Chinese New Year

Last night (Friday, and also Todd's birthday), we celebrated Chinese New Year with our Families with Chinese Children group.  It was so much fun and great to be with our families like ours.  It was soon to have Bethany out around a big crowd, but we made a special exception since this was a special occasion!  All of her grandparents came with her, so it was a really good night for the Rayburn 3.  Bethany had such a great time being around the other kids.  We're glad Todd's Dad and step mom are in town and have been able to be here too for all of the fun.  :)  Of course, we think Bethany was the prettiest girl at the party, but in truth, there were so many precious little Chinese kids!  But, we still think ours was the most precious!  :)  The picture with Bethany and the other 2 girls is a picture with her orphanage sisters.  All of these girls came from the same orphanage in China - truly amazing when you understand how many orphanages and orphans there are in China.  That these 3 would all come from the same place and end up in a tiny town in South Mississippi is a miracle.  Lilly is in blue and Anna Grace is in red.  All of the kids are special, but these 2 are exceptionally special to us to have such a unique bond with Bethany.  Anna Grace is actually 4 months older than Bethany and they were in the orphanage together at the same time.  That is a God sized miracle.

 

Bethany is doing better - her ear seems to better, but the cold is still giving her fits.  She goes for a head to toe appointment next week to the International Adoption Clinic at UAB.  They'll check her out like she's a newborn baby and do all kinds of tests on her.  It will be good for us to have some kind of idea about her health, other than what we already know (which is very little).  She appears to be in very good health, and we have no reason to think there is anything wrong other than the cleft issue.  But, they'll help us deal with some of the institutionalization issues and some lingering things we see problems with -  just minor stuff.   It will be reassuring for us to have her checked out really well.  We are dreading the 4 hour drive to Birminham; car seats are NOT used in China, and this kid HATES her car seat!  It's been a long drive to Slidell with her screaming at the top of her lungs, so I can only imagine what it will be like all the way to Birmingham. 

 

Not too much else going on.  Our life is pretty boring by what anyone else would consider, but we love it!!!  We're slowly getting our feet underneath us with a routine and such.  She's adjusting so well, and we're just trying to settle in and make sure she's comfortable and feeling safe.  Anyway, will sign off for now.  TS&B

 

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Thursday 1/26

Bethany continues to adjust well.  She has had a rough couple of days because of the crud.  We will take her to the Doc this morning.  She coughed off and on all night last night.  She is also still dealing with jet lag.  Somewhere between 10pm and midnight every night she wakes up ready for the new day.  She had been good to lay back down and go to sleep though and the amount she is awake in the middle of the night is getting shorter every night.

She seems to be getting more comfortable in general and more settled every day.  We could tell she got a little nervous yesterday when we started putting the last of the luggage up.  She had seen us fooling with the luggage in Nanchang and Guangzhou and that equaled a big change. Once the luggage was out of sight, she relaxed again.

 

Got back for the doctor and she has an ear infection to boot.  We have her resting and she should be good in a day or so.
 

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Welcome Home Party

These are some of the pics from the airport welcome home party.  Also see my cousin Jan's link:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150527604760502.388731.512825501&type=3

Finally home!

 

Just wanted to say that we are so happy to be home!!! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Bethany and for us. We are home safe and sound and Bethany has done amazingly well for all that she's been through in the last 2 weeks. Her whole world has turned upside down, and yet she's been a remarkable little trooper throughout. She's settling in very well, exploring her home and new toys, and ...LOVING her grandparents! She's thriving on all of the attention and will be ready to start meeting additional friends and family soon. She's had so many changes to her life in the past 2 weeks that we're trying to slowly add in new people and experiences so that she won't be overwhelmed. Also wanted to thank all of our friends and family that sacrificed your Friday night to meet us at the airport. If we didn't get to speak to you very much, we were overwhelmed - and exhausted - but we so appreciate you coming to see our sweet baby girl. Thank you also to cousins Marie and Kelsey for the banner and signs that you made to welcome Bethany home - it was definitely a GREAT welcome home party and we thank everyone for all you've done.....We have alot more pictures to post and will try to do that soon. Thanks again to everyone and keep praying for Bethany - we can't wait for you to meet our little baby doll!

