Ellie's First Christmas

We spent a quiet Christmas at home, just the three of us. Ellie had a great time with her new toys, and so did we! She received a set of blocks, some super-size Lego's, and a Winnie the Pooh as big as she is!

We went to a candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church, and Ellie did great, watching everything, listening to the carol singing, and seemingly enjoying the experience. She was one of the best-behaved children there!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

LFCC Press Release

My school, Lord Fairfax Community College, kindly wrote up our story for a college press release. You can read the press release at this address:

http://www.lfcc.edu/News/Releases/051221_release_morganchild.html


The press release includes pictures, and they did a great job!

Enjoy.

In other news, Ellie is now calling our dog by its name, Chelsea (though it comes out more like "Chewsheee!"

New Photos!

And now, for all of Ellie Bing's fans, more photos of an increasingly photogenic little girl. Not much news, as we've been snowed/iced in for most of a week, but we ventured forth to Wal-Mart and the mall this morning to get professional photo portraits done and to pick up other bits and bobs.





Ellie was a trooper, after some coaxing allowing some photos to be taken by the photographer without pitching into tears, then putting up with the mall crowds with good grace (aslong as she had her stash of Cheerios, which seems to be her version of the cure for a rainy day!










The Empress's warmest holiday agreetings to all. Note the photo of the family lighting the Advent candles at church last Sunday. She did great!

Settling In. . . .

We're at home, becoming a family at last. The photos say it all. Ellie Bing's first encounter with snow was . . . curious and wary. She actually fell face first once, but she didn't cry at all when Daddy picked her up and "dusted" her off. Snow is something she'll have to get to know well here in Northern Virginia.

The Empress sends her exalted greetings to her devoted subjects everywhere!

We're Home!!!

We're finally back after a whirwind of flights, hotel rooms, real Chinese food, the glorious metropolis of Hong Kong . . . and more Ellie.

Here are photos from Guangzhou. Chinese school children who saw me and yelled "hello!" Ellie in the Shamian Park, and looking out at the beautiful Pearl River.

Enjoy, and we'll continue to post from time to time, so watch this space!

The Empress is Out of Her Shell!

Oh, what a difference a few days makes. As of Saturday, she was sad, watchful, wary of us (though she consented to let Daddy hold her and tote her around). She continued to launch nuclear tantrums at bath time, at changing time, when we took her into the hotel playroom (she HATES that place) . . . most any time she wasn't in daddy's arms or asleep (at least she does THAT all night, like clock work). On Sunday, she woke up a new person, and left us breathless: she eats, she walks under her own power, she talks (though we don't understand a syllable), she sings softly to herself, she smiles, she LAUGHS hysterically.
Ah, bliss.
She has even (slowly) begun to warm up to Mama Katie, consenting to let her feed her, change her diapers, bathe her (though not without a principled cry, which soon fades into contented play in the bath). Now don't get the wrong idea; Daddy is busy too: toting her around, in a Hip Hammock or a borrowed stroller. he does his bit.
In an hour we leave for the United States Consulate, where Her Majesty will receive her visa (her permission -- as if THAT were necessary) to enter and permanently reside in America, her new realm. Tomorrow, it's on to Hong Kong, our last stop and her last look (at least for a while) at her birth land. The following day, we fly home to America, and Virginia.

Gotcha photos!

We're Back....

We've been gone a few days because we've had our hands full with the little empress. What a pair of lungs this child has!!! It has been very hard for her and us for all the many changes the past few days. Her shock - our awe!!! We have been overwhelmed with it all, and we are very tired, however we have much to be thankfull for. Elizabeth is very heathly, just a bit on the thin side. She sleeps all night and is eating for us. We thought she would be sick, but instead Curtis is sick. Fortunately someone in our group gave him some antibiotics.

The group we are with has been very supportive. There are 22 families, most of them from Michigan.

We saw the province she came from. It's very poor compared to Beijing and Guangzhou. Guangzhou is very warm. We had to buy some tee shirts because of the weather.....sunny and pleasantly warm....temps in the 70s.

We tried to upload photos however, our camera battery just went low. We will post photos on our next post.

Crashing the "Forbidden City"

Ni hao from Beijing!

Yesterday we were taken to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was beautiful weather, as you can see, a bit cool but bright, great photo weather. It was all very impressive, and reminded us of the deep culture that our daughter will continue to enjoy as her birthright, regardless of her U.S. citizenship.

