On a bicycle built for ...

What can you use a bicycle for? Count the ways ...

Hot Pot

I love trying new foods and new tastes and was eagerly awaiting trying the local favorite dining experience in Chongqing called hot pot. A number of the people from our group went on the first night with the group divided up into 'not so spicy' and 'super spicy'. I of course opted for the super spicy. As I mentioned already hot pot is more a dining style than a dish - it is similar to dining at a fondue restaurant. Each table has a gas burner and they place a double bowl onto each burner. The inner bowl contained a broth with some veggies, seafood stuff, etc as well as some mild seasonings. The outer bowl contained the hot stuff - in the case of the super spicy there appeared to be hundreds of peppers floating in the broth. Our CCAI reps Marie and Anita joined us - I know they both enjoyed the spicy food but they were also going to make sure we didn't mess up the cooking and get sick. Use the chop sticks to place the raw meat into the bowls - cook it the proper amount - use different chop sticks to remove the food or sterialize in the boiling broth. Marie did all the cooking at our table - we cooked bamboo, lotus root, potato, sausage, lamb, little eggs, - everything was great. Our CCAI reps were at each table helping us order the food, cook the food and explain everything as we went along. It is a great dining experience – after the food is cooked you can scoop the food with a ladle or chop sticks. The food is then 'rinsed in a combination sesamee oil and garlic - this cools the food slightly and gives it a little extra 'bam'. We went through several of the local beers in order to cleanse our palates between dishes. It was a great evening and the price per person was unbelievable – less that $12 per person. We had a small group that went back again – this time Eileen and Emma joined in on the fun. The reps had warned us that hot pot restaurants were not good for children due to the strong smells in the air – the manager of the restaurant helped watch Emma and strolled her around just outside the restaurant – a young boy also helped as his mom and dad ate near us. It is hard to describe this experience properly here but it is something I will never forget. The food was great, the people were great, and the memories even better. I posted this entry for 2 reasons - 1) I thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occassions and 2) I believe the dining style refelcts positively on Chongqing and the people of this area - if the most popular dining style affords the diners an opportunity to spend time together conversing, eating and socializing, that says something - the other part to note is how the manager stepped in to help us - there were so many of the Chinese people willing and wanting to be a part of this experience.

Best Friends

Emma already has a best friend - Roselynn is the daughter of John and Retta - the girls have gotten together a few times for tummy time and each time they are drawn to each other - holding hands - smiling - looking at each other or arching around to see each other - here are a few pics of these two together - wow.

Ties that bond

Here is an entry all about Emma - yesterday afternoon Emma was lying on a blanket on the ground and Eileen was lying near her. Emma reached up to Eileen's face and touched her face - she eventually grabbed her hair - I did take a few pics that I will add to this entry later. Later in the day she was in bed and I was playing with her - she did the same with me reaching up and touching my face and grabbing my hair (insert joke here). That evening when I fed her she locked her eyes onto me the entire bottle feeding. As we have noted Emma is a great sleeper - probably the best out of all the children. This morning however she woke up around 5:00 or so - Eileen heard her stirring and when Eileen looked over to Emma she cried - we gave her a small bottle then the fun began - Emma was in bed with us - she was rolling from side to side to see me then Eileen - she was cooing and smiling and touching us - she has never been this animated with us - she has never done this yet - we missed out on a little sleep but we gained some memories. Some of these things may not seem like much for a 9 month old but they are each mini milestones as Emma gets stronger and stronger and bonds more and more with us. What a great way to end our stay at Chongqing. We are packed and Eileen has showered. We have to have our bags in the hall by 0800, grab breakfast and head to the airport by 0930 - next stop Guangzhou.

