Daddy's girl!

Before I post a word about Brielle today, I need to apologize to the bloggers (or lurkers) who have been reading here and were offended with photo captions I posted. First of all, I LOVE my daughter and the country from where she was born and the Chinese culture. I never meant to "make fun" and intentionally hurt anyone. I have removed the wording which depicted dialect for fear of insulting anyone else. However... I do not blog for anyone but my family and friends. They know me and understand my humor. So for those of you who felt it necessary to let me know how you felt, thanks, but doing it anonymously does not allow me to contact you directly. Oh well.

Now that that is out of the way.... Brielle certainly has become a little Daddy's girl of late! I have had to work early and extended hours the past week which has afforded Brie and her Dad a lot of one-on-one time. Wow... she wants him by her side every minute now. Yesterday at church Rob dropped Brie off at Tots Landing and she screamed (literally from what I was told) when her Dad handed her off the to women working in her classroom. I wondered what was taking him so long as I went ahead and saved us seats in the auditorium. Finally, he had to get one of the Dad's who was working the registration desk to get her at which time she quieted right down.
I was totally expecting that to happen while we were in China... not four months later! I promise I'm trying to be the best mom I can be to her (although the ticked off lurkers would totally disagree with me on this right now!) But she is in LOVE with her Dad for sure.

Yesterday Olivia and I had our first one-on-one time since we returned from China. We went to see Madagascar 2. I think I laughed more than she did! We enjoyed popcorn and skittles and shared a drink! It was wonderful as I do miss spending time with the girls. Then we went home and played with Brielle who had napped almost the entire time we were gone. I wish weekends would come around alot faster than they do!

Not too impresed with the costume bit

Halloween was very low key for us here in our cul-de-sac. I went out and purchased way, way too much candy. Whole candy bars for my neighborhood kids and not a ONE showed up at the door. We only had four groups of kids ring the doorbell. I'm guessing parents are getting their children involved with community/church gatherings on that night versus letting them go to run from door to door as we did as kids. We had a shooting here in SC! Can you believe that? Some poor kid and his brother were trick-or-treating with their father close behind them and they get shot when they went to the door of a home! Young son and the dad were treated and released but the older boy was shot above the eye and died! I understand why parents keep their kids from getting out now. Problem is i now have all this chocolate and sugar filled treats in my pantry that is constantly calling my name!! I need to bring it in to work to share with everyone.

Brielle was a butterfly for Halloween. She wasn't thrilled with all the paraphenalia. She proceeded to rip off a fuzzy antler on the borrowed costume minutes after we dressed her in it!! So now I need to glue it back on somehow. I guess she related it to the bows I still try to keep in her hair that she repeatedly pulls off. ;)

I am trying to teach Brie some sign language. The whiny little noise she makes over & over & over when she trys to communicate with us had led me to try something...anything... to keep her from doing it. This morning I ignored her whine for something she didn't have and suddenly she started signing for something to eat!! Needless to say i was thrilled and immediately rewarded her!! Now if I can just get her to sign for potty we'll be in business. She is still doing pretty well with that. Consistency with attempts is the key.

Every day with her is so amazing. Even when she keeps me up at night I try to savor every minute because I know too well how temporary this too will be!

She Walks!

On our third month anniversary of Gotcha Day ~October 22nd~ our little peanut decided she would quit messing around with scooting and sliding and decided to boldly step out and WALK. When I picked her up from the babysitter yesterday afternoon, Brielle walked all the way across the living room to me with a "Hi Mom" look on her face! I loved it. I had only seen her take a few shuffle plop steps before this. It was amazing to see how much balance she had. Her next demonstration was toddling over to her Dad who was at the opposite end of our kitchen. She kept it up to get the applause and I can say she slept so well last night that I had a hard time to wake her this morning . It is so fun to see the changes she experiences every day! I can't believe it has already been three months since she was placed in my arms.

It's Already October!

I'm sorry we haven't posted anything in so long...

What a totally incredible Summer this has been. God is so amazing! Talk about miracles ~ We experienced many throughout this adoption process and most recently our trip. One thing is for certain.. He keeps His promises, and Brielle is a living testament to that my friends!

I've been simply stunned at how many people we had reading our blog while we were in China! People I do not even know have told us they followed our blog. Now that we have been home for 10 weeks, I can reflect on our journey with great joy. We looked at our trip photos for the first time the other night. Rob's mom and stepdad were here visiting from NY and got to meet Brielle for the first time. Telling people of our journey seems so amazing to me now that the psychotic rollercoaster of emotion is out of the picture! And now that we have bonded as a family so much more so than when we were in China, reflecting on that time there has taken on a whole new meaning for me.

Brielle has brought so much joy to our family and friends in the short time she has been with us... If I would have had a glimpse of what a complete blessing she was going to be to us the three year wait would have been much more difficult than it was! Does that make any sense??
Anyway we LOVE every little chinese inch of her!

She is finally starting to fill out a bit and her hair is growing! Just within the past few days Brie is actually letting me put bows in her hair. She now has 14 teeth... maybe more I'm afraid to feel around back there for fear of getting bitten! She knows the concept of brushing her teeth; however, it's NOT her favorite thing to do. She is very good about going potty tho! Believe it or not I started sitting her on the big potty with a training seat as soon as we got home only because I knew she was used to "going" on those chairs at the orphanage. Low and behold... she goes! 1 & 2!! Now.. I dont force the issue, and it may be a while before she can tell me..but she's well ahead of the curve. Brie has taken three or four steps on her own. She is still doing the "Lt. Dan" scoot as Rob calls it vs. crawling! That's awful isn't it? But she moves pretty quickly.

Brielle had a great time with Olivia and Emma on her first visit to a pumpkin patch. She found a pumpkin and wouldn't let go of it! Too cute. Enjoy some updated pictures.

Life is good.