A highlight of the day was a rickshaw tour through some of Beijing's "hutongs" -- tiny alleyways that preserve the flavor of old Beijing (before the recent modernizations began to make the city look a lot like Vegas). It was indescribable, so I won't try to describe it. Let's just say we saw a city that probably few tourists see, and got "up close and personal" with some of these marvelous and friendly people.Today (Tuesday, November 22 -- we're 13 hours ahead of EST) is the last day that Katie and I are non-parents -- sometime this afternoon (early morning for most of you) Zhang Xiang Bing will be handed over to us in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, and will become Elizabeth Xiang Bing Morgan. More as we have opportunity (i.e., once we've overcome the shock!)

Curtis & Katie Storm the Great Wall Nov. 20

Ni hao! (Hello!)
Well, we've been in Beijing for just over two days, and have decided we love this city. The people are very friendly and know a lot of English. They are pleased (apparently) by our ham-fisted attempts to speak Chinese ("xie xie" -- pronounced like "sheeye sheeye" -- "thank you"). They smile constantly (as well they should -- we've spent a lot of money here!) Yesterday (the 19th) we visited the Summer Palace of the Emperors. Today we were taken to visit the Great Wall and were truly amazed -- pictures don't do it justice. We also visited a "cloisonee" factory and ourchased a few "treasures." Tomorrow it's off to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Watch for more pictures!

Zai Jian (goodbye!)

We're Here in Beijing!!!

Greetings everyone! We arrived in Beijing yesterday (or was it today??) Anyway, in our time zone it is Saturday the 19th. Our flight over was smooth enough, especially as, due to the airline overbooking, our seats were assigned to us and a Chinese pair. Suddenly we were "bumped" to Business class! It was pretty neat--we could recline our seats, we had fliet mignon for dinner, complimentary everything . . . We pitied our poor traveling companions, stuck in "steerage" eating beans and franks!!

So we arrived relatively rested (we actually slept part of the way) and arrived in Beijing at about 3:30 pm their time (2:30 AM EST) on Friday. We were met by Joy, a Bethany representative and taken through the worst traffic I have ever seen to our Hotel (where I am writing this). It is very comfortable, and we are meeting the other families in our travel group. Several of them are back for a second (or third!) adoption. Beijing (at least what we have seen so far) is VERY modern and Western (lots of McDonalds, Pizza Huts, etc.) but at Joy's suggestion we ate at a place called "Beautiful South" which featured real Cantonese cuisine. It was awesome (though we passed on the braised shark's lips).

We are having a GREAT time so far, and my next post will have photos.

Watch this space!

Packing for Departure Day, November 17

Just a quick note to all of our friends eagerly awaiting the Empress's advent. Pictured here is a pair of shoes (they light up!) that will be (probably) her very first pair of her very own. They reside in an open suitcase, still being filled with all manner of things we think the three of us will need on our very long journey to and through China and then home. The other photo is of her very first piece of luggage, a "Hello Kitty" backpack that doubles as a "roll-along" bag. It isn't empty; it holds a green cloth bunny, a bag of goldfish and various other necessaries for the Chinese girl-on-the-go. That will be her "carry-on" luggage! A Chinese co-worker tells me that the character for Elly Bing's name (Xiang) contains an element representing flight. "This girl's gonna fly!" We know that is true, in every sense.

We Got Tickets!!!

It's really happening. We received our tickets and travel itinerary and, most important, our TA (Travel Authorization from the Chinese Government).

Here's our (tentative) itinerary:

Nov. 17: 0730 Depart Baltimore/Washington airport for Chicago Ohare; 1205 depart Chicago for Beijing . . .

Nov 18: 1540 (local time; 0340 EST. East coast US is 12 hours behind China) Arrive Beijing International airport
Nov. 19: free day (thank goodness! We'll need SLEEP)
Nov. 20-22 Tour Beijing, Great Wall, etc (shopping)

Nov. 22 1125 depart Beijing for Nanchang; GOTCHA DAY (we get Elizabeth Xiang Bing!!!)
Nov. 23-25 Various adoption paperwork appointments, etc. Receive Little Empress's passport.
Nov. 25 1500 depart Nanchang for Guangzhou

Nov 25-30 Visa appointments, medical checkup, more paperwork . . .
Nov. 30 0930 depart Gunagzhou for Hong Kong

Dec 1 1135 Depart Hong Kong for Chicago Ohare (we're going home!!!) Arrive 1140 am Chicago time (work that out); 1400 depart Chicago for BWI, ETA 1530

Times could change, but we hope days don't.

