Thank you and back to the old blog!
We've added a little "thank you" video to the blog and wanted to just say a heart felt thank you to everyone to followed along on the greatest journey of our lives. With every day that goes by our joy increases with the blessing of our little Zoey.
I will be posting from now on from our regular blog. Please follow along on our journey as a family. We look forward to staying connected with everyone!! We posted more pictures from the trip home and the final days in China. Also... pix of Granny and Papa with our little one! So sweet.
To follow us from here on out, go to:
http://wises3.blogspot.com/
Love to you all!!
We're Home!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! We arrived home late last night and got a really good nights sleep. Zoey slept for the ENTIRE international flight and was amazing the rest of the way home. It was a LONG LONG trip, be we made it! We are having Christmas today with my Mom and Dad and are so happy to just relax and take it easy. Zoey is doing GREAT and we are so happy to see her relax at HOME!! We love you all and will post again soon...
Love, Steph and Drew
Merry Christmas Eve!
Andrew and I barely feel like it is Christmas right now, with the exception of Zoey. We KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is our best Christmas present ever. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we are going back to the island for some more shopping. We have a few more gifts to buy!! :) After that we must pack for the flight home! We have Zoey's passport and visa and we are ready to fly the friendly skies! (Please God may they be friendly!!) On a side note, today at breakfast, Zoey had a TOTAL blow out. I had to change her so I hopped in the elevator to get to the 12th floor. The elevator was packed out and we stopped at almost every floor. It was hysterical... first I hear one guy go "ugh", then another, and another, and another and then one woman flashed me a crazed look as if to say "get that baby out of here!" Poor Zoey. When we got off on the 12th floor I was laughing soooo hard. I can't believe I am that person now!!
Anyways, I digress! Today we went to the Pearl and Jade market in downtown Guangzhou. It was awesome!! We could have stayed there much longer! We bought Zoey some gifts for over the years, but my favorite was the three strands of baby pearls that we had made into a tiny bracelet for her. They are so so sweet! We also bought jade and other beautiful things... we have never seen such amazing sights. Billions of dollars in pearls and jade probably. Incredible. We have some pictures that illustrate just a tiny bit of what we saw!
I could go on, but my thoughts are all over the place. All I know is that we are coming home. We have had a life changing experience here in China and we have loved our time here. We will miss China and all the amazing friends we have made. ....but more than that, we can't wait to tuck our sweet girl into her crib and use the washing machine and the dishwasher!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas Eve to you all!! Go check out the new pix!
Oath Ceremony and Pearl River Cruise
We took the Oath Today to care for Zoey and to love her for the rest of our lives. We excitedly said "We DO!" What an emotional day. The day we have waited for what seems like eternity now. We are officially free and clear to bring our baby girl home! Wahoo! We celebrated on the Pearl River with our new friends and had a wonderful time!!! We are so blessed.
Tomorrow we go pearl and jade shopping! We are so excited (maybe I should say I am so excited) to go!! I'm sure we will have a ton more pictures. We just added more pix and video! Enjoy. Love, us!
We passed and Zoey got her Visa! Off to the Oath Ceremony!
After waiting in the room, we got "a call", but it was a happy call. It was the one we were waiting to hear! Everything IS FINE. Today the consulate is making an exception for our group and they are squeezing us in for the Oath Taking Ceremony. I can not say how happy we are that this is finally done. I must admit that we did the happy scream/shout/dance and then I cried and hugged my girl. She is ours. We are going home. We have been waiting for this moment to happen for so long and we are beyond relieved... The love we feel for Zoey is so strong... we know she has only been with us for a few days, but it already feels like we have been together forever.
Since the 13th of December, Zoey has learned so much.
She can sit up on her own.
She has learned that toys are fun.
She has learned to tell us when she is wet or poopy
She has learned to tell us when she is hungry
She definitely tells us when she is tired and or teething
She is attaching slowly but surely and is learning to trust us.
Every day we see more and more of her sweet personality. So many people have commented on what a happy baby she is and we agree. She truly is happy. She giggles in her sleep and wakes up laughing and smiling. She makes us gush!!!
We will have some pictures to post tonight,but we just wanted to let you know WE MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE!!!
By the way, my email is not working, so if you want to email use: wisesthree@gmail.com
Medical Exam Done!
First of all, we added some more pictures... phew! Second, we survived the medical exam. It wasn't so bad and Zoey was a trooper. After we finished, we went to lunch at a little restaurant called Lucy's and had some yummy Thai curry! We then proceeded to shop ALL DAY LONG on Shamian Island. Wow. What a good day. The Island is gorgeous and the people are all so friendly.
