Thursday, January 26, 2006
Last Posting from China
Greetings. These are our final hours here in China. Posted is the famous Red Sofa shot that adoptive groups take with all the babies in a group (Luczi is at the far left in dark red). Our group had 10 babies. Nine families and one set of twins. On a whole, the babies have all done very well which has been great for all of us as a group. Some came with some health problems which frustrated some parents because it slightly delayed the bonding process. But within hours diagnosis' had been made and treatments helped each rebound quickly. Even as I am typing below Luczi is vomiting. I guess we'll be taking her to the doctor at 1pm.
All of are very ready to come to our homes but most of us are leary of long plane rides that await us. Fortuneately we have the advantage of the world spinning toward us this time. That cuts 3 hours off our ride. Oddly though we will leave Guanzhou at 9:30pm on Friday January 27th and arrive at Los Angles International Airport at 5:50pm Friday January 27th. We will be on a plane for more than 12 hours and arrive 4 hours before we leave. Fun Huh!!!
As to our arrivals... We arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 5:50pm (flight number 327) and invite any of our friends who would like to meet Luczi to come and join us. We will need to go through customs so please don't show up at 5:50 as you will likely have a wait. Certainly all of our friends and family are welcome. Anyone interested can contact my (Jeremy's) parents for information.
We arrive in Grand Rapids on Saturday, January 28th at 10:00am (flight number7039). Again we invite any of our friends and family who would like to great us to come. We've missed you all and so many of you have been waiting for Luczi to come. We would be honored to see you there.
As we draw near the end of this trip, we want to thank each of you again for your support. So many have help us financially. Many more have been a prayer support. Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we think of each of you. And we pray God's blessing for your part in His work of bringing Luczi home. We love you all.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
It's beautiful here
This was taken in the foyer of our hotel. Obviously there is a waterfall behind us. What you can't see is the pond below with huge gold fish swimming and some very large paper fish and paper flowers light up over the pond. It is a gorgeous site to see. At pond level and to our right is where we eat breakfast every morning. The expression on Luczi's face is indicative of how much she doesn't like to sit still... She's a very busy baby. Wendi thanks you in advance for your prayers.
A medical exam
Yesterday we had our final medical exam. We have a small fever (likely because we are teething), but other than a little exzema by our ears we're fit as fiddle. Luczi is a happy baby and has certainly bonded with us in such a short time. Personality wise... all I can say is look out Chloe and Lilly because here comes Luczi.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Another Picture
This is Wendi and I just outside the Ching Ping Market the day before we got Luczi. The red ball you see behind us lined the buildings and sky behind us. These are decorations in preparation for Chinese New Year. It really made the Plaza (we were on our way to) very beautiful. There is no American holiday that compares to the excitement that is present among the people here for the New Year. Not even Christmas. Chinese new year is based on the lunar cycle. Pretty cool huh!!
Monday, January 23, 2006
What are we up to?
Luczi did very well yesterday. She only fussed a little toward the evening and I think she had gas or an upset tummy. Other than that her disposition has been great. She's very curious (meaning we have to buy more toys today). She likes to kick Wendi and laugh. I think it's pretty funny too. She even did well when we were out shopping yesterday for a couple of hours. She doesn't like her stroller (unless it is nap time) which is okay since we're just borrowing it from a local shop.
So far Luczi hasn't shown much interest in other foods. She didn't like syrup, which I thought would be big hit. oatmeal didn't go over well either. Egg was out of the question. She did however to a liking to plane ol' fine ground sugar. We haven't tried chocolate yet... But she is female so I figure it is a given.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Our First Night
Luczi's Nanny
As part of our day, we got interview Luczi's nanny(ies) and ask them specific questions about her. There were some general information questions that we asked about her physical activities, eat habits, and other detail like what cribs/orphans she slept next to. The woman featured in the picture (left) seemed to be her primary care giver. When we were done with our specific questions, we asked if she had any questions for us. She had only the statement that she hopes we will love Luczi and take good care of her. Wendi and I felt completely blessed by her presence and indebted to her work. These caregivers are the real heroes of all of us adoptive parents.
Gotcha Day!!!
After almost 15 months of waiting, Luczi Grace is finally here. Thus far things are great!!! She has bonded well with both Wendi and myself. We have had her for 2 hours now and she shows an incredible amount of trust with us. As we speak, she is playing with a couple of toys on Wendi's lap. She is very curious about everything around her. On the bus ride back to the Hotel, she was in awe of all the activity outside the window. She is "talking" and I even heard the words Dada which is not a term of endearment, it means bye bye in Cantonese. We will not be able to use those words in reference to me. I guess I will have to be papa or abba for awhile. I am okay with that.
