We had quite a busy day today. Our guide met us at 9:30 in the morning and we piled into our van for some sightseeing. We started off at a Buddhist Temple. 80% of people in southern China are Buddhists or Taoists, and 10% are Christians. The gardens and architecture were very beautiful. We prayed for freedom and peace for the people of China while we were there.
After the temple we headed for a village in the countryside that is known for its woodcarvings. It was amazing to see what these workers could do with a hunk of wood! For Gary, this was the highlight of the trip, except for getting Leland, of course!
After the woodcarving shops, we went for lunch. Our guide said we would do something a little different today: have lunch at a restaurant in the countryside. Hmmmm. Tiny warning bells going off in our heads. Then he said he *thought* it would be good. Uh oh, he'd never been there himself. As we walked through the front door of the restaurant, we were greeted by an extremely strong fishy smell from the live tanks next to the door. We started ferverently praying our favorite prayer, "Oh God, oh God, oh God." In the past, I have taken our prayers over the meals in the U.S. for granted, because food safety isn't a daily concern, but here praying a blessing over the food definitely took on a new meaning! It was quite an experience. There were no forks or knives provided at this restaurant, so we were forced to use chopsticks. And it turned out fine! The food was good, we all managed to get food into our mouths, and no one got sick.
Gary and dad risked life and limb to get us KFC for supper. To take a taxi, we just go to the front desk at the hotel and they write in Chinese where we want to go on a hotel business card, and then we hop in a cab. Last night the taxi dropped Gary and dad across the street from the KFC and had to walk across a busy road. Inch their way, more like. Gary said a bus zoomed by him an inch from taking him out. If you didn't believe in God before you crossed the street, you would sure be talking to him by the time you got to the other side! Then trying to find a taxi to come back to the hotel, they had to cross two more streets. But they made it safely and even dad agreed it was worth it!
Leland is doing great. Sleeps well, loves to eat, and getting cuter by the minute! He is such a happy baby. Lily LOVES having a playmate. We made the mistake of putting them down for a nap at the same time, and they played together for an hour without going to sleep. Lily would put toys in Leland's crib and he would throw them out at her, both of them giggling like crazy. She would sing songs to him, and he would join right in. I tried sneak into the bedroom and video tape them, but I got busted right away so didn't get a good recording of them. It was so much fun for me to hear them playing together, even if they were supposed to be asleep!
We are in Fuzhou until Monday. We are really looking forward to going to Guangzhou, and mostly looking forward to coming home!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Laughing with Daddy
Leland is feeling more at home with us every day, and he loves to smile, laugh and play. He lights up when Lily comes into a room, and when she leaves he immediately crawls after her. He does NOT like to have his diaper changed, but with Lily feeding him Cheerios we get through it!
The traffic here is something to behold. Our driver is amazing. I don't even look where we are going any more - if I did I would probably have had a heart attack by now! We have never seen an accident in the time we have been here, which is a miracle in
itself. Cars, motorcyles, bicycles and pedestrians seem to just randomly pull out, change lanes, and do u-turns whenever they want to, but somehow it all works out. There does not seem to be road rage here at all, just a little honk of the horn and lots of very near misses, and life goes on. Crazy!
We had a pretty calm day yesterday, just Walmart in the morning where we stocked up on bottled water and crackers and then to an arts and crafts mall where mom and I bought some jade. After that we had lunch at a Chinese steak place. The steak was really good. One of the steaks our guide ordered for us was peppercorn steak, but we could never figure out which one was the peppercorn steak because they were all peppery! They had a salad bar with fruit and vegetables, and a pudding-like substance that I passed on. After lunch we decided to cut our sightseeing short so we could get back to our hotel for nap time, which did wonders for us all.
Even though it has been raining, the temperature has been great. No coats necessary, just a sweater for mom. The "clothing police" got me yesterday for having Lily's ankles showing between her jeans and socks and not having a jacket on her. Our guide was kind and did not translate, but I knew exactly what the lady was saying! (In China it is a no-no to have skin showing on children, even if it is 80 degrees. They bundle up the kids in 5 to 6 layers of sweaters and pants so they look like little Michelin people in all weather. The ladies are not afraid to scold long and loud if they see an infraction of this rule!)