Split Pants and Snake Oil

After Eileen's first massage the other day I headed out for a walk with Sarasota John and Athens Jim. We headed north from our hotel for about a 2 mile walk. Here are the highlights of our mini adventure. Within a short distance of our hotel we watched as a little boy about 2 years of age drop right in middle of all of the scurrying people and proceed to urinate on the tile walkway. The smaller children wear split pants and no diapers - so it is not uncommon to see their little bums as they walk through the towns. We walked on and on through street vendors selling everything from lotus root and other vegetables to carved pineapple to fried things like crabs and fish. This is about the time we cam upon the snake oil salesman. There was a fairly large crowd of people surrounding a man who was squatting low to the ground. The man was wearing a headset and speaking constantly through a small speaker system. In front of him there was a tarp covered with a few hundred snakes and a few turtles. All of the critters were dark brown appearing to have been fried. He had three small glass bottles that he was adding what appeared to be crystals and other items all the while barking through his speaker. The solution in the bottles looked like blood. We hung around for a short while as enthralled as the locals. We proceeded on for quite a while until we came upon what appeared to be a school. There were some boys playing basketball and we joked about challenging them to a game. That is when we hear the school girls yelling up to us 'hi', 'hello' as they held up peace signs. They were excited to get responses from us and they giggled as we waved back to them. We proceed on a little further and saw a store called Jan-Mart. We entered the store but were promptly redirected right back the way we came in by some security guards. We have never figured out why but we didn't argue with him. It turns out Jan-Mart is a home appliance type of store - nothing unusual - toilets, stoves, etc. The return back was pretty uneventful although we did stop by the snake oil rep and he was still barking and mixing. It is amazing to see all of the apartments, one after another after another - everywhere you turn. You can see that many of the apartments have cages on the backside - the cages are used to hang the laundry but they are also used to store items - you can see some wooden chairs crammed into one of the cages plus boxes and just stuff. There is also a picture of an older gentleman tending to a garden - the garden was immediately off the sidewalk smack dab in the middle of all the commotion - to the left was a fairly major road with tons of traffic - the sidewalk was packed most of the time during our walk. We never did cross paths with any other westerners. Along the way we were greeted with some hellos and good mornings - it was about 6:00 in the evening - the people we happy when we responded back with a hello or thumbs up. What an experience.

Emma

Chongqing Zoo

Today was the first day the sun has peeked since we arrived in Chongqing. Most of the days here have been chilly and gray. So we decided to take advantage of the warmth and take a tour to the Chongqing Zoo set up for us by our CCAI representatives Marie and Anita. The Chongqing Zoo is known mostly for its work done to help the endangered Giant Panda. (Little tidbit - The Giant Panda is the symbol of peace for China. Pandas are seen as gentle since they rarely feed on other animals. ) This was obvious to us as we walked in to a beautifully landscaped area followed by a couple of large Giant Panda exhibits. The pandas were definitely living large compared to the other animals.

The zoo is located right in the middle of a very busy section of Chongqing. There are high-rise buildings, both old and new all around the zoo. It was kind of sad at the Giraffe exhibit. Unlike the Brevard Zoo, the giraffes overlooked some old buildings.

Although it was nice to see the animals in the zoo, the most interesting part of the zoo was watching the Chinese people. Andy took a great picture of some “elders” playing Mahjong. ( Mahjong (also called mah-jongg by the American association, Traditional Chinese game for four players that originated in China.) We also thought the basket idea was a great way to carry children around.

After the zoo, Andy, Emma and I headed over to McDonalds – yes you read that correctly, for lunch. Each day we have been eating, large traditional chinese meals. They have been very good, but I was really craving some American food. There are quite a few choices of US fast food places; Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and KFC are a few. There is also a Starbucks right around the corner.

Everything is going well. Emma is making gains it seems hourly. She enjoyed the zoo, but I think she enjoyed the bus ride out better. There was a lot to see, probably a little overstimulation for her at times. But she was a trooper that's for sure. In this picture of her, she is taking a nap. She has such a calm demeanor, Very similar to Joshua right now. I can’t wait for her to see Joshua and start learning from her older brother. I also can't wait for her to meet everyone.

