Day 1 in Pics

Macy and Daddy on the flight from Fayetteville to Chicaco.

The reason I don't have too many stories about Brad yet is b/c this is about all I have seen him do so far. In the airport, on the plane....he has enjoyed getting to know his PSP better! FYI he has been a tad cranky since the flight....it made him feel yucky.

Glenda and mom Dorinda after exiting customs. Ready to go to hotel and go to bed! Brad is somewhere behind them trying to push luggage cart through throngs of people to catch up!

Oh - there he is...Lisa's husband Russell is helping stack bags back up! See starbucks in the background at the airport? :)

Glenda and Macy at Gate C18 in Chicago waiting to depart for Beijing.

This is Glenda meeting Lisa Holcomb and her mom for the first time outside customs at the airport in Beijing.

Here is our first sight on Chinese soil. The Red flags.

"Angel" Angel

Angel Rogers - from West Memphis - I just want you to know that your name is so fitting. I was speechless upon receiving the gift packages you sent to us for our trip.. Going to our Wal-Mart registry and buying stuff for our trip - you are MORE than amazing. I want to endeavor to have that incredible gift of hospitality and charity. How did you know that the Sam's choice tropical was my favorite trail mix? I am LOVING it! And Macy LOVED her little books and stuff. I can't express to you how wonderful you have made me feel. Thank you. And I can't believe you gave MY MOM an envelope with $ in it for us. That you trusted her not to lose it is one thing!!! But that you sent such a wonderful $ gift on top of all of the other stuff. Wow. You can't know how much it blessed us. We ended up being short of $ at the end b/c of the additional costs with our hotel room, having to renew paperwork that was getting old, and Macy's flight ticket being almost as much as an adult ticket. YOU BLESSED US. Thank you. Sniff, sniff. Blow.

Our comic experiences from Day 1

So far I have given you the detailed account - but not the funny little stories randomly floating in my memory bank. By the way - I am having to make these posts to blogger using all prompts that are in Chinese. I tried to get babble fish to translate the website for me - but it won't ...so I am just going by memory on where the "post" tab is. So I know everything is not perfect. Also, I am still pretty loopy from time change and lack of sleep - so my grammar and thought processes are pretty scattered! Sorry!

Random stories & thoughts:
1. The day before we left Macy and I were in a store in Fayetteville run by Asian people. They were talking in their native language and Macy grinned HUGELY and said "they are talking SPANISH! I know Spanish!" And went on to count to five "uno, dos, etc..." It was SOOO funny & precious! The girl she was talking to didn't speak much English so she didn't have a clue to anything that was said so I was glad! :)

2. When we were leaving the plane and walking to baggage claims I was walking slower than usual b/c I felt terrible and Brad called my name, and I stopped, turned around and looked at Him...and he said, "Can you speed it up a little?" While loads of people parted to continue walking around us. I just said, "You have got to be kidding me. You STOPPED me in this throng of people to tell me to speed up? That really helped." I might have been a tad cranky...I'm not sure. Then, about 10 minutes later he hollers out, "Can you slow it down a little - you keep leaving us behind." To which I replied - "Make up your mind. Speed up. Slow down. I can't make you happy!" By now I had a huge grin on my face and was feeling a little spunk coming back.

3. When we exited customs there were a couple hundred Chinese people standing behind a rope watching for arriving guests. Several were waving signs with names on them. In the midst of the people I saw a small dark blue sign with AWAA on it. THAT'S US! I think that Rosa our guide may have begun to wonder if we were showing up b/c it took us soooo long to get to her. She is VERY nice and speaks great English.

4. The first thing we saw when we exited the airport onto the street were about 8 huge flagpoles all flying the red Chinese flag. It really made an impression on Brad. He thought it was interesting that this is the first thing you see upon setting foot on their soil. A reminder that you are in CHINA.

5. We are staying at the Guangxi Hotel (pronounced gwong-shee) in Beijing.

6. On the 40 minute shuttle ride to the hotel our guide was telling us that 16 million people live in Beijing. 16 million. That is hard to grasp. Each side of the highway had huge apartment looking buildings that were at least 15-20 stories high. Every window/apartment had a VERY old looking air unit on the outside wall. It kinda looked like some places in Mexico except that there were LOTS of apartments buildings....all the way on the 40 min drive to our hotel. And they were all tall and run down looking. All of them.

