Our Daughter Lina

We’re home. We three are home for the first time. As I write this, Lina is sleeping quietly in her crib.

After an uneventful flight (at least for me–I finally got a little sleep), we were met by Lina’s Omi (Stephanie’s mom), Aunt Tuttie & Uncle Rob, and excited cousins Renée and Blake. Grandma and [...]

Here’s Lina’s first time on American “soil” just after immigration. She’s now an American citizen!

The immigration officer scolded me, “No pictures!” right after I snapped this one.

This is just before takeoff in Beijing. If only Lina had been this happy throughout the flight. We had some very tough times due in part to Lina’s inability [...]

Tomorrow, Tuesday November 29th, will be a 40-hour day for us, thanks to the 16-hour time shift between China time and PST. We’re ready to go home, but we have some trepidation about the 12-hour flight from Beijing to San Francisco with a baby, followed by immigration, customs, and then another flight to SeaTac. [...]

All our paperwork is now done. Today we finished the last step of the adoption process besides actually bringing Lina home. We got Lina’s visa to enter the United States. As a group, we all swore (for our children) to do something like uphold the laws of the United States, be loyal, etc. (frankly I [...]

On 11/18, Lina and her CHI September 1 referral sisters (34 in all) all had their pictures taken for their US visas, and had the medical checkup that basically ensures they’re okay to bring to the US.

Debbie & Lilyanne

Trying (unsuccessfully) to wake a sleeping baby enough to take a visa photo

With Dad’s help, [...]

Today (11/21), we had our US Consulate appointment. Or, more accurately, our CHI coordinators did–they handled it so we didn’t have to go to the Consulate at all. After all the hassles about scheduling it (this appointment drove our entire travel schedule), it was somewhat anticlimactic. Which is a good thing. No problems were found [...]