The End (or is it just beginning?)

I had this great idea for our trip home on a long Christmas Day -- I should keep a notepad handy and jot down all the memorable moments of our trip so I could make an entry on the blog to capture the ups and downs of our...

Read More

Parting Shots

We needed one more post to include a few more random pictures from the past couple days in Guangzhou!Leah loves her faux milk. It comes in a "juice box" container and is covered in Chinese characters. We *think* it is like...

Read More

Christmas in China

We're back from the US Consulate and we are cleared to bring Miss Leah Yajiao Smith back to the USA where she will become a US citizen when she steps off the plane in Chicago, IL. I guess she and I will both be able to claim...

Read More

Almost Perfect

Did we mention how this journey has been a breeze compared to our last trip to get Jeremy? Leah likes both of us equally allowing us to split parent duties as necessary. She is eating well and varied enough for now unlike Jeremy who ate nothing but watermelon. She has done well around the other children and hasn't really experienced any serious side...

Read More

Can You Spot The Difference?

Last time we were in Gaungzhou, we paid one of the local shops to make two name paintings for Eli and Jeremy. Now that we have Leah, we decided we should continue the "tradition" and get a similar painting for her. After...

Read More

White Swan Undercover!

We happened to be in the room when housekeeping came by today to clean the room. I managed to snap a couple of pictures as she was making up the bed which confirmed our suspicions from last night. We thought the mattresses...

Read More

At Last! The White Swan & Mass

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon after a 2-hour flight. Leah only cried once early on when she was frustrated about the window being too small to see out of. After a few Cheerios, she wound up falling asleep for...

Read More

CCAI Travel Group 1444

Here is the picture of our travel group, 1444, taken in the lobby of the Crown Plaza Hotel in Zhengzhou. For now, we'll let you try to figure out how to separate the 11 families and 11 adopted children (note that there are...

Read More

Last Days in Zhengzhou

I'm not feeling the blog vibe lately. But since the only thing I'm in the mood right now to do is not possible (fly home and enjoy some "boy" time with Eli and Jeremy), I guess I'll try to touch on some of the highlights...

Read More

And I Thought It Was Just A Joke

This is a real news article in a real newspaper. I may not eat anything in Guangzhou now. Click on the image to see it at full (legible) size. The worst part is the quote from the anonymous government official who claims...

Read More

Likes & Dislikes

(I made two posts today. Scroll down for pictures...)Things Leah LikesHearing Eli & Jeremy when we call home - her first smile was the night we called homeStacking blocks - they double as a toy and a container for foodTaking a bath- First bath tonight and not a single tear from undressing to done. The boys still cry when they get their hair washed...Apples...

Read More

Picture Perfect

Our daughter came with a linebacker's clothing. We saw other children in the park today wearing similar outfits. Rather funny looking to me, but I think they thought I was just as funny for wearing a t-shirt in the middle...

Read More

Leah at Last!

Let's be honest. You don't really care about what Angela is eating for breakfast or the difference between jade and jadite. You could care less that we are considered heroes in this foreign land for climbing some 8500 steps,...

Read More

Jaded Acrobats & a Better-Than-OK Wall

We skipped our update yesterday because we were too tired after a second day of touring the sights in and around Beijing. By 9 AM we were back on the road with our first stop being the jade factory where we learned how to...

Read More