7. We slept at our hotel room from 8 PM - 11:30 and then Macy, Brad, and I all woke up. Hungry & thirsty. So we got up and snacked and played until 2:30 AM. Our room was EXTREMELY hot. We called housekeeping and they came to "fix" it. He pointed some sensor gun at the vent and acted like it was fixed. Hmmnnn....30 min later it was just as hot. He had put it on HEAT and turned the temp up. I'm thinking - "You saw me with sweat beads on my face and you think I want heat???!!" So we sleep until 3:30....another hour in...then I'm up. Snack again. Then at 5 I go down to the front desk to talk to someone about our room. She says that all of the rooms are on a sensor and they are all the same. BUT I KNOW Moms room is cooler b/c I've been in there several times. So she sends someone up to "check on it". I have my language book out and tell the girl "air-conditioning. No?" (in Chinese) And she just shakes her head no like nothing can be done. After another 30 min of sweltering I go down and ask if we can change rooms or something. So at 5:30 in the morning we pack up our mess and move 3 rooms down the hall. It is still not cool by any means - but it IS much cooler. I think the blower wasn't working in that room. So pray for miraculous cool breezes to blow in our room. I'm serious!

MOM STORIES
1. OHHHH - and Dad insisted that Mom get this new suitcase that has 4 wheels that swivel in every direction so she wouldn't be knocking her suitcase over all the time....those of you who know my mom, Dorinda - will appreciate my stories about her this week! She brings such joy to my life. Actually, in my opinion she brings joy to all. I think 'To Know My Mom, Dorinda is to Love Her.' We are having great fun together! I come up with all of the silly ideas - she helps them turn from funny to comical! :) I know you West Memphis people will appreciate all of this! Anyway - back to the suitcase....We are leaving the airport walking out to the parking lot and she snags a wheel or something and about loses her balance and falls. I enjoyed my first belly laugh since my belly hurling experience. Then everyone else goes across to the street, but we are behind b/c I am waiting on her, laughing, etc. So when we go to cross traffic flies out of nowhere...and there is seriously NO YIELDING to pedestrians even though we are standing in the crosswalk with suitcases and a stroller with Macy on board. We just laughed.

2. After we got to the hotel and got our rooms, Mom and I decided to walk across the street to the supermarket to buy a case of water. There are lots of bicycles carrying carts on the streets. We will get a ride at some point and take pics. We were the only Americans on the street and in the store, but no one looked at us funny. We each bought a case of 12 bottles of water for less than $2. (Chairman Mao is on every denomination of currency they use here.) She didn't want to buy a case b/c she didn't want to have to carry it back across the street to the hotel...but of course I said, "Oh, come on...you are a hoss woman. You can do it!" So, on entering the rotating door thing to our hotel - she jumps into my cubicle with me! As we are both holding on tight to our cases of water I holler out - "Don't you trip me or we will both end up sprawled out on the floor of this thing going in circles with water bottles everywhere!" After I had this "vision", I told Mom I have decided to call our part (me and her) of this journey, "DUMB AND DUMBER GO TO CHINA!" Isn't that great! :)

3. Today we walked about 4 blocks to eat lunch at McDonald's. Come to China. Eat McDonald's. go figure! But it felt like a safe option on food. It was PACKED with Chinese people and we all had to sit at a teeny tiny table to eat. I took pics and will hopefully load pics soon. I have a pic of my Big Mac box. THE FUNNIEST PART is that after taking Macy to the bathroom - I told Mom - let's go to the bathroom together. With our cameras. She looked at me like I was crazy - but came anyway. There were 2 stalls. One had a sign that said "sit" and a pic of a toilet, the other said "squat" and had a pic of 2 feet with a hole in the middle. I told her I wanted her to pose over the squatty potty and let me take a pic! So we go in and shut the stall door and mom is just baarreeeely squatting and I show her how I think you are supposed to it - squatting all the way down. She then attempts my great feat and about falls over, her purse flies open and everything flies out all over the floor. Another great dumb and dumber moment in China! We are dying laughing when we hear someone enter the restroom and the stall next to us. We both cover our mouths and try with much effort to laugh silently ....which makes it worse! Then someone else comes in. I'm whispering - "Now what do we do? There is a line and they are going to see both of us coming out of this squattie potty stall together snickering and with cameras!" To which we erupt in another round of quiet snorting. I then say, "maybe we should just stay in here until the coast is clear." And after a moment the restroom was empty and we quickly exited. WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE! :)

