Good-bye China!

It's 5:35 am Friday, April 11th and the angels are still sleeping. We need to wake them in the next 5-10 minutes and head downstairs to the bus that will take us to the airport for our 8:20 flight.

I thought I'd write a little bit about what I will miss and won't miss about China. When I return to the U.S. and catch up on my sleep I'll post more pictures and some video that I shot while here. I've got some cool pictures.

What I will miss about China:

• The people - everyone is so nice, older women are so sweet, they will pick up your child and admire them. Everyone is curious about Americans and the adoption process. You would think they might be upset that we are taking their children out of their country but they are so excited about it. They say "lucky girl" to the children.
• Being a "celebrity". It's so cute, they come up to you and want to take their picture with you. This happened to Morgan all the time, especially since she's a blond, curly haired, beautiful child! (coming from her Mom!)
• Holt International Adoption Agency - they were awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone.
• The warm weather in Guangzhou.
• Some of the food. We tried a lot of new things on this adventure.
• The walking. We walked a ton, great exercise.
• Chinese massage!!!!!
• The countryside, Wonders of the World like the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors.
• All of the ancient history and architecture.

What I won't miss about China:

• The very hard, twin sized beds, even in 4-5 star hotels. I know they are small people, but please!
• The traffic - scary. You take your own life in your hands just trying to cross the street.
• So many people in such a small area. The cities are so congested, it's truly amazing.
• Some of the food (especially the live animals ready to be picked out and cooked for your dinner).
• The plumbing situation and "squatty potty's" - scary. They are essentially a hole in the floor and you have to be very careful where you step. In every public bathroom we were looking for the "western" toilet (a normal toilet).
• Going into KFC and being very confused (Joe experienced this).
• The retail purchasing process at the mall. You have to pick out your merchandise, get a receipt, take it up to the cashier, pay for it and then return the paid receipt and pick up your merchandise. Not an efficient process.
• Trying to figure out the money exchange.
• The cold weather in Beijing and Xian.
• The pollution.
• The difference in the electricity.
  

There is so much more on both sides, but I must get the girls out the door. See you when we get back home to the good Ole USA!

Melissa

Homeward Bound!

It's about 11 pm Guangzhou, China time on Thursday, April 10th. We have to leave for the airport at 6 am for an 8:20 am flight. Then we'll go to Tokyo, then Minneapolis, then KC. All in all it will take us about 24 hours to get home. UGH! But that's OK, because all we want to do right now is be home with our family and our dog, Calvin, and our friends in our own house, in our own beds!

I thought since this was the last night here and both of the girls are sleeping like angels that I would take some time to do a little summary of our trip.

Wednesday, March 26th we left KC and traveled almost 24 hours to get to Beijing, China arriving on Thursday, March 27th at 10 pm. We were greeted by our guide named Happy. A sign that things were going to be good!

Friday, March 28th we visited the Great Wall of China on a very cold, snowy day. Something that we had not expected and had not prepared for. Luckily Morgan was the only smart one and she brought a coat. Mom and Dad were stuck wearing cheap plastic rain slickers purchased at the Great Wall. Friday is also when we met the Harris Family who we ended up hanging out with during a lot of the trip.

Saturday, March 29th. This is the day when we had our orientation at Holt, our adoption agency. At this time they gave us some new pictures of Ana Claire. I cried a lot at this time because it really sunk in that this was finally happening. We also visited the temple of Heaven and Tienaman Square on Saturday.

Sunday, March 30th, we boarded a plane for a 3 hour flight to Xian, China where we would meet our daughter. Our guide on this part of the trip was named Jenny. She was fabulous. We finally met our new daughter at 4 pm that day. This is also known as "Gottcha Day", because we finally "gottcha" after all the wait.

Monday, March 31st, the official adoption day. We spent the entire day on this process with a lot of waiting. But one of the highlights of this special day was that we got to eat lunch with the orphanage people. This was a great way for Ana Claire to transition from them to us and it was also a great opportunity to get to know more about her first 3 1/2 years. When they left after the adoption was final was probably one of the saddest times in my entire life thus far. It was utterly heart wrenching for all involved.

Tuesday, April 1st, we went to see the Terracotta Warriors, sometimes referred to as the 8th wonder of the world. We are so glad we got to experience this wonder.

