Greetings from the White Swan

We have made it to our final destination. The flight was good. Megan had no problem. She smiled and talked most of the way. Toward the end of the flight she took a bottle and went to sleep.

Her personality is really coming out today. She is a character! She has been blowing raspberries and squeling with delight. She has even been fighting Chuck for the remote control.

The hotel here is very nice. We have a view over looking the Pearl River. Across the river everything is lit up and there are decorative boats on the water.

Tomorrow morning we are going to a museum and the shopping for pearls.

Sorry no pictures tonight. We can't the batteries to hold a charge long enough to download the pictures. Hopefully there will be photos tomorrowr.

Good Bye Nanchang!

After we picked up Megan's passport we went shopping at a porcelain shop. While there we were swarmed by people wanting to see the babies. These ladies thought Megan was the cutest! She wasn't so sure about them holding her.



Look I am sitting up! She can only do it for a second, but that is a start.




The boys ran out and brought in KFC for dinner. Megan sucked on the chicken leg bone and loved the mashed potato's. Grammi and Grandpa looks like you will have another one wanted to join you at MCL.




She took another bath tonight. I go in the tub and held her. She was upset, but nearly as much as the last two times. I found out from those went to the orphanage that those in foster care where given sponge baths. That explains a lot!

Tomorrow we fly out for our last destination in China, Guangzhou. Good night from Nanchang.

Megan is feeling better today. I think she might be teething. No fever and she is chewing on everything.

Chuck and Megan taking a morning nap.



This Patty and Katie. Katie is Megan's foster sister.



While the boys were doing paperwork we headed for the playroom.


I can tell Megan is use to being in a walker. She was very happy when I put her in this.



Yesterday many took the trip to the orphanage. We choose not to. The trip was long. It was about 3 1/2 hours one way. We were really torn on weather to go or not. If Megan had lived at the orphanage we definitely would have. We were told that the orphanage building is very nice. It is new. The babies are in a room with 6-8 cribs and there is one caregiver for each group. The caregiver lives with the babies, so they receive constant care from the same person. We were told that it was very sad. There are about 30 babies in the orphanage. Most of them were lying in cribs. They were bundled so much that their arms were not moving and had about 5+ blankets on top of them. They said their clothes were dirty and the orphanage smelled. The children needed their noses wiped and the nanny's did not seem concerned. She said one baby was crying and she touched her face to comfort her. She said the baby turned her head looking for the comfort and wanting to be fed.

After hearing the account of the town it makes sense why the babies are so bundles. Some of the areas there were so poor that the homes did not have windows.

Her daughter was also in foster care. She said that the area is worse then any slum she had ever seen in America. She almost wished that her child had been in the orphanage instead of living out in the community.

We can tell that Megan was well cared for. She is healthy and very happy.

I guess in another group there has been a disrupted adoption. I will not go into it here. I will share it personally once I return home. When children are not accepted by their adoptive family they are no longer eligible for intl adoption. I was sobbing as I was telling Chuck the story.

When you hear the number of children being adopted from China you think that it is so many babies. For every handful of babies leaving there are hundreds left behind. I hope that some day we can come back for more babies. If you can't tell I am having a very emotional day. I am so sad for all of the babies that I can't take home.

The mental image is enough for us. I don't think my heart could have taken seeing it first had. Eventually we will get some pictures and someone has video. A huge Thank You to everyone who had a hand in helping bring our Megan home!!!!

Okay enough sadness. Let's talk about Megan. She is changing so much already. She reaches and holds her toys often. She is currently trying to feed Chuck the toy phone! Her neck and back get stronger each day. She is trying really hard to sit up. When we sit her up with the pillows she is now trying to pull herself forward. She is not sure about other people. She just stares at them. It is hard to get her to smile when others are around.

We have gotten some clothes questions. I suggest 6-9 mo clothes. I guestimated wrong on her weight. I think I said that 7 k was 13 pounds. It is actually 16, so she is on the line from 3-6 mos to 6-9 mo clothes. Her bonnet is a 0-9 mo and is just about too small. I love her bonnet, so if you run across one that is a 9-12 mo please buy it.

I need to run. We out this afternoon to pick up her passport and then we are going to a porcelain shop. I promise next time the post won't be a downer!

I Like Pizza!

Chilling out, ready for bed Wednesday night.



Grandma does this outfit look familar?



Megan has started reaching for her rattle and shaking it around.





Chuck and Andy made a Pizza Hut run tonight. Megan keep looking at me eating, so I tried to give her some. She loved sucking on the crust. When I took it out of her mouth she was not happy. Look out Uncle Brent!

Our little hunny has been cranky today. She is not feeling well. She is currently running a fever 100.8. She just had her first dose of Tylenol and is currently sleeping.

Tomorrow we will go pick up Megan's passport. It might be a long night so I should go get things together.

Megan Today

Notice her 2 bottom teeth in the next picture.


This is one of my favorite pictues.





There is so much happening that I know my post are all over the place. Last night Megan made her first trip to McDonald's. We went with Matt, Lynn & Candice. They took one cab and we took another. The bell hop let the drivers know we were together. I can not put into words how the driving is. No one has the right of way. There a bikes, people, mopeds and cars all on the rode. They basicly turn on their signal, honk and go were they want. Matt & Lynn's cab driver did not know which Micky D's to go to. Our cabbie pulled up beside him almost ramming into him to get his attention. He then yelled at him and took the lead. The cabs wanted to pass some cars so they went into on coming traffic to do it!! Chuck though the cab ride in Egypt was bad, he said China is worse. We did make it to Micky D's in one piece. The food was good. I guess McDonald's is the same everywhere. We ate there about 3 US dollars. Lynn was so freaked out that she would not take a cab back to the hotel. We walked which was about 20 minutes. The walk back was really nice and the girls enjoyed it. At least I can say I experienced the cab ride.

Once we returned back Genie (our guide) asked if anyone wanted to see the doctor. Since Lynn freaked me out a bit by saying she was not sure it was diaper rash Megan had we had the doctor come. Lynn thought it might be a parasite.

The doctor said that it is old diaper rash. Very severe. She has some sores that are scabbed over. The doctor said that she is healthy, happy and a pretty girl! Couldn't have a doctor make a "house call" for $20 at home.

Megan was cranky this morning. No smiles and she was very fussy. Her tummy was hurting. Once we got our first dirty diaper our happy girl was back.

She is taking her bottle well, but has not eaten anything else we were told. We have tried congee (rice that is boiled to dealth), noodles and scrambled egg. Tomorrow at breakfast we will try a steamed bun and steamed eggs. She did let me put some pieces of my bread in her mouth at lunch. I am not worried about the eating because she is taking the bottle well.

Both of my babies are napping. I should run and make some more bottles. Tonight we are having a group dinner out.

Nanchang Pictures

Pagoda Tour

Today Megan is in a 6-9 month outfit. This is before we went down for breakfast.



We walked to see a Pagoda (not sure if I am spelling it correctly). Megan had her first stroller ride.



The current Pagoda was built in 1989. They have had to rebuild it 28 times. If that isn't persistant I don't know what is!!



This is the Heng Feng group. We were missing two families. The Smith Family and Rossners did not join us this morning. While there we were able to take in a performance. It had local dance and music.


There was a viewing area all around the Pagoda. This is a picture of the garden.



While we were there we were approached by a Chinese woman. She said that Megan has a nice nose and a good complextion. That is our translation anyway. Then two men who spoke english came up to us and asked if all the people there with babies were adopting. They were very happy that we were. They said we were a good couple.

I will post some random pictures of Nanchang next.