Off to Guanzhou

Photo of the Bird's Nest 2008 Olympic stadium. It looks foggy, but

it is actually the pollution of the city. The Olympic village is now

closed off to the public because it is so close to the Olympics,

but we were able to get even closer than this at one point. The village

is truly amazing and everything is new.

Family photo at summer palace yesterday.

A photo on top of the great wall with people from our adoption

agency - A Helping Hand. Legend has it that fathers who hike to the

top are very friendly men. Go Mike! Ruby is in the center with her

favorite dress. I think we'll need to get another because she wants

to wear it almost every day!

This evening we ate at a restaurant that Ruby liked a few nights ago. It is called Brazilian BBQ, but was really more like Chinese food. They BBQ a variety of meats, so of course Mike likes it too! Another first for Ruby last night she received her first professional hair cut. Until now her mother and the orphanage cut her hair. I'm not sure if I posted this yet, but we found out a few days after meeting her that she grew up in a rural community two hours north of Beijing. So, she will fit right into her new community! She also loves cats and dogs. We hope this will make her transition easier...yippee!!! Tomorrow we leave for Guanzhou. This will be her first plane ride. She gets motion sickness extremely easy, so we are hoping the child's Dramamine will help her like it did on the train ride. We are so proud of our daughter and love her so much!

Week one in review

Ruby watching TV and eating dried apricot
Ruby next to a statue she really liked at a furniture store

Mike, our guide - Peter, and Ruby enjoying tea at a tea store. The tea expert
is the man behind the beautiful wood table. The table is what attracted Mike
to the store :)

Mommy, Ruby and Daddy at the Zoo

First, thank you everyone for the wonderful posts. It is nice to hear from you all back home!

Ni Hao. This has been a very busy week. It's hard to believe that nine days have already passed! During those nine days we have learned much more about Ruby, traveled to the city of Xian, saw the Beijing Zoo, visited the Terra Cotta Warriors, rode bikes eight miles around the city wall of Xian, watched a traditional Chinese dinner performance, Climbed the Great Wall and much more!!!! Everything, including the food, has been wonderful. Ruby is doing well. We have our good moments and challenges, but overall she is a trooper. Besides, the language barrier, our main challenge is the television. She wants to watch it constantly. We understand why, but she gets very upset when we ask her to turn it off to eat breakfast or go to bed. Today, we hope to communicate with some Love & Logic on the issue when we meet with our guide/translator. Hopefully this will ease the problem. Ruby has also been working on saying "thank you" and holding Mommy's hand in public. She is doing much better with these two things. We are keeping things simple at this point because we don't want to overwhelm her. We are still in the trust building stage. Everything else will come with time and baby steps.

Ruby is also much smaller than her measurements from a month ago. I think they measured her in a snowsuit because she fits best in size 7/8. I'm glad I brought two things in this size just in case. She is almost swimming in size 10, unless is is a small size 10. I don't think she cares though because the dress she wore when we met her was very big on her as well. She may not even know the difference? At least she'll be set for clothing for the next two summers because most of her summer clothing is size 10 thru 12 :)

Yesterday was the only day we saw our travel group from A Helping Hand. Ruby made friends with another family's daughter. Both girls enjoyed each other's company even though they don't speak the same language. We hope they are able to keep in contact in the future. Yesterday was also the day we climbed the Great Wall. Ruby has so much energy! She likes to race and climbed it very fast and again on the way back down. She also entertained the group with singing some traditional children's songs.

Ruby has so much energy.....this is an understatement! Mike and I haven't met anyone like her before. I can only think of one child similar to Ruby in my career of 10 years working with children. She is truly one of a kind! I have decided that Ruby is a cross between Anne of Green Gables , Buttercup from the Powerpuff Girls and a pinch of Cinderella. A very interesting combination to say the least!

Family Photos!!!!!!!!!

Here are two photos taken moments after we became a family. We met at the BCWI. The second was maybe a minute or two after we were together. The first was taken about 10 minutes after. Ruby was given a Barbie Doll by an administrative orphanage official that she was very close to. The meeting moment wasn't exactly what I expected, but still amazing. Mike had went with our guide, Peter, to take care of the donation fee. While I was alone, Ruby came into the room. She was wearing a pretty very new looking dress and carrying a little Lion King backpack. I was taken off guard and it was slightly weird because Mike wasn't there. But it was very nice because she ran up to me, hugged me and told me that she loved me - in Chinese of course. This is one of the few phrases I've memorized so I actually new what she was saying! About one minute later, Mike came into the room. Ming hugged him and said the same thing :) She later told us this was something that she wanted to say to us as soon as she saw us to express how happy she was to be adopted. Overall she was a little stand-offish, but she knew this was a proud moment for her.

Ming has decided to officially go by Ruby so her name will be Ruby Ming Catherine Skubella.