We made it home!!

Wow.. i think we were in airplanes for 1.5 days...can I tell you how many times our bags were searched and passports were shown to get out of China??? Tooooooo many. Brielle was a very good girl. She wasn't the wormy screecher I was dreading she would be. She actually slept as much time as she was awake. We flew from Gz to Beijing and had a 4 hour layover..I now know why so much time is needed between flights. Tip to those who plan to leave very soon.... go with the flow and don't let things bother you ! We then had 13+ hours in the air to NJ and another layover which ended up being 2.5 hours longer than we anticipated. NO baby food or liquid is allowed through so we could only carry formula powder... so Ihad to find fuit Sat night at the airport to feed Brie. Anyway ... we survived!

We had an awesome greeting after midnight at the Charleston airport by a big crowd of family and friends! We didn't get home until 1:30 am and talked until 3 am with Kris and Whitney. Brie fell asleep and so did we and we all slept until 12:30PM TODAY! It was wonderful. A comfy bed! Another tip to nexters... bring a pillow or at least pillow cases to have something from home to help you sleep. Pillows are terrible at White Swan and beds are rock hard no exaggeration!

I'll post pics tomorrow as Olivia is spending the night tonight and she keeps begging me to go to bed!

Love to all,
L, R & B

Hello one last time from China........

Well we have had one beautiful last day in Guangzhou. First, Brie slept well last night as did Rob. I was up all night (anxious about this long journey ahead of us with Screech :) but...we had a wonderful breakfast and time at the pool with our friends. Then we went one last time to Lucy's for burgahs and fries and back to the hotel to pack whilst little one snoozed. At 2:30pm we had to meet the gang in the lobby to pack on a huge bus with a couple of other adoption groups to go to the American Consulate to swear in and get the babies passports. It was intersting to hear where everyone was from and the different occupations of the families. Many were first time adoptees many for their second or third child and two families were adopting their 5th child!! wow is all i can say. My hats off to them. There were many teachers, a pediatrician, surgeon, aerospace engineer (our group) even a rock star! :) Each morning when we went to breakfast the place was filled with families from all over with their children.. We've talked to many people this week, very interesting. We met three couples from RI! All over the USA and abroad.

After the swearing in, we received all of Brielle's documents and passport and when we touch the ground in NJ, she will be a US citizen!! She is now offically Brielle Tian Meade.

When we returned we freshened up a bit and walked down the river to a great Italien restaurant. We sat and enjoyed a fabulous last meal together, drank wine and laughed alot. Outside of the restaurant, Kerry and I had the girls in their strollers and this guy and his girlfriend walked by and asked where we were from. He continued to chat with us for some time. What a hoot! He is from Las Vegas and told us he was also here to get his China Doll. She was hanging on his arm - many years younger than him. He told us all about the website he met her through and how he's been to China 5 times this year to try out girls to be his wife! 79 years old. I posted a pic. She did not understand one word he was telling us. It sort of capped the evening!

We have washed Brie and Daddy put her down for nighty noodles. She's spawled out on my side of the bed! :)

I'm going to post a few pics and we are going to finish packing and jump on the brickpile. Literally all the beds we've slept in from Beijing, Nanchang and here are so stinking hard it hurts your bones. Can't wait to get in our bed!!

Thanks for being with us on the wonderful journey to our little girl. From your sweet comments, you've felt my joy & blood, sweat and tears as there have been many peaks and valleys over these two weeks. I would do it all again. China has been fascinating and heart breaking all at the same time. And we've made some terrific forever family friends in the process.

We love you all ~ we'v e missed you..& we've even missed work if you can believe that.
We're on our way home in a few short hours!!

G'nite from Gz,

The Meades
L, R & B

Star Bucks saves the day...

Hi gang,

We found a Starbucks as we were walking the streets yesterday and stuck our head in to find they have wireless internet. We were so full so we didn't stay yesterday...but today has been a real test of patience so Rob decided to send me here to get out of his hair for a few minutes. Plus the internet is free here and expensive at the hotel...China ain't cheap. And the White Swan is very expensive. A cheeseburger is over $20! and the lunch and dinner buffet is like $40 - $60 pp. Needless to say the cashola is running low.

Brielle has been very whiny today..she has this little screach when she is trying to communicate what she wants.. and after being cooped up in a hotel room for two weeks we are on the verge of being totally batty... so ready to come home!! I bought an extra suit case today for us to pack our little souvenirs in. I think we've probably been in 50 stores here... some places have better prices on some things and higher on others. They don't really bargain as much as I would have liked. But you know me the bargain queen! I have only bought one thing for me - A Beijing ballcap to wear when I get off the stinking plane after travelling a zillion hours. The water here is so bad you never really feel clean even after taking a shower and it does a number on your hair! No control. ;)

We've not taken any video or pictures today. I think we're photoed out. I do have some from last night but I didn't download them because my battery was dead. Sorry. I'll download tonight and post tomorrow.

I think we are going to an Italien

Fun time in Gz!!

Today we went on a sightseeing tour to another temple and the most awesome pearl and jewelry factory that makes jewelry and ships it all over the world. Laura Fail would have thought she died and went to heaven! We tried to get pictures, but once again we just couldn't capture it! unbelieveable...everywhere you looked were piles and piles of any kind of stone, turquois, coral, gems, pearls in heaping bags everywhere!! We did not have the time to really search all the vendors. The tour guide only took us to one vendor, and I felt very rushed and overwhelmed. But anyway it was loads of fun! Then we bought Brie her first hapy meal! Sorry Sher, you and the girls can buy her the next one. She loves McNuggets! Tonight the Breshears and we had the most awesome dinner on earth. We ate outside by the river and enjoyed everything from beef and fish and pork,all kinds of fish, mussles, oysters, you name it ~ it was a smorgasborg of everything... we enjoyed the meal over a couple of hours...then topped it off with ice cream sundaes. Yes!!!! I've gained weight now for sure. Guangzhou is terrific. Two more days and then we start our journey home. We have paperwork to do frist thing in the morning and then we may journey up and down more of the side streets here..We have enjoyed the gorgeous pool here for the pat two afternoons. Those pics tomorrow. :)

Time to get little one to bed. She didn't have a nap this afternoon. Hope all is well back home. Love the Meades

We made it & Guangzhou is wonderful!