Lily loves playing hide and seek with Leland. It is very funny to watch. She will go in the bathroom, close the door and count to 10 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 - always leaves out 6 and 7). She comes out and he will be sitting right there waiting for her, and she will yell out "there you are!!" as if she had been looking for him for 10 minutes.
Thanks so much for the notes and e-mails - we love to read them! As always, click on the picture to see more pictures.
The traffic here is something to behold. Our driver is amazing. I don't even look where we are going any more - if I did I would probably have had a heart attack by now! We have never seen an accident in the time we have been here, which is a miracle in
itself. Cars, motorcyles, bicycles and pedestrians seem to just randomly pull out, change lanes, and do u-turns whenever they want to, but somehow it all works out. There does not seem to be road rage here at all, just a little honk of the horn and lots of very near misses, and life goes on. Crazy!
We had a pretty calm day yesterday, just Walmart in the morning where we stocked up on bottled water and crackers and then to an arts and crafts mall where mom and I bought some jade. After that we had lunch at a Chinese steak place. The steak was really good. One of the steaks our guide ordered for us was peppercorn steak, but we could never figure out which one was the peppercorn steak because they were all peppery! They had a salad bar with fruit and vegetables, and a pudding-like substance that I passed on. After lunch we decided to cut our sightseeing short so we could get back to our hotel for nap time, which did wonders for us all.
Even though it has been raining, the temperature has been great. No coats necessary, just a sweater for mom. The "clothing police" got me yesterday for having Lily's ankles showing between her jeans and socks and not having a jacket on her. Our guide was kind and did not translate, but I knew exactly what the lady was saying! (In China it is a no-no to have skin showing on children, even if it is 80 degrees. They bundle up the kids in 5 to 6 layers of sweaters and pants so they look like little Michelin people in all weather. The ladies are not afraid to scold long and loud if they see an infraction of this rule!)
Lily loves playing hide and seek with Leland. It is very funny to watch. She will go in the bathroom, close the door and count to 10 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 - always leaves out 6 and 7). She comes out and he will be sitting right there waiting for her, and she will yell out "there you are!!" as if she had been looking for him for 10 minutes.
Thanks so much for the notes and e-mails - we love to read them! As always, click on the picture to see more pictures.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sister and Brother
Lily and Leland have been having a lot of fun together. They've had a couple of skirmishes (click on the picture to see what I mean), but overall they get along great. Lily loves to help with him, and has not seemed to mind losing her "only child" status so far. She brings him his drink, gives him snacks, plays ball with him, sings to him, and tickles him. She does NOT like it when he tries to take her toys or snacks from him. But she's still bigger than he is, so she can keep things out of his reach a little bit. She has done amazingly well on this trip. We weren't sure how she would handle the time change, new situations, and adding a member to the family, but she has done great on all accounts. I know God has answered our prayers that it would be an easy transition for her!
We've had breakfast at the hotel buffet every morning, which is pretty good. Homemade omelets, fruit, pastries, fried potatoes, yogurt, cereal, juice and coffee are what we tend to go for. Dad, the daring one, tried squid and sushi for breakfast yesterday. He said the squid tasted like squid. Yuk.
After breakfast we started to go for a walk to the park, but it started drizzling, so we hung out in our room. Gary and dad ventured out to the grocery store and McDonalds and brought us back our lunch. Then our guide took us to a department store that had a play area for kids, and Lily and Leland played for about 45 minutes. They had a great time! This picture took about 10 minutes to take because Leland is a wiggle worm and would crawl away the second we would sit him down!
We went to a stone carving gallery where there were beautiful stone and wood carvings, some that cost over $5 million.
We went to Pizza Hut for supper, and it tastes the same as at home. Delicious!
We spent the evening in our hotel room, and Leland's personality really started to show. He is so much fun! He started out sitting on my lap on the sofa, and would crawl down about a foot away, then crawl right back for a hug. He did this 15-20 times, then ventured a little further on the sofa, and would come right back. Eventually he would climb off the sofa and go a little farther, each time coming right back to me. It wasn't long before he was zooming all over the room, laughing, playing, falling over, hitting his head, smiling the whole time. He can crawl, pull himself up on furniture, and even likes to try to walk with us holding his hands! I was afraid it would hurt his feet, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.
He is a tiny little guy. The 18 months clothes that I brought for him just hang on him. He's probably more 12 month size right now, but he will grow by leaps and bounds with lots of love and good food.
