GOING HOME TOMORROW

After 189 days of seeing Emily's picture we will be taking her home!!! It has been a wonderful journey but it is time to go home and be a family of four. We miss our daughter Hannah ALOT!!! Words cannot describe how happy and blessed we are to have 2 beautiful and healthy children. I said it once but i will say it again-It is a marvelous world we live in. Pray for our safe return home and hope to see all of our family and friends real soon.

Pictures from Guanzhou, China

Yuintai Gardens-beautiful park. There were hundreds of roses and many different shaped trees that the chinese shape themselves.

Some of the rose bushes at the garden

Emily playing in the hotel room. This day her favorite toy was a set of "batteries" that we took out of the camera. Everytime we tried to take them away-she started crying.

This picture is a little blurry but how could we not resist putting it up here for all to see.

DADA & EMILY walking in the street in Guangzhou, China

All of our group has come back to us and it has been so nice to see them with their children. Emily was tired today. She slept 12 hours last night and at 11am she decided to lay down for a 3 hour nap!!! Then we went shopping. The shopping here is good. We are off on a shopping tour here tomorrow so we have not bought too much----yet!!! Emily continues to warm up to Kevin and his facial hair. She is giving him a 1/2 smile now when we sneaks a kiss to her. She is smiling now almost all the time. She is still very curious and doesn't miss anything. And still eating everything in sight. She is sucking on her first sucker now and really slurping it up. Hope to post some pictures later so keep posted.

UPDATE!!!!

The last 2 days have been amazing. Emily is now smiling ALOT and giving some wide mouthed kisses to her mama. She is still warming up to dada's mustache but they play together ALL the time. He has started rubbing his face against hers and she cries out but there are no tears. We think this is improvement. She is still walking like a drunken sailor (sorry Tad and Jesse) but her hand eye coordination is 200% better. She eats ALL the time, just like her big sissy, Hannah. Watch out Pete-this girl loves french toast!!! The other thing she really loves is to walk. She walks and walks until her little legs can go no further. Yesterday she actually fell asleep walking on in the park and we needed to carry her back to the hotel. She also has not napped. She goes and goes until she just drops-also sounds like her big sissy, Hannah. Last night she had an old fashioned temper tantrum as she just did not want to stop and go to bed. Once asleep she slept for 12.5 hours. Naps are hard to come by as she just does not want to miss anything. We went to a chinese noodle restaurant today and we were a little nervous as our guide, Helen ordered for us, but it was excellent!!! The only thing on the table that we did not like was the tea they served us as it was made from corn and Rusti thought it actually tasted like vegetable oil. But we really like the noodles with vegetables, BBQ eggplant, dumplings, fried cakes, and "beef" which reminded Rusti of the mongolian beef dish her and Hannah have at the local chinese restaurant. Rusti asked it there was any "American" Chinese restaurants where you could get chop suey and she just smiled and answered "Lucy's". Lucy's is one of the restaurants here that is like a 50's style restaurant (cheeseburgers and fries). Emily loves Lucy's as she has chicken congee and she eats the whole bowl of it (which is a lot for a baby). The rest of the group flies in tonight so we will have more people to socialize with and play in the play room with. Until tomorrow............

We have pictures!!!

Here are some of the many pictures we have taken so far. Emily is very little for her age as you can tell walking with her "baba". Her favorite thing right now is to play with the stacking cups and go for walks-everywhere. She started eating for us today. Scrambled eggs, french toast, watermelon, bananas, and congee. And for you adoption followers-we have had a successful poop!!! Our guide helped us out with some "special" chinese tea-and 45 minutes later-eureka!!! We think we are going to get more of this tea to bring home (just in case). We have found that when Emily rubs her hand in her hair she is tired. She really has not spoken anything except mama, baba, and bye bye, and this is hard to get from her. She is very serious and curious of everything. Today we applied for her passport. We have a free day tomorrow. We may go play in the "Swan Room" in the hotel that has alot of toys. We are still trying to bond with Emily. She has not given us a kiss or really relaxed in our arms yet. Sometimes when she cries, she looks as if her heart has been broken. This seems to be happening less though so we must be doing something good here. Will try to keep the updates coming.

