Adjustment in Arizona

Wow, it is so hard to believe we have now had Jinsey almost 8 weeks! She is adjusting amazingly to life in Arizona. She LOVES the pool and being outside. She continues to want to do everything her big sister Maya is doing, including climbing, riding a bike, and gymnastics. She is a great sleeper and has completely transitioned as far as the time change. I am now back at work and she is slowly becoming accustomed to Day care. The staff have been great, and she cries in the mornings when I drop her off for about 20 minutes, but then settles in and is interacting with the other children and even raising her hand during circle time! We took our first car trip up North to the cabin last weekend and she also did great in yet, another new environment. She wasn't crazy about the long car drive, but loved the cabin, the pinetrees and all there is to do up North.

Medically, we did discover that she actually has Beta Thalassemia Major, otherwise known as Cooley's Anemia. She is doing great and after her blood transfusions, her hmg levels have held strong for 2-3 week periods. We are working closely with the staff at Phoenix Children's Hospital and feel fortunate to have such a great facility near by!

WE are HOME!

For all of you following the blog and our travels, we are now home in AZ. Jinsey did not like leaving the hotel and I think she thought that was where we lived. She got it all out though, prior to our flights and did AMAZING. As did big sister Maya. Our final flight from LA to Phx was delayed 2 hours, which put me in tears. But we made it. Mimi (Scott's mom) is here for one week with us and a huge help. We have been for a walk, went to the park (she even liked the car seat!!) and celebrated Easter today. Happy Easter to all of our family and friends, we are so thankful to be home and feel so lucky to have this new light in our lives.

Last Days in GZ and heading Home!!

Citizenship day went great. Emotional and interesting. They told us that this year was the first ever year that more special needs babies than healthy children were adopted out of China. We have only met two families with healthy children and not in the SN program! They have waited exactly 4 years for their adoptions! We visited the Chinese Orchid Garden and it was absolutely beautiful. It is raining this morning and we head home later today. A bit nervous and hoping Jinsey enjoys this flight a bit better than the last! Can't wait to get home. As we leave China, we also celebrate Maya's Gotcha Day #4 today! What a celebration. Can't wait to see everyone and introduce Jinsey and be home!!! See you all soon!

Boat Cruise

We did the boat cruise last night on the Pearl River. We did not eat, only tea and beer! The kids all loved the ride and all the amazing lights of this HUGE city! Doing some shopping today and then to the U.S. Consulate for our citizenship appointment. Lots of love!

Ni Hao from Guangzhou

Hi all! Having a great time and making a lot of progress and strides with little Jinsey. She is now walking very well, almost able to run, playing, laughing, talking in Chinese and possibly saying Maya....feeding herself and putting on her own shoes and some clothing. She has totally warmed up to Dad and has a very gentle and kind demeanor. She easily shares and loves to touch our faces and hair. Very sweet! Her health seems to be staying stable and she has more energy and appetite than we ever expected! She loves the bath and looking at books. Maya continues to be a super champ and so adaptable to each situation and city and hotel and environment. We have met some very nice couples from New York and have had dinner with all of them each night. The one family has a daughter who is 7 (Margaret) who has become fast friends with Maya. All medicals came back fine including the TB test for Jinsey. We still have no formal diagnosis, but that will come once we return home. Tonight we are going on a boat cruise on the Pearl river with the rest of the families and tomorrow Jinsey will be sworn in as a U.S. Citizen. We are very much looking forward to coming home, but a bit nervous about the flight. Hoping Jinsey does better this time around than the first. Either way, once we are home, we know comfort and our own environment will help foster more love and bonding and trust. XOXOXOXOXO.

Friday March 26

Today is our last day in Nanjing, tonight we fly to Guangzhou for one more week. I think Jinsey can sense this is for real and we are her family now she had some low crying moans last night before bed. Great last day of shopping packing saying goodbye to our guide and getting Jinseys passport so we can head out. Forward to 11:45 PM just arrived after 7 hours of brutal traveling. Both girls fell asleep on the plane we had to carry them and 40 ponds of carry ons through airport and security backs are out and we are dead tired, the girls never woke up. Found out when we got here we have to be down in the lobby at 8:30 am to go to medical exams. Medicals went o.k.(I could of given them) and now we have a free afternoon, met some other families and one has a seven year old maya has befriended. Heading to dinner tonight to a good Thai place with another family, the hotel is fabulous! Jinsey is coming out of her shell every hour starting to warm up to Dad a little. Thanks for checking in and we will post again soon.

Last few days in Nanjing!

