We made it home!

Sorry for the delayed post. After 96 hours of traveling, four car rides, three plane rides, a canceled flight and a few other mishaps we have arrived home safe and sound. We feel so blessed to welcome this beautiful boy into our family and into our home and are filled with such joy each time we see his smiling face. Thanks to those who traveled near and far to meet us at the airport and we apologize to those who didn't get the message that the plane was delayed. Oh how we wanted Sean to meet his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and all our amazing friends, but know that in time he will love each of you as much as we do. Thank you to all those who helped us while we were in China: grocery shoppers, snow shovelers, guest teachers, dog sitters, house cleaners, blog posters, and DPHHS staffers. We are so grateful for the love that has been shared with our beautiful Sean and our family.

As you can imagine we are all still adjusting to the time difference and life as a new family in our home. Oh, it feels so good to sleep in our own bed. Grandpa Hugh made Sean some delicious rice congee, so he has been a happy boy. Day by day we introduce new foods and his palate is slowly adjusting. Murphy and Sean have become fast friends. Murphy even decided to start sleeping in Sean's room at night (which by Sean's morning giggles, we assume he adores). You may be wondering how the car seat is going. Well Amy's (Joslyn's Sistner In-Law) parents picked us up from the airport (thanks for the ride Bill and Marsha) and after a few squacks he was pleased to be zooming around America. I guess there was nothing to worry about.



As many of you know, my brother H.J. (Hugh) lives in Denver so it was a perfect place for a stop over. However, H.J had made a trip to Montana to meet Mr. Sean and to celebrate the marriage of a dear friend. Lucky for us Aunt Amy stayed in Denver and she got to spend a few days getting to know Sean. Thanks for playing with us at 2 a.m. Amy, as we adjust to the time change. While we were in Denver we also got to see some of our best friends: Lyssa, Matt, Michelle and Roger. Thanks for cooking us dinner and playing games. Sean especially loved Uncle Rogers sound effects.



Sean has loved meeting his Uncle Hugh (thanks for holding my hand and playing airplane), Grandma Kris (thanks for reading with me) and Papa Hugh (thanks for the good cooking)! He can't wait to spend more time with everyone. Here are a few pictures of his first encounters.

Monday!

Looks like now Jim, Joslyn and Sean won't be arriving back in Helena until Monday. When they know more they will update everyone.

A minor delay

Jim sent me a text just a bit ago asking me to post that as of now their flight from Denver to Helena is cancelled for tonight.
They will keep us updated as they know more!

Sean and His Parents are on the Way Home!

We had our visa appointment at the US consulate today and were officially accepted by the US Government to be Sean's parents. Yippee! He will become a US citizen when we land in San Francisco on Feb. 25th, 2012.

Today was our best day yet with Sean. We've been trying to figure out the dance of parenting, in a foreign country, in a hotel room, with a little one who has experienced a lot in the first 21 months of his life. We only had one total melt down that was followed by an afternoon of giggles and playing. Oh, it is so amazing to be parents.

After retuning back from the consulate Sean took a two hour nap (as did his mom and dad), woke up happy and ate without fuss. We through him in our backpack and jetted off to the park with another family. Upon our return, we jumped onto the floor and built a few more towers. Next, many of the families we've been traveling with gathered for Chinese take out on the patio/playground.

After dinner we told Sean that we were leaving for the U.S. tomorrow and that we would like him to come with us. We explained that we will pack our bags tomorrow, take a three hour "NASCAR" van ride to Hong Kong, spend the night in yet another hotel, get up in the morning, fly for 12 hours to San Francisco, get off the plane, immigrate into the U.S. (we can go to the foreigner line or U.S. whichever one is faster), enjoy a 4 hour layover, board another plane, fly to Denver, then run to catch our final flight to Helena, and finally arrive in Helena at 8:47 p.m. on Saturday. I know this is a marathon sentence; however we are anticipating a marathon of a day.

You can be the judge of how he took the news. He said he would let us know first thing in the morning!

This will be our last post until we return home. Thanks for all the support throughout our journey.

Picture Day

The past couple of days were spent touring the city on our own. We have been relaxing and helping Sean to adjust to his crazy parents. He is definitely a child who knows what he wants, but it is often still a mystery to us.