Tomorrow we wait around in our room to see if the American Consulate has any questions of us.... it's the moment of truth. Drum roll folks! Hopefully our little one's passport will have a visa in it by Friday no problems at all!
Drew and I are going to go to bed now... I know this post is terribly choppy, but we (as usual) are sooooooooo tired. We hope you enjoy a few more pictures!!
Tomorrow is our Medical Exam
Tomorrow we get to go to Shamian Island which is about 10 minutes from our hotel. There we will do a lot of shopping and it is the big Medical Exam day for Zoey and the other children. The exam is for the American Consulate. She must have this done before they will grant her a visa into the United States. Hopefully all will go really well. Today we sat for an hour and a half filling out visa forms and other paperwork to submit to the Consulate. I handed it all over to Elsie our guide and won't know anything else until a couple of days from now. I pray our paperwork is all in order. We have done everything we can to avoid any problems... hopefully it will pay off. I can't wait for the moment when I no longer worry about bringing our sweet girl home. Almost every hurdle has been crossed... just a couple more and we are done!!
Tomorrow will be a lot of fun. We can't wait to shop for jade and pearls for Zoey! We also have some Christmas shopping to do!! We will post pictures upon our return!
SHE EATS SOLIDS!!!
We just got Zoey to take rice cereal from a spoon!! I know we sound crazy, but we are so excited! She just decided to go along with it and couldn't get enough! We are so relieved!!!
Just had to share! :)
Guangzhou!
So we went to dinner and came back. All of us have colds and are desperately in need of a good night sleep. Hopefully little miss will allow us to do so!! It is hard to work on a schedule of sleep and eating when you are constantly on the move, but we are trying ever so hard. Tonight Zoey is sitting up all by herself! We are so excited. Six days ago she could just lift her head up when laying down. Her progress is astounding! We are so amazed by her. She is our little hero.
Guangzhou is beautiful. The weather is a little warmer and the city is so nice. Our hotel is AMAZING. Andrew and I just went downstairs to Starbucks and got a latte! I WAS SO IN NEED OF ONE! Today we rode the subway to a market and were able to stock up on diapers, wipes, formula and a few other things. It was not too bad at all. When we got back to the hotel, we had Zoey's visa picture taken... but just before we dressed her up, she barfed all over her outfit. Oh well. Genuine moments. Visa barf picture... can't beat that! Tomorrow we finalize the paperwork for the American Consulate... I'm not really looking forward to this, but we will survive. This is the single moment in this whole process that has made me sick and worried for a month now. Hopefully they have all of our ACCURATE information and latest addendum to this adoption. I will be able to breathe sometime tomorrow...
Sorry about the jumbled pictures. They are out of order because our connection cut out a few times. I think they are all there though! Love to you all!
We added more Pictures!
We have to leave for dinner and I will write more afterwards, but I wanted to let you know we added pictures! LOTS. They are from Nanchang and our beginning here in Guangzhou. They include the People's Park in Nanchang as well as dinner at a funky little restaurant and an evening water light show in Nanchang. The rest are from our hotel room in Guangzhou and shopping for formula and diapers!
More to come as always!!
We made it to Guangzhou
We made it to Guangzhou a couple of hours ago and settled into our gorgeous hotel. Our room is wonderful and such a welcome sight after our smoke filled room in Nanchang. We aren't complaining, just really happy to see clean sheets and a clean bath! :) Zoey was a trooper on the flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou. She had a total diaper blow out and I had to change her on my lap in the airplane and then again on the bus to the hotel. This is TOTAL initiation!
We have so many pictures to add and so much to say, but it must wait until tomorrow. We are so overwhelmingly tired that we can barely keep our eyes open. Tomorrow we will post more!!!
Love, Us
Day 4 with Zoey
So day four is almost over. We had a really good day today! It is super cold here in Nanchang, and it was our day to go see the Tengwang Pavilion. We bundled Zoey up in her oversized snow suit and headed out with the Ergo baby carrier. (She LOVES it!!) All of the babies looked like Michelin girls! The Pavilion was beautiful! Zoey slept through the entire thing until the end when we saw a local performance. The children were the main attraction. All the locals were asking about where the babies were from and crowding around.... We worked our way back to the hotel because the wind was whipping and it was icy cold. Zoey is cutting 4 new teeth and so we are having a hard time figuring out tired from pain. Poor baby. The drool is rolling! She also has some awful skin rashes that are more than rashes.... but we are trying to just do our best with it until we can see a doctor. We feel so badly for her. Today she showed us even more of her little personality. She is such a sweet baby. Her smile just melts me... Andrew is so cute with her. He is actually taking a nap with her right now. We opted out of going to dinner with everyone so we could just hang out and have some down time. We are so tired. My arms are jello even with the baby carrier!!! I am so tired that I actually fell asleep at lunch during a bite!! Holy cow. Is this really me??? :)
So here is what we know about Zoey so far...