WE HAVE EMILY!!!!!!

Sorry we did not post yesterday. It has been a whirlwind of events here. We received Emily right at the elevators to the Civil Affairs building. We were not to see her until later but we seemed to have showed up at the building at the same exact time. So we got to hold her up the elevator and then they took her so we could finish some paperwork. She is just as beautiful as her picture. We are having trouble with the computers at the White Swan so we can not load any pictures yet. At first Emily did not like Kevin and everytime she looked at him she would scream!!! We later found out it is because he has facial hair and she has never seen any. But he charmed up to her by bribing her with cheerios. Today she is is best friend. The adoption was final today!!!! We can not wait for Hannah to see her baby sissy and return home to be a family.

Delayed again!!!

We boarded the plane from Beijing to Guangzhou on time so we thought our "curse" was over-but then we didn't move and they announced a "technical problem" with he plane and we sat on the plane for an hour before we left the runway. We are here now though. We hope the rest of our group did not get delayed as some of them were to receive their children today. We wish them our love and hope their kids are healthy and can;t wait to see them on Friday in Guangzhou. We took a "tour" of where we will be staying for the next 11 days. There is many restaurants to here (American, Italian, German, Thai, and of course Chinese. There is also a deli attached to our hotel for ice cream which may come in handy as it is very hot here!!! There are 2 parks for the kids to roam as well. We receive Emily tomorrow at 2pm. All we were told to bring is some copies of our paperwork, a change of clothes for her, and some toys. So I guess we will update everyone tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from Beijing for you to enjoy. We leave tomorrow for Guangzhou. We have been doing ALOT of walking again today. We climbed some of the Great Wall, went to an authentic chinese buffet for lunch, The Cloisson Factory, and to the Summer Palace. We are very tired and ready to move on with our journey. Monday we will see Emily!!!

Beijing-Day 2

We walked our _ _ _ off today!!! We went to Tienaman Square, Forbidden City, the Olympic Village, and an acrobatic show today. We would love to show you pictures but technology still has a been an issue here. We did get marvelous pictures of the big squid and shrimp laying out on the table at the market today and of course we got a few pictures everywhere else. We ate at Pizza Hut too!!! Not too anxious to try the authentic chinese food here. I had cheese pizza and Kevin/Snuffy had Pepperoni pizza. We are anxious to get our last day here over with so we can fly down to Guagzhou. Kevin/Snuff is like a "celebrity" here as everyone chinese wants to take their picture with him. We think it is because he is so tall-he towers over te chinese people. I think they are mistaken him for that chinese basketball player "Yau". We miss everyone. We hope everyone is doing well. We will try to get one of our friends computers and try to send some pictures tomorrow.

WE MADE IT!!!!! (Day 1)

Well-let me tell you how our "wonderful" day went. We woke up and turned on the TV before going to the airport and the television would not work (and it was not the remote). Perhaps, Gene, Mike, and/or Tim can figure it out. We are thinking we will need to get a new TV when we return, which leads me into the rest of the morning. We show up 2 hours early for our flight from South Bend to Chicago and when are to board the plane-they announce a delay due to "overfueling" the tank. So we wait an extra 2 hours for them to do that, which is not a big deal because this now cuts our 4 hour delay in Chicago to 2 hours-right? WRONG. About the time we are to board that flight they announce a "maintenace problem" with the plane and it ends up being delayed 3 hours OVER the original 2 hour delay we already had. We were thinking at this point of upgrading our tickets to help change our luck, but upgrading was $725 extra a ticket. And remember now that we may need to buy a TV when we get back home!!!! So we sufferered it out and about 23 hours and 6850 miles later we have arrived in Beijing!!!! We went checked in an absolute wonderful hotel, the Kuntai Royal, and visited the nearby supermarket named the "wonderful" to buy some pringles and bottled water, then came straight to the computer to tell you all of our "wonderful" day. We are now going to go to bed in our big comfy king size bed and dream wonderful thoughts for the rest of the journey. we are scheduled tomorrow to go to Tienaman Square and The Forbidden City. Love you all!!!