Please pray/think good thoughts, as there are worrying reports that China might halt all travel in/out due to Bird Flu.

The countdown to our Journey to Elizabeth begins . . .

The "Lost Picture"

As we are preparing our journey to Elizabeth, we stumbled upon a Yahoo group called "Ganzhou moms" that brings together adoptive parents of children from the Zhanggong Social Welfare Institute in Ganzhou. There were photos posted by people who had visited the orphanage, and in a group shot of some children in the orphanage we found this strangely familiar face looking at us from the right side of the picture. . . . We can't prove it, but we are convinced it's our little "Bing-Bing" taken about a year ago. Compare it with the photos we posted earlier.

We depart for China Nov. 17 with a number of other families. We can't wait!

We have Travel dates!!!!

Finally! We have dates to travel to China to receive our bundle of joy - our two year old daughter, Elizabeth Xiang Bing Morgan! Travel is about a month later than we had anticipated, however, we are excited to be going.

Travel authorizations came on Friday, Sept. 30, however we had to wait a week to get our Consulate appointment set in Guangzhou. The wait was because the first week of October is one long Chinese holiday and all government offices are closed there. The Consulate appointment is for our daughter to have a physical and apply for her visa and be sworn in as a US citizen, and this date is set for November 28.

We will actually begin our travels on November 17 and end up in Bejing on November 18. It's about a 14 hour flight from Chicago, and yes, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving in China this year. We spend our first two days in China touring Bejing before heading to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province which is in southeast China. Our daughter lives in Ganzhou in the southern portion of Jiangxi which is about a 10 hour train ride from Nanchang. More than likely she will be brought to us in Nanchang which means we will NOT get to see her orphanage. It looks like "Gotcha Day" will be Nov. 20 or 21. We'll spend about five days in Nanchang before flying to Guangzhou for the Visa appointment on November 28. We will receive actual visa for her to enter the US on Nov. 29 (Katie's birthday-what a present!) and then we'll fly to Hong Kong on Nov. 30. We'll spend one night there and come back to the US on December 1 as a family!!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! We are very excited, but also a bit on the nervous side.

Waiting to go . . wanting to go

After all the excitement of the referral, we now wait again! But at least we now know where we're going; just not when. Our Little Empress presently resides at the Zhanggong District Social Welfare Institute in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province. This map shows where her province is, and provides interesting information:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/jiangxi/

Here is a page with information about Ganzhou, the location of The Empress's current abode.

http://www.gurrad.com/china/ganzhou.htm

The Empress is Revealed!!!!

Greetings All!
The day has finally arrived and Curtis and I have a two year old daughter in China. Her Chinese name is Zhang Xiang Bing. Zhang is the family name, which we will drop, and name her Elizabeth Xiang Bing Morgan. We will be traveling in approximately 6 to 8 weeks (mid October or early November) to China to pick her up and bring her home.

On the report (dated June 16, 2005) which we received today (Sept. 7), Elizabeth's birthday is estimated to be August 13, 2003. She was found on Sept. 2, 2003 in the doorway of her orphanage, the Zhanggong District Social Welfare Institution of Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Provice. Her name Zhang expresses the Zhanggong District where she was found, Xiang expresses the year of the Sheep (it also means fragrance), and Bing means beautiful and lovely. Elizabeth is a very healthy child. She is well nourised, eats well, likes to play, and can crawl and walk. She weighs 22 pounds and is 30 inches tall (as of June 16, 2005).

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Katie (my wife) and I have been "in the process" for well over 2 years now. We are working through the Bethany Christian Services agency office in Fairfax, Virginia, about an hour from here. (We live in the Shenandoah Valley, which is gorgeous, but sometimes it seems that EVERYTHING is "About an hour from here.")

People sometimes ask us, "Why China?" Two reasons: first, we were told that the PRC is the easiest country to adopt from, among other things requiring only one adoption visit to the country; some countries require two or more. Second, we think Chinese children are beautiful.

The paperwork is overwhelming, but we completed it last January, and the Chinese authorities "logged" it in on Jan. 31. It is customarily a 6-7 month wait for a referral. We're getting close, and hope to receive word of which little girl (2-3 years old) we have been matched with by the end of this month (August). In the meantime, we wait . . .

Curtis & Katie -- waiting for the Empress to arrive . . .