Wednesday, April 2nd. We went shopping for baby stuff at a local department store in a HUGE city mall (at least 8 or 9 stories). Claire had a really bad fever this day. We ended up taking her to the hospital because her fever was so high. This was not a good experience. It REALLY made me appreciate our medical system, even though I complain about it all the time. We've really got it made in the U. S. Even though you have to pay an arm and a leg for health insurance and health care, it's so much better than what other countries experience. After this our guide took us to a Chinese pharmacy and we got some really good medicine that nipped Claire's fever in the bud! We have no idea what was in the medicine, but it worked.

Thursday, April 3rd, we went to a local park and a Chinese book store. Other than that we took it easy and got to know our new daughter.

Friday, April 4th we got on yet another plane and headed to Guangzhou for the last part of our trip. This day we just explored our hotel and Shamian Island along the Pearl River where the hotel was located.

Saturday, April 5th, while I was at a paperwork checking meeting Joe, Morgan and Claire went and bought traditional Chinese dresses for Morgan and Claire. Then in the afternoon we took Claire to the pool. Her first swimming pool experience and she LOVED it. Morgan also got to start hanging out with Abbie Harris (her BFF for this trip). Abbie's family adopted a little boy, baby Caleb. This makes them a family of 5 with mom and dad, Meridith and Tom and 5 year old brother Collin. We hung out with the Harris family all week. It was great to experience the joy of adoption with another family that was in similar circumstances as us. This night we also discovered a local playground. Claire and Morgan both had a blast and burned off some energy before going back to the room.

Sunday, April 6th, we went to church at a local Christian Church that had an English/Chinese service. We didn't last very long because Claire was acting a little like a 3 year old. So instead we headed down to the local Starbucks and hung out for a while. We also went shopping at the Jade and Pearl Market. I didn't buy anything here. It was another 9 story shopping mall FULL of jewelry, too many choices. I can't see how so much stuff can be consumed. But then again Guangzhou is a city of 12 million!

Monday, April 7th, this was the medical exam day for all of the children being adopted. Some of the children did NOT like this. Claire was fine. She seems to just get really quiet when we're around a big crowd or Doctors. She passed with flying colors except the Doctor said he wanted to take her home with him. Needless to say, this entire trip, I have not let her out of my sight. All of the Chinese people tell me that she's beautiful and they all love her. After the medical exam, we did a little shopping. It was in the high 80s on the island and Claire had NO clothes to wear so we had to stock up on some summer clothes. Monday was also the day for the traditional "red couch" picture where they have all of the children sit on a red couch in traditional Chinese clothes and take pictures. It did not go so well, most of the babies wanted their mama's. But somehow the photographer got a good picture once the mama's joined the picture with their respective babies.

Tuesday, April 8th we were supposed to go visit a local school but we missed the time to leave. Getting 2 girls ready and out the door (while living out of suitcases in a small hotel room) has proven to be quite the challenge. Tuesday was when I got to my breaking point, I really wanted to go home at this point. We were living in hotel rooms for too long. All Chinese hotel beds are twin beds, so imagine 4 people sleeping in 2 twin beds for almost 2 weeks (and of course they are HARD as a rock, thus the need for a massage later in the week). This is the night we we got a recommendation from the Concierge to go downtown for Cantonese food at an outdoor restaurant. It was a horrible experience. Have you ever been to a restaurant where you walk around and pick out your "live" food and then they kill it and cook it for you right there? Not a "family oriented" place.

Wednesday, April 9th (me and Joe's 14th Wedding Anniversary). We spent the morning at the Sarari (similar to a Zoo). This was pretty cool. I've got a ton of pictures of this. Morgan got to pet a baby tiger and feed carrots to a giraffe. The Safari wore us out. Morgan went swimming and Mama and Claire took nap. For dinner we had a good-bye dinner with the Harris Family, lucky ducks, they got to go home on Thursday.

Thursday, April 10th. Today was a wrap up day for us. We had to pay all of the outstanding bills and finish buying souviners. In the morning we went to have a 90 minute back and foot massage. We SO needed this after sleeping in twin, hard as rock, beds for almost 2 weeks and hauling around a ton of luggage and carrying a 26 lb child that we're not used to carrying. It was the best massage ever!!! Then the big event of the day, we headed downtown to the U.S. Consulate to take an oath to "never ever abandon" our new daughter! And we got her Visa so we can officially head back home.