Wendi and I firmly believe that God answered our prayers for the Lord to go ahead of us and prepare the way. And so many of you joined us in that prayer. We believe our prayers were honored.
We have a short time to post, but I wanted to get this out there. We will post more about the whole experience later.
We love you all and can't wait to share her with you.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
The Ching Ping Market
As a group we were accosted by many of the areas panhandlers. They know the "rich" westerners when they see them. It is sad that we are encouraged not to give them money, but like our tour guides explained, they will not leave you alone even after you give them money. We saw an old man literally eating out of the garbage can. I couldn't watch this knowing that in my hand was a few pieces of pizza I was likely not going to eat. Dan (Dan and Debbie are another couple we've been getting to know here- they are getting twins) and I took the pizza and "threw it away".
All and all, I really like the people here. They are kind. They are very curious. We had to have had dozens of people look us over, point, even laugh. A young girl in our group gets her head rubbed often because she has blond hair. I could imagine the line that would be around us had we brought Lilly.
Well it is 9pm our time now and it feels like 2am. I'll post more tomorrow on Gotcha Day!!!
Friday, January 20, 2006
In the eyes of adoptive parents
An interesting development just happened. Wendi turned off all the lights in our hotel room. She doesn't feel that we need to have all the lights on. A great genetic irony is at play here... You can take a Americanized Dutch girl all the way to China, put her in a 5 star hotel (where the lights are free) , and she's still Dutch.
Wendi wanted to communicate that anyone can comment on our postings by clicking on the word "comment" at the end of each posting.
Our Last 12 Hours
Good (very early) early morning,
It is 1:30am here in Guangzhou, China. To recap our last twelve hours let us offer 2 words... JET LAG. We pushed through most of the day after our long journey yesterday (previous post). Once settled into our hotel (left) which is located on an "island" called Shamian Island (Below). We spent the majority day shopping in all the local tourist trap stores on the island. The only difference between these tourist trap stores and the ones around the all the tourist traps in the States is that everything is dirt cheap. While I know that the people here depend on our spending for their livelyhood, I find myself not interested in their products (Jeremy). We will likely buy plenty over the next few days and especially once we get Luczi. Once we were done shopping we came back to our room (around 5pm local time) and we were sleeping before 7pm.
Today we will spend the day recovering from yesterday. We will do some exploration off the island in Guanzhou proper, which by the way, is populated by 10,000,000 people (as a providence). Tomorrow we will get Luczi around 2pm (Saturday back in the States).
Well sleepiness is catching up with me again. We'll post more later.
P.S. Chloe and Lilly- we miss you both very much and we will call soon.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
We're Here
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Travel Notice
Monday, January 09, 2006
Luczi Grace Fleming
Wendi and I would love to introduce our newest addition to our family Luczi (Lucy) Grace Fleming. Luczi is 9 months old and lives in southern China. We will be going to China sometime later this month or early February. For those of you following our story, please pray for safe travel for Wendi and I. Also please pray for Luczi and her world is going to be altered significantly (for the better obviously) and will need patience and endurance with her new parents who don't speak Chinese and look very funny. I always covet the prayers of our friends and family and we thank you in advance for them.
Jesus
-Bono
Who knew a prophet could be a rock star. Blessings Bono on all that you do.
WE WAKE
-Annie Dillard
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
It's funny you know, I don't consider myself a radical proponentnt of "creationism" as many fundamentalist Christians are. Evolution on the other hand has been found wanting as well. One thing I know for sure is that I have heard really good arguments from both sides of the issue (not indepthly I will admit). And neither have convinced me that they really look around at real life. One dances in poetry and the other in science and neither really know how to dance very well. Perhaps they too will wake and wake to mystery.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Our Girls at Christmas
This is our girls at Christmas '05. Chloe (left) is 6 and Lilly (right) is 3. Every year Chloe loves to go see Santa at the local mall. Lilly on the other hand is a chicken butt. She typically freaks out just walking past that freak of man in a red and white suit. We were successful this year in convincing Chloe that there really is a Santa Clause. I don't think well have that success next year. She's just getting to dang smart.
Heaven and Hell
-The Koran
A New Day
If we could all live this fully in this new year….