Going Home

The flights were bad but Bethany did reasonably well.  We had a few major meltdowns but all in all, it was a good trip.  We had some issues crossing the border from China to Hong Kong so we almost missed our flight.  Our flight from Atlanta to NO was delayed by almost an hour so we didn't get home till almost 11 pm.
We had a great reception at the airport from family and friends. There were banners and signs and cameras everywhere.  Everybody was so nice to come and greet us and Bethany enjoyed the attention.  We will post more about the welcome home later when we get more of the pictures together.
We got her in and showed her around her new home.  It was a bit overwhelming given all that she'd experienced in one day.  We got her in bed and her night terrors were a lot worse.  We went ahead and started forcing the sleep/time change so we can get a set schedule for her as quickly as possible.  We have also started having the grandparents come in a little at a time so she can get to know them and spend time with them and not be overwhelmed.  She does fine being out and about but when she gets a lot of attention from people or if she gets too many things (like toys) at one time, she starts having trouble.  In the orphange she was around a lot of people but usually only had a toy or 2 to play with and very little one on one attention so this is all very different from anything she has experienced. She has gotten much better in the 2 weeks we've had her and I think she will continue to improve as she gets more settled.
We will update again soon and have more pictures

Our Final Day In China!

We got Bethany's travel approval late this afternoon so we are ready to leave in the morning.  We pull out from the hotel at about 3pm on 1/19 Picayune time.  We leave Hong Kong at 8:45pm and have a 14 hour plane ride to Detroit.  Please pray we and the other 4+ families have a safe flight, that we can all get seats together with our children (most of us aren't even assigned seats next to each other) and pray for the poor people that are going to be on the plane with us.  All these babies have only been on a plane for a few hours and most did not do well.  One family who has done this before (about 6 years ago) said that it is BAD, BAD and don't expect to sleep. And in advance, to any of those people on our plane that say, "Can't you shut that kid up?" the answer is no, no I can't.  It is like one guy in our group said yesterday. "Parenting was so much easier before I had kids."

I am attaching some pictures. One is of her first chocolate cake, another of her and her Uncle Zhou (Joe) and I am told that the third one is of Bethany and herfuture husband, Tommy. 

See everyone soon

T&S

Wednesday 1/18

It has been a busy couple of days.  Bethany did not sleep well last night and Stacey has a pretty bad cold.  Most of the parents in our group have colds. Today, we had our US Consulate appointment.  We will get Bethany's paperwork back tomorrow and it will all be official.  We get a big brown envelop that we hand to the immigration officer in Detroit when we arrive Friday.  He/She will open the envelope, process the contents and stamp Bethany's Passport.  At that moment, she becomes an official US citizen.  

This afternoon, we went to the Guangzhou zoo.  They had a panda exhibit and most of us had never seen a panda.  The kids were oblivious but the adults enjoyed the experience. The crowds were down because of Chinese New Year.  The city has become a virtual ghost town as all the people are returning to their home towns out in the country side.  All the shops are closed or closing and very little is open for business.  It is really odd.

Everyone in the group is ready to go home. It was an interesting adventure but we are tired of living out of a suitcase.  Too, we know that being home will be yet another transition for Bethany in an already turbulent time so we want to get her settled.  

We did see some positive things this afternoon regarding her attachment. We noticed that when a few of the locals tried to interact with Bethany, she got nervous and was looking for us to rescue her. She knew she belonged with us.That also tells me that the first time she meets the family, she will be very scared but she will warm up to everyone eventually.

We look forward to seeing everyone soon.

A note from Stacey:  Josh, if you're reading this, hope you have a very Happy Birthday.  If you were in China, it would almost be over.  :)

more pics for Monday

Monday 1/16

Today, most of the families had to return to the medical clinic to get their TB test results. Bethany is under 2 yrs so we had the day off.  We took her shopping this morning and to Lucy's for more mashed potatoes and broccoli.  After her nap, we met the other families and went to a shopping area nearby.  The place was decorated for Chinese New Year and was incredible.  We passed through the spice and pet markets.  There were odd items for sale like dried roaches, snake skins, rubberbanded bunches of dried baby snakes just to name a few.  We went to the Jade and Pearl markets but most of the shops were closed for New Years. They will stay closed for 2 or 3 weeks.  We capped it off with a visit to Pizza Hut but it was not like any Pizza Hut we'd ever been to.  There were a few pizzas to choose from but they mostly had things the locals like to eat.  They looked at us like we were crazy when we ordered a pepperoni pizza.  It took them a minute to come to terms with the order.  We didn't want the crust stuffed with shrimp or it topped with calamari.  How unChinese of us. As we walked through the shopping area, I guess we were the rolling freak show.  We had 5 or 6 white (obviously) families, all pushing strollers with Chinese children.  We stopped to take a picture of the group (see above) and students gathered around us and started taking pictures with their phones.  