And that concludes our trip. Tomorrow we will leave here at 6am and get into KC at 3:45 pm. We are so excited to see everyone and for everyone to meet Ana Claire. We know you all will love her just as much as we do! See you soon.

Melissa, Joe, Morgan and Claire Saubers

Morgan and Claire

Here are some fun pictures of Morgan and Claire doing various things in Guangzhou.

Feeling a little bit guilty...just for a second

We've been having so much fun here that I started to feel guilty, then I thought about how we all got here...

• We started the entire process over 3 years ago
• We've waited 2 years "in line" for Claire
• Then we had to wait over 3 months from when we found out about her until when we traveled to China
• We traveled almost 24 hours on 3 different planes to get to China, with one flight being almost 12 hours (imagine 12 hours on a completely full, cramped plane in the center seats)
  
• Then we had to wait another 3 days until we got to meet her
• Morgan had to wait over 9 years to get a little sister
  

And then I thought about how Claire got here...

• She was born 3 1/2 years ago
• She was abandoned at 1 day old, left very sick and found by the police (she ended up getting pneumonia at 7 days old)
  
• She waited 3 1/2 years in an orphanage (although her caregivers loved her dearly and cared for her the best they could, it's still an institution)
• Then she had to travel 2 hours by train across the country side into a BIG city to meet us
• And she had to be pulled away from the only life she knew, away from her friends and loving caregivers

After thinking about our respective journeys I now don't feel so guilty. I think we deserve to be here in this wonderful tropical city of Guangzhou, China in this very nice hotel, The White Swan, feeling like we're having a family vacation that we were always meant to have. I don't feel so guilty that Claire is having her first bath, her first swim in a big pool, her first visit to the zoo, her first dinner out in a nice restaurant. That guilt disappeared in a split second. --- Melissa

best massage ever

Hi
Today we went to get a massage at the best place ever! I couldn't believe it. We got fresh oranges, awesome tea, and a great massage!

I couldn't take any pictures of it but I do have more news. TODAY WAS CLAIRE'S FIRST TIME IN THE POOL AND SHE SAID I LOVE YOU TO MOMMY!

CLAIRE loved the pool and she was so cute when she said I love you to mommy.
Claire played in the pool for a while she also dropped her electric cell phone in the water. OOP'S!
Morgan :-)

Qing Qing by Morgan

Hi, sorry we missed all those days. But now we're writing so lets start with Ana Claire, shes funny, shes adorable, she likes to throw things at baba in a playful way it's so cute, she also loves to look at fishes, likes puzzles, her favorite foods are bananas and fried rice. Her year is the monkey. I am the rabbit. And she has the most cutest smile.







She also loves bath toys, she not really liking the stroller dad has to push it or she'll see him and want to be held. Today we got to Shamian island.The white swan is our hotel. It is a really nice hotel. Plus you can walk around the whole thing. Write again later Morgan

A Cute Little Laugh

Here is some video that I shot trying to here her laugh. Enjoy... - Melissa

All About Ana Claire

Where do I start? Ana Claire Saubers AKA: Zhou Shuang Qing - Nickname: Qing-Qing (Chin -Chin) She is 3 1/2 years old, birth date: 9/28/04 - born in the year of the monkey in China. She weighs 28 lbs. She's so tiny, but such a pistol. She wears 24 month clothes (a little big, but the 18 mo are too small). I'm not sure what size shoes she wears. We went shopping in Xian for clothes and shoes and everything was in Chinese sizes and I'm not sure how to translate to U.S. sizes.

She has long dark, fine hair that is so much fun to put in piggy tails or a pony tail on top of her head. She has the most beautiful, happy smile and perfect teeth.

She wakes up in the morning very slowly, with lots of hugs and snuggles. Then after she gets dressed she's ready to eat. And for such a small little girl, she can eat! She loves bananas and yogurt, banana bread, eggs and oranges for breakfast. Doesn't care for pancakes. Doesn't want to have anything to do with the traditional Chinese breakfast that she's been eating for the past 3 1/2 years (congee).