Daddy Time

We are just beginning to learn some of Emma's ques in terms of when she is tired or when she is hungry. Last night I didn't read her quite so well. She was falling asleep in my arms sucking on my neck and slobbering down my back and front. We were hoping to get her into the bath before she fell asleep though so I rushed her into the bath and caught an earful for the next 30 minutes. Emma cried harder than she has since we got her. Mommy stepped in and saved the day with some good old fashioned mommy love and a bottle. She ended up sleeping through the entire night. This afternoon I did a little better. Eileen went to get a massage in the underground area beneath the hotel. I stayed upstairs with Emma. We were playing a little when she began her little whimper cry - I quickly put together a bottle and she slurped down the entire thing as she fell asleep in my arms. Just before Eileen went downstairs she was holding Emma and did a few deep knee bends - Emma giggled and giggled repeatedly and then fussed some when Eileen stopped. This was only the second time she had given us a good deep laugh. It doesn't seem as though she had many opportunities to laugh during her time in the orphanage. I told her that she will be able to laugh all she wants now. She is still sleeping peacefully next to me in her little tiny crib. She has the cutest little mouth that turns down like a little bow.

Our Little Angel

Emma is a little weak in her arms and legs. It is apparent that she was on her back most of the time or for very long periods of time while in the orphanage. The nannie and orphanage director explained that they would put the children in a room with a TV and that the children enjoyed watching the TV and listening to music. They would also put them in a walking toy - but I cannot imagine that Emma would have done well in that type of thing due to her lack of muscle tone. She cannot sit up on her own and cannot be on her stomach and hold her head up for a long period of time. It is not easy giving her a bath - she is not use to sitting upright and has a tendency to be rigid and stiff - so even with four hands it is not easy. However, we are seeing changes each day. She is laughing more. She is rolling to her side and almost rolling over. She is responding to us more and tracking us as we move around. She has hardly even cried throughout this entire ordeal. She is a great sleeper - goes down easily and sleeps hard - this morning I actually undressed her, changed her diaper and was getting her ready for her bath and she still mostly asleep. She takes her bottles each time and eats the steamed egg and a little Congee. Here are a couple of pictures of our sleeping angel. The picture of Emma in the stroller was taken in a Japanese style restaurant located in the underground area beneath our hotel. Eileen and I ate a huge plate of fried rice and a huge plate of fried noodles plus a pint sized Tsing Tao and a Coke Light for under 10$. The other couples had a five course meal with veggies, shrimp, fish, rice, etc for around $25 total. We also found out you can get a 1 hour massage for $10!

Gotchha Day Rewind

I am not sure of the order that the pictures uploaded and posted to our blog - we can post but for some reason we cannot view the blog nor can we view the replies - there was one picture of Eileen and I as were waiting to get Emma - we could see her in the room with us but since we were the 5th of the first group of five we had to wait for the other families to recieve their child she was about 5 feet away but we couldn't go to her - I was pacing like an expecting father which of course I was but I didn't expect it to be quite this way - my mouth was very dry, I was sweating a lot, and I was actually lightheaded a couple of times - it was all incredibly overwhelming - wonderful but overwhelming - there is another picture as the Chinese gentleman is handing Emma to Eileen followed by the picture where Eileen is first holding our new little girl - I got to sneak in a picture as well - I figure you could probably guess what was going on but thought I'd throw in a few words.

