checking out the view. she was doing real good til she realized i wasnt standing with her anymore then she was ready to get down.

good monday morning. some little girl woke up in a great mood today. she didnt eat much for breakfast but crawled up in my lap in the room while i was drinking coffee and eat 2 oreos.oh she loves her some cookies. and unless you want her licking her lips and looking around for cookies you better spell it out. if you say it, you have her undivided attention. so anyway today is the day our paperwork is at the consolate being reviewed so i get to sit in the room for 2 hours, which normally is not a big issue but when i HAVE to sit here "just in case" im bouncing off the walls. going shopping here in a little while. keep praying

Gloria was on the phone with her mama, so Abi got her little phone and was "talking" too.

we went shopping today too. you go into a shop, they tell you the price, you pretend to not want it, they lower the price. dont work that way in the usa. i saw the new hat styles and tried one on. Abi looked at me and had the funniest look. i wish i had a picture of that.

ok, so we got the visa paperwork filled out. it wasnt too bad but when you are being told what to do by people who dont speak real good english..... you get the picture. got through it ok though and took Ms Abi to mcdonalds to eat. did i mention before that she loves her some chicken nuggets and fries? anyway, i put on some of the hotel flip flops and they were sitting in the floor so what does she do? the picture says it all. lol. keep praying.

after going to get shots and checked out at the dr we get back to the room to get some laundry and off to pizza hut we go. had a really good meal, oh man i miss american food. get back to the room with no problems and Abi sits in the floor and starts playing. she had a really hard time in nanchang, everytime we would go out she was fine but when we come back to the room the crying started. i think it was a psychological thing with her but now that we are at a different place she is just fine.

some of the other ladies and their new daughters at the hotel in guangzhou

she does everything I do. i was making noises and faces at her and she starts making them right back. i snarl my nose... she snarls hers. too funny

playing peek-a-boo. We have to be kinda careful how you say "boo" because apparently that means "no" in chinese. first couple times i said boo she wasnt very happy.

ok, made it safe and sound to guangzhou. sat very packed on a plane FULL of chinese people. Abi had an audience at the airport because of her squeeky shoes. she just realized yesterday i think that they squeek when she walks. $10 at walmart in nanchang and money well spent. She loves to walk and play. Today was an adventure in itself. We went to get her photo taken for her visa then went to the medical exam. Most was easy enough until the immunizations came. 8 shots, 2 in each arm and 2 in each thigh. She screamed bloody murder and looked at me with a look of fear in her eyes like i should be doing something to stop this. Almost as soon as the shots were done, she was fine. Playing as usual, and i took her from Gloria and we walked outside. She was just fine as long as Gloria was out of sight. She reached for me more and more today and has been more content with me the last couple days. Her personality is coming out more and more. We met up with some of the other families at the airport and have been with them all day today as well. Its about half and half with special needs and healthy kids from 11 yrs to about 13 months. sitting at the airport waiting she wanted my sunglasses. looks good i think. lol

ok, so the guy who posted about the italian restaurant wasnt an idiot. i apologize. lol. it is just a short walk from the hotel if you are on the correct street. our guide pointed it out the other day and said western food but she also said very expensive, but after eatr snaks and mcdonalds for 3 days we were willing to pay the difference. we both had spaghetti with meatballs and a coke light(diet coke) for the large amount of 154 yuan. which divided by 6.7 something works out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 bucks. that was the total. 22 bucks. pizza was not on the menu, i looked. but hey, there are pizza huts all over china. Abi however likes spaghetti and meatballs we found and is a completely different child outside of this hotel room. i think its a psychological thing with her so we give her some space, but if we kinda ignore her outburst she will go ahead and calm down and everything is ok. While we were eating we played a game of "im gonna reach for you the pull my arms back when you reach for me" or as we called it in high school... "psych!" but we getting there. this is the view from our hotel here. not much to look at but i realize just how blessed i am. last post from nanchang, we are packing to go to guangzhou now.

i love how the high voltage power lines are just 8 or 9 feet from the ground. that seems perfectly safe.

ok, huge steps this morning. Gloria went to get her shower and Abi actually reached for me out of bed. she was very clingy and holding on to me. we went to breakfast and she sat quietly in my lap as i fed her congee (a very sticky substance kinda like drywall mud). usually a chinese woman could reach for her and she would go no problem, but today there were some ladies sitting next to us at breakfast and one of them held her hands out and Abi turned and grabbed Gloria and held on for life. we gettin there. this morning has been pretty good so far. the building with the big gold roof and gold ball is our hotel, its a really nice hotel but the rooms are kinda small.

just got back from "walking street" which is like going thru cool springs galleria but its outside. we were going to the bistro cafe and realized that whoever posted the link about it being a "short walk" from our hotel probably wasnt pushing a busted stroller. (hotel supplied). so as we are walking down walking street looking for the mcdonalds, (Ms Abi loves her some chicken nuggets), i realize how well im blending in with the locals. we get all the looks from the local people. most of the older people see her and realize what we are doing without asking questions and are very supportive, with the occasional look of disgust and some comment in chinese. there are days that im so so so so glad i dont understand mandarin. so anyway im blending in with the locals and realize that as many people that notice Abi are also noticing us. you would think they had never seen a 6 ft 300 pound white guy with a chinese baby.. lol. check out the guy on the bike carrying what looks to be 25 or 30 ft bamboo poles.

she was perfectly content to be in the stroller as long as Gloria was doing the pushing. Any time i would push, She would start crying. Funny thing is whenever i am out of her sight she is looking for me. So we are getting there. And if you ever come to China be prepared, the people here are usually very nice and acceptant of Americans, but they have no respect for personal space. They arent being rude, its just how the culture is. The guy at the store speaks no english at all but is very cordial and tries to help me find what he thinks i am looking for. I usually buy 2 sprites and 2 bottles of water, usually at home that would cost around 6 or 7 dollars.... its 9 yuan here. Which is roughly $1.50. so for the price of one drink at home i am buying 2 and getting 2 bottles of water also.

giving me kisses. she was really happy to be out and about today.

more peek a boo

playing peek a boo. when i did this in the room last night, she didnt like it. but she started doing this all by herself with me.