She LOVES to play with Baba (Daddy) and Jiu Jiu (Big Sister, Morgan). She loves to color, play with the magnadoodle, look at board books, push buttons (on everything: the TV, the phone, the lights, our cell phone, digital camera, computer, etc.) She can keep herself entertained quietly when she's not playing with us or being mischievous.

She's a trooper when we're out shopping or on a tour. She will walk for a little while, then she'll shout for Baba to pick her up (she says this in Chinese, but we understand her). (We just borrowed the stroller today when we arrived in Guangzhou. Joe's back will appreciate this.)

Everyone LOVES her when we're out. All the Chinese people call her a beautiful girl and pick her up and hug and kiss her (very different from the United States where we'd be upset if a stranger just came up to our child and held them and walked around with them).

She's fully potty trained and will shout at us to take her "nieo nieo" (like "meow meow" but with an "n"). She has not had any accidents, she's actually very adamant about going to the bathroom when she's ready and will make sure we know it's time.

When we met her she said "bye bye" to our driver that took us to the hotel. That was day 1. Day 2 she said her first English words that we had taught her: water and shoe. Then the next day she said potty and good girl (I wonder where she got that?). We talk to her in English with an occasional Chinese word that we've learned here. She seems to understand everything we're saying and for the most part we seem to understand her.

She's a great sleeper, takes a 2 hour nap during the day and goes down pretty easily at night. She LOVES the bath. Before she met us she got a bath one time a week in a plastic tub. Now she plays with her toys in the bath tub and takes a leisurely bath every night.

She's in prime form every night after dinner. It's the funest time of the day for all of us. She makes us laugh and laugh. She shouts at us in Chinese, trying to tell us stuff. She'll say "Ga - Ba Ba!" which we think means "Hey, Daddy!" Then she'll say "Schwa Mama!" which we just figured out today means "Play with me, Mama!" She's a laugher, she thinks Daddy is SO funny, she laughs and laughs at him. She is quite funny herself, fits right in with this family.

To sum it up, she's the perfect little addition to our family and we LOVE her so much. We are so blessed by this little angel. We can't wait for you to all meet her. --Melissa

Wonders of the World

Since we've been in China we've seen two of the 8 Wonders of the World. You may be saying, I thought there were only 7 Wonders of the World. If there were actually 8, the 8th one would have been the one we saw today, Tuesday, April 1st. (By the way - Happy Birthday to Aunt Ellen (Joe's sister) and Aunt Emily (my sister). Hope you both have a great day!)
















We went to see the Terracotta Warriors today in Xian. It was pretty amazing. Claire was a little trooper. We had an hour drive to the site and back and then we were there for probably 3 hours. She was great the entire time. Here's a picture of our "Family of Four".



The Terracotta Warriors were discovered in 1974 by a farmer who was digging a well. There are 6000 Warriors made of Terracotta, each of them completely different. They were made 2000 years before Christ to "guard" the Emperor's tomb.







Today we met the Farmer who discovered this wonder. He "autographed" our book. He was paid only 20 cents and got two days off from the government when he discovered this back in 1974. I suspect that he now makes good money as a "celebrity" at the site.




Here's a picture of Jenny, our adoption guide. We would not be able to do this without her. She has been so great. She translates everything, everywhere for us and she makes all of the arrangements, whether it be at a government office or Wal-mart or arranging for a tour or helping us pick out medicine at the pharmacy. We are so grateful for her. Claire loves her, too.





Here is the Great Wall in the fog and snow...



On Friday, before we met Claire when we were in Beijing, we traveled for about an hour to see the Great Wall of China. It was absolutely amazing, as well. Unfortunately, there was bad weather at the Great Wall, it was actually snowing lightly at the Wall and raining heavily on our way back. Very cold and I was NOT prepared for this. I thought it was going to be 65 degrees and sunny in Beijing so I didn't bring a coat or even a jacket, big mistake.

Here are some pictures of both of these adventures. Enjoy. -- Melissa

Finally...A Family of Four!

We've waited almost 2 years for this day and it finally came. Monday, March 31, 2008, the day that our adoption is official in China. What a day...