Loooong Day + Slug + Shark Fin Soup

I learned a few things about Chinese time today and it it quite different - one person from each family was supposed to meet downstairs and then go and exchange $ (actually a fair amount of $) - it was supposed to take a only a short time - when I got to the bank I realized I had forgotten my passport - ran back across the park to the hotel up 29 floors got my passport - back down 29 floors - across the park - nothing had happened - everyone was still there waiting, and waiting, ... it took 2+ hours to process each of our transactions I was the last person - count the 100s, recount the 100s', check the passports, pass the $ through a machine to make sure it wasn't counterfeit, put the Chinese $ in a counting machine (twice), then triple stamp a bunch of forms then over to me to count then over to the CCAI rep for the orphanage fee - multiply by sevarl people. Then this afternoon we met as a group - we were going to process the paperwork that basically means Emma is no longer a Chinese citizen - it was supposed to take an hour - we got there and sat around and around and around - the whole thing took about 2.5 hours - babies started crying - parents were getting antsy - they actually performed a little presentation where we were asked a series of questions stating that we would care for our baby and not abuse her or abandon her - they handed us a little metal plate in a wooden box with a saying - "With our very best sincere wish that everything will turn out to be what you hoped" and Mountain city-chongqing Lives in my heart forever. We were told they had never done this ceremony before - we sat in a room as each family was called to the front - asked the questions - thumbprints in red ink - pictures and after all this the result is that Emma is no longer a citizen of China - she is not a citizen of the US until we set foot back in the states. Somewhere in the middle of all this we 'gave' gifts to the notary officials - can't give cash but they expect you to provide gifts of thanks. After all this we only had a short amount of time to eat dinner before a doctor was coming to check on all the babies. We ate at the buffet downstairs - I tried braised sea slug, shark fin soup, fried cartilage, fried crad (crab), a seashell thing (actually in the shell - one of those spiral types that you get out of the river), and a fried 'shrimp' that looked more like a fried sea monster thing. I didn't have the nerve to try the more exotic dishes - maybe tomorrow. I walked through part of the underground city beneath our hotel - bizarre - there were many restaurants, lights, people bustling, discos, shopping, and then downstairs a grocery store that was like a super Walmart with all sorts of interesting items - I bought some shrimp chips to try and 2 Chinese beers + some coke light (diet). Emma's checkup didn't reveal much - she is ok - no major issues. When I got back to the room Eileen showed me there were about 150 people or more exercising or dancing down in the park below us - kind of like a slow version of the Electric Slide (booga looga). Emma is getting more and more responsive - I played with her on a blanket and she laughed with or at me, she grabbed her rattle and shook it and she cooed a lot more. She fell asleep easily again this evening but just woke up and cried pretty hard - until now she has been very meek with only little whimpers - this was the biggest cry yet - it lasted for only a few minutes and she is back asleep. Oh yeah, we did find out from the orphanage director that there are a couple of the children in our group that were sleeping near where Emma slept at the orphange - Alexandra Brown and Chloe Beach. Pictures - presentation, Emma with orphange director, nannie, driver (the gentleman who handed Emma to us the day before), Emma's closest crib mates from the orphanage and finally dinner

Gotcha Day #1

April 13, 2008- Gotcha Day– what an amazing experience we had today – Although we woke up very early to catch our flight to Chongqing, the morning went by rather quickly with much excitement and anticipation for this, finally, was GOTCHA DAY. We met some another couple on the flight over, Phil and Leslie, from Jacksonville. They have two sons, Jeremiah 9 and Alex 11 traveling with them. Both of the boys have already ‘adopted’ some of the younger children traveling with their parents and have been awesome with them. They’re little sister doesn’t have a clue as to how fortunate she is. So now, three families are from Florida. What a great thing for us and Emma.

Our hopes to relax a little at the hotel before the arrival of Emma were quickly diminished as Marie, our new CCAI representative, went over our schedule for the day. Between paperwork, grabbing lunch, showering, getting ourselves ready and getting Emma’s diaper bag packed, our rest and relaxation quickly became a race against time.

The hotel, The Golden Resource , is quite extravagant. It’s a 32 story, five star hotel with multiple restaurants and underground shopping adventure complete with more restaurants, lounges, stores and nightclubs. We checked in, showered, got Emma’s things ready, and then met downstairs to fill out some paperwork. Afterwards we found out the babies from our orphanage arrived early. This particular news really hit me quite hard. As my already crazy emotions went wild. My stomach was all in knots and I felt as if I was in labor. Actually this was somewhat harder. I didn’t have a real job, just had to stand there, watching and waiting.

We were the fifth family called, the last from our orphanage. When they placed her in our arms, the tears of happiness began to flow from both Andy and me. Finally all that we had been dreaming came true. Having Joshua next to us to meet his little sister was the only thing that could have made that moment more complete. Emma is cuter than her pictures and I think a little smaller than I thought. We can’t wait for her to meet Joshua and all our friends and family when we get home.