Travel Day 1

What an eventful day! First of all - thank you Joyce & Luther for moving in......(practically) to take care of our puppies, cats, & kittens while we are gone! We were going to have to take out a second mortgage if we had to kennel Max and Maggie while we were gone! ;) Thank you for ALL of your help this last week....couldn't have survived without you! We love you SOOOO much!

Okay....we got up at 4 AM yesterday, left the house by 5 AM to arrive at NWA Airport by 6 AM. We got there at 6:10...not bad. I had a feeling that our bags were a bit heavy and I was right. One was over by 7 lbs. and the other by 2. So we just moved more granola bars, peanuts, and other stuff to our carry ons....since they don't weigh those! Ours were therefore heavy!! Mamaw & Pa walked with us as far as they could....which was just to the top of the escalator!

Our flight left at 7:30 and when we landed in Chicago we had to take a shuttle to the other side of the airport to find our international departure gate. The short walk we had outside was chilly in Chicago. We were looking for my mom - and saw her in the corner messing with her laptop. She flew from Memphis to meet up with us in Chicago before heading to Beijing. We had to wait for about an hour and 30 minutes before our flight departed for Beijing. A Chinese lady called our name over the intercom two different times b/c there was a problem with Macy's passport. It hadn't been translated correctly or something. Thankfully it was fixed quickly.

Guess where our seats were??? :) At the back of the plane of course! And dad had been worried b/c mom's assigned seat was in front of ours....and didn't want her having to sit with strangers. Ironically the two people sitting in those two seats ended up being a couple I had met earlier waiting in line at the ticket counter! Herb & Monica are from Cincinnati and they are adopting a little girl from China also. So I took mom's seat so I could talk adoption stuff with them and Macy got to sit between Daddy and Noni. All we talked about all morning was seeing Noni - so she was wanting her Noni time! I enjoyed getting to know Herb & Monica - they are a wonderful Christian couple and we hit it off. The 14 hour flight really went by quicker than expected. I was yapping and Macy was entertained by Noni's special bag of kid activities. MACY did GREAT on the flight!!! :) Whooooo hoo! Brad mostly played his PSP for the flight. Macy slept for the last 2 hours of the flight and the rest of us maybe slept 30 minutes? We actually flew NORTH over Canada and then east over Alaska and down south over Siberia into Beijing. I thought we were going to take a straight shot east from Chicago to Beijing over the ocean...but we kinda went over the north pole! I think I saw Santa! Flying over the Elizabethan Islands in Canada and Alaska the ocean and ground below looked like a combination of glaciers, rivers, cracked ice, .... you get the picture. Very unique.

One odd thing is they did not offer us anything to drink for at least what seemed like an hour and every time they served us food they did not serve beverages for at least 15 minutes - we were all VERY thirsty. We did get to see part of the Great Wall of China as we were descending into Beijing. We will actually go tour it on Monday I think. My ear pain was excruciating upon descending but finally popped. No one else had trouble with this. BUT the descent into Beijing was BY FAR the most horrible any of us have ever experienced. The turbulence was awful. We kept rocking and dropping and I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it again. Really. The room is spinning..... OK. I'm going to be OK. :) Anyway - I was fixing my gaze on the seat belt light focusing on breathing and NOT being sick. I was like the little engine who could. I think I can, I think I can... except I was saying I think I won't, I think I won't.... BUT I did. We made another sudden drop and I grabbed my little grab bag and as graciously as you can throw up sitting next to new acquaintances....I lost my lunch. Literally. They had given us ham sandwiches about 30 minutes earlier. I don't want to have ham any time soon. Then Monica, my new friend said Ok - I'm going to too- except she really hurled. ;) I don't remember anything b/c I was just focusing on not totally losing it - but Brad said people were throwing up all around us. Guess United airlines will be restocking those little paper bags in the seat back cover this time around!!! I told Monica we would have to be friends forever b/c you can't puke in little bags together and not BOND!!