We are at the White Swan hotel and it is beautiful here!! We are on the 12th floor and the view is great. The hotel is on a river and when we got here last night music was piped into every floor...the same music that was playing outside to the laser light show from the buildings across the river. I will shoot some video tonight. We got here around 8:30pm. The girls did very well on the flight here. We lucked out as there was no one in the wondow seat so we were able to put Brie in between us and she had a geat time...well she snacked the whole time so that was fun for her. They all get so antsy. The guys ran back out as soon as we got into our rooms to get take out from Lucy's! American cheeseburgers and french fries with real ketchup!! They were wonderful. Brielle had a long night which means sodid mom and dad.. Her tummy was upset and her rash was really bothering her. The crib is very small and narrow. The first time she flops around it wakes her up. Thankfully we swapped rooms with another single girl who got a king sized bed so it is big enough for Brie to get in the middle.

This morning we went to get their medical exams. Brie weighs 15.6 pounds. She's the tiniest of all the girls. The each of the rest weighs between 18 and 21 pounds. They've been eatng up a storm since we got them so in no time they'll be good to go. We did get a prescription cream for Brie's rash. Hopefully that will help her tonight.

Brie is taking a nap now and Rob is with the rest of the Dads filling out required forms for the Consulate appointment tomorrow.

We saw alot of wonderful things this morning. I will try to quickly post a few pics. We have to pay dearly for internet here, so unfortunately, I do not know how many more times we'll be blogging. We wanted everyone to know we made it here ok and that Gz is clean and pretty from what we've seen so far.

After breakfast which was so delicious we walked down to a photo shop where they took headshots of the girls for their clinic paperwork. Then we went to a hospital of sorts for the exams. It didn't involve a whole lot...weight, measurements, overall body check, temperature, etc. no bloodwork or shots or anything really. I was glad to get her rash checked out but they just keep saying it is heat rash.

On our way to the clinic, there were a few nannies taking a class of children to the park. I think they were maybe 3 and 4 years old. They were all holding on to a long strip of material to keep them in line. Dressed in beautiful red outfits, they stopped and the children waived and said "Hollow" !! It was adorable. Then we saw alot of adults playing something like badmitten?? LOL ! however you spell it.. with their feet! They play in groups of four. Many were exercising - tai chi and using like playground equipment for adults!

I think we paid alot more for the few things we did buy in Beijing and Nanchang. There are several shops right across the street from the White Swan that we checked out on our way back to the hotel. We bought a stroller because the carrier gets so so hot in the afternoon. It was 155 yen which is about $23 and then we got two pairs of squeaky shoes and one outfit for Brie. I will have to go back when I can "barter" more aggressively and also when I have money. Rob had left me with only 6 yen when he left to do the paperwork so I only looked. It's probably a good thing because then I can compare more places before making decisions on things.

Ok I"m going to stop here and post some photos. Hugs to everyone back home and other faithful blog readers. Life is wonderful with Brielle and we can't wait for you all to meet her.

All our bags are packed...we're ready to go....

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeello from Nanchang for the last time.

We got Brielle's passport this morning! Yay....she can now leave this province with her parents.
We had to review several documents that will be presented at the consulate appointment in Gz... making sure every bit of information is absolutely correct or else it is major problems!
LiPing also gave each of us an 8 x 10 photo of when the children were handed off to us on Gotcha Day! None of us even realized anyone was taking pictures! Imagine that! I was so thrilled to recieve that as Rob was shooting video of the event. Thus the reason it never made the blog. Each picture is wonderful as each child was looking directly at their new moms. It really gives me goose bumps to look at it! :) okaaaaaaay i tear up ..a little.

We also received a bag of "Sniks" as LiPing put it - snikky snacks for when we get to hotel tonight. He said the restaurant will be closed, and he didnt want us to get hungry. Apparently it will be somewhere around 9 pm by the time we get into our rooms. The snacks included one can of pringles, chocolate covered (debatable) ? chinese moon pies (yard saling food, sher!), onion vegetable crackers, rice puffy cookies for the babies and some rabbit taffy?? An odd mix of sniks for certain! You'd THINK I would have lost a few pounds on this journey but, heavens no, still my chubby self! :) At least we've been healthy! Some of the other families have had some serious tummy issues! I've doled out many a tum.

We took one last trip to the grocery store after breakfast to get a few supplies for the trip today, other than that we've been right here in the rooms...going back and forth visiting each other...pacing around trying to make the time pass by.

I played charades a few times here with the girls in the hotel gift shop. Last night I was trying to find a deck of cards. Finally got her to understand and she said OOHHH COD..! she ran around the corner and brought back a birthday card. :) A few more hand gestures and she dug up a deck made in USA! Sweet.

We have to pack up the lap top so I'm going to end here and post a picture or two.

Congrats to all of my January RQ buddies who received their TA this week! You're almost on your way to your girls. Maryann (Mikeandmare) I'm thinking about ya... getting excited for you!

Have a geat Monday everyone. Loveage to all. L,R & B

ps Sorry..Pictures will have to wait until we get to the White Swan. The USB cord is totally packed up.