Initial Preparation and an Update

Eileen is downstairs filling out the first set of paperwork - only 1 person per family - there is only one father - all the rest are the moms - the other spouses go down at 1540 followed by the rest of the crew - kids, travel companions after 1600 - the babies are supposed to arrive by 1530. Some of the babies have traveled for up to 10 hours to get here today so they have been traveling about the same amount that we have - I am exhausted - Eileen is exhausted - I can't imagine what the babies are going through. Everyone is nervous. After waiting for 2.5 years and putting together the paperwork and double and triple checking over and over you still get worried thinking you have forgotten something. It is very surreal. Oh yeah, we received an update on Emma that says she is crawling which came as a surprise to us. Another family had similar news and they were surprised. The report said she was active, social and enjoyed going to the gorcery store which didn't quite make sense but I am sure we will find out soon. The report also said that she had only had one cold, sleeps all night but might take a bottle around 0130 before falling back to sleep. The report also said they explained to Emma that she was going to a nice family today. More to follow ...

Chongqing T Minus 2.5 hours and counting

We are finally in Chongqing and will get Emma in about 2.5 hours. Everything is a little crazy right now as we prepare gifts for the orphnage director, the nannies, etc - get ourselves ready, sneak in a bite to eat (McDonalds chicken sandwich, fries) - get a baby bag together, ... it was beautiful as we approached Chongqing with terraced or layered rice fields, beautiful green fields, but you wouldn't know that even existed where we are this place is constantly moving - there are lights and sounds and people, people and more people. We are on the 29th floor of the Golden Resources Hotel - there is an underground shopping, nightclub area underneath our hotel. I made a mistake and rode the glass elevator up thinking it would be on the inside of the hotel - NOT - after 3 floors on was on the outside and I am afraid of heights. We will post some pics soon!

A loooong day

We had a great day but it was way too long. We continue to meet the different families that are in our travel group and each family has their own interesting story. Everyone has been great. During our tours today we were asked to pose in pictures with some of the Chinese people that were also visiting the different areas - one young boy was in a picture with me then his aunt joined in then another lady - they smiled and laughed the whole time - then I returned the favor capturing them on video - they laughed more and waved. Another time an elderly couple asked - well they couldn't ask as neither of us understood the other - but it worked out they were very happy. Here are a couple of pictures from our travels today - the Forbidden City was very impressive but we really enjoyed the 'rickshaw' bicycle ride through Houtong - it was very interesting.

Friday 0500 - Not much sleep - then a tour and some duck

I am up up way too early - should have taken a sleep aide but was so utterly exhausted I didn't think I needed one - DUMB me. We arrived safely in Beijing yesterday and we greeted by Christie one of our CCAI reps. We didn't get to do a whole bunch but I will say that I had one of the best showers ever after riding in a plane for 14 hours straight. We walked only a few blocks around our hotel but we were both starving and exhausted. We ate dinner with another couple and shared several different items plus a glass of wine and local beer. Today we will tour Beijing - Tianannmen, Forbidden City and Hutong followed by an acrobatic show with dinner. The dinner will be Beijing Roast Duck (don't tell Joshua) which is one of the local signature dishes. Tomorrow we will visit a Jade carving factory (place your orders now), The Great Wall, and the Ming Tomb. Hopefully we can add a couple of pictures - not that anyone wants to see us. There are other families that are in very similar situations as we are - one couple has a 10 mo. old that they left in the states and they are adopting a 7 mo. old - another couple had previously adopted a little girl here (now 2.5 yrs) and they are adopting a 2nd girl now 2.5 - then ther is another couple that brought their son who appears to be close in age to Joshua and they are also adopting a baby girl.

Bittersweet and Guilt

Some thoughts and feelings that I have been going through as we prepared for and departed on this journey ... I have had guilty feelings because I was not overly excited about the trip, leaving our son, leaving our friends and families, leaving a well known and heading into an unknown. Guilty because I hear other stories from families that cry all the time because their adoption has delayed so long and they can't wait to get their child. At the time I wouldn't have minded if our trip delayed a little longer. It is a very awkward feeling. The departure was actually painful and several times during our flight I felt pain when I thought of how Joshua was doing and whether he was doing the daddy cheer. At one point as we flew over the north pole I was thinking that Joshua would just getting ready for bed, typically I would be bathing him and it is our time, but he would have Aunt Nancy and the kids there with him and he would have loving people all around him ... then my thoughts drifted to Emma who would be just waking up - no mom or dad, aunt or uncle, nonnie or poppie, ... I believe that the nannies are loving and caring but it is not the same. From that moment on whenever I thought about Joshua and also thought about Emma and what this all will mean for her and her new family. Nothing will ever be the same but everything will be better for all of us. I can't wait to see her and hold her and I cannot wait to get home and have her meet her big brother.