We woke up and went breakfast, came back signed some papers before we went to the Civil Affairs office again. We met Xing-Xing's orphanage caregiver and directors at the office. She was so excited to see them. We let her play with them while we waited, and waited, and waited... Here's a picture of them together. They are very important people to her. You can tell that they love her very much.



After a while we were told that we would have to come back in the afternoon so we went to lunch with the orphanage people. It was a great time to find out more about Xing-Xing's life since she was one day old. We were told that when she was found she was only 4 lbs and she was very sick, she ended up getting pneumonia at 7 days old. But she survived it all and has been healthy since except for a bout of chicken pox. She was the most "popular" child at the orphanage because she is so beautiful. Everyone LOVED her and they said she was very spoiled because of her beauty. (We've since found out that she's actually not very spoiled at all, but VERY sweet!) They also said that it was fate that we were to become her parents because she normally does not take to strangers and she comes to us very easily.


After lunch we went to the park. Then back to the Civil Affairs office for the "official meeting" with the Civil Affairs Director. This is where it really sunk in. He asked very serious questions and made sure that we promised to NEVER, EVER abandon her. Both Joe and I were crying (trying not to when you're in front of such a serious person at such a serious time). At this meeting they gave us an adoption certificate with a picture of me, Joe and Claire. Morgan wanted to know why she couldn't be in the picture. I told her that Uncle Gregg was going to take a picture of the four of us when we got back home.



Then we went back out and said good-bye to the orphanage people. Xing-Xing was NOT happy about this. This time was quite heart-wrenching for all of us, even Morgan. We all cried for a very long time, especially Claire. She was so sad. We definitely know that she was loved and cared for so well at the orphanage, it really made us feel better about her first 3 and a half years.

Everyone at the office began trying to cheer her up. She eventually started smiling and laughing again. She's a very smiley girl and laughs a lot.

We then had to go to the passport office and I had to go to the restroom very badly and was taken to a construction site bathroom -- quite the experience - remind me to tell you about it sometime.















After her passport application was accepted, then we went back to the hotel and she took her first "real" bath in a bathtub. She loved it. Then she got really crazy and was having so much fun, making us laugh so much, showing us her true personality - she fits right in with this family! Her laugh is so cute. I can't describe what it's like to automatically love someone so much, so similar , yet so different than when you have a child by birth. I LOVE both of my girls SO much, I can't imagine it any other way! --Ma Ma Melissa

Gottcha Day! - Sunday, March 30, 2008

Where do I start. First of all I haven't been able to post because the blog was blocked in Beijing and then I didn't have the right electrical adapter in Xian, then I haven't had time because I've been very busy with our new little angel.

Sunday, March 30th, we met Ana Claire, aka Qing-Qing (pronounced Chin-Chin, her nickname at the orphanage) at 4 pm. We went to the Civil Affairs (govt office) at 3:00 on Sunday and her train had not arrive yet from Baoji City where she traveled 2 hours from. So we went to Wal-mart in the city to pass time and get some snacks. Absolute mayhem, can you imagine going to Wal-mart in a city of 8 million people that don't speak English and are in a hurry? It was an experience.

We got back to the Civil Affairs office at 4 pm and she was at the park down the street watching kites. When her caregiver brought her in she was upset that she had to leave the park and didn't want to have any thing to do with us, at first. Then Joe and Morgan began playing with her, they brought out the magna-doodle (life saver) and she loved this. Eventually the caregiver and orphanage director left and she starting warming up to us. Here's a picture of Xing-Xing (aka: Claire) on the day we met her with her caregiver.

We left after about an hour. Our guide, Jenny, who is Chinese and speaks English and Chinese very well, has been with us since we flew to Xian. She is great. I don't know what we would do without her.

We came back to the room and pulled out the crayons and coloring book (big hit) and we all 4 colored together. Qing-Qing was doing so well that we decided to go to the Chinese Restaurant in the hotel for dinner. She was awesome. She is so well behaved and well mannered, smiling at everyone, turning her head to see what's going on. She LOVES Joe, thinks he's the funniest thing. And of course she loves her big sister, Morgan. Here's her at dinner that night.





After dinner, we played some more and then got ready for bed. She went straight to sleep and slept like an angel. Here is her sleeping. Can you tell that I'm a proud Mom? It was a great first day. I'll do another post for the "official adoption day". -- Melissa