Shamian Island and the White Swan HotelThe goal today was to get a picture of Havensong on the red couch at the White Swan Hotel. For some reason, the tradition once receiving your child in China is to make it over to the White Swan hotel and get a picture on the big red couch. What I found so odd was after getting to the hotel, not many of the employees knew what I was talking about when asking where the red couch was. Beau and I must have spend 15-20 minutes searching the hotel for the couch but finally found it. Actually nothing too spectacular but when in Rome, right? We snapped the picture and then spend an hour or so exploring Shamian Island. The White Swan hotel is on Shamian Island. The White Swan hotel is a very popular place for adoptive parents to stay when coming to Guangzhou. All Chinese adoptions are finalized in Guangzhou. One reason for the popularity of the hotel is because it is adjacent to the United States consulate, making it convenient to file paperwork and handle bureaucratic matters. Shamian Island is a small sandbank island in the Liwan District of Guangzhou. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese. The territory was divided into two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom by the Qing Dynasty government in the 19th century. Shamian Island was an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. It's a really amazing place.
The other item on my check list was to find Havensong a pair of squeaky shoes. These are the traditional shoes infants wear in China and they literally squeak when walked in. (Like the Lindsey home needs any more noise!) I found a cute pink pair. I also found Havensong the cutest traditional Chinese jacket for a keepsake. Beau and I found the nicest Starbucks we've ever been to on Shamian Island and took the opportunity to take a break with a Venti Iced Carmel Macchiato. Yum!!! After a few hours of sightseeing it was time to head back to the hotel. Havensong was very happy to be back in her familiar hotel room and within 15 minutes she was down for her nap. At 5pm we met our new friends Ann & Tim Roen from Minneapolis for dinner. We decided on Italian and found a really good Italian restaurant a block away from the hotel. Ann and Tim adopted the cutest little boy named Max. Max is the cutest Chinese food vacuum I have ever seen. This kid can put down some food! :-) Ann and Tim are new parents and Max is a very blessed little boy. One of the funny conversations we had at dinner was how our lives feel like the movie Groundhog Day. Everyday is almost identical. Get up, feed, change diaper, cloth, eat breakfast, change diaper, adoption appointments, paperwork, feed, change diaper, nap, change diaper, eat, play, walk around the city, eat, change diaper, put on PJs, put to bed... and wake up the next day for the same exact routine. I will be sooooooooo glad to finally be heading home to start our new life with Havensong. We got back to the hotel room around 7 and Havensong couldn't wait to get into some fresh PJs, play a little, have her bottle, and go to bed. Whew... Tomorrow we wait at the hotel while Rebecca submits all our paperwork to the U.S. consulate. If all is approved and in order, we will head over to the consulate at 2:30 to take the adoption oath. Published on Monday, December 27, 2010 @ 6:51 AM CDT More of GuangzhouToday was a free day. It was so nice not to have any paperwork or appointments. Good thing too because Havensong was a little fussy during the night. And of course, she was up at 6:30 ready for a diaper change and bottle. She obviously doesn't know she's a Lindsey yet. After feeding Havensong, we were able to Skype with Michelle and the kids and the Beede family. Michelle and the kids went over to the Beede's for Christmas dinner. Havensong was the hit of the party. Skype has been so amazing over here. I also downloaded the Skype app to my iPhone and can make phone calls for a very low cost. I can't imagine doing all of this 10 years ago with none of this awesome technology. Beau and I finally got smart and decided to do breakfast in shifts. Havensong is a great little girl but she is a busy body. She won't sit in a highchair because it restricts her investigation of her surroundings. She wants to look, touch, and be moving. PRAYER REQUEST: 25 hours of traveling on the 31st and 1st. Be praying for Havensong to sleep, sleep, sleep!!! :-) After breakfast, Rebecca had a van pick us and the Catoe family up for an afternoon of sightseeing and shopping. Main stop today was the jade market. Michelle really wanted me to get Havensong a jade necklace while here in China. The jade market was amazing. There were literally hundreds of jade and pearl stores in a huge mall area. After finding a jade necklace for Havensong it was time for the Catoe family to buy their daughter some clothes and shoes. Their daughter is 4 years old and had been in the same clothes and shoes since leaving her orphanage. You should have seen her getting her new shoes. She was the proudest little girl in China. She got the kind with the flashing lights in the heels. She wanted to walk all over China after getting her shoes. It was precious. We got back to the hotel, fed Havensong, and put her down for her afternoon nap. Beau stayed at the hotel while I ran across the street to find Havensong some socks at the mall. She is always pulling off her socks. 