Ruby is still doing well on her second day. Today we went to the Beijing Zoo. She had never been to the zoo before and loves the Pandas and Lions. We are learning there will be many more firsts in the next few months than we imagined. This is OK because she is highly adaptable and solid. When talking through our guide, we learned that she lived with her foster family in a rural setting two hours north of Beijing, instead of in Beijing like we had originally thought. For this we are glad because our home is VERY rural. Ruby also learned that she was born in Beijing. She didn't know where she was born and abandoned - at the hospital. She seemed open and "a matter of fact" about everything.

We also went shopping for a couple of things yesterday and today. Yesterday, at Wal-mart, we bought an umbrella (which broke before we even used it, but it was only a dollar), lots of snacks, 2 cases of water, swim suit and blow up tube for Ruby (she has never been swimming) and a nice cool shirt for Mike. The total was just under $30 - way cool! After the zoo, we went to the Youhi Shopping Center near our hotel. The center was huge!!! Most items were very expensive - some prices more than in the states, but we found some Children's Chinese DVDs, as well as Disney in Chinese, for $2 each. What a great price!

Ruby is so funny. I don't think anyone has really bought her items before. It makes her feel a little uncomfortable. Funny story: She saw a really pretty dress today at the shopping center. It was in one of the upscale department stores. When she found out it was $20 US dollars, she let out a laughing moan and bent over. When she is in disbelief, she will do this. Then she said that our money doesn't blow in the wind and declined the dress. We love our thrifty girl! I'm glad I didn't leave any price tags on her clothes back home! Ruby is very animated and makes us laugh.

The language is a barrier - obviously! Overall we are doing well and using the translation dictionary and non-verbal communication often. She received straight A's while in school, but was behind in her English. I think this is because she lived in a rural community most of her life instead of Beijing - like we thought. She also attended public schools. Yet, she is really trying hard and is very open to learning English. She points out items constantly for us to say the English name. She repeats words and phrases many times until we say she is pronouncing it correctly. She is very smart and a fast learner. The pre-adoption paperwork was right about that! She has a lot of energy and loves to run around. She has already put a few grey hairs on our heads because once she ran across the street w/o looking. Even though EVERYBODY does this constantly in China due to the huge amounts of people and slow driving cars (too many cars on the narrow streets)....it still freaked us out. She is also a very curious little girl. I say little because her social skills are comparable to an American 9 year old, which is way OK with us because this will give us at least a little time before she hits her pre-teen stage. She is also very competitive and a total gamer. I saw this as we playing this morning - a memory game with the ABC's and on http://www.funbrain.com/ BTW - she is very good at math! Funbrain is a cool website for kids. I learned about this site from the kids at the Boys & Girls Club. Ruby loves this site too! I liked that she had to master the learning games before she would move onto the next level. If she was slow or didn't quite get it, she didn't give up. Mike likes that she is a gamer and competitor, as he is a gamer too! I'm looking forward to playing family games at home...this will be interesting...as long as Mike doesn't teach Ruby how to play poker......on the other hand.... she could be the next world champion with her competitive edge.......and we could use the extra money........(just kidding!).

Below are a few messages for special groups of people back home

Concerning adoptive parents from Beijing - we did not receive a tour. I think if we pressed, they would have said yes, but they were very accommodating in other ways - above and beyond our imagination. Yet, the officials said they would give us or send us photos of the orphanage. I am sure they will follow through with this. We also have photos that Ruby took with the camera we sent her in the care package a month ago. I will share these after we return on the yahoo group. Also, I recall reading about someone asking if the photo of their boy was still in the meeting room. I think the one you were talking about is behind us in photo number two?

AHH hand group - Our guide is the best guide we could have ever imagined. His name is Peter - as I think many former families have had as well. His guidance is meant to be! We look forward to meeting our travel group soon, even if it will only be for a day or two. AHH has been more than accommodating and Peter does all the work and we are able to not worry about a logistical thing - just bonding with our family. We are more than satisfied!

Concerning BGCSP Members - I say "hello" or "Ni Hao" to all of you! China is way cool and very different. I know that Ruby is looking forward to meeting you all and she is very friendly. She will be ready to race anyone in the run/walk Club! BGCSP staff - please e-mail my personal hotmail e-mail if you need to get a hold of me. I've decided to not even look at my work yahoo e-mail. Hope all is well!

With love, from China!

Family Day

First I want to say that we'll post photos in a few days - very tired.

We arrived in Beijing safe last night and actually got some sleep. We went to the orphanage to
pick up Ming this morning. Today has been amazing and no words can describe how we feel.
Ming is beautiful, smart, funny, has energy and is already attaching. She has also shown some healthy emotion (sad - which is good because it shows she cared about the people at the orphanage). The day has gone perfect. It feels so right and our parental instincts have come alive. I knew we had it in us all along :) Today is just number of many more to come - we will write more later. I just want to add that our guide is truly amazing and more accomodating than we ever imagined! We are so lucky to have one to ourselves these first few days. Go Peter!