1. She ALWAYS sucks on two fingers.
2. She has 2 1/2 teeth!
3. She doesn't stay upset long.
4. She is VERY forgiving of her two new parents!!
5. She has never learned to suck or eat anything solid. She can only take a bottle. We are working very hard with her to catch her up. Poor baby. It's not easy.... We don't think anyone every tried anything other than a bottle with her. She just doesn't know how to take food at all from us... I try really hard to not cry sometimes, but it is hard to not wish things were different for her.
6. She has a smile that goes from ear to ear!
7. She is attaching very well to Mommy and is warming up to Daddy cautiously.
8. She loves the sound of crinkling plastic. You would think there was a stand up comic in the room! The laughter is bright and loud!!
9. She HATES her bath... that will take some time. She came to us never having bathed before. She was probably only wiped off.
10. She loves being naked & having her diaper changed. We think it might be her favorite part of the day!
11. She snorts when she laughs like her Mommy! We actually had a snort fest last night which had us all rolling!
We will soon be able to add many things to this list. For now, we are so very happy to say we know our girl this well thus far. She is pure sunshine.
Thank you all for your prayers for our new family. We have had some bumpy spots, but I think we are doing pretty well considering the circumstances we are in... We are looking forward to going to Guangzhou on the 18th! There isn't any coffee here and I am DYING!!! :) hee hee!
Love to you all! We added more pix & video!!
More Pix
While we are trying to get Zoey to sleep, we uploaded a few pix from today!!! Enjoy!!!
We are Official as of today!
So here is my first real post as a Mommy! I will not lie. It has been a rough couple of days, but I would not trade one rough moment for ANYTHING. Today Andrew and I became Xiao Guo's legal parents!!! The official offices where we finalized the adoption were PACKED with babies! We saw so many friends from all over the place who were also finalizing their adoptions. Nanchang was wet and rainy today. I didn't sleep at all last night and to boot I had no hair dryer or way to do my hair today! I was so upset that I looked like poop for the court apt. Oh well. Just vanity.... :)
Today I got to rock my daughter to sleep for the first time and lay her to bed. Last night was heart breaking crying and sobbing. She cried herself to sleep. Tonight she gave me the honor of comforting her. Her little heart is opening slowly. She is a mild and shy child with a sweet sweet smile. Tonight at dinner she made all the waitresses swoon! :) I loved it! She is a little angel. Today at the Civil affairs appointment, the director of her orphanage came with gifts for all the Yiyang girls. The nannies had given all the girls beautiful necklaces. It was an amazing gift. We also received our Red Thread bag back from Yiyang and it had a camera full of pictures we can not wait to develop.... the bag is filled of all kinds of things from her time at the SWI. We are currently nursing several medical issues with Xiao Guo and would appreciate your prayers. We don't know how much she is hurting, because she doesn't know she can cry. It breaks our hearts. Hopefully we will see her emerge in her personality and ability to trust Andrew and I as her parents. We are so in love with this little girl. She is beautiful and perfect.
Nanchang is nothing like I imagined. It is a very large city, but it is not a wealthy place nor is it built up in any way. Our hotel is very old, but the staff are very friendly and they love the babies. There are so many here and it is not a normal thing for this province to see this many babies being adopted!!! It is quite the site! Tomorrow we will take Xiao Guo to see some of the city. I'm not sure where we are going, but that's okay. We are ready to relax. We have been traveling and moving at an intense pace since the 9th of December. Today is our first break. We will finally have a day of not going places we do not want to go at ungodly hours of the morning!!! :) yahooo!!! Andrew is in the bathroom hand washing our clothes and the dirty pile of burp rags and other things we did not know the baby would get so messy. Did I mention we are first time parents! This is not an easy gig. We are doing our best though...
I just realized that I forgot to tell about the day we met her. We actually met Xiao Guo in the hotel lobby. We waited 1 1/2 hours for the babies and the nannies to arrive and all the Daddies to be were packing and tracking people going by the hotel windows for what seemed like forever. Finally, someone shouted... "they are here"!!!! Everyone sprung to their feet and the cameras started rolling. It was a madhouse! They called the babies names according to the parents last name in alphabetical order. We were 3rd to last to be called... it was the longest 10 minutes of our life. FINALLY, Xiao Guo's name was called. She stared at me and then stared some more. She flashed me a smile and it was all over from there.... no one could ever pry that little girl from my arms if they tried. The smiles lasted for about 10 minutes and then came the intense sadness. It broke our hearts. I was in tears by 10pm. There was nothing we could do but try and comfort her.... Finally, around 11:30pm she stopped. Looked at me and started laughing, giggling and smiling. Since then, she has only improved. Her smile melts me.