Bethany slept about 11 hours last night and that appears to be the norm for her.  She also took an hour and a half to 2 hour nap.  She had a great day being wheeled around in the stroller and seeing the sights. She seems to do well out in public as long as we keep moving.  If we sit in one place for a long time she starts having issues. We'll post more tomorrow.

T&S

Sunday 1/15

Here it is Sunday night, and it's hard to believe that we've had Bethany for a week.  She is definitely not the child handed to us last Sunday.  We've seen so much progress over this past week - still a long way to go - but we're so happy that she's doing so well.  She still goes to strangers a little too easily, but the longer she's with us, the more she'll attach.  She's so much fun - truly a joy.  Don't know how much Todd has written about stroller rides the past couple of days, but she LOVES riding in her stroller.  She is definitely a daredevil - the faster Todd goes and the more he slings her around, the more she laughs and giggles.  You can hear her laughing from way off - it's hilarious.  We'll say VROOM VROOM and she starts grinning from ear to ear b/c she knows what's coming.  I got a great picture today of her big ole smile when Todd was bringing her in for a landing.  I'll get him to attach it.  She most certainly belongs to us, because the faster and crazier the ride, the more she loves it.  :)    We'll have her on roller coasters in no time flat.  :)
 
A note to our parents:  Can someone please make congee for when we get home?  She's discovering and loving new foods - today it was mashed potatoes - but she's still a regular congee eater.  It's rice cooked slam to death with some chicken broth and little bits of chicken.  She really can't eat but just little strings of chicken so the chicken has to be cooked to death too.  Congee is kind of a comfort food for her, so it would be good to have some when we get home in case she's already worked up.  Thanks.  Also, before we come over to your houses, please make sure you put up all pictures of Bethany from the orphanage.  She doesn't need to see anything associated with that time.  Some of the other parents have shown their kids different pictures from when they were in the orphanage, the workers, etc, and it's set the kids back.  So we want to make sure she doesn't see any of those pics for a while. In fact, if you go in my house, please take the pics of Bethany off of my fridge and the big pic out of the living room on the table.  Oh, and the pic of her in her room needs to come down too.  Just set them somewhere so they're turned over and she can't see them.  Thanks.
 
We bought squeaky shoes last night - 17 pairs.  :)   I'm starting this girl out right.  :)   They're cheap and I got sizes up through 9 - Todd just hands over the cash - he's got 2 girls ganging up on him now.  We thought Bethany was in a size 5 - so said the orphange - but when we measured her foot last night for shoes, she wears a 3.  I don't think she'll be in a 3 long, so we just bought one pair of 3's.  We weighed her again last night, and she has gained a little weight, so we were glad to see that.  She eats pretty good, but it's kind of hard to always find things for her.  She loved the congee at the other hotel, so it wasn't a problem so much there - it was pork congee.  But, the congee at this hotel is plain - just cooked to death rice - and she won't touch it.  There's a great place to eat here in Guangzhou called Lucy's - everyone who's been to China to adopt knows and loves Lucy's - it's American food, and by the time you've been in China for a week and 1/2, you are dying to get to Guangzhou so you can eat at Lucy's. Anyway, I chased a rabbit, but my point was that Lucy's has chicken congee and she loves theirs.  We just have to get down the street to get the congee.  Tonight, we did mashed potatoes from Lucy's instead of congee and she loved it.  Knocked out almost the whole container.  We've been getting our comfort food from Lucy's too.  :)  We also had Chips Ahoy tonight, and they were awesome, I must say.
 
Today, we went to a museum the Chen Clan Museum, I think it's called.  Just alot of Chinese artwork, history, etc. - it was interesting.  Today was rainy and really cold - we were blowing smoke - so we are ready for some more of the warm Guangzhou weather - not this from today.  Bethany had a great morning - she was so good at the museum, but after she woke up from her nap, it was on.  Todd had gone with all of the dads and our guide to an electronics store, and they were gone for a really long time.  As soon as she woke up and realized Todd wasn't here, she was whiny, and it got progressively worse.  She had a terrible afternoon and early evening - so unhappy and making sure we knew it.  When Todd got back, she instantly got much better.  She was already on a roll by that time, but she still got happier.  She gets very unsettled when she can't see/hear both of us for more than a few minutes.   It would be very sweet, but knowing the source of her discontent is her abandonment issues, it's sad.  Anyway, we were supposed to go to dinner tonight with our group - our guide arranged for a nice dinner and a mini massage for the adults.  After this afternoon, we opted not to go.  We weren't sure how the childcare thing was going to be, and we weren't about to leave her for a minute. I really don't think we had to leave her, but we probably wouldn't have been able to hold her to her liking, so it was easier to stay in and play with her.  We did go to Lucy's for takeout......a steak and fried chicken.....Yum.  :)  So all in all, it was an okay day.  She's been having such good days that this afternoon was kind of tough when she regressed so much, but she was perky and playful before bedtime.  Just in time to have a screaming fit when it was time for her to go to sleep.  :)  Her sleep is getting better; she still has night terrors, but we can see an improvement in them, so that is reassuring.  Those first few nights were so awful and scared us to death.
 
