Introducing the Girls

Well as you know already, we've got our girls. We wanted to follow up with a post and some new pictures to better communicate our experience. It has been a very eventful two days, and we've hardly had time to post.

We arrived in Nanchang on Sunday afternoon and were whisked by bus to the Lakeview hotel. We barely had time to put down our luggage and get to the third floor meeting room, where the babies were to be brought to us at 4:30 sharp. There were ten couples represented in Group #409. Eight of those couples were to receive babies from the Jiujiang Social Welfare Institute, and the remaining two couple's babies from the Nanchang Social Welfare Institute.

We were only there a couple of minutes when, at 4:32, the Nannies from the Jiujiang orphanage burst into the room with the first 8 babies. We tried to get a look at each baby, searching the faces for those that matched the little pictures of them taken months earlier, which we'd received with our referral packets. Our babies were readily identifiable. It was an instant pandemonium of screaming, frightened little girls, agitated nannies and emotionally overcome mommies. On top of this cacaphony, our guide, "Cindy" was calling our last names, in alphabetical order, at the top of her lungs.

Pandemonium broke out instantly when the babies were hurried into the meeting room

"BRIDWREWR!"

Bridwells got their baby first...the life-long advantage afford those early in the alphabet. Kimberly was stunned and hesitated (only momentarily!), totally unprepared for what was to come next. She rushed over to get Lily. Poor Lily had no clue what was going on. As soon as Lily found herself in the arms of this strange woman, her mommy, she was absolutely distraught and brokenhearted - this was clearly seen in her face, and heard in her wail.

Kimberly consoles her Lily, while wannabe reporters Jason and Kenny crowd in

In just a few seconds, this pain was echoing in Kimberly's face as her inability to console or comfort her daughter began to set in.

"I'm your momma and I'm never going to leave you!"

As the rest of the names were called, Michelle and Kenny jockeyed for position to get video and still photos of Kimberly and Jason. Everything was happening so quickly - before you knew it, Cindy was calling:

"VANAWRREN!"

The nanny handed Annette over to Michelle. Jason jumped over to preserve the moment as Kenny came along side Michelle and Annette, who had begun to cry pitifully. It seems the babies were a little take aback by their mothers' blonde hair, oversized noses, and gigantic eyes. Annette felt more at home with Kenny, apparently; when he took her from Michelle, she began to settle down immediately. Annette has been a pretty easy going baby from the moment she was brought to us, and true to her name "Ning", which means "quiet" or "peaceful".

Mommy sneeks a peek at her new daughter

Within an hour or so, Kimberly and Lily had entered what we have been calling "The Vortex of Stress", wherein daughter expresses her anxiety and fear, mother responds by becoming anxious and fearful that her daughter isn't bonding to her, daughter senses mother's axieties and her stress level rises. All of this feedback culminated in Kimberly's crashing as we gathered for our interviews with the orphanage director. She was lightheaded, nauseated, white as a ghost of herself, and although fully aware of everything going on around her, unable to respond in a usual way to many things. At one point, she asked for some orange juice. Jason was out on the 3rd floor terrace trying to comfort the still-crying Lily, so Kenny went to fetch some for her. Meanwhile, Michelle got a look at Kimberly, and asked one of the Chinese guides ("Ike") to get some orange juice. Kimberly knew that Kenny had already gone for it, but couldn't muster the energy to tell Michelle or Ike. (It was just as well, as Ike brought back not orange juice, but the Chinese prescription in such circumstance: a cup of hot water).

This bodily manifestation of Kimberly's and Lily's mutual stress brought gave Kimberly a headache and even induced vomiting in both girls. Kimberly's persistence in love finally began to wear down Lily's defenses, and signs of admitance began to show through the tears.

After a good cry, Momma and Baby begin to bond

They did manage to find sleep, if even fitfully. The next morning, Kimberly likened the experience to giving birth.

Jason says Kimberly looked uncannily like this after giving birth - this time she gave emotional birth

Kenny and Michelle took Annette back to their room. She was still a little tenative, and would not allow Michelle more than a moment's glance before tearing up and bawling, but she was willing to cling to Kenny, and content to lie in her crib. Fortunately, sleep seems to come easy to both babies - they have pretty much slept through the night both nights we've had them.