We've had breakfast at the hotel buffet every morning, which is pretty good. Homemade omelets, fruit, pastries, fried potatoes, yogurt, cereal, juice and coffee are what we tend to go for. Dad, the daring one, tried squid and sushi for breakfast yesterday. He said the squid tasted like squid. Yuk.
After breakfast we started to go for a walk to the park, but it started drizzling, so we hung out in our room. Gary and dad ventured out to the grocery store and McDonalds and brought us back our lunch. Then our guide took us to a department store that had a play area for kids, and Lily and Leland played for about 45 minutes. They had a great time! This picture took about 10 minutes to take because Leland is a wiggle worm and would crawl away the second we would sit him down!
We went to a stone carving gallery where there were beautiful stone and wood carvings, some that cost over $5 million.
We went to Pizza Hut for supper, and it tastes the same as at home. Delicious!
We spent the evening in our hotel room, and Leland's personality really started to show. He is so much fun! He started out sitting on my lap on the sofa, and would crawl down about a foot away, then crawl right back for a hug. He did this 15-20 times, then ventured a little further on the sofa, and would come right back. Eventually he would climb off the sofa and go a little farther, each time coming right back to me. It wasn't long before he was zooming all over the room, laughing, playing, falling over, hitting his head, smiling the whole time. He can crawl, pull himself up on furniture, and even likes to try to walk with us holding his hands! I was afraid it would hurt his feet, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.
He is a tiny little guy. The 18 months clothes that I brought for him just hang on him. He's probably more 12 month size right now, but he will grow by leaps and bounds with lots of love and good food.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
A New Day
After a rough night last night, we woke Leland up around 7:30 a.m. We gave him his first bath, which he did not enjoy very much, but when we brought him to breakfast and fed him, he started to warm up to us. There's nothing like food to break down barriers to the heart!
After his tummy was full and he had played with Lily at breakfast, we got his first smile! He is such a cutie! It's amazing what a difference a day makes.
We left at 9:00 a.m. to complete our adoption paperwork at the Civil Affairs office. Miraculously, our guide is the head of international adoptions in our province, so he knew exactly how to quickly get us through the paperwork.
After we swore to love, protect, and never abuse or abandon our son, we were off to Walmart for some shopping. Yup, there are three Walmarts and a Sam's Club in Fuzhou!
We then went to a fancy restaurant for lunch. The food was very good, and Leland ate like a champ. We finally had to quit feeding him for fear he would never stop! That is very common for babies when they are first adopted because they are not used to having enough food in their little tummies.
After lunch was nap time, and we all slept for about two wonderful hours. Then our guide (Jack) called us and said he would take us to West Lake Park which is next to our hotel and show us around. It was beautiful, and had a little playground for children and lots of flowers and trees. We're going to be spending a lot of time there in the next week! Then he drove us to KFC and we picked up chicken for dinner. Spicy chicken wings never tasted to good!
He is opening up to us more and more. He started singing while I was holding him at the park, and reaching out to play with Lily. Leland is such a good baby - very content and happy. His Chinese name, Zhi Ping, means confident, assured, calm, peaceful and safe. His personality truly matches his name. We are so blessed!
After his tummy was full and he had played with Lily at breakfast, we got his first smile! He is such a cutie! It's amazing what a difference a day makes.
We left at 9:00 a.m. to complete our adoption paperwork at the Civil Affairs office. Miraculously, our guide is the head of international adoptions in our province, so he knew exactly how to quickly get us through the paperwork.
After we swore to love, protect, and never abuse or abandon our son, we were off to Walmart for some shopping. Yup, there are three Walmarts and a Sam's Club in Fuzhou!
We then went to a fancy restaurant for lunch. The food was very good, and Leland ate like a champ. We finally had to quit feeding him for fear he would never stop! That is very common for babies when they are first adopted because they are not used to having enough food in their little tummies.
After lunch was nap time, and we all slept for about two wonderful hours. Then our guide (Jack) called us and said he would take us to West Lake Park which is next to our hotel and show us around. It was beautiful, and had a little playground for children and lots of flowers and trees. We're going to be spending a lot of time there in the next week! Then he drove us to KFC and we picked up chicken for dinner. Spicy chicken wings never tasted to good!