8-10 times a day, Beau and I look down and there she is with one or no socks on. She has one pair with some good elastic that she can't pull off so my goal was to find a few more pairs. After searching the mall high and low, I found the one pack of socks with some good elastic. Now we have backup! After a quick stop at Starbucks to surprise Beau with a java chip Frappaccino it was back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day. Havensong is happiest in the room and we like it when Havensong is happy. :-) Published on Sunday, December 26, 2010 @ 4:01 AM CDT Merry Christmas... physical exams and mountains of paperworkMerry Christmas from Guangzhou! I am used to getting up at the crack of dawn on Christmas to tend to excited children wanting to tear into their presents but this is the first Christmas where I was awoken at the crack of dawn by a tearful baby wanting a diaper change and bottle. Havensong was ready to start the day at 5:45am. So, I guess I was too. After a little bit it was time to wake Beau up to get ready for our busy day. Today we had to get Havensong's passport photo, physical exams, and complete all the adoption and travel documentation. At breakfast, it hit Beau that today was Christmas. Obviously, China does not celebrate Christmas so the day seemed a bit off. It really made me appreciate Christmas with the family. The excitement of the morning, the presents, the smiling faces, the memories, and celebration of the birth of the Savior. Although this Christmas the Lindsey family got one of the greatest gifts ever, our little Havensong, I know from here on out I will appreciate the holiday season more than ever. Funny how we take things for granted and don't realize how precious traditions with family are until you don't have them. After breakfast, it was time to meet two of the families we will be spending the next week with. They are in the same stage of the adoption as we are and so we will be completing the next few days of adoption processing together. I got to talking with one of the ladies, Tammi Mayer (maiden name), who lives in China with her husband teaching English at an academy. Turns out, she went to the same high school in Battleground, WA as Michelle. Michelle is a bit older but she knew Michelle's sisters. Can you believe that!? (Can't wait to tell this story to our good friend Malissa Waterford.) Havensong got her physical exam and was proclaimed a healthy baby girl. She is now a little over 16 pounds and 28 inches. Small for 13 months but healthy nonetheless. Now back to the hotel to spend 2 hours going through all the paperwork we need in order for next week. Thank God for Rebecca (our adoption liaison), she has been sooooooooo helpful. With the paperwork done and in order it was time to celebrate and have a Christmas dinner. The two other couples suggested Pizza Hut for dinner. I never thought I would ever have a Christmas dinner at Pizza Hut but in a small way it made Beau and I feel a bit like we were home. This Christmas is so special because we have Havensong now but as I write this, Michelle, Tayler, Autumn, and Chase are at home sleeping. Soon they will get up in their new Christmas pajamas, have our traditional cheese grits for breakfast, gather in the living room where our tree and decorations fill the room, and open Christmas presents. I would give anything to be there right now. Merry Christmas Michelle. Merry Christmas Tayler. Merry Christmas Autumn. Merry Christmas Chase. I love and miss you all so much. Published on Saturday, December 25, 2010 @ 5:09 AM CDT Trip to the Orphanage in YangziToday was a very important day. We took the trip south to visit Havensong’s orphanage in Yangzi. Rebecca had a driver pick us up at the hotel at 8am for the 3 hour drive. We discovered something within 15 minutes of the trip. Havensong does not like to be in cars. I think she cried for about 5 hours of the 6 hour round trip. Good thing she is sooooooo cute. Beau was so thankful for the new over-the-ear headphones he got at the electronics market in Guangzhou a few days ago! We got to the orphanage around noon. The directors and