Great night on the town~~

This will be short because we need to get baby nighty night. We piled in a cab, Kerry, Brian, baby Easton, Brielle, Rob and I, and went uptown to find the two story Pizza Hut....We saw a new side of Nanchang and the girls were so well behaved. Brie had her first taste of spagetti! We had to get a number outside like at a steak house and wait and wait for a table. The place was huge. We had a great time chatting with a girl from South Africa who is here for one year ..yikes.. and another young Chinese girl who spoke a bit of English. We did lug the video cam, too, so we were able to get a bit of city life. Pizza and spagetti were good and we topped it off with Haagan Daz. Full bellies and now we are calling it a day. Love to you all. Tomorrow am we pack up and get ready for the final chapter of China.

God bless!
LR&B

I want to be a rock star!

Good morning USA! Pops here. I just wanted to let you all know that Brie and I are jammin to Third Day while Mom gets ready for another day in beautiful downtown Nanchang. It promises to be as hot today as it has been. One thing I've noticed is that you never see any service trucks running around. I know for a fact that 3/4 of the A/C in this country is broke, so ship my stuff over here and we will berth Coastal Air Solutions International! NOT!!

You all pray for Mom as she had a pretty rough day yesterday. We are both anxious to get this precious little package home. Brielle and I enjoyed our day getting to know each other some more. We had coffee in the lobby, went swimming, visited a few shops and picked up her new outfit. If she doesn't hurry up and put on a few pounds she'll probably be able to use it as her prom dress. She is eating well and I'm sure once she gets home and experiences a few McDonald's drive thus with Olivia and Emma, everything will be good.

KK, Brielle is not walking yet; waiting on her big brother to teach her. As far as talking goes, she just kind of grunts when she wants something. Mom does a pretty good job of interpreting that as that's pretty much how I communicate with her. That's what she tells me anyways.

Lots of hugs and kisses to you all. We miss you guys like crazy. Olivia and Emma...get the ice cream ready cause Pops is coming home soon!

:)

Tingyan Orphanage Day Today

Well today was a very exhausting day...emotionally mainly. Unfortunately I do not have photos tonight to post of what we witnessed today because I only shot video. Not very good video at that, but I did get some that hopefully Kris will be able to transform into something! Only one parent was allowed to go today. They did not want the girls going in this heat as it was a 2.5 hour bus ride! So Lisa, Brian, Brent and I made the trip while the others hung back with the girls. I was excited and very saddened all at the same time. It was nice to be able to ask as many questions as possible to the orphange director and the nanny that actually took care of Brielle. But I doubt that all of her answers to me were translated as spoken. It makes you wonder how much is filtered out by the adoption administrators..

This welfare institute is a combination of an old folks home and orphanage...for anyone who needed someone to take care of them. (Brie is on my lap and is hel[ping me type now...) It was sad. We were first taken into a room - a conference room that had a huge table. We sat around and they served us fruit. Lychee, grapes and watermelon. We could then ask questions about our girls and we were also told that we would be shown exactly where each girl was found and then we could photograph it!

Next we were then taken to a small room that had about 6 cribs in it and 6 little wooden chairs that the children are placed in all day. They are fed in these chairs and are made to go potty in them as well! The nanny showed me Brielle's crib and in it I found a straw mat, a blanket, flat small pillow, old torn towel and a large old stretchy shirt of sorts. They kept talking about "Tianyu" as being a very active girl and when I asked about the garmet the nanny showed me she would 'wrap up ' Tian in it and put her in bed. .. like a constraint?? and at that point I got pretty sick! Then Bruce said "oh to keep her warm". Yeah right! Why would you need that with this big thick blanket?? Now we can understand why these little girls fear going to sleep at night. The first two nights with Brielle was smooth and last night we experienced what some of the other parents have said ...that their girls wake up suddenly and cry. They do not like being in the cribs! I can totally see why. Off of the crib area was a little kitchen galley and another adjoining bedroom. I guess the nanny stays in there to sleep? Bruce told us that the orphanage was recently without water for three months!! I shudder to think about what kind of water was literally carried in to that place...Did they even get baths?? Did they feed them this water too?

We were then taken into another small room that had 4 children in it. Two special needs kids and two cute little ones that looked about 6 or 7 months old who were ready to be adopted out. One of the SN children was albino and his skin was so chapped with a bright red rash it had to burn! All of the girls were delievered to us with rashes and skin issues. Most is clearing up but whenever they get hot they break out in wheply things and they get very itchy.

The countryside was amazing. We saw many Chinese working with oxen in the rice fields and oyster beds along with masses of ducks that they raise. They eat alot of duck here.

After leaving the orpahage we went to the finding spots. I had a vision of a windy, rocky dirt road where Brie was dropped off; however, it was quite the opposite. She was left on the side of a road at the entrance to a shopping strip on a cement sidewalk actually. By a mall of sorts.... hmmm. How odd. I took footage of that as well.

Daddy and Brie had a great day together. Rob didnt take any pics though so I snapped a couple after dinner! Gotta scoot and give Brie a bath. Onlu one more full day here tomorrow and then we pack up and head to Guanzhou on Monday afternoon. Thank God! Ready to be home with all of you.