Ready To Go

Our plane leaves at 9:10 on Thursday!!!! Woo hoo!!!!! We are jumping out of our skin!!!!! It is so real and we get happy butterflies thinking about hugging Ming when we meet her.

Our bags are packed, but the toiletries. I've never traveled overseas with a suitecase before. It will feel weird w/o a backpack. I'm much more hightech than my single days in Europe. I would e-mail my family once a week or two from a new country to let them know I was still alive. They turned grey during those three months. This time we have the temporary international plan blackberry and laptop. Funny how things change!

The pets are starting to pick up on us leaving because the packed suitcases are out. Mimi (Aka Macea the princess cat) is clinging to me like glue. When a particular suitecase is floating around, she knows I leave for at least a couple days...little does she know we will be gone for over 2 weeks. Poor Mimi.

I will try to post once more -

Sorry for no photos - the bandwith is still slowing us down.

New photos!

How sweet!

We asked A Helping Hand for a second request on updated photos for Ming yesterday and received new ones today! We didn't think we'd have any new photos at all and would have to go by the year old photos we currently have. Isn't Ming beautiful? I want to upload more photos but this one took 20 minutes - still having uploading issues. We can't believe how much older she looks compared to her photos last year! She is growing so fast. I'm really glad we are leaving next week, because we don't want to miss out on even a single day mroe of her life.
Jill-too cool that Ming and Cassidy have the same bedding! I don't recall, but maybe it stuck in my head subliminally! I will consider that a red thread link between Cassidy and Ming :)

Getting Ready To Go

Everything is falling into place. There are more ups than downs at this point. It feels a little weird..., but we are taking it in and are all smiles. My brother's girlfriend's brother and my father will be house sitting. The dogs, house and Mike's business will all be taken care of. My mother has been taking Chinese classes and all of our families have open arms for Ming. We couldn't ask for anything more. She will have the best grandparents, cousins (3 that are near Ming's age! Go Jess, Cassidy and Kyle!) , aunts and uncles. This we celebrate!

Today I received an e-mail from an adoption family who recently came home with their daughter Lily. We were connected through a mutual friend and have been following each other's story ever since. BTW - I am certain this is a red thread connection! I am so happy that they are finally together :) Knowing Lily is home makes our travel seem even closer!

Last week I couldn't help but buy some bedding for Ming. I saw it at Wal-Mart and fell in love. We were going to wait until she came home. That way she could pick out something she would like. Instead, I was just way to excited about the cutest bedspread ever. It is very girly - so unlike me! It is pink, blue purple, sage, white, yellow with ribbons and flowers. The letters
"M I N G" that Ming's cousins made/decorated were the inspiration! Above is a photo I downloaded from the WalMart website.

Mike and I are able to fit all of our travel items into one suitcase. We haven't weighed it yet. Hopefully it will weigh under the maximum amount of 44 pounds. All of our gifts are in zip lock bags and ready to go. I've been collecting them over the past 2 years so they all have been chosen very carefully. For those family traveling in the future and are interested. Here is our packing list:

Ming: Pretty brown flowered sundress, brown skort, black Capri stretch pants, pink shorts, yellow flowered top, yellow flowered tank top, green strawberry top, Red US flag shirt, PJ's, purple fleece (this will come in handy for the train and plane ride!) few undergarments, few socks and personal hygiene/hair items. We'll buy her a swimsuit, shoes, a couple of pieces of nice jewelry, a few sizes of the traditional Chinese dress and anything else she needs in China. I hear the weather is very humid and high 90's. This will be a challenge for us. We melt in 80 degree weather w/o the humidity. Poor Ming will adapt even more when she comes home to barely swimsuit weather in the mountains!

Mike/Tara: We are packing very light ourselves. Four outfits, swimsuits, PJ's, light jacket, Chaco Sandals for Tara, Tennis shoes and sandals for Mike, general medications, laptop, translation dictionary, loads of adoption paperwork, light comfort food, personal hygiene items, UNO (can't forget this!) and a few other small items that I can't recall right now.

We will purchase a small suitcase for Ming in China. We hear they are very cheap - $10 - $20.00. Hopefully with the extra suitcase and giving away the gifts to the orphanage contacts and guides we will have enough space in the large suitcase to fit small gifts.

I've been gone overseas for much longer before - three months and didn't have a worry in the world.....or at least that's how I remember it. Of course it was a vacation and not an ADOPTION! This time is much different. My responsibilities are greater now (funny how getting older can do that to ya!) and we are bringing home our daughter! If we forget a piece of adoption paperwork, it could throw a huge kink into the matter. Those of you who know me well...understand that Mike is much better than me in this department :)

Hope to post more before the weekend -