Tomorrow, the other families have to go back for medical results, b/c their kids had to have TB tests (all kids over 2, so Bethany just missed it, thank goodness).   We get to skip that appt. and not sure what we do tomorrow afternoon with the group.  The shopping is good here, so we're planning to take the little princess and buy her more stuff.  :)   I'm glad to have the morning off so we can get out and shop some.  Hoping the weather will clear up and warm up.  Anyway, it's late - way past my bedtime, so I'm signing off.  I gave Todd the night off from blogging.  Love to all - Todd, Stacey, and Bethany
 
 

Saturday 1/14

I wrote a large blog post but lost it all so I'll try to reconstruct it here.  

The meltdown last night only lasted about 15 minutes.  She flopped like a fish, arched her back and generally through a hissy.  I stroked her head the whole time and the last 5 minutes of her fit, she scooted her little head closer to me to be rubbed.

We had a good day today. We went to get her American visa photo and to a medical clinic to get her checked out.  All the other Americans who are adopting at this time were there too so it was a bit like Disney World.  Lots of people and long lines.  She did great though.  She loved the stroller.  She sits on the edge of the seat with a "lets go" look and can't get enough.  Tonight, we rolled her a little faster and over cobble stone areas of the walk and she shrilled with joy so I guess we have a little speed demon on our hands. Daddy will have to buy her a pink 4-wheeler.

We went with our group to a place called Lucy's which serves American food.  It was fantastic to have something besides Chinese or fast food.  Stacey informed me that she plans to stop by and get PB&J sandwich tomorrow.  Poor thing is in bad shape because she hates Asian food.

Bethany had a great day capped off by shoe shopping with her mother.  We'll have squeaky shoes for years. Speaking of squeaky shoes, she was delivered to us with one pair of shoes - squeaky shoes. Last night she decided to walk a little.  She was shaky but could hold onto things and get around pretty good.  She loved the squeak so it made the whole walking thing a game. She is getting more and more comfortable with us.  She had even started babbling tonight. When it was bed time, we put her in the crib and she of course lost it. It only lasted about 5 minutes but then she began to play.  She played with her hands, her feet, the rails - for about 45 minutes before she fell asleep. At least she didn't pitch a fit for long.  

We go to the museum tomorrow which will be a subway ride downtown so we will post more tomorrow.

Friday the 13th

Our meltdown only lasted about 30 minutes last night.  The night terrors continued but the Doc says that is normal and will probably continue for weeks.  She slept 11 hours last night so she woke in a good mood.  We actually had a good trip to Guangzhou.  She did really good on the hour and a half plane ride.  Then she had fun playing in the airport as we waited for the other families to arrive. She wouldn't take a nap but we got her in bed early tonight so all in all, she had a good day.  I put her in her crib tonight and reached through the rails to stroke her little head.  She screamed and convulsed for about 10 minutes and finally scooted her head closer to me and whined for another 5 minutes until she fell asleep.  I'm attaching some pics of her first plane ride and of her playing.  We are going to try a stroller tomorrow.  I suspect another meltdown will ensue but she may surprise me.  Anyway, we'll write more tomorrow.

Thursday 1/12

We had a major meltdown last night.  It was 1 to 1.5 hours long and consisted of a screaming and going into convulsions.  She finally wore herself out and fell asleep.  This morning, she woke up and did okay.  I think the night terrors are so bad that she fights sleep.  And it is like she wakes up scared every morning.  She is clingy and wants one of us to hold her.  She doesn't try to go to anyone else while we are out so I think she is getting use to us.  I (Todd) have had to leave a few times to go to the store and she has a rough time until I get back.  If Stacey leaves the room for more than a few minutes, she whines until Stacey returns or I pick her up and take her to Stacey.  