Love ya'll...
L, R & B

Today's Events ~ Temple, Park & Porcelain

Bruce told us we would do a little sightseeing today. He didn't tell us where we were going until we were all packed in the shuttle bus. Wow is it hot today. Soaked is a pretty accurate description of all of us by the time we got back to the hotel. Our first stop was at a Buddhist temple. Interesting. Haven't seen or smelled that much incense since high school! But these cats had incense on steroids going on over there. Anyway... we prayed and went in to check it out. Monks were chanting and scuffling around the big Buddha. They literally circled us. Some would come in and kneel in front of the Buddhas, and then go to each of the other statues and bow in front of them. Then we went across the street to a pretty nice park. Bruce told us that many Chinese find puppy love there! okaaaaaaaay. We went and sat on a bridge to catch a breeze and one sweet Chinese lady came up to us and stared and smiled at Brie. She told me (via Bruce's translation) that i really needed a red bow in her hair not white! Red is good luck in China...and she pretty! :) Off next to the porcelain shop run by the Chinese govt. Gorgeous things in there! Wish we had more room to carry things back, but we still have 44 lbs. weight restriction. And then there's the cash restriction ...haha! So we looked and enjoyed trying to bargain with the locals. Just riding all over the city is such a treat. It is amazing what you see. Wish I could capture it on the camera. We haven't taken much video because it is so stinking hot to carry the extra weight and then pull it out to shoot stuff. It's crazy to see Cartier sitting right by an ally where a local may be selling garlic cloves out of the basket of his bike! And people...LOTS of them are everywhere going in different directions. No one waits in a line here...they are constantly merging. Whether in restaurants, at street corners..even at the elevator...if I was standing 10 minutes to wait to get on and the doors opened ~ 5 would jump out of nowhere and jump on ahead of me! I guess that is not included in their Miss Manners book of etiquette here.

As we were getting off the bus Bruce tells us that Liping has made dinner reservations tonight for the group at a Chinese restaurant! That sounded so funny to me. Guess you had to be there.

Rupert & Brie are sound asleep right now. Rob loves the fact that we must have quiet time for the baby. So I'm getting caught up on email and such.

Our travel mates have been a lot of fun! The babies are all adorable, and we hope that we can get the girls together again in the future. Thanks for checking in on us. Our trip is at the halfway mark. I'm still in shock to be here and to have our sweet little girl with us. All the little personalities are starting to come out now. But they all have the same fears and insecurities! We get to visit the orphanage tomorrow. We are all both anxious and fearful of what we may see.

Have a great day!

Until later........ L, R & B

A few more pics from last night

Hi all...we are on our way to breakfast again... Brie had her first poopie this morning! Big news on the 15th floor. She is the last of the 6 to make "it" happen. Here are a few shots from last night. We had Pizza Hut pizza and it tasted like filet mignon!!!

Off for sightseeing this morning...

Hugs to all,
L&R&B

Yo Murphy and Nikki

Are you two still out there? Aunt Lydia thinks you are just dogs, but I beg (beg,,,get it?) to differ. Murph, I hope you are well and you haven't drunk all the water in the pool. Nikki, your new sister Brielle scratches as much as you. I guess I'll have to issue both of you Prednisone in the mornings. I know it's hot there, but it's hotter here so quit your whining (get it again??) We will be home soon, so keep the hoodlums out of the pool, keep barking, and keep it real!

Pops.

A day off for bonding ~ Day 6 in China

Today is a very lazy day. We got up a bit later than usual and meandered down to breakfast at 9am. A few other families did the same thing. It is so blazing hot here that we haven't even ventured out of the hotel. We came back to the room after breakfast and put Brielle down for a nap. That lasted for about an hour. Then we spent a good bit of time at the pool. We had the place to ourselves for about 30 minutes and then a few of the other families joined us. Then a pile of older boys came in and the noise was so bad we could barely hear each other talk! The pool is on the 4th floor in a glass room with a view of the river which is really pretty. Unfortunately we are in the old part of Nanchang, and we are surrounded by pretty shabby establishments. It is dirty here with many old, run down buildings. We did see a nicer part of the city yesterday when we did the official adoption in the center of Nanchang. Brielle was playing contently in her crib with toys and decided she was sleepy. She scratches her head which is funny because Rob's feet get itchy when he gets sleepy too! It is so amazing to see how each child is the perfect child chosen for each couple! Brielle definately feels like ours already. She fell asleep on me within 5 minutes and is now cuddling her ladybug blanket that her sister, Sherie, gave her! Too cute.

We are meeting Kerry, Brian and Easton, a wonderful family from Montana, in a little while to go check out some of the local shops.

Hope all is well back home!

Hugs from the Meades

A few more pictures from tonight...

Crazy Paperwork Day

Our little Brielle went nighty-nite at 7pm and slept until 7 am this morning. What a great kid! She is a big eater too. All the girls are, and it just makes you wonder how much of what they were actually fed at the orphanage. We took our first official family photo today which is now on her adoption certificate. She is ours!!! We were interviewed and asked why we chose to adopt and another official asked us if we liked her and wanted to keep her. :( oh..... Now she is lying awake in her crib not saying a peep but she looks so sad. Confused. I pray she wants to keep us. It breaks my heart that someone just left her on the side of a road. I love her so much already. We have had her giggling today. She's precious. I'll post a few pics now. Keep praying for us, please. Especially for good health and bonding of our hearts with this little child and hers with ours. Miss you all!

Louise and Rob
ps Thanks so much for your sweet messages family, friends and RQ familly!! They keep us going way over here. August 2nd seems so far away. Ready to come home.

A Day Early!

Surprise.... We had just walked into the Gloria Grande Hotel in Nanchang, and we got the news that our babies would be delivered to us at the hotel within the hour. Rob and I had the rest of the day planned out to unpack, relax & go to the pool and unwind to prepare for tomorrow's big event. WRONG. We were two nervous cats trying to get our act together in a hurry!! She's here and she's a little petite angel. She was extremely quiet with no expression for about 3 hours. After playing with her and cuddling her she started warming up to us. She ate for her Daddy... and ate and ate! Rice, congee, mashed potatoes and broccoli! No bottle yet though. She shakes her head no whenever we try to feed her a bottle. She actually sipped a bit of water from a glass at dinner. We gave her a bath and she fell asleep on Rob's chest..so stinkin' cute. She has bruises on her, one mongolian spot at the top of her butt (which is as tiny as a plum!) and a bump on the back of her head, short hair that stands straight up on her head and she's covered in a rash. All of the girls are adorable and are adapting very well to all of the families. Whitney and her mom, Sian, gave us beautiful mother daughter sterling bracelets, and she did not let go of it from the minute i tried to put it on her arm. She ate with it, took a bath with it and fell asleep with it! The 9 month old outfit I put on her is too big! She's a pipsqueak. Will post more pics tomorrow!