Annette in her crib in our hotel room. These are the clothes in which they brought her

Going...going...

Gone...finally settled and asleep

Somewhere between 4:30 Sunday afternoon, and noon the next day, Lily and Kimberly turned the corner. Lily began to cry of "Oma" (sounds like "Ahamah") when Kimberly handed her over to Jason, and stopped crying when handed back to Kimberly. She stopped fussy so much between naps. She started responding to Kimberly's voice. As of now...you'd never even guess that any of the above-described trauma had taken place.

Sneeking in a moment to stare between "bonding sessions"

Annette woke up at 6:30 or so...ready to take on the day. Michelle gave her a bath and got her dressed and ready for the day. However, Michelle herself had fought back food poisoning in the night, and didn't feel much like breakfast. So she fixed baby Annette a bottle and sat down for her morning feeding.

Annette gets her morning bath

While Kimberly and Lily got their strength back, Michelle and Kenny took Annette down for what may very well have been her first meal of solid food. She likes to eat with her hands. She enjoys crackers, watermelon and little bites of ham. She has taken a bottle once or twice, but doesn't seem much intersted in it now that Cheerios are available.

First lunch with Mommy and Daddy at the hotel

Whew! I need a break...this baby business is serious stuff. I tell ya - there has been no shortage of fodder for our fear factor food feature! No wonder they say people tend to lose weight on these trips. Let's take a look at today's pick...


Near Miss

Hey Matilda Mae - what do we do with these aliens now that thair daid?

Warming up to Momma...and offering kisses

Are you my mother?

Ahhh...you are my mother!

Grasping mamma's hand

Michelle on Annette...


Annette… what can I say. She is a marvelous girl. She is letting me know just what she needs. She is an "easy read". I saw a dimple emerge just last night when she gave me her first QUICK smile. I nearly had to stand on my head acting goooooooofy to get it. She is easily offended and knows what she wants in much the same way Abby is. She is much more sedate and proper acting, however. Her skin is clearing up nicely. The boil on her arm remains at bay. Don't know where that's going. She must be really teething. Aleady two bottom teeth and two on top slightly visible. Two others on top are close behind.

When she wakes in the morning I say, "morning, Ning, Ning!" It sounds like I'm stuttering! I am having a hard time calling her Annette cuz it just seems her native language is so much a part of her. The Nannies nicknamed her Yong Yong. It is even said differently than it looks. More like Yeeong. I've tried that on her also. She just looks at me like, get it right, lady!


Kimberly on Lily...


Lily... our beautiful and emotional sweetheart. After the first difficult night Lily has been unseperable from mommy. She is bonding very quickly and has a strong need for this connection. She often pulls my face toward hers and looks me deep in the eyes as if to ask "are you mine?" She loves to be held all the time with her face close to mommies. Lily waves bye-bye and bops her head to music. She loves to eat meat and drink water from her sippie. Jason is very happy this afternoon because she is taking a liking to him now. She fell asleep in his arms for her nap.

Lily is a lot longer than Annette and seems very strong (not all of these chinese babies are tiny). My arms are very sore from the constant holding of of this 19 pound bundle. The nannies told me "she a very smart baby"

Mother daughter moment

Our daughters, Lily and Annette

We're having a great time getting to know Lily and Annette, and watching them get to know us. Again we have to say that sharing this experience has greatly multiplied it's value and memorability. They each already have a built-in new aunty and uncle in the other's parents. And we're so glad that they get to grow up together.

We can't wait to get them home to all of you!

Budz for life!

© 2004 All text and images copyright Ken Van Allen. All rights reserved.

Gotchya!

Well, today is "gotchya day". We arrived in Nanchang after a nervous flight from Beijing and a 40 minute bus ride from the airport. Everyone was bristling with excitement - only an hour until we got our precious little daughters! After discussing the paperwork particulars, we met in a third-floor conference room. The atmosphere in the room was very subdued, hushed - until suddenly they brought the babies in and it was instant pandemonium.

Annette and Lily were recognizable right off the bat. Lily was crying from the moment she was brought into the room. Annette seemed very tentative, and cried on and off. Judging from the sounds coming from the next room, I'd have to say that Lily is still crying. Annette took to Kenny more readily than to Michelle, but is now out for a little stroll, getting to know her Mommy.