He is opening up to us more and more. He started singing while I was holding him at the park, and reaching out to play with Lily. Leland is such a good baby - very content and happy. His Chinese name, Zhi Ping, means confident, assured, calm, peaceful and safe. His personality truly matches his name. We are so blessed!
Introducing Leland Nathaniel Chiles!
Here he is! We got him last night (a day early!) and he is absolutely precious.
We spent the morning in Beijing at Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, lunch, and a pearl market. It was really, really cold outside, but thankfully we found a Starbucks in the middle of the Forbidden City. Capitalism at its finest!
We landed in Fuzhou at 9:00 p.m., and when our guide picked us up he informed us that our baby was waiting for us at the hotel. When we pulled up to the hotel, we could see Leland with his nanny in the lobby. We were completely unprepared for this, so we made a mad scramble for the camera and the video camera, tried to wake Lily up, grabbed our luggage and headed in. We must have looked like the Clamperts as we fumbled our way into the lobby!
As we approached the nanny, she pointed at me and told Leland "mama," and then handed him to me. He was not as thrilled about seeing us as we were about seeing him! He cried and cried, until he finally fell asleep in Gary's arms.
He slept soundly all night, and woke up a different boy. God has blessed us with an amazing little boy! I'll post pictures of our adventures today.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE MORE PICTURES.
We spent the morning in Beijing at Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, lunch, and a pearl market. It was really, really cold outside, but thankfully we found a Starbucks in the middle of the Forbidden City. Capitalism at its finest!
We landed in Fuzhou at 9:00 p.m., and when our guide picked us up he informed us that our baby was waiting for us at the hotel. When we pulled up to the hotel, we could see Leland with his nanny in the lobby. We were completely unprepared for this, so we made a mad scramble for the camera and the video camera, tried to wake Lily up, grabbed our luggage and headed in. We must have looked like the Clamperts as we fumbled our way into the lobby!
As we approached the nanny, she pointed at me and told Leland "mama," and then handed him to me. He was not as thrilled about seeing us as we were about seeing him! He cried and cried, until he finally fell asleep in Gary's arms.
He slept soundly all night, and woke up a different boy. God has blessed us with an amazing little boy! I'll post pictures of our adventures today.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE MORE PICTURES.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Beijing Day 1
We had a great day today in Beijing. We started off by going to the International Church. We had to show our passports to get in, as no Chinese residents are allowed into a church that isn't state run. After church we visited a jade place, then had lunch at a restaurant/shopping mall. After lunch we went to the Great Wall. Gary and I took turns carrying Lily up the steep stairs, but it got to be too dangerous with the uneven stairs and steep climb. Mom, dad and I continued the climb to the second level, and called it quits. That was quite a workout! It's really fun because perfect strangers cheer each other on to keep going and make it to the next level.
It has been great getting to know the other families in our travel group. All of us brought our kids, so they have been having fun playing together. We'll each be flying to separate provinces tomorrow to pick up our babies, and then rejoining next week in Guangzhou.
We're back at the hotel now, and room service just delivered sandwiches for our supper. We're all pretty tired, so I think we'll all hit the sack early tonight. We have to pack up everything tonight and have our suitcases outside our door early tomorrow morning. We''ll be visiting Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, and a pearl place, and then flying to Fuzhou tomorrow afternoon. It's only a two hour flight, which will seem like nothing after yesterday's flight!
Thank you so much for your prayers. They are working!
It has been great getting to know the other families in our travel group. All of us brought our kids, so they have been having fun playing together. We'll each be flying to separate provinces tomorrow to pick up our babies, and then rejoining next week in Guangzhou.
We're back at the hotel now, and room service just delivered sandwiches for our supper. We're all pretty tired, so I think we'll all hit the sack early tonight. We have to pack up everything tonight and have our suitcases outside our door early tomorrow morning. We''ll be visiting Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, and a pearl place, and then flying to Fuzhou tomorrow afternoon. It's only a two hour flight, which will seem like nothing after yesterday's flight!
Thank you so much for your prayers. They are working!
Saturday, December 9, 2006
We're in Beijing!
We arrived in Beijing at 6:00 p.m. last night, and thankfully all of our luggage arrived with us! The flight was really, really long, but it was good. Our hotel is very nice. In about 10 minutes we will be getting on the bus with our travel group of four families to go sightseeing for the day. I'll post pictures of the Great Wall tonight.
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