Hugs to all! Love, Mom & Dad, L&R, Briellesmom & Briellesdad

Bomb??

We are having a "blast" but it's not from a bomb! :) We are fine everyone..we just got up and know nothing about a bomb!

We're getting ready to leave for breakfast and then the airport. We'll write after we check in to the hotel in Nanchang. Only one more day!

with love from Beijing......

17 million people...did we see half of them today?

Day three of our trip included another whole day of touring Beijing. We took in Tianeman ? Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace - my new favorite place on earth, the Olympic village - well as close as we could get that is and to the Beijing Chaoyang Theater Acrobatics World! We learned so much history today and got to see many antiques from the last dynasty that existed in 1911. Fascinating. Now we are looking forward to seeing The Last Emporer since it was all explained to us. Our driver had car problems so we had to wait for him while he got the Audi fixed. So we walked even more while we waited. It was some kind of HOT today too. You'd think I'd be 10 lbs. smaller by now but no luck. Ha! We had another great breakfast and lunch was a western buffet today. We had gelato for the first time - cherry vanilla. There were many different tour groups at the restaurant - people from all different countries. Our guide told us many intersting stories about some of his "regular" customers - filthy rich people who just travel all over the world. I've really enjoyed studying the children here. Many stared at us and would say "hello" and "welcome to China"! It was so cute. I really love this place. The acrobat performance was from a troupe from Sischuan - near the earthquake center. Sim told us that for weeks after it happened they kept goofing their performance because they were so upset over what happened. How sad. The show was very very good and I wished Emma & Olivia could have seen it with us. Big beautiful costumes and exotic birds, etc. It was the perfect ending to our two day tour!

We have a flight tomorrow morning at 10:55am so we'll be leaving the hotel around 8:30am. It has been such an awesome experience. This city is so big it is hard to comprehend how many people are here. Sim told us today that it costs $7,000 to get a license plate for a car. Many own plates before they get a car & Only well off people own them. You see almost as many bikes as cars. Moms tool down the street on bikes with kids on the back. And men carry their wares to market. We took many pictures again today but I don't feel like we've really captured the culture here. I'll post more a bit later tonight. Hope all is well back home. We are closer to getting Brielle. Will Wednesday ever get here???

Love to all back home,
L & R

Yes, Brielle's Dad does exist

We woke this morning to some guy wailing outside of our window. This must be the Chinease verision of "This is the Day" or something. Maybe it's to save money on alarm clocks? All I know is if this continues, I'm leaving. (whatever)

We walked the soles off my sneaks...

As much as I'd love to be kidding, the soles of my sneakers literally started to flop off the sides of both shoes by the time we got back to the room! We did a lot of walking, climbing and gasping for breath today! ok at least I was gasping. I made it up to four towers of the wall this afternoon and sat & sat & sat while Rob ventured up the mountain! The view was breath taking ~ the pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the land. It was fascinating to sit and watch people come by of many different nationalities. I enjoyed studying the Chinese people and listening to the chatter! And the clothing styles are very different from ours. I have yet to see one pair of shoes that I like though. The shoes people wear here are... ugly. Beijing is very clean. Every where you look someone in a uniform is cleaning and tending to something - from the sides of the highways to the public restrooms. The Chinese people way exceed Americans when it comes to customer service. They wait on you hand and foot. Restaurants and stores have so many people working in them. They all wait until someone walks in the door and then they stay with them until they leave.

Today was day one of the restricted driving law throughout the Olympics. Only cars with even numbered license tags could drive today. Tomorrow it is odd. The only exception is buses and taxis. Otherwise there is a fine. Free drive is from midnight until 3 am.... they have specially designated lanes on the expressways for Olympic traffic. The roads are lined with beautiful flowers. But you see Mercedes driving beside huge vegetable trucks and men riding bikes with hundreds of things stacked on them. I do not understand how they keep their balance! Eclectic mix of social status.

We went to the jade factory this morning and learned all about the different kinds of jade. Gorgeous carved pieces and lots of jewelry was on display. Daddy bought one piece, jadite bangle - for Brielle's 16th birthday ~ tradition.

The next stop was the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide is very knowledgable and answered all of our questions about many different subjects throughout the day. It is such a treat to have a private tourguide plus a driver! He then took us to the friendship store which first included a tour of the manufacture of cloisonne. Talk about labor intensive! I learned that Beijing is the only place where it is made. I took a few pics of those ladies. The craftsmanship is handed down to members in the family. I will have a much greater appreciation of the art now when I see pieces of it at home. We then were taken to lunch at the restaurant there and our guide would not eat with us. He explained that when they work they do not/cannot eat or "hang out" with their customers. Strictly professional. He had to eat in a different part of the restaurant with the driver. The lunch had many courses. I did try many different dishes but not the best thing to do right before going out in the heat and climbing the wall! ugh....

We'll post some pictures in a bit so stay tuned.
Oh here's a mythbuster...there ARE many TALL Chinese people in this country!

What the heck day is it?

Well tried our best to stay up late and made it 730pm! We ate only peanuts for dinner...too confused after all we had on the plane i guess. We took a journey to the grocery store last night a few blocks away. I could have smacked myself for not having my camera. I will go back because you've just GOT to see this place. Everything is so cramped and they jam hundreds of people in. Sherie would have fallen out with the smells and things we saw on the shelves. Ladies in uniforms were standing by counters shouting out things that I'm assuming were the "blue light specials?" I just wanted to stand still and take it all in. No big carts just little baskets similar to what we have only they put them on wheels and push around. It's a scream. AND the place is 2 stories...didn't venture upstairs - will do that next time. OH and alot is not refrigerated. The eggs are wrapped in saran wrap and sit on shelves! I picked up a pack of big blue ones!! NO telling what hatched those puppies but I can bet some of it will be in our lunch today. Sim has quite the plan for us. Will take video today too and we'll post some pics when we ge back. Too wiped out last night. The beds are smaller than the double in Brielle's room, but we did not have any problems falling asleep. Was awakened by loud china chatter in the hallway at 2am - party animals? That's it for now. It is Sunday and we started the day with listening to David Jerimiah. Off to get ready and head to the breakfast buffet. Hope there are no feathers on anything. Have a great day! xx

Heeeeeeellllo from Beijing!

