She's Ours Forever!!

The official paperwork was signed and Carina wan Li Stoffel is ours forever. She is slowly warming up to Mark and mom, and wants them both in her site at all times. Here are a couple observations from Mark.

-we may have a lefty....
-she likes sweet potato puffs and stuff like that
-she is trying to use her pinchers to eat
-she wolfs down 7-8 ounces of formula in less than a minute
-she says ba for food
-she liked her bath
-she loves Nana...

Mark has Carina

I got the call at 2:48 am this morning from Mark that he has Carina. My first words to my beautiful daughter were WO AI NI Wan Bo .. (I love you in mandarin)She has some hair, a wild main as my mom put it. Unfortunately Wan Bo wasn't as happy about her first hours with Mark because she screamed a horrific scream when she was placed in daddy's arms. She is grieving, and cried the entire day. She did stop crying for a moment to enjoy a dinner of con gee. (rice porrage) According to mom and Mark she has a good little appetite. Maybe too good, because she christened Nana in puke. When I spoke to Mom and Mark again around 10pm China time, a weary and tired sounding Mark was still signing paperwork, and Carina had finally fallen asleep. It is a good sign that she is grieving. But as a mother, half way across the world from my child it hurts me in the depth of my sole not to be with her, none the less.

There are no pics of my beautiful baby at this time. I will give Mark the benefit of the doubt that he really was too tired to get the lap top out.

On a final note to my wonderful husband. Thank you very much for making my childhood dream of international adoption a reality. I miss you, and love you more than you will ever know. I can not wait until all 5 of us are together.
sue

UPDATE!! Mark called in at at 8:00 pm our time. None of the the parents are able to post from Lanzhou, so there will be no pics of Carina at this point. She had a bath and loved it. Mark assured me that the pic of her in the bath is adorable. I was able to talk to Carina for a brief moment. She responded to my voice in baby talk. What a sweet little voice!!

It is now Monday morning in China. Mom, Mark and Carina are off the the Civil Affairs office to finalize the adoption. In a few short hours she is officially our daughter, forever a family.

Updated information on Carina

It's been a long hard hard journey that started in May of 2005, but February 4, 2008 we finally got our referral for the lovely Liang Wan Bo born July 1, 2007 who resides in Ping Liang Social Welfare institute in the Gansu province of China. The report we recieved was taken when she was five months old and Wan Bo weighed in at a 14.3lbs and was 27.75 in long. She was able to lift her head steadily, and hold a bell in her hand and shake it for fun. She is able to grab toys with both of her hands at the same time. She recognizes the voices of people. On hearing familiar voices, she becomes very joyful and keeps moving her hands and feet excitedly. She loves to listen to music. She is happy and frequently smiles. She often chuckles. She is a quiet baby and sleeps well.

Liang Wan Bo has followed a good daily routine. She has a good appetite. She drinks milk at 6:30 am, 11:00 am, 4:00 pm and at 8:00 pm. Each time she consumes 150 milliliters of milk made from powdered milk. At 8:00 am, she is provided some snacks; her snacks are mainly steamed eggs and porridge.

Mark and I were most delighted when we read the statement that Wan bo is a Quiet child who sleeps well.

A QUIET CHILD!!!!YIPPEE!!!

Let's fast foward 8 weeks. Mark just got updated information on Carina. She is currently 16.5 lbs and is 27.9 in. She has 5 teeth now. She is a very driving girl who moves all the time. She can crawl, can sit. She knows BABA and MAMA in chinese. She can point out the organs on her body, and responds when being called by name. She is very extroverted, likes listening to music, playing with other kids. Her intelligence is on good level, and her physical develops well too.

EXTROVERTED???!!! DRIVING CHILD??!! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY QUIET CHILD???!!!
Our house is going to be a busy place, but I can not wait to have her home.

Daddy and Nana made it to China

If you believe I am in an alley way internet cafe and it is 3:18 a.m.
It is pretty cool, except for the insane amount of smoking. Our
business center closes at 11 p.m. and I am not sleeping.
The weather has been raining pretty heavy since we arrived, and it is
about 40 degrees if we are lucky.
Our guide Lina is awesome so far. She talked about helping us expedite
the process after we get Cari's paperwork with faxing and everything
so we can get the faxes back faster.
We really have not seen much since we were in the van from the airport
so long, and the fog is heavy. I will definitely have more pictures
soon.
Everyone around me looks between 15-25 and are doing some serious
gaming/smoking.
Your mom will have her phone on most of time, or at least with us in
case of anything.
Miss you guys, and will do our best to get home safely (other than the
fact that I am at an alley internet cafe at 3 in the morning)
One thing Lina said was that streets (during normal business hours) are
very safe as guns and such are illegal...
More later
Love
Mark

Thursday, March 27th off to China!!!!

15 hour flight coming...15 hr time change...Tsing Tao please

Testing

Testing!!