Here are two pictures from picture day. It was during Sean's nap time and we decided not to wake him up for the event.

The group picture is of all of the families who are here in China this week from our agency. The children range in age from 12 months to 12 years old and include both boys and girls. It is amazing to watch all of the kiddos warm up to their new families.

We have 3 more days here in Guangzhou and then will begin our journey home.

Getting Closer to Home

Yesterday we filled out our final round of paperwork for the U.S. Consulate. Yippee!!! Sean has already received his Chinese passport, so we made a request for a visa into the U.S. for Sean. Thursday is our Consulate appointment. On Friday, we will receive his visa. Then we depart for Hong Kong and begin our journey home to everyone! We are overwhelmed with the joy of having Sean enter our family and cannot wait for each of you to meet him and see his smiling face.

In addition to the mounds of paperwork, we ventured out to see Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. Jim and Sean walked the grounds, listened to monks chant, and gazed high into the sky to see the Buddha and Pagoda. This was truly one of the most beautiful temples that we’ve seen in all of China.

After the temple we zoomed, in the tour bus (which Sean loves), to see the Old Chen family house. Sean was way more interested in all the kids riding bikes and running throughout the plaza, but enjoyed mommy carrying him through the gardens as he ate his morning snack. So fun!

We dined in and enjoyed some play time with a few other toddlers, jumped in the bath and off to bed we went.

More Travels and Paperwork!

We have successfully conquered our first plane ride. We won't comment on the preflight. Let's just say we know Sean's lungs are healthy. Once we were on the plane, we looked out the window, watched the bags go on the plane and cooed as the buses zoomed by. As we mentioned in an earlier post, he loves riding in vehicles: planes, trains and automobiles make him very happy.

We arrived in Guangzhou late last night and promptly this morning we were bused to the Guangzhou Center of Disease control. More papers were signed and stamped with the official red seal as we were rushed between three examination rooms: ears/nose/throat, height/weight and surgery/major medical. Considering all the poking and prodding Sean was a rock star.

The rest of the day was spent getting to know all the things Sean loves: building towers, reading books, snuggling his teddy which he affectionately calls Mao Mao, taking baths, walking, walking and walking more, playing on the playground and eating (I'm sure our grocery bill is going to double).

Tomorrow will be filled with site seeing and more paperwork for our Consulate appointment on Monday.

Great Taste in Clothes!

We spent yesterday morning at the museum. Let us just say we have never seen a museum so fast! Sean was busy walking all about saying hi to people and showing off his smile. He passed out on the bus ride home, but was ready to roll again as soon as we got back to the hotel. He said he wanted to bring some Chinese luck to the Irish, so he put on his ND shirt, blew the ladies some kisses, and was quickly playing again with his friends in the hallway. The kids played all afternoon and Sean had a great time. He had no problems falling asleep! We have included a picture of our Adoption Certifcate from Zhengzhou Province. We will take this document to Guangzhou with us to complete the rest of the paperwork.

We will be taking Sean on his first airplane trip today and arrive in Guangzhou this evening. Tomorrow is a busy day at the consulate with paperwork and a physical exam, but then we have a couple of days of free time to explore Guangzhou.

Thanks to all who have posted comments. It is a joy to read them.

The Journey Continues

Joslyn went to Sean’s orphanage today. We were initially undecided about whether or not it would be a good idea to go, but Joslyn went and it was well worth it. She was able to tour the facility, see Sean’s bed and meet Sean’s many mommies who cared for him up until now. We have been having some difficulty around meal time and Joslyn was able to ask the women about his eating habits. When Joslyn inquired, the women replied in true motherly Chinese fashion that “Sean eats just fine, so if he is fussing at meal time, then you are not preparing the food right”. This followed by a tour of the kitchen and a hands-on-tutorial for how Sean likes his rice congee (mashed up, not too hot and not too cold). Well, let’s just say he ate without a fuss tonight, which was a wonderful treat for mom and dad.

We spent the afternoon in the playroom, playing on the floor and walking around the hotel. I think Sean is going to be a walker like his dad and his Great Grandpa Jack.