Even after a very long day flying 13+ hours from Newark, we are SO excited to be here. I keep pinching myself. It has actually happened. We are in China. Did I ever tell you that as a little girl my BFF and I used to pretend we were China girls? You should see the hoopla over the Olympics. People costumed in Olympic gear were all over the airport. Some standing guard so to speak in pairs waiting to help whomever may arrive for the events. It's pretty awesome to be amidst it all. I so wanted to take pictures while going through the airport, but I was instructed not to until we talked to our guide. I ended up buying a new digital camera at the NJ airport. I know stupid move but I panicked because I could NOT find my camera in either of my bags. It was heavy anyways so I bought a nifty little Panasonic Lumix 10MP. Can't wait to take pics and video. Our guide, Sim, is here now telling us what he has in store for us tomorrow and Monday. Yikes! Glad I brought my sneakers.

Nexters, here are the next three tips: #1) Fly continental - it was super. Fed us three times and had about 50 movies & programs to choose from #2) request bulkhead seating! Tons of leg room. 3) If you can swing it - get a pair of Bose noise reduction headphones. Sweet.

We are pretty tired since we've only slept about 2 hours on the ride over even with
nighty nite meds. Too excited I suppose.

It is strange being in a country where we can't communicate without assistance. But we're off to find a grocery store to get bottled water.

Lois & Steve... thanks for taking us to the airport yesterday too!
Miss everyone.. we'll keep in touch! Love yas.

We're Off!

It is 4:31 a.m and we are dressed and getting ready to throw our stuff in the car! I did sleep a few hours but ... man-oh-man I am excited!! Point #1 to you guys doing this after us... do NOT wait until the night before you leave to clean out your refrigerator. Holy Moly...just when you thought you're done another mess pops up. We got in bed sometime after 11pm.

Thanks so much to our wonderful family, friends and co-workers who already have made this a fantastic trip and we haven't even left yet! TYG!! Mike and Lydia...thanks for praying us out of here. You guys are awesome friends. Do have fun cleaning the pool while we're gone. But don't sweat it - it's just a pool, Lyd. Murphy and Nic won't want us to come home after hanging with the 4 of you for 2 weeks.

Sher, Dale, Olivia, Emma, Kris & Whitney... love you guys and take care of each other til we get home! We'll post when we get there sometime tomorrow and give a shout!

Until then....
chingchong chopsticks away!!

Happy 4th of july everyone~~~~~

I really can't believe it is July 4, 2008, and we still do not have our little girl home. I never would have believed it would take so long. However, we DO have our referral which means we know who our little girl is, and we have a beautiful picture to look at and talk to!! That is what is getting us through another long wait. Where or where is our TA?? Let's hope we see it next week. RQ reports referrals were received in Europe today. How exciting. I could not work the day before..the day of..or the day after receiving the news of Brielle. It had me paralyzed pretty much. I really can not wait to meet her.

Even though we didn't get to spend this holiday with any of our three children (gosh that sounds funny to say but sounds so good - three children) we did enjoy a really fun day. I got a bit of work done at home as did Rob and then we relaxed in the pool for a couple of hours. We then went to Brielle's god parents house ~ dear friends Mike & Lydia~ to enjoy delicious ribs and all the "fixins". Happy 4th one and all!!

In the meantime I shop

This is the second attempt at this post! How many times have I previewed a long post the then lost it because I didn't save it before previewing!! Argh!!!!!

Anyway... rumor has it that packages are in the air already? Agencies do not know what is in them, but it is thought it may be referrals. How cool that the rest of my January buds may see their babies faces just three weeks after we got ours?? That is pretty much what I anticipated... we had to wait an excruciatingly long time.... a week longer than ususal because CCAA officials were out of the provice due to the earthquake. And now we are waiting longer than usual for our TA because our paperwork got delayed. Two more weeks is what our group 123b was told on Friday!! DRATS! You think the wait is long?? Seeing that cutie pie face and knowing she is ready and waiting for us and not being able to get to her is very painful.

In the mean time... I shop. So many little items needed mostly "just in case". Medicines, thermos, baby care items, wipes, diapers, baggies, treats, etc. I've scanned numerous lists of BTDT families that say don't forget this and that. I was so blessed to have an enormous baby shower last Saturday where several dear friends gave me so many beautiful things including gift cards, and I'm using them to pick up all these necessary little items I will need for Brielle. There are so many new and exciting things available now since my two were little. Can I tell you how much fun this is?

I'm also trying to plan my clothing strategy. Cool, easy to pack and wash clothing items. I picked up a couple of runner type outfits that are made of very lightweight fabric... I am trying to choose things that will all coordinate so I don't look like I'm wearing the same three outfits over & over during the 2+ week trip!

COME ON TA!! WE'RE READY FOR YOU!!

Happy First Birthday FuFuBug!!

Today is June 15th.

One year ago today I was flying home from Denver, Colorado from the annual Human Resources Conference... and here I sit in Boston, MA once again at the HR conference. Little did I know that day that our little Brielle would be found and brought to Tingyan SWI. She was only hours old! On this very very special day I've prayed for our little girl's safety, happiness and health and that angels surround her until her Mommy & Daddy can come to get her. I also prayed for her parents who left Brielle on the side of the road. May they know in their hearts that their daughter will be loved and well taken care of. Olivia and Emma are planning a super birthday party upon her arrival home. Wherever you are today, sweet baby girl, know that we love you very much and we will get to you as soon as we can!