All of the parents around here are walking around in amazement that this has actually happened. I thank God for the gift he has given us. I could not have ever predicted the happiness that has been granted us....
To all of you that I owe a phone call. IT WILL HAPPEN. I am so sorry. We have been sort of upside down with our schedule and the baby. Nanchang has not been easy for us.... hopefully Guangzhou will be much better. We posted more pictures today.... and we will keep on adding throughout our journey here! It is awesome!!! Love, Us
We are Finally Wises 3!!!!
We are just getting to know our little girl, so we will post more later. For now, we have a short video and some pictures (since that's all you care about anyway!). We will write more tomorrow!
**VIDEO FIXED**
We had a rough start to our time with Zoey, she was so so sad and cried and cried some more... we just got her to sleep and are ready to go to bed. Tomorrow will be a much better day to write a REAL post!!! So sorry for the delay...
Leaving Beijing
So this is our last night in Beijing. Today we got up early and were shuffled off to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was cold out, but the skies were clear. We were grateful for that! We've added many pictures of our adventures today!
On our way home from the Great Wall, Elsie, our guide, gave us a one hour "low down" on the events of tomorrow! IT IS ZOEY DAY!!!! We leave the hotel at 5:45am and arrive in Nanchang around 10ish. We are scheduled to meet the babies around 3 in the afternoon! I am shaking as I write this. The nervous energy amongst our group is amazing, but mostly extreme excitement prevails!! Andrew and I are getting ready to re-pack our bags and get situated for the big day tomorrow. Honestly, we are not sure what to expect or what to do, but we are ready for the ride! I can not even begin to describe to you how I am feeling right now. Please pray for us and our little girl. Tomorrow is going to be so hard for her. We believe she will be given to us after an 8 hour car ride from her orphanage..... so much change in a short time. We are hoping for the best and preparing for anything that may come our way. We are in shock still that tomorrow is IT.
We will post again, but I just wanted to say thank you for hanging in there with us! This journey is just now beginning!!! :) Love you all. Steph and Drew
Beijing!!!
We made it! We are SO SO sleepy, but we made it!!! Our luggage arrived, everything went smoothly and our entire group has already checked into the hotel. We are all wasted and I'm pretty sure we are just going to sleep. Forget eating at this point!!! :)
We met our guides Elsie and Jessie today. They are going to take us around Beijing tomorrow! It should be a lot of fun... of course, all of us have only one thing on our minds. BABIES!!! We will be checking in again soon!
All our love.
We are in Korea!
We are in Korea at the Incheon Airport getting ready to board the airplane to Beijing! We had a long journey to this point, but we are finally this far along! We should be arriving in Beijing around 11ish and from there we will meet our guide and go to the hotel. We haven't slept at all and are pretty tired.... We will post again from Beijing! Love you all. Steph and Drew
( We added a couple of pictures)
December 9 - Leave for China
That's right! I said it! We are leaving on December 9th and returning home on Christmas day! Zoey will be in our arms on the 13th of December!! We are going to try and post daily from China or as frequently as we can (connectivity allowing). We are so excited to share our journey with you!!
12/27/2009 9:26:55 PM - 002071649524
Hi, So glad you made it home safely with your precious little bundle! We are so happy for all of you. What a blessing and a gift from God Zoey is to you and her extended family. We hope to make a visit in the near future to meet her. Take care and hope the jet lag doesn't last too long. Love, Aunt Joanie & Uncle Duane
12/13/2009 10:05:08 PM - 003004388171
WOW! What a journey of a lifetime. She's precious. We love you much and have a safe trip home. Uncle Billy and Aunt Maurice
12/13/2009 3:12:40 PM - 001007474863
Congratulations!! Sorry we missed your call. We have viewed the video and pictures and she is beautiful!
We are both very happy for you and blessed to have our new granddaughter!
Love, Dad
12/13/2009 6:51:31 AM - 000079971452
We are thinking of you guys and saying lots of prayers right now as the 3pm hour approaches in China. What a beautiful day for you all!!!