Because I was SOOO sick... and we were at the back of the plane...I just sat while the other 500 passengers exited the plane. Slowly - I finally started gathering up my things and we started exiting the plane and a steward asked me "You OK?", and I answered - "I'm just sick". And he asked, "I get Doctor?", to which I replied "No, just motion sick", while thinking " YOU IDIOT - CAN'T YOU SEE I'M WHITE AS A SHEET AND JUST LOST MY HAM SANDWICH FROM THIS LANDING??? :)

Anyway, after landing we had to go through 3 desks: 1) Turn in health questionnaire stating that we had not come into contact with any birds in the last week (comical since we are from Madison County and poultry farm land), (2) Foreigners entry desk, and (3) baggage claim and customs.

A BIG MIRACLE..... since we were the LAST people to get off the plane and were so slow making it to baggage claim - almost all luggage from our flight was gone. Brad got our bags and I looked at him and said - that is not our bag. And He pointed out that it had the special NEON yellow tag that I had bought the day before. It was the exact same kind of tag - but not our bag! I told him - I bet someone else has our bag. Silence. He just began walking...and stopped a guy wheeling off with a bunch of bags and told him that he might have our bag. Sure enough - HE DID! WE ARE SO THANKFUL TO GOD FOR HELPING OUR LUGGAGE TO NOT BE TAKEN. WHAT A BLESSING! Turned out that the guy was from Nebraska but has a brother that lives in Springdale, Arkansas! SMALL WORLD. Fly to Beijing, China and meet someone linked to Springdale! :)

One last thing and I'll have to finish this later b/c it is time to skype dad - They do not yield to pedestrians in China! Me and mom almost became roadkill trying to pull luggage and push stroller across the street to parking lot! We just died laughing. What else can you do? :)

Wheels Up!!!

We have now been up for 26 hours.....I am WIPED out! The sun was shining on us for the last 25 hours! We flew with the sun - so I am so messed up! Going to bed now - so the short update is....we are here safe in Beijing! It was a VERY eventful day...but I am way too tired to think straight - so you'll all have to wait for the details! One hint is - my little paper bag on the plane got used... ;) When we wake up say....in 20 hours.... :) just kidding.... let's say at 9 AM or so...(it's 7:45 PM here now) - it will be 8 PM tonight for you - I will try and get the details posted before 10 tonight your time!! (We are 13 hours ahead). Love you all & please keep praying for us to be healthy and safe on our journey to Mia! We will have her in 6 days! Pics and details later!

Macy told everyone today - 10 DAYS!

Brad may be my videographer, but Macy is my aspiring photographer. She insisted on setting the timer for a Macy/Mommy pic today since we took one last Sunday before leaving for church...then of course she had to take pics of me and everything in her room before we could leave! She told everyone at church today - 10 DAYS until we get on the big plane to go get Baby Mia!!!

Shower Blessings

We have to go down on the books as having one of the most unique shower gifts of anyone around these parts. Thanks to everyone who helped buy supplies for our trip to China!

We are now stocked up on travelers kleenex, antibacterial, OTC medications, and snack foods!

AND OF COURSE ONE SUPER CUTE RAZORBACK OUTFIT! THIS SHOULD DO BIG DADDY PROUD!

More Shower Entertainment

Smell or taste were our two choices. That is all that they told us. Joyce smelled. I tasted.

This is what we were tasting!!

The GOOD news is - both Joyce and I guessed correctly - Snickers!

The funniest part is that Macy had been playing in the other room and came in to see Mommy eating "poop" out of a diaper - everyone said she covered her face in HORROR - and looked at me like "WHAT are you doing?!" Everyone was hurting they were laughing so hard.