We are leaving on a jet plane.......

We are ready to go!!!!!!!!!!! We are all packed-twice!!!!! We are a little over the luggage weight limit so we added a carry on. Now we are ready to go. Talk to you when we get to Beijing!!!!

1 more day to go!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we will be on our way to get Emily. Hard to believe that after nearly 3 1/2 yrs the time has come to get our precious little girl. We are doing some last minute packing tonight and doing a final weigh in before we lock up our bags. Here's hoping for a good night's sleep!!!

2 days to go!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight is the last night we have with Hannah as she will spend the night with Busia and Dzia Dzia (grandparents) so she can catch the school bus while we catch the plane. She has picked the movie "Stewart Little 2" to snuggle up with. This is the best way for us to spend our evenings together so it is perfect that we do it this evening. Soon we will be snuggling with 2 daughters!!! In a world full of uncertainty-what a beautiful world it is to raise each others children as our own to give them a wonderful and beautifully full life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. Isaiah 43:5

3 days to go!!!!!!

3 days-WOW!!! We actually packed today. We have also found out why people take carry on luggage. Because it holds the extra pounds you would be charged with your checked luggage!!! ahaa!!!
In all seriousness-as the "days to go" are getting shorter, the tears are bigger and lasting longer. Hannah had crocodile tears tonight when we snuggled with her stating to us "What if you don't come back". We do not even want to think about that!!! We are flying 1/2 way across the world in attempts to complete our family that naturally we could never have. At times we feel selfish (for the lack of a better word) for wanting to add to our happy and healthy family. We have to leave one child in tears to bring our other child home. We thank God for the wonderful family, friends, and neighbors (who are our friends-but wanted you to know we were talking to you, also!) as we know Hannah will be safe and happy while we are gone. Know that we love you and all that you do for us through the love in your hearts and in ours as our words can not describe our immense appreciation and love for you!!!

4 days to go!!!!!!!!!!

Last minute shopping took place today. We bought some smelly lotion and sprays for Emily's caregiver's today. We are finishing up the laundry tonight and dedicating Sunday for packing. Most families in our travel group are having difficulties staying under the 44 pound weight limit. Stay tuned to see how we do!!!

5 days to go!!!!!!!!

5 days to go but more importantly-10days until we get to hold Emily!!! This is also the last weekend before we take off. Hannah seems to be getting excited as she asked if she could pack this weekend also. I guess we are soon to find out how much 44 pounds REALLY weighs as this is the weight limit the airline has given us. The rest of the weekend will be full of cleaning the house, shopping for last minute items, and freezing a lasagna for a quick home made meal when we return home. (This was also the first meal we ate when we returned with Hannah)

6 days to go!!!!!!!!!

We had our group conference call this evening to go over any questions we had and last minute "issues". All seemed to go well. Our plans this weekend are to clean the house, buy some food for our house sitter, and of course-PACK!!!!!!

7 days to go!!!!!!!!!

One week to go. Next week at this time we will be flying off to get Emily. I think we have everything to go now!!! We decided on the Chinese officials' gifts from Claeys' candy and Notre Dame. We will attach a South Bend postcard and that will be that!!! No more paperwork to do, which seems to have been our life since we started this journey in 2006. Just wait and pray for health & safety to take us to our daughter.

8 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy is it going fast now. I think we are ready to start packing!!!

9 days to go!!!!!!!!!