Finally it has stopped raining. We went sight seeing with Anna yesterday to the Brocade (silk weaving factory) museum, the "city wall" that surrounds the border of Nanjing, and then to the Confuscious Temple just down the street from our hotel. We continue to be a total spectacle around Nanjing. Jinsey continues to bond and is warming up to Scott (baba). Our hotel room is a complete disaster and we are slowly starting to pack and get ready to move onto Guangzhou for the next 6 days. We are looking forward to some warmer weather and a hotel that caters a bit more to young kids. As it was with Maya, we are certain it will be emotional flying out of Nanjing and Jinsey's home city. Someday we hope to return here with her. Maya just amazes us at her ease and flexibility. We bought her a little robotic dog today at the market as a little reward for being so great. We miss home and will really be ready to return to AZ and settle in at home. Hugs and kisses to everyone!!!

DAY TWO w Jinsey

Greetings from the rainy city of Nanjing! It has been raining solid for two days straight and is very chilly! Thank goodness the hotel has umbrellas for loan. There is a great walking street with many flee market type shops....went today and bought a scarf, some shoes for Jinsey, and DVD's for $1 each! I was able to visit the SWI (orphanage) today, and was very lucky to be admitted into the actual orphanage. I was amazed at how clean, organized, and well run it is. The rooms are completed stocked with all types of modern developmental toys, classrooms, and sleeping rooms. I was very impressed. I met with the manager of the SWI and attempted to get many more answers and records regarding Jinsey's health and diagnosis. Answers seem very politically correct and careful, but we did obtain some additional paperwork (all in Chinese). Scott stayed behind at the hotel with the girls to bond and have some time. Overall, it went okay. Jinsey did cry for me when I left and finally said "mama, mama" today. Good sign! Tomorrow we will go sight seeing with our guide and see a little bit more of Nanjing. On Friday we are off to Guangzhou.

Meeting Little Jinsey

Yesterday at 9am we met our guide Anna, and headed to the office of Civil Affairs. We were so surprised to be the only family there, and came to find out that there would only be one other family that day! Jinsey arrived with an administrator from the SWI named CoCo. She was dressed very nicely in a new outfit and a cute clip in her hair. She had the photo album and teddy bear sent by us months ago. She was obviously very scared and her big eyes were taking everything in! She is very tiny, but appears to be in very good health. She is very underdeveloped and will need a lot of support and stimulation to get her up to speed. She had a hard time letting go of CoCo and trusting to go with us, but by the time we arrived back at the hotel....she was calm and observant. She has really taking a trust to mommy and big sister. She is still very cautious with dad, as she has had very little exposure to men. Our guide Anna has been wonderful and she took Scott to the market to buy appropriate cookies, snacks, fruits, milk etc for the both the girls. In the end, we had pizza last night at the hotel! The journey thus far has been as good as we could have hoped for. I must say emotional and exhausting, on so many levels and in so many different ways. We are hoping for a smile out of Jinsey today, and are pretty confident that Maya can achieve this goal!

We Arrived!

Well, we made it to Nanjing! After going from Phx to San Fran, then to Beijing, and finally onto Nanjing, we arrived around 10 pm at night. For a city of 7 million, it seemed very quiet on a Sat. night! The hotel is very nice, but we had to move furniture around the room to have more space for the kiddos to play! We have already walked to the market, shopped on a popular shopping street and been to the giant mall! There seem to be very few Americans here at all, and we definitely seem to draw a lot of attention this time around. Maya has done so well thus far, and is excited to get to meet her sister Jinsey later this morning. The weather is cooler than we expected, but very pleasant. Trying to find a few good places to eat, and are hoping that our guide will help direct us when we meet her this morning. We are nervous/excited for our lives to change in just a few hours! Zai jian! (good bye for now).

Nanjing China

Nanjing (help·info) (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: Nánjīng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. The different spellings 'Nanjing' or 'Nanking' bear the same Chinese name '南京' - meaning 'Southern capital' - Nanking was widely used until the Pinyin language reform after which Nanjing is the international standard spelling of the city's name.
Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Nanjing has always been one of China's most important cities. It served as the capital of China during several historical periods and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China before the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. Apart from having been the capital of China for six dynasties and of the Republic of China, Nanjing has also served as a national hub of education, research, transportation and tourism throughout history. It will also host the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.
With an urban population of over five million (2006), Nanjing is the second largest commercial center in the East China region, after Shanghai. It has been ranked fourth by Forbes magazine in its listing of "2008 Top 100 Business Cities in Mainland China", seventh in the evaluation of "Cities with Strongest Comprehensive Strength" issued by the National Statistics Bureau, and second in the evaluation of cities with most sustainable development potential in the Yangtze River Delta. It has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honor of China, Special Award of UN Habitat Scroll of Honor and National Civilized City.[1]

Hua Jin Zhi

Jinsey has been living at the Nanjing Social Welfare Institute since she was 8 months old. She has been very fortunate to be working with Half The Sky Foundation for developmental and educational growth. You can see by the photos that the institute is very well equipped and she seems happy and healthy and surrounded by lots of people and love.