Tomorrow we are off to the Henan Cultural Museum where we hope to increase our understanding of the history of this Province. It continues to be a wonderful journey but also can’t wait to get Sean back to Montana.

Official In China

Yesterday was a long, yet exciting day. We started the morning by heading back to the Provincial government building where we first met Sean. Here, we signed some paperwork to register the adoption in China and listened to a short speech by the government official. Sean stayed close to mom and dad, and continued to let us know what he wanted by grabbing one of our hands and putting it on the book or rice cakes. He was getting tired and we eventually got him into the Ergo. He fell asleep before we left and slept all the way to the notary office. His paper work was signed and notarized and the adoption is finalized on the Chinese end. What a great Valentine's Day gift for Joslyn and I! We will wait a few days for his passport and then leave for Guangzhou on Friday.

Sean is getting more and more comfortable with us everyday. He is not as upset when we change his clothes and we even got him into the bathtub this morning. He slept through the night last night and woke up happy. We had a great time playing with him in the hotel hallway yesterday. Joslyn just left to visit Sean's orphanage and Sean is peacefully sleeping on the bed. We have enjoyed reading everyone's coments and we appreciate all of the love and support.

Gotcha Day

We boarded the bus at 9:30 a.m. and headed to the Provincial Government building, where we waited for the children to arrive. They were coming from 3 different orphanages throughout Zhengzhou province. The first group came, but it was not Sean's group. Three families received their children and it was both joyous and difficult to witness. The next group arrived and Sean was the first one through the door. He is so beautiful and perfect. After spending the day with him and watching him sleep now, we recognize how blessed we are to have him as a part of our lives.

Trouble Ahead for Murphy

We flew into Sean's hometown today (Zhengzhou city), with seven other couples, and were greeted by our Chinese guides. The guides came armed with some basic information and updates about each of our children. It seems that Sean enjoys riding in the front seat of vehicles, next to the driver. We're not sure where he goes, but are sure that the carseat at home will not be a welcomed device. They also let us know he isn't afraid of anything, but doesn't like animals (watch out Murphy). He is also walking.

Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. we meet in the lobby and head to the registration office to meet Sean! We are both overwhelmed emotions and cannot wait to expand our family. This afternoon the hotel staff rolled in a crib. We placed his teddy bear and blanket in the crib and everything became more real.

Jim's Birthday

People have been wondering about our schedule of events while we are here in China. We are headed to Zhengzhou City in Henan Province tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. We will make a run to the local supermarket to purchase items for the week ahead. On Monday we will get to meet Sean for the first time. It is unclear how, when or where, but we know it is Monday. We will spend the remainder of the week in Zhengzhou finalizing the adoption on the Chinese end, and filling out necessary paperwork for immigration back to the U.S. At the end of the week we will head to Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province for immigration appointments at the Consulate. All of the paperwork should be complete on the 24th and we will return to Helena on the 25th.

We spent our last day in Beijing visiting a few more sites that we missed back in 2005. First thing in the morning we headed to the Yonghegong Tibetan Buddhist Lama Temple. The temple was built in 1694 and contains an 18 meter tall Buddha carved out of a single piece of white sandalwood. It was absolutely gorgeous. We have included a few pictures from the Temple grounds.








After the temple, we took a stroll through the Hutong’s in the adjacent neighborhood. It was fairly chilly, so we stopped for a cup of coffee and chatted it up with the local shop owner.





Jim’s birthday lunch followed. We settled on a restaurant that looked clean enough that we wouldn’t spend the rest of our trip ill, but local enough to serve up some good dishes. After a few questions of “do you have . . .” (remember we are illiterate in Chinese), we settled on one of Jim’s favorite dishes Hui Guo Rou (twice cooked pork or as we like to call it twice cooked fat), Yuxiang Qiezi (eggplant in fish sauce) and Chinese tea.




Since we ate so much at lunch, we did not partake in any of the tasty street snacks we encountered on our afternoon walk.









We ended our day with a Chinese acrobatic show. Unfortunately, due to safety reasons, we don’t have any pictures to share with you. Just imagine 5 motorcycles driving around inside a big, round metal cage or five women all balancing on a pole, holding on with nothing but their mouths. Wow!

Only two more wake-ups until we meet Sean Yin!