caregivers were so excited to see Havensong. It was quite the joyous reunion. After being passed around to the various employees at the orphanage it was time for our tour. The orphanage was impeccably clean. Thankfully Havensong was raised in a very small orphanage. There were only about 20 children there. The director of the orphanage did not want us filming or taking pictures of the other children in the orphanage. She agreed to let us see where Havensong’s crib was and we were able to take pictures of Havensong in the crib. She seemed quite comfortable in the crib when we placed her in it; almost like being with an old friend. I’m just so glad she doesn’t have to spend her days in that crib anymore. Before leaving I interviewed the orphanage director for as much information as I could get and found out that Havensong was raised by foster parents for the first 3 months of her life. This is typical when a child has been abandoned in China. Foster parents are able to focus specifically on the child’s needs before being given to the orphanage where the child will be with many other children. I am thankful Havensong received this extra attention when she needed it most. After taking some photos of the orphanage and seeing a bit more of the facility it was time to head to the restaurant where Havensong had been abandoned on November 21, 2009. The orphanage gave us a copy of the newspaper article posted in the Yangzi newspaper announcing the details of her abandonment. This is required by law; in hopes of finding information about the mother. Havensong was abandoned early in the morning in front of the restaurant. The street she was abandoned on is a very busy street on the outskirts of town. Someone saw her wrapped up in a blanket and called the police. After taking pictures of the exact spot where she was left, we decided to have lunch at the restaurant. Yangzi is famous throughout China for their oysters so in tribute to Havensong we had a bowl of oysters. They were very good. After a few more photo ops and some video taping of Yanzi it was time to head back to Guangzhou. Havensong was so happy to get back to the hotel room so she could get into some pajamas, have Daddy feed her, pray with her, and put her in her bed. No more nights alone... Published on Friday, December 24, 2010 @ 7:33 AM CDT A Day in Guangzhou with Grace and our new friendsToday was a full day. Our dear friend Grace from Singapore met us at the hotel at 10am. Grace's friend, Jun Yi, and son, Tony, picked all of us up and we were off to see Guangzhou. Guangzhou is the 3rd largest city in China. If you include the outskirts of the city the population is over 12,000,000. Guangzhou used to be called Canton. One of the questions Beau and I had while walking around the city near our hotel was, "Where are all the children?" Well, today we got our answer. There are parks all throughout Guangzhou and this is where moms and grandmas take their kids/grandkids to play and get some fresh air. One of the places we stopped today had one of these parks. There were cute little Chinese toddlers all over the place. The park was near our 1st destination for the day - the Chen Ancestral Hall. What an amazing place. It was a center of cultural arts for the Lingnan area for centuries. There was all sorts of traditional Chinese arts on display and I found a great souvenir for my office. Be sure and look at the pictures for today at the "Pictures" section of this site. For lunch we were taken to an unbelievable restaurant where we had our own bungalow for our Cantonese food feast. Grace's friend, Jun Yi, treated us to this amazing meal. When we first walked into the restaurant I thought we were in an aquarium. You literally pick from the 20-30 tanks what kind of fish you would like to eat. Not only fish but they had frog, eel, snake, turtle, lobster, crab, sea urchins, and more. Beau and I were a little nervous but it turned out being one of the best meals I have ever had. After lunch, we went to the tea district of the city. There were literally city blocks full of all the tea traders in Guangzhou. I'm not much of a tea drinker but had a blast trying many different kinds of tea. I bought a tea set and some various types of tea. We all sat down with the lady owner of one of the shops and got a brief tutorial on the art of making and serving tea. I'm starting to like tea... We got back to the hotel at around 5pm. Havensong was such a good girl during all of today's activities but was definitely ready to get into her pajamas. Thanks Grace, Jun Yi, and Tony for a great day! Tomorrow we are going to drive 4 hours south to Havensong's orphanage. Published on Thursday, December 23, 2010 @ 5:15 AM CDT 
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