After 4 dirty diapers filled with sugary chocolates - I was screaming for a drink - and Macy ran to rescue me with a drink of her lemonade. Sooo sweet!

Baby Shower Entertainment

Passing the pacifier with chopsticks took great skill!

The greatest skills of all were seen as we learned how useful chopsticks can be. They are not just for eating!

Baby Shower

We are so blessed by our awesome friends. Thank you to all who were a part of blessing Mia and our family through the baby shower. Thank you Carolyn for planning the shower and being such an "entertaining" hostess!

By the way - Macy was in hog heaven with her gifts from the shower. She now gets to "Dr." every toy in the house. She was taking Mommy's temperature last night...and said..."Yep, you have a temper...you need a shot!" (Trying to say temperature!) ;)

Baby Lizard

Macy found a green worm outside this week, and after taking it to preschool it wasn't looking like it would survive. So as we were outside looking for a new worm last night - I found a teeny tiny baby lizard. It looked like a "preemie" if there is such thing in lizard world.

This post is for Tay Tay!!! :)

Moms, Friends, and more...

Even though everyone couldn't make it this week - us MOPS girls had a great time as usual. To all you MOPS girls that come to my house weekly while we aspire to be greater moms - I LOVE YOU! Thanks for supporting me on our Journey to Mia! Every week is an inspiration! You are all a gift to me from God!

And soon I'll be holding 2 girls on my lap! So it's kinda good all you girls with 2 little ones weren't here this day! We can wait n take that pic after I have 2!!!!

Mia's story, the compact version

I found a summary online this week and thought - "What a great idea for our blog!" And so Mia's story begins...
---------------
Abandoned at a Restaurant Gate...

Her story begins in the south of China.
In China, the most populous land on earth, the government allows couples to have but one child. Baby Zi Zhen (her orphanage name) was born female into a culture where sons are more highly valued than daughters.
Boys are raised to head households and provide for the family. Daughters are raised to marry young and care for their in-laws.
There, Mia was abandoned at a restaurant gate. The police were notified and picked her up. They noted that she was only a few hours old. Whoever left her there, out of fear, or shame, or desperation, or panic, wanted Mia to live and gave her a chance at life. It is illegal to abandon babies in China, a punishable offense that is rarely enforced. Sometimes the abandoned babies show up in the most unlikely places, such as vegetable bins in outdoor markets.
More often, they are placed anonymously at not-so-secret drop spots, where caring individuals scoop them up and deliver them to orphanages.
There is no way to know how hungry or distressed Mia was when she was discovered and taken to the orphanage. But this we know: She was tiny, resilient and well cared for by the time she was put up for adoption.
After more than two years of adoption paperwork and waiting, Brad & Glenda McMath received "the call" that Mia would be theirs. They had already decided to name her "Mia", which means "my girl". God has chosen 2 girls, Macy-now age 4, and now Mia to be daughters in this family. One by birth. One by adoption. Both completly chosen by God to be "McMaths".

Big Dummy. Cut my hair.

What was I thinking? I was thinking it is going to be HOT in China. I got my hair cut - but I have NO IDEA how to fix hair this length. No more ponytail!

This is me and Macy running out the door for church on Sunday. She is carrying 2 Bibles, Dora dominoes, and of course...her favorite....lip gloss.

I'm already late for Sunday School since having Macy (thank you to my class - you wait patiently...and to Dallas for making our caffeine loaded Hazelnut Vanilla coffee!) -what am I going to do when I have Macy AND Mia?? I hope I make it in time for the dismissal bell! :)

Gotcha Day Celebration

On Saturday we celebrated Candace's 4th Gotcha Day Party. In April of 2003 Mark & Carolyn had a miracle enter their lives! It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years already! Carolyn turned 51 this year (don't tell her I told)...but I think she looks YOUNGER since becoming a mom! Candace has definitely brought that mommy fulfillment into Carolyn's life.

It is AMAZING how Candace fits their family. Carolyn and I have discussed many times how there is not another child who could ever have fit their family like she does. She is just like her mom! High strung, clumsy, silly, and PURE JOY!!

We are so blessed to call them friends! And of course Candace & Macy are still big buddies!