Emma Josephine Jiang Feng Hannemann

Match day was on March 4, 2008. Our agency called us, told us the news of our daughter, and then sent us this little picture of Qian Jiang Feng. You can't imagine the emotions that went through the two of us as we saw for the very first time, our daughter, whom we have waited for a little over two years. She was so cute and looked so healthy. (This picture was taken in February so Emma was about seven months old. )

The next day, we received a packet of information telling us all about our little Emma as well as two more pictures. This set of pictures was taken a few months earlier at five months old. (As soon as we get them loaded on this computer, we'll post them) In this packet, we also learned how our daughter was given her name. Qian is her surname and comes from "Qianjiang"which is the district of her orphanage. The Jiang Feng was given because it was a very beautiful sounding name. We also learned that Jiang Feng in English, translates "River Phoenix".

Since naming Joshua, we knew that our daughter would be Emma. Why? We just liked it. Josephine was chosen in honor of Eileen's mother's middle name. It's rather funny, because Eileen didn't think her mom liked her middle name all that much, but she knew Eileen loved it. We kept the Jiang Feng because we agreed with her caregivers... it was a beautiful sounding name. It also went well with Emma Josephine. So here she is ladies and gentleman...... Emma Josephine Jiang Feng Hannemann. We can't wait until the day we can love on her and hold her in our arms.

Big brother

When we first realized we were pregnant we thought that Joshua would be the little brother but as fate would have it he will be a big brother. We could not have scripted the entire sequence any better than it turned out. Joshua is healthy, happy and just over one year old. This trip would have much more difficult if he had been 3 months, or 6 months old. We have been showing Emma's picture to Joshua everyday and he gives her kisses all the time. He is going to be a great big brother.

Getting Ready, Leaving Joshua, Getting Emma

We had our final conference call yesterday. It is getting very close to the actual travel date which is both exciting - after 2.5 years waiting we are more than ready to meet and hold our little girl - and stressful - we have to pack clothes and toys, a crib, ... for Joshua and then clothes and toys and stuff for Emma, and our clothes ... throw in airline tickets, money, and you have a lot going on, at the same time. Throw in the fact that we will be leaving behind Joshua for 16 days and you have bundles of nerves - quite a few emotions running wild. This past Sunday I actually visualized having to leave Joshua behind. To date I have been able to push it to the side by keeping distracted with all of the other preparations. It wasn't easy as he has become our lives. Then for the first time I visualized us getting Emma and holding Emma and being with Emma. More emotions, more stress, more nerves ... I can't wait to start and I can't wait to end.

The Quick and Short of It

For such a long time, Andy and I wanted to have a child. After many years of trying to have our own child we decided adoption was the best route for us. (For all our friends reading this, you know what we went through to get to where we are now.) We chose to adopt from China because of our adorable niece, Adalyne who was also adopted from China. After many months of paperwork, we received our log in date- LID on December 31,2005. This meant China approved of us and said we were "okay" to adopt one of their precious girls. This was our first "answered prayer". Andy and I were going to be parents!!!! We knew the wait to get our daughter would be long, but we didn't know just how long. Lucky for us.... God had other things in mind and our second prayer was answered. In May, 2006, Andy and I found out that we were "expecting". On February 20, 2007, Joshua Andrew Hannemann was born. He is amazing and we love every minute that we spend with him.

After two and half years of starting the adoption process, and one year after Joshua was born, we received word that we were matched to a beautiful little girl from Chongqing - Qian Jiang Feng. We knew very little about her, but one thing was sure. She was greatly loved by us.

In just a few short weeks, our family will be complete. We will get our daughter and Joshua's little sister, Emma Josephine Jiang Feng Hannemann. Get to know her too as you follow us on our journey to China.