Hannah overheard the end part of a conversation that I had today about not getting chocolate from the chocolate factory for the Chinese officials' gifts and Hannah looked at me with a sad look and said "Baby sissy is not coming?" When I said we were leaving to get Emily in just 9 days she gave me a big smile. I asked her "you really do want her to come home, don't you?" and Hannah looked at me with big eyes and answered "Yes, mama. She is my sissy". I wanted to cried some big ol' crocodile tears right then!!!

10 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today seemed to be a lazy day at the Chlebowski household. We caught up on some laundry and general cleaning and sleep. This week is going to be busy. Ensuring all the required paperwork is in order, despite looking at it 500 times in the last couple weeks and getting some packing done. We did measure our luggage and are happy to see that we meet the requirements and do not need to buy new luggage. We talked to Hannah today and after saying we were going to miss each other alot, she asked if we could hide her in our luggage-when we said that was not going to work , she ask if China to send us baby sissy in a box. Even though it is heavensent to go get our dtr in China, it is going to be the hardest thisng we ever do to leave Hannah here for 2 weeks.

11 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we bought some gifts for the Chinese officials and helpers. We were supposed to find something for them that represents our area. We have several things in the South Bend area to choose from but we decided on some nice pens from the Notre Dame bookstore. We are planning on getting something else for the gift bag but right now we are not real sure what. We would really liek to put a small box of chocolates from the South Bend Chocolate Factory, which is close to our home, but we are afraid the chocolate may melt before we get there. We are open to ideas. Hint Hint Hint......

12 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just 12 days left. We learned today that we have 13 families traveling in our group. We have been talking to several families and we are really looking forward to meeting them. We actually met one family a few years ago at Hannah's adoption reunion. They have been waiting a long time to be united with their daughter, who they have named "Hannah". We are very happy for them and glad to be traveling with them after all this time. Another family that we have been talking to is traveling at the same time, on the same flight, and staying at the same hotel in Guangzhou but is using a different adoption agency. We are happy to meet up with them as well. We hope to gain lifelong friendships like we did with Hannah's travel group.

13 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Less than 2 weeks to go. Today we received our itinerary. We hope you follow us on our journey to bring our daughter, Emily, home.


March 18-Leave South Bend to Chicago to Beijing
March 19-Arrive in Beijing. Stay at Kuntai Royal Hotel for 3 nights.
March 20-21-Tours to the Great Wall, Summer Palace & Forbidden City
March 22-Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou. Stay at the White Swan Hotel
March 23-Civil Affairs Bureau of Guangdong Province to unite with Emily
March 24-Complete the adoption registration and notarization procedure
March 25-Apply for Emily's passport
March 26–29 Free time to play with Emily/Shop.
(Have visa picture taken and medical exam performed for Emily on Friday)
March 30-Free time to lay with Emily/Shop. Pick up passport for Emily
March 31-Visa application documents submitted for Emily
April 1-Adoption oath taken at the U.S. Consulate. Receive Emily’s visa
April 2-Leave Guangzhou & fly to Beijing to Chicago to South Bend

14 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14 more days before we leave for China to pick up Emily. All the paperwork is done, we put in for our vacations, verified days with the house sitter, and purchased the tickets. We have not received the itinerary yet but should have it any day. We have been talking and getting to know our travel group. We have a conference call with our group and our adoption coordinator on March 12 for more specific information. All we can do now is wait.......... (and start packing!!!)

15 days to go!!!!!!

Our flight tickets to and from China were verified today. We are just waiting on our "inside travel" itinerary and hotel verifications, which should be coming this week yet. In just 15 days we will be heading 1/2 way around the world to meet with the new addition to the Chlebowski family. Hannah actually seems to be getting more excited now as the date is getting closer. She said she will miss us snuggling with her when she goes to bed. We just hope she does not grow up too much in the 2 weeks we are gone. Oh-how we love and will miss our "lil' snugglebug".