That's all we have time for now, and since we have no broadband, we may be shy on photos for the next couple of posts. Kenny's gonnna try to scout out a faster connection, at least for uploading pictures. We gotta run and fill out the paperwork to finalize the adoption with the Chinese officials.

Update: here's a couple of teaser shots of the girls taken moments after the handoff...

Lily meets Mom, Dad, and a wannabe reporter.

Annette, we're told, doesn't take to strangers. Big hazel-eyed, blond-headed mommy has to sneak in a glance (but Dad's OK!).

We love you all!

Touring Beijing

Today, after a hard night's sleep (first time horizontal since Tuesday) we toured Bejing. This was nice, because it got our minds off the wait for our daughters. Besides, we got to see the Great Wall, Tia Nan Men Square (replete with opportunities to practice our Chinese) and the Forbidden City.

Kenny woke up first (5:45) to find himself - where else! - chatting on the Internet with friends and family. Our wake-up call came in at 6:30, breakfast at the hotel at 7:20, and hit the tour bus by 8am.

"Cindy" our guide, watches over us like a mother hen - every ten minutes she pauses to take a count of the group. After yesterday's experience at the Guangzhou airport, we walk worshipfully behind her little green flag wherever she leads us. She is a true angel.

Beijing is huge — at 13 million people and growing, it's only the third largest city in China, behind Chongqing (30M) and Shanghai (22M). Everywhere in Beijing, and we're told, in cities all over China, there is a tremendous boom in construction. Our tour bus took us through an area of town that ten years ago didn't exist. It is now a mini-city of 70,000 people. Cindy says there is a joke circulating that the new National Bird of China is the crane.

The Chinese standard of living has also exploded. In 1970, there were three measures of whether or not a person was considered well-to-do: a bicycle, a radio, and a watch. By 1980, these had morphed into a car, a house, and a passport.

Our first stop: Tian Nan Men Square. The very famous picture of Chairman Mao stands watch over everything, like a Ghost. Cindy told us that Mao's portrait has to be repainted every year, because the terrible Beijing air polution ruins it.

Chairman Mao's Portrait in Tian Nan Men Square

Street vendors follow you ceaselessly, hawking everything from umbrellas (we bought two, since it was raining) to Moa's Little Red Book of Quotations (we pass on that one). We got lots of opportunities to practice some of the little Chinese we've learned, saying "Bu Yao" every 10 seconds to another persistent salesperson. Jason made the mistake of telling one fellow that his goods were nice, but "No thanks". Notice, he did not say "Bu Yao" first. As a result, Jason made a new friend: this guy followed us for an extra block, and across the street.

Jason and his Chinese language practice partner. "Bu Yao!"

Mao's picture hangs at the North end of Tia Nan Men Square is the South Gate of the Forbidden City. In the Emperor's day, the only woman ever allowed through the Empress, and then only on her wedding day.

We knew that the Forbidden City was big — but we never realized just how massive it really is. There are over 13,000 "rooms" (the Chinese word for room encompasses not only spaces enclosed by four walls, but also those delimited by four columns). Inside the outer walls lie courtyard after courtyard, each with a distinct purpose.

The Moat inside the Forbidden City's Courtyard of Eternal Unity

Deep within the bowels of this labyrinthine structure, after walking for (literally) miles, we came across the most important courtyard of all: the one that housed a Starbucks! The staff even know how to take a real live order, responding correctly to Kenny's request for a "double, grande, skinny iced mocha with whip". Sadly enough, the prices are the same as in the States: $4.00 for the coffe, $0.25 for a skiff of whipped cream.

You can't get one in Kalispell

The Imperial Garden, Forbidden City

After Tia Nan Men Square and the Forbidden City, we went to lunch at the State owned and operated Friendship Store. There are several Friendship Stores around the country. The Beijing store specializes in art works including: blued copper and enamel plated vases; hand-woven rugs of the highest quality; articles of carved jade ranging from chopsticks to gigantic statues (for only $25,000, they'll have one shipped "dole to dole"); hand embroidered wall hangings; exceedingly ornate grandfather clocks (you can pick one up for the same $25k) and sundry other curios.