Happy Happy Birthday from all of your family!!!!

Here she is.... meet Brielle!

A perfect ending to a perfect day!

We just spent a wonderful evening with our children, Sherie, Dale, Whitney & Kris to celebrate the arrival of Brielle's referral! Of course we ordered Chinese food and had wonderful conversation about Kris & Whitney's wedding and honeymoon!! We took a silly group photo which I will post here tomorrow. We love you, Brielle! We can't wait to get your picture tomorrow.

We have a FuFu!!

First of All..... Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your wonderful gift of the precious baby girl that you imprinted on my heart three years ago this month. I knew this day would come! I didn't know I'd have to wait three years for it; however, this day is so incredibly filled with your grace, it is worth every single minute of the three year wait. Our sweet little girl, Fu Tian Yu, will celebrate her first birthday on Father's Day! She is waiting for us in the Yingtan SWI in the province of Jiangxi. I can't wait to tell her how much we love her, but more importantly who God is and how much he loves her too!

Oh!!!! Hopefully we will get pictures of her tomorrow. I will post them as soon as I get them to my family. I can't even find a word to appropriately describe how I'm feeling right now. Full of Joy. Thrilled beyond expectation!!!!!!!! Nervous... happy as a clamola. Yay!!! Thanks for even reading my jibberish.

FOR THE LOVE.... It's Tuesday the 10th!!!

How on earth did we get to June 10th without a referral?? It is election day here, and I just knew I'd know who my child is by this date! Just goes to show you... we don't know what lies ahead of any given moment, day, month, year... This journey has shown me how impatient I've been and that I am NOT supposed to be. I'm still praying that today is the day, referral day that is. That was yesterday's prayer and all the days last week... Another life lesson from this journey ~ Never give up hoping and praying!

When will the phone ring a-ding-ding??

Ok...I'm finally back from Saluda, NC... What an excruciatingly long trip home. Stuck on I-26 in trafffic for over an hour due to an accident! I didn't think I would everrrrrrrrrr get here!!!!!!!! What a day to be away from RQ!!! The day that the stork is arriving.... I was going crazy trying to get here quickly and it took over 4.5 hours. Sheesh. My January buddies are getting their calls. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING DAYS OF MY LIFE!!! We've waited three stinking years for this moment. To log on and see my blog listed under the babies post today was absolutely incredible.. TYG. :) Now ring phone ring!

Is Tomorrow the DAY????

We are in Saluda, and I am sitting in Whistlestop cafe with Lydia searching RQ for news!! Can't stand being away at this very crucial time of possible stork sightings!!! Can we survive one more day ? I have been surrounded by ladybugs all weekend... Come on Brielle.... hurry.

Is the Stork Flying?????

Wow...I certainly was thrown for a loop yesterday when someone on RQ with a LID of 01-16-06 posted that they had received "the call"!! One minute I was reading that referrals had not been signed off yet, and that we wouldn't see anything until next week...and the next minute(literally) I was reading that someone had received a call form their agency. Can I just tell you how many calories I burned with excitement for about 10 minutes??? I emailed a few family members that I thought my water had broken so to speak and then read on RQ that they had only received a call that they were matched but no referral yet. Sheesh! But I must admit that the entire 10 minute episode made it feel totally REAL that we are indeed NEXT and that in a few days I may see a little cutie pie face that I will call my very own. (sigh) This will be a very long couple of days............................ chocolate.... i need chocolate.

Part 2 of 2 Daughters in May

I can't describe how exciting these past couple of weeks have been for me. I've attempted to blog about it several times, but I forgot my password and couldn't get into my account! I'm finally taking a few minutes to write.

We celebrated a spectacular wedding this past weekend. Everything was perfect from the weather to the ceremony to the reception to visiting with family and friends to enjoying a beautiful condo at the Country Club over the holiday. The best part of it all is that I now have a new daughter - Whitney Chipley Meade and she is beautiful inside and out. She and her new husband are enjoying their honeymoon on the island of Kauai for 11 days. Lucky them!

As for daughter #2 this month...

We are NEXT to receive a referral. There's no getting around it this time unless they only send referrals for half a day! Our log in date is January 13, 2006 so we are next, next, next! Rumor has it that matching has begun so there may be a little face with our fileas I type this. I get goose bumps thinking that we may have a little girl already!!! When will we see her??? Hopefully very soon. STAY TUNED!

Two new daughters in the month of May!

The most exciting development over this past year is that Kris finally found the girl of his dreams! In December, Kristopher asked Whitney Chipley of Florence, SC, to marry him. She is beautiful inside and out, and we are so excited to have her as a daughter. Their wedding date is planned for May 24th. We are hoping and praying that our trip to China will in no way, shape or form interfere with their special day. Leave it to me to have two major life & family events happening at the same time! God is so awesome He will work it out perfectly I feel certain.
How blessed can a family be to get two new daughters in one month??

Is this the wildest month ever??

I just read on RQ that there are rumblings of January 6th being matched this month as well??
When will the insanity stop? This really makes me nervous. If the 6th is matched the possibility of us being matched in April is greater!!

It has been almost one year...

Well I sat here and typed my brains out several paragraphs long and somehow managed to lose everything i typed!! So i think i will re-do this in bits & pieces because I really don't have the patience to go through it all again now.

I am very glad that I did not realize this time last year that in one year we STILL would not have a referral!! This is absolutely crazy! I am relieved to report that we are now only 9 Log In Dates away from a referral. Could we be next?? possibly and very possibly not! It has been 2.5 years of "we are only six months away" ... over and over again. And now all of a sudden.. we could be next!

When i think of it, I find myself not breathing!