This guy has guts. I wish i could have taken video from this intersection. He was directing traffic, kinda. I could drive here. lol

Abi playing with her new toys from walmart. She likes to throw them in the floor but will not under any circumstances pick them up again. She will however let Gloria or me pick them up for her.

Abi with another little girl adopted monday as well. she loves to hold abi, and abi dont mind. a very sweet girl who is learning english at a really good pace.

ok, so today we went to walmart. Abi needed some more clothes so hey walmart it is. they wouldnt aloow me to take pics in the store but it was a super center and it was 2 stories. they had escalators that the buggies would actually go on. Abi did not want anything to do with the buggy. She had to be carried the whole time. but i found that by making poot noises with my mouth and kissing at her in the air that she would smile. Alot. She still dont want me to hold her, but she kisses me. She dont mind if im touching her so we are getting better. i can actually kiss her hand or cheek and she dont run screaming. YAY!!! keep praying. send more pics soon.

mmmmmmmmmm, me loves mcnuggets.

i made her smile....... PROGRESS!!!!!

i think i am about done for now.we are going to try and go to walmart. lol. gotta go to wal-mart i mean really. whats a trip out of town without at least one wal-mart run?

the great wall. wow

wow. standing here looking into the forbidden city.  amazing at how long the buildings have stood and the construction. it said on one of the carvings that they sprinkled water on the road in winter and moved in on the ice.

tian'anmen square. i cant believe i was actually standing there

me in front of the olympic birds nest. we had a good full 30 minutes to check it out and we parked 25 minutes away from the thing on the bus. so this was as close as i got.

public "toilet" so practice your squatting. and trust me, you dont want to know whats under the suds. ewwwwww

sign over a urinal. and actually it made me take a step closer.lol

ok so i am sending all this to the blog not having any idea how it looks on the other end and it will only let me send one picture at a time because i am sending files too large to be processed or whatever it does. so i am gonna send some random stuff from beijing and the great wall and some that i found funny. one picture at a time.

55 to 60 degrees outside and they had her bundled like an eskimo. looked like ralphies little brother on the christmas story movie

she screamed bloody murder when we tried to give her a bottle or sippy cup, but sprite out of the bottle was fine.

eatin cheerios

ok, back on the air. alot has happened in the last couple days. first i remembered that i forgot my power cord for the laptop, so yeah, battery died. we went sight seeing through beijing; great wall, forbidden city, summer palace, jade factory, pearl place.... etc etc etc. i actually tried to eat some chinese food... yeah exactly. flying isnt near as bad as i had thought all these years so i think i am over it. we flew out of beijing and into nanchang today. came to the hotel and kinda settled in and got "the call" to come downstairs and get our Abi. we finalized the paperwork today and as far as China is concerned, she belongs to us. stopped at a pizza hut and eat on the way back and Mary, me and our driver went on a little errand to go find me a new charger. it works obviously or i wouldnt be typing here now. Abi still hasnt quite got used to the idea that these people are gonna be here for her and she is still pretty much crying uncontrollably, but its not as bad as it first was. post some pictures here in a few, i gotta go make a bottle... keep praying

itenerary for China for those of you that are curious. its already friday night here, 6:45am nashville tn time  on friday. tomorrow and sunday we go sightseeing. tiananmen square, forbidden city, summer palace, great wall and church service on sunday. monday morning we fly out to nanchang and sometime that day we have Abi. tuesday we have the appointment at the civil affairs office to make her legally ours. wednesday and thursday more sightseeing and probably fussing with a child that does not know us yet. friday we fly to guangzhou. saturday Abi gets a medical exam. sunday we do paperwork for our government to allow her to come home. monday is our consulate appt. tuesday is the oath taking ceremony. wednesday we pick up her visa and take a nice 3 hour bus trip to hong kong. thursday we board a plane for home. praise God. keep praying for us.

ok, 12 and a half hours later we finally make it to beijing. checked in at a really nice hotel and gonna get a bite to eat. tired, sore, and apparently there are fireworks shows all over town. gonna do some sight seeing tomorrow and sunday. will try to post pictures later.

Fixin' to take off from the chicago airport on a 777 boeing. Gonna go show China what a hillbilly looks like. Keep prayin'. We need em.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

just had late breakfast or early lunch at o'hare airport. watching the planes take off and land. gloria was more nervous than i was which is suprising. i actually took a nap on the way here from nashville. keep praying, we will check in later.

Landed safe and sound in chicago. Next stop Beijing.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

getting started

This is Abi Mei Lei Dodd. We will hopefully be able to post to this blog while on the journey to China to pick her up. Thats the plan anyway.