A young artisan applies enamel to a blued copper vase. The copper is used to create the design into which the enamel can be set. The next step is firing.

After touring the artisans' exhibits, we were taken upstairs for lunch. We have quickly come to expect the out-of-the-ordinary in our Chinese cuisine, which has led to the creation of the blog's first regular feature.


Near Miss

Today's Fear Factor ™ Near Misses include such delicacies as "Jellyfish Head", "Deep Fried Pork Stomachs", "Fried Duck Webs" (yes, the toe-jam of ducks!) and one which technically doesn't qualify as a near miss, since one of us (Jason) sampled it: "Sweet and Sour Fish".

The head and tail are almost perfectly preserved

Most of the rest of the meal was prepared with American tastes in mind. Cindy (our guide) joined the other guides and bus drivers downstairs for "authentic" Chinese food, including the chicken feet mentioned in yesterday's post.

After eating, we continued on to the highlight of the day: the Great Wall of China. It was an incredible workout getting to the third rampart - that's where Ken, Kimberly, and Michelle stopped to rest and talk with the others about our families, or babies and to get out of the way the requisite "where are y'all froms". Jason, however, went on to demonstrate his manhood by quickly climbing to the top and meeting us back down at Rampart #3.

Jason's triumphal entry, the pride before the fall.

At the bottom, we found tucked away along side the other tourist traps at the wall, the Temple of Cheng Huang, which houses various idols, including the "Patron God" (that is, the patron god of the temple) and "The King of Hell" (and who could that be...let's see...perhaps it's...?). We were not permitted to photograph the interior of the temple, so we can't show you the scary stuff. Outside, gigantic sticks of incense, 6 inches across and 7 feet tall, were burning in a great big censure. Although it was quiet, we're told that visitors kowtow to the gods in the courtyard before entering the temple in search of their guidance. Inside, we witnessed people consulting with fortune tellers and meditating. The whole time Kimberly was having her own down-home, pentecostal prayer meeting.

The temple which houses the graven image of "The King of Hell"

I leave you all with some more images of the Great Wall...less than 15 hours till we get the babies. Tomorrow's post will be the highlight of the trip, so tune in!

The girls are a little bigger than we thought, and Michelle has demonstrated an uncanny ability to adapt to Chinese culture.

Michelle and Kimberly share a secret at a window on the third rampart, looking North.

This picture was taken near the bottom

And this one was taken just below the second rampart

We finally made it to Beijing. We've been up 48 hours, and 35 of those hours were travel. So, while y'all have had two nights' sleep, we are just now getting to bed. We have broadband in our rooms, so here's the first post...

Before - at Glacier International Airport

After - in our room at the Sino-Swiss Hotel in Beijing.

Already our adventure has spawned several subplots: we've all four been crammed for 14 hours into less space than is allocated for a typical burial, unknowingly ingested strange foods, nearly got conned out of some cash, lost and found a plane ticket, and discovered that we're the only English-speaking people in the Guangzhou Airport. In spite of all this, we're beside ourselves with excitement! Sights, sounds, tastes and smells are still very foreign to us (except for the unretouched episode of The Simpons, in English, on channel 10).


Regarding the flight: I'll include this scattered post I typed up last night:


OK, so we're floating above the Pacific in a Boeing 777 at 32,000 feet, traveling at Mach 0.9 - it's 3:11 AM back home in Montana. Thank God for coffee, but I digress. There is an LCD display in the back of each forward seat. There are movies - all but one in Chinese. One flick was filmed in Spanish, dubbed in Chinese, and subtitled in English. Because the seats were designed for people with a 23" inseam, the screens are two inches from our faces, and that's with the seatback in front of you in the upright position. This is China Southern Airlines simulated wide screen at it's best!


The flight is proving to be "interesting" in the way the Chinese use the word. If you ever come this way, I offer two words of advice: UP-GRADE! The seats are reasonably spaced in Business class (aka "Premium Economy"), but in Coach, they are 4 for 3 the length of the airplane and 4 for 3 the breadth of it. In other words, in Coach 16 seats are crammed into the area occupied by 9 business class seats. I got through it by thinking of what it might have been like to be Bill Bartel or Travis Pine.


