Top 5 things I hope to avoid in China

5.  Lizard on a stick anyone??

I'm not an adventurous eater by any means.  However, lizard on a stick sounds better than dog brain soup, goat lungs with red peppers, grilled snake, or turkey vulture schnitzels.

 

 4. Fried scorpions 

Scorpions are said to make your blood hotter in cold weather.  If I eat these, would I still need my North Face jacket to stay warm at work?

3. Split pants

In China, children wear split seat pants.  Diapers are not commonly used, and it is customary for children to squat down wherever they are and go to the bathroom.  On a positive note, Chinese children are often potty trained much earlier than children in the US.  Regardless,  I think I will avoid wearing open toe shoes. You never know what you are stepping in.

2.  Chicken served with the head still on

Chicken is my favorite food.  And when I travel internationally, it's usually a safe bet.  Not so in China.  Most often, chicken is served with the head still on.

1. Squatty potties 

 This is really what toilets in China look like-- basically a hole in the floor.  

Public restrooms generally don't have toilet paper.  

Most bathrooms have running water at the sinks, but no soap.

Note to self:  Stock up on hand sanitizer and tissue packs!

Mixed Emotions

This morning I received a wonderful surprise in my email -- updated photos of Harper!!!  Before, we only had 3 pictures and they were several months old, so we are absolutely ecstatic!!! 

Recently, we were able to send a care package to Harper that included some new pj's, a blanket, a soft doll, a disposable camera, and some treats for all of the kids at the orphanage.  When they received the package, the orphanage sent updated measurements and the photos!  While we are so excited about the photos, they bring some sadness too.

We are so happy to see how healthy she looks and how much she's grown.

Yet, we are so sad that we are  missing out on this time in her life.

We are happy to learn that she has gained some weight and now has 12 teeth.  And we are thrilled to learn her shoe size.  Look out Nordstrom Baby Shoe department.  Here I come!

 We are so happy to see her standing up, yet sad to think that we've missed her first steps.

 

We are happy to see her playing with toys, yet sad to look at the cribs in the background.  It is customary in China to have plywood, rather than a mattress.  Also, if you look closely, you can see the ties on the crib, where the children are tied in for their "safety".

It seems our paperwork has been getting approved in record time.  We are thrilled that we will be able to travel in August or September to bring her home!

Exciting news!!!

We have received our LOA!!!  This is the Letter of Acceptance from China, stating they have reviewed all of our dossier documents, and approved us to adopt Harper.  It is a miracle how fast we received this document.  Currently, the average wait for LOA is 92 days.  Many families have waited much longer.  Luckily, our approval came after only 23 days of waiting!!!  Three other families from our adoption agency received their LOAs at the same time, so there is a good chance that we were bundled in with their LOAs and saved a lot of time!  Whatever the reason, we are immensely thankful and so happy to be even closer to bringing Harper home. 

Fed Ex delivered the package to us just before noon today.

Shawn and I signed the forms saying we would like to adopt Harper.

We were able to Fed Ex  the I-800 to US Customs and Immigration in Dallas for Monday delivery.  We sent the DS-230 to our adoption agency in California for Monday delivery.  They will forward it to China.  After that, I went to the bank and wired the fees for Harper's visa to China.  If everything continues according to plan, we should be able to travel to China and bring her home in September!