12/12/2009 2:39:48 PM - 001007474863
Andrew & Stephanie, how wonderful to awaken to your voices this morning ( Groucho had already been our early alarm!!), . . . All three of you are in our prayers this morning as you see and hold Zoey for the first time. So many firsts, and we are asking God to watch over all the 'happenings' of today. Much love to each of you, Dad & Mom
12/11/2009 7:30:13 PM - 003006798665
I am so happy for the two of you. To think that God in His great plan has a little girl waiting for you in China! We are planning on coming down the first week in April and would love to meet her and see you! Love Cheri
12/11/2009 8:27:18 AM - 001007474863
So good to talk with both of you in your Beijing hotel and to know you are there safely. God bless, and our love to you both.
Dad & Mom
12/9/2009 11:35:13 PM - 002074786974
Yeahhhh!!!! Safe travels to you and the "family". Looking forward to the updates.
Merry Christmas!!!!!
Dennis and Lisa Hertzler
Bradenton, FL
12/9/2009 11:08:55 PM - 001058923772
Words cannot express how happy I am that someone as beautiful as you, who has waited soo long to finally be leaving for China...soon to be holding your bundle of joy. Love ya Steph, enjoy every minute as I know you will.
12/9/2009 10:46:11 PM - 003006339063
This is so beyond exciting!
12/9/2009 7:05:22 PM - 002093331113
Go...Go....Go...and get that little girl. Can't wait for the updates
12/9/2009 2:28:25 AM - 002045372653
I am here.. going to watch every second.. LOVE YOU .. safe travels..
hugs..
12/8/2009 5:19:41 PM - 003005590128
What a blessed Christmas you guys will have.We are so happy and excited for you. No one deserves this more than the two of you. All of the waiting and stress over the last four years will be so worth it when you hold that precious angel for the first time. Thank you for using this website to allow us to share in this experience with you. We love and miss you guys!!! Angie and Matt Livingston
12/7/2009 8:21:56 PM - 003005555373
We are so excited to follow this journey with the three of you! We can't even imagine the excitment you feel! May God bless you these next few days! Just one piece of advice, remember that you are not perfect and you will make mistakes - but that Zoey will still love you more then anything in the entire world. God Bless Amy and Brad Hoggatt
10/21/2009 11:41:32 PM - 002071839579
The updated photos of her are so amazing. I love that you have them. LOOK AT HER!!! She's so beautiful and healthy looking!
10/15/2009 3:40:02 PM - 001058923772
Yay!! the travel blog is officially started! ;) I cannot wait to follow your journey to Zoey!!
10/15/2009 4:02:03 AM - 002071839579
I want to hold Zoey's tiny, little body so bad!!! She's so precious! Ya know...if you decide to use Elizabeth as her middle name than Lauren, Kailahni, Zoey and ME will all have the same middle name!!! Just a thought. tee hee
8/20/2009 11:31:21 PM - 002083526993
PTL! Hallelujah! I'm soo excited!
8/15/2009 6:19:05 PM - 002083526993
Andrew, you look so good in pink. you should wear it more often.lol
8/15/2009 6:13:24 PM - 002083526993
Hey! I heard that the typhoon hasn't caused any delays. That's great. Sarah said that you all are supposed to get Zoey in November. Is that true? I'm sooo excited for you both! We picked Aaron up at DFW last night. It's good to have him home. PTL! Hope all is well with you CA folks. Love ya, (Aunt) Jennifer
7/14/2009 12:46:22 AM - 002071481211
I can't believe that you've been married 7 years already.
6/2/2009 1:41:42 PM - 001058923772
Hi Steph! I had posted a comment earlier, but I don't see it, so I probably did'nt add it correctly. So...I love your new blog!! The pictures you have here are priceless! :) I can't wait until you are on this side of the fence with Mary and I. If you're in Prescott at all this summer call me, I'll come up for coffee! :)
As far as our travel, it's been put on hold again due to Guizhou officials not allowing us to travel to the province. Hanging in there, that's what us March LIDers do best right! ;)
5/30/2009 2:29:10 PM - 002071649524
How exciting!!!!! We can't wait to see her and have her join our family! God bless and safe journey!
5/30/2009 4:18:49 AM - 001073931929
I, too, can't wait to see pics of precious little Zoey on this site! Exciting!!!
5/29/2009 2:15:15 AM - 002045372653
LOVE this site.. can't wait to follow you in China for precious Zoey..
Hugs..
5/29/2009 12:12:43 AM - 002071839579
This looks great and easy to use. I'll have to practice with it before I go!
5/28/2009 11:45:19 PM - 001090352796
Love the new site. I can't wait till it has pics of Zoey!! You are getting closer. Hugs..Cyndi :)