Today we went to a pavillion - it is like a retreat for the ruling dynasty in 654 AD. It was build to be a party house and it was BIG. About half way through the tour, Bethany was out.  I had to carry the sack of potatoes for about 45 minutes until we got back to the car.  She slept 3 hours.  We weighed her last night and she was 8.3 kg or about 18 lbs.  She is in 18 mo. clothes but her little butt is so narrow that the pants have a hard time staying up. 

Tomorrow will be a big test.  We leave Nanchang for Guangzhou and we will see how well she handles change. She seems to do well when we go out but I think the airplane will be too much and the new hotel room will send her over the top.  We will see though. I see another meltdown starting so better go...

 

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Wednesday

Today has been good!  Bethany had a good day today - just a couple of little minor meltdowns, but that is a vast improvement over the past 2 days.  She has been pretty happy and content all day.  We went to a big public park here in Nanchung and just walked through.  She really enjoyed being out, even though it was so cold.  It was a nice time out and we didn't get fussed at for her not being bundled up enough.  Nice change. :)  The Chinese people love to fuss at you when they don't think a baby is bundled enough.  This baby is a very estHOT natured baby though.  I thought she would be cold natured since there is practically no heat in China, but she gets hot easily.    Anyway, the park was really nice.  Then, we went shopping on porcelain street, since this province is known for producing beautiful porcelain.  We bought her an 8 piece set of China to give her when she gets married - thanks for the idea, Christy D. - a tea set, and a couple of other little things.  The shop is sending the stuff to Guangzhou for us for FREE - I love free - so we don't have to pack and haul it there on Friday.  That is a blessing!  We came back after shopping and have been in all afternoon napping and playing.  She has been up and RUNNING this afternoon across the bed - she just barely was taking steps yesterday and today she's running.  She's not very steady, but it's still a huge improvement.  We discovered today that she loves bananas and canned peaches.  She's pretty much stopped taking formula- she's discovered all this other good stuff, and she's over formula.  Back to Sunday/ Monday, we thought her nanny was coming to bring her.  There were some orphanage workers and the orphanage director, but they didn't know anything about her, her likes/dislikes, nothing. We were so disappointed b/c we had so many questions for the nannies - she came with a "schedule", which is the orphanage's schedule, not necessarily hers.  So, we've been winging it - just trying to figure out what works for her.  That whole experience left alot to be desired, but I guess we expected too much.

 

The one BIG problem we're having right now is her sleeping - we haven't mentioned it before - but it is a huge problem.  She has awful night terrors - I never knew what they were, but they are so different from a regular nightmare and so traumatic.  Naptime and bedtime is getting worse - not better - which is kind of weird since she's doing so much better on so many different levels.  But these night terrors are awful.  She thrashes practically all night - she's calm for about an hour or 2 and then they start, and they go on all night long.  We emailed her internat'l adoption dr. in Birmingham, and she said it's normal for these kids.  It could go on for weeks or months.  Anyway, another matter of prayer, b/c she gets miserable when she knows she has to go to sleep.

 

This has taken awhile to write and it's bedtime now and we're having a meltdown.  Signing off for tonight.T&S&B

 

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Wednesday morning

Just an FYI.  We are having trouble sending emails.  The post from last night came back undelivered 3x before it finally went out and we could only send one pic.  I am setting the camera to a lower pix to see if that will help.  Also, we cannot check the blog because social media is blocked here, so forgive us if things are a little jacked up on the blog.

Tuesday 1/10

We had a setback after the last post.  When I returned to the room Bethany had a melt down because I was gone for about 30 minutes.  We spent Monday running all over creation doing paperwork and taking pictures.  She started grieving yesterday and it had continued today.  We have had screaming fits all day today.  Also, everytime she wakes up, she realizes she is in a strange world and loses it.  She gets scared and just shakes.  Please pray for her adjustment and getting used to us.
 
 
Okay...this is Stacey now.  Our guide let us use his computer for the rest of our time here in Nanchung - until this Friday.  As Todd said, yesterday was really bad.  She screamed and wailed and just grieved and mourned all day.  She did for several hours today also.  Today was better than yesterday but still really rough.  Her grieving is heart wrenching but it's good also because it means she was attached to something or someone at the orphanage.  She in a way, we're glad for the crying, but looking forward to the end of her grief.  As Todd said, keep praying for her - we definitely see improvement in eye contact and her wanting kisses from us.
 