We got to Guangzhou at 5:30 am, local time. It was like a gigantic natural sauna, and this was the "cool" of the morning. Our arrival pic illustrates this nicely - the camera lens was fogged up before Jason could snap the shot.

On the tarmac, Guangzhou, China

The Guangzhou Airport is brand-spanking new - it opened the 5th August. This fabulous facility hasn't quite caught on yet, and is somewhat understaffed. One would-be staffer tried to get us to pay him our dollars for the airport tax certificates. He wasn't so bright however - he offered us an exchange of 10:1 RMB for dollars. He just wanted the dollars. He kept pestering us, trying to make like he was going out of his way trying to help us out. Finally we managed to ditch the guy. We wandered around for more than an hour looking for someone who spoke English, trying to settle what turned out to be a very simple matter - pay 50 Yuan for the airport tax. We finally ended up where we started - at the international transfer counter, exchanging some dollars for RMB to pay the tax. The poor fellow manning the exchange hunted for the keys to the cashboxes for a good ten minutes.

At the currency exchange, Guangzhou Airport, while the staff searches for keys

The new Guangzhou Airport

Michelle, Ken and Kimberly watch a bicyclist tote 6 passengers on the street below

Now it was time for breakfast. In a massive new airport, we went to the one and only recognizable restaurant. The menu was Chinese-only, so they brought items to us a la carte. This was not much help, as nothing looked familiar. No noodles, no rice, except for rice gruel (flavorless). After several taste tests, things weren't going so well. Michelle was so excited to see sweet and sour chicken! "I can do this", she said confidently. With great gusto, she picked up her chopsticks and dug in. The first crunch was like eating juicy gravel. She stopped and said, "It must be a bone." Undaunted, she tried the other end, with the same result. As the rest of us got ready to join her, Jason notices the peculiar anomaly of webbing between scrawny toes, Kimberly exclaims, "Hey I remember this - I know what these are - they're CHICKEN FEET!". We managed to maintain our composure amidst a few stairs from our neighbors, long enough to document the experience.

The fortune reads, "That wasn't chicken."

After an unsuccessful search for a McDonald's with which to wash down our breakfast, we made our way, taxes paid, somewhat less hungry (for various reasons) to the boarding area. Upon our arrival, the others in our group inform us that the fellow who checked us through from LA to Beijing was frantically looking for a certain "Jason Birdrewr". It seems he inadvertently lifted Jasons ticket home when he took the ticket for the Guangzhou-Beijing leg. We managed to get it straightened out, so Jason will be able to come home after all.


The flight to Beijing was largely uneventful. We were met at the gate by a very competent and enthusiastic guide, "Cindy", who conveyed us to our present location at the Sino-Swiss. The rooms are comfortable and functional, if somewhat worn and dated. At Cindy's recommendation, we walked down the street to a local restaurant, The Hot Pot, where we shared a wonderful meal, which we prepared ourselves at our table from ingredients selected from the menu. These we placed into boiler pots heated by a sterno-like material. Whole shrimp (replete with eyeballs), beef, cabbage, noodles, mushrooms, and mizo-garlic sauce were all quite satisfying.


We're doing great - safe and sound. We're the closest we've ever been to our babies now. Only one day and a wake-up away from having the little bundles in arms! Tomorrow will be a full day of touring Beijing: Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and The Great Wall in the afternoon ("BHU HAO!").






We'll post more tomorrow - please keep us in your prayers. We love and appreciate you all.


Kenny, Michelle, Jason and Kimberly

Bridwell Kids To Date

Here's a great snap of all the (homegrown) kids together





And here are Jason and Kimberly's kids, in birth order

Jordan, Age 10

Meagan, Age 7

Benjamin, Age 4

Our Helena Trip

Here are a few shots of last year's trip to Helena. We went to be fingerprinted by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS, formerly INS, aka La Migra). Our two families got adjoining rooms at the hotel - it was a nice arrangement, and we had a blast. Our first of many adoption-related memories.

In front of the Helena BCIS office

A toast...to the daughters who wait for us.

Budz

Kimberly and Michelle place pins on the BCIS map, representing our daughters' location.

The Bridwell Family

Jason and Kimberly — their most recent anniversary

What a good-lookin' family!