping and we have some down time so here it goes. Arriving in Guangzhou yesterday was like stepping into an oasis. Even though it is a city of 11 million people it seems a little less crazy than Changsha. We are staying in a beautiful hotel called the White Swan on Shamian Island. It is absolutely gorgeous here. Very tropical, lots of palm trees and flowers. The hotel is right on the Pearl River. There are not a lot of cars on the island so it is easy to walk on foot and push a stroller. The other amazing thing is all of the families here who are also adopting. All of the babies come from different provinces all over China but all of the Americans end up in Guanghzhou to process through US Immigration. So the hotel is filled with many families with their new babies or children. It is quite something. Many, many very happy people here.

Mia continues to amaze us. She is eating well. Today she had her physical (part of the immigration process) and everything went great. We had been a little worried because she has a little wheeze. The doctor said her chest was fine and ears are fine as well. One of the famous souvenirs here is something called "squeaky shoes". They squeak when the children walk. We bought her a little pair of squeaky sandals yesterday and it was hysterical. She loves to walk in them. She is also enjoying her little stroller and the best part is she falls asleep in it! That's been the only really hard thing is that she fights falling asleep at night. Other than that she's smiling, laughing and having a great time.

We have one other CWA family traveling with us, Sean and Abbey Kennedy. They have adopted a little girl who is eight years old. Her name in Jin-Jin and she is adorable. She's been helping keep Mia entertained in the van or when we have to wait in lines. We are all having a good time together.

We want to thank everyone for all of the nice posts to our blog. It's so nice to know people are following our trip and keeping us company. I'll add some of my favorite pictures now and we will post more later!

Tracey



Dinner at Lucy's in Guangzhou

indoctrinating Mia early on who her favorite team is, but she's not too happy about it

Nice playroom at the White Swan Hotel

2 happy dogs at the farm (they were pets as far as we could tell)

sign outside our hotel in Changsha we thought was amusing combination

did you miss us? 9/1 & 9/2 update (we'll post more pix in a little while)

We needed to get out of Changsha to maintain our sanity, so on Saturday our guide Peter took us to the countryside, a little under an hour from the city. It was really cool, we saw the rice paddies and farms, and then we stopped at a farm where people come for lunch. It was a little early for lunch, plus when Tracey saw the farmer carrying a live chicken to the back, lunch there was no longer an option. They had 2 dogs which Mia enjoyed seeing as well as a chicken which was still enjoying life. We sat and had tea with the farmer and 2 policeman who came for lunch. They thanked us for adopting Mia and taking her to a new life.

So that was our last day in Changsha. For the Northerners reading this, picture the amount of traffic and people in NY City and multiply by about 100 - Charlotte multiply by at least 1000. There is no quiet area in the city.

On Sunday we got to the airport about 9am for Mia's first plane ride. She did great (and so did her Mom). We kept her entertained with Post-It Notes and some of her little stuffed animals. We were hoping to get to cut the line and get on first, but that is not Chinese practice - they didn't give a hoot that we were toting a baby and 3 carry-ons.

We arrived in Guangzhou around 11am and our guide and driver had us sit for a while waiting for the other family who we had met in Beijing to arrive on their flight. Abbey, Sean, and Jin-Jin are in a couple of pictures. Jin-Jin is 8 and has been living with a foster family.

Guangzhou is very nice. It is quieter and more touristy. We'll tell you more about it with our next post.

Today we do some official stuff - Mia's physical included. Then some touring.

Speak to y'all soon.

Mia, Tracey and Eric

8/31 update

Yesterday we received more official documentation back that they were processing since Tuesday. The last thing we need is Mia's passport, which will be here today (yes, they work on Saturday here!).

This morning is the first morning when Mia woke up that she was not upset, so she is getting used to us. We've been trying to tell her she won't always be living in a hotel with lots of people, but we're not sure she understands.

Yesterday we went to the park along the river, it was neat. Similar to what NYC has done on West Side Highway, but bigger.

Mia had a good day. She wasn't hungry for breakfast, which was the first time she hadn't really chowed down. Her stomach was a little upset judging by what came out a little later (I won't go into details). Rest of day was good, one of the pix you see of me holding her had Tracey in histerics...when I took her, she immediately started wailing, but I was going to get in a picture. The last picture in our hotel room she had finally let me hold her with no problems, including holding her crossing the street from the restaurant. Maybe today Mia won't cry when her Mommy leaves the room. It's amazing to see how well she's taken to Tracey.

Anyway, all is great. Today if it does not rain we are going to the countryside. Maybe eat in a farmer's hut if he allows it. If it rains, our guide had set up going to a museum.

This is our last day in Changsha. Tomorrow morning we take a short flight to Guangzhou, first test of Mia on a plane. That should be fun.

Regards,

Mia, Tracey and Eric

8/30 update

We are all awesome here...actually as I'm typing this Tracey just said "2 more days here, thank God"!

Although it's great, it is hard living out of a hotel room and not being home.

Ok, one funny thing regarding language problem. We usually can find someone who speaks passable English. I was trying to find someone to vacuum our a little better and couldn't get it across to a couple of housekeepers. Finally I thought I did by making a vacuuming motion. When we got back to the room a couple of hours later, there was a nice stroller they provided! Very funny!

Yesterday was a fun day. We went to the Embroidery Museum (the Hunan province where we are is very well known for this) with our guide Peter. He is a great guy. Has plans for the mornings for us every day, then he leaves us alone for the afternoon, then we eat dinner with him right across from the hotel in a restaurant (it's Chinese). The photo of Mao we posted as well as the others that look like paintings are embroidery - the work they do is amazing.

So we got some nice culture. Then we went to Walmart, which I think was just as amazing. Walmart with items for the Chinese, including a lot of fresh fish and who knows what else.

Mia is doing great. She is getting more used to me- we played roll the big beach ball for a while yesterday. Lucie, I bet today I'll be in some pictures! She is very feisty, likes to babble, and is very energetic, especially in the afternoons.

Today we are going to a park along the river.

Thanks to everyone for following our journey and for posting to the blog. We enjoy reading everyone's comments.

Mia, Tracey & Eric