Now...about Bethany......She is precious!  She is so sweet and absolutely beautiful!  As you can tell from the pics, her hair was NOT cut!  YAH!  She has the longest eyelashes and is skinny as a little rail.  She definitely needs to be fattened up!  She is long - yes, my Daddy was right!  She is long!  Lengthwise, she fits perfectly in 18 months, but they fall off of her.  She loves attention - it's amazing how much she has progressed since we've had her.  She also loves Gerber cheese puffs, congee and apple juice.  She loves her stuffed animals - we have a few here and she's crazy about them.  She also loves the few toys we brought for her - a bouncy ball that lights up and a little sing along toy.  She's figured out how to make the toy sing and she loves to play with it.  She LOVES to be tossed in the air and a little teether we bought for her.  We didn't think she'd be able to suck it, but Todd wanted to bring, and so glad we did.  Somehow she can keep it in her mouth and she really enjoys it.   She is definitely a "hold me" baby.  She loves to be held - especially while standing.  She's figured out that whining works really well, and she whines until we stand and hold her.  She loves for us to stand in front of the mirror and hold her so she can she herself.  I already have arm muscles, just from 3 days of standing and holding her - not that I mind.  :)  We were outside alot yesterday - which is a story too long to tell - but she seemed to love being outside.  She didn't love all of the going, but she loved being outside.  Right now, she's playing with Todd and has actually started crawling around some.  She's not in the right position, but the fact that she can hold herself up with her arms to crawl around a little is amazing.  Before today, she had no arm strength to hold herself up.   Her progress is truly unreal - more than we could have expected in such a short time.
 
Now to what Bethany doesn't like.....She does NOT like baths!!!!!  Breaks my heart!!!!  ;-)  She knows how to throw a fit, and bath time is fit time. We've tried showers and baths, and she doesn't like either.  Oh well......She also doesn't like anything that involves changing her clothes.  She hates to have clothes put on or taken off including diaper changes.  She also HATES to have her feet messed with - she doesn't like socks or shoes to be put on or taken off.  She's not real crazy about hats either, but she has to wear them b/c it's so cold when we go out. 
We are going to see how she does getting out by going to a park to sightsee tomorrow and to the porcelain street.  Our regular guide Mr. Zhou said it would be good to get her out and thought she would do well.  Oh, and she is starting to respond to her name a little bit.  We are trying to get her ready for bed so more later.  Stacey is having to stand with her and feed her because she is so rotten (so I guess now I - Todd - have 2 of them to deal with).
T&S
 

Tuesday

Saturday

Did we mention that it's so stinkin' cold in China???  Oh my great day, it is C-O-L-D!!!  We just thought yesterday was cold, but oh no, we woke up to SNOW this morning - you know it is true love for Bethany that we are enduring this weather!!!  Attaching a pic from Tienamen Square and the Forbidden City to show some of the conditions - it's truly miserable for 2 little beach bums. 
 
We leave for Nanchung tomorrow and should be meeting Bethany around 4pm China time.  So excited!  All this time, everyone has asked if we're nervous and we truly haven't been.  Well guess what???  We are now!!!  Not quite sure what to do with a 22 month old, but our fantastic guide Joe keeps telling us it will be fine.  2 families already have kids, but they are traveling together to Shanghai, where their children are.  All of us 1st time parents are traveling solo into our provinces to get our kids.  Amazing it works out that way!  So, I guess it will all be fine, but we are experiencing some anxiety.  :)   Hopefully tomorrow we can give an update with pictures of Bethany.  We can't check Facebook or even our blog to make sure everything is posting - China blocks social media - so we're hoping everything will post okay.  Signing off for now.....be praying for us tomorrow....and especially Bethany!  Love from T&S
 
Okay, so we just figured out that we CAN'T attach a pic from this hotel's computers.  Hopefully, we'll be able to in Nanchung...

Friday

Well, we're here in Beijing.  It was a long flight, but today has been good.  We went to the Great Wall and then to Olympic Stadium and saw the Bird's Nest and Aquatic Center from the 2008 games.  It was awesome.  We're traveling with 4 other families  - 2 are from Mississippi....how strange is that?  They're all great and we're enjoying sightseeing with them - they're all adopting special needs children as well.  Bethany is actually the youngest at 23 months being adopted - we thought she'd be the oldest - but she's the baby of the bunch.  We'll fill in more details later - this hotel charges too much $$$ for time on the internet, and we're being cheap and just writing a little.  Hopefully, internet will be free or cheaper at the next hotel in Nanchung where we get Bethany.  That's only a day and 1/2 away!  Yah!  Signing off for now - so much to say but it will have to wait.  Oh!  And we're 14 hours ahead of MS time - not 10!  Love from T&S