Journey to Mia

Send us your positive thoughts and prayers!

2007-10-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

Mia is scheduled for noon surgery on 10/19/07 to fix her cleft palate. We are here in Chapel Hill. Tracey and Mia went to some appointments today - surgeon, speech, en&t - everything went great. She even weighed in at over 18 pounds for the first time!

Not only is above exciting (and yes, a little scary), but Tracey and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary today! Wow, it seems like only yesterday we got married in NYC...and now we are southerners.

Ok, enough of that. Here's some pictures from last 6 weeks or so since we've been home. Mia is adjusting to USA great, she's a little spitfire...we'll post more over the next week or so.

Ok Dad, enough with the pictures, can't you see I'm eating!

Mochas says, "I'm not sure I like not being the queen any more, but I do like all the food that falls from this thing!"

Hmm, I become a Yankee fan, they lose and Torre is gone; well there's always next year!

Get back you heathens!

Mom, Grandma has some weird animals in her neighborhood!

It's been a hectic week!! Safely home at 1:30am 9/7, story below...

2007-09-08T13:57:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy yet wonderful last few days. Quick recap, but mostly we'll just post pictures with some captions. In Guangzhou on 9/4, Mia had her physical along with 50 or so other adoptees - quick process, no problems. She weighs about 18 pounds, we'll fatten her up!

On Wednesday 9/5 we went to the US Consulate (no cameras allowed) along with 40 or so kids and families. It was pretty neat, our guide dealt with all our paperwork, all we had to do was show up and get sworn in. Mia properly said the Pledge of Allegiance and that George Washington was our first President.

Mia was great on the flight home. Unfortunately there was a sick passenger (she was convulsing about 6 rows in front of us, very exciting), so it turned a 14 hour flight into a 19 hour deal - just what you want with a 15 month old who doesn't know you well. But I think Tracey and I were crankier than Mia was. The only problem we've had with Mia has been her sleeping, but every day gets better. Yesterday and today she actually took a nap (and so did Mom). Mia has made the rounds - neighbors, friends, relatives, and both Tracey and my workplaces. She is very friendly and outgoing.

We met with the surgeon on 9/14 who we had consulted with prior to leaving for China. We have another appointment with someone else later this week, and then we'll decide what to do.

Ok, I'll just post some pictures with captions now. More pictures later on tonight or tomorrow.

Big sister Mocha and Mia are getting along ok!

First landing on U.S. soil is supposed to be Chicago. Nope, this is Anchorage, Alaska (FYI, Tracey spent a few summers there when her grandparents lived there). Not exactly a detour we wanted en route to Chicago.

Famous red couches at White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

We were always on the lookout for these...

Nice tea ceremony, we had 6 different kinds of tea.

Elvin, our guide in Guangzhou, was a great guy. Plus he's the only person I have met who has dated his girlfriend longer than Tracey and I dated, so we had fun with that.

Tessa and Mia did some good head-butting, haven't seen that since my college days a long time ago!

Nice Doctor where Mia and a lot of other children had their physicals.

Outside the clinic prior to the physical.

Instead of joining a gym (and then never going) a lot of the people just go to a park, exercise, dance, whatever.

Future and present Buddha, very impressive in person.

Anything to entertain Mia, nice parakeets at the White Swan Hotel.

Ok, I was there.

Tracey's Post (Eric did some of the pix and captions)

2007-09-03T00:06:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody!

I'm getting a chance to post today! Mia is napping and we have some down time so here it goes. Arriving in Guangzhou yesterday was like stepping into an oasis. Even though it is a city of 11 million people it seems a little less crazy than Changsha. We are staying in a beautiful hotel called the White Swan on Shamian Island. It is absolutely gorgeous here. Very tropical, lots of palm trees and flowers. The hotel is right on the Pearl River. There are not a lot of cars on the island so it is easy to walk on foot and push a stroller. The other amazing thing is all of the families here who are also adopting. All of the babies come from different provinces all over China but all of the Americans end up in Guanghzhou to process through US Immigration. So the hotel is filled with many families with their new babies or children. It is quite something. Many, many very happy people here.

Mia continues to amaze us. She is eating well. Today she had her physical (part of the immigration process) and everything went great. We had been a little worried because she has a little wheeze. The doctor said her chest was fine and ears are fine as well. One of the famous souvenirs here is something called "squeaky shoes". They squeak when the children walk. We bought her a little pair of squeaky sandals yesterday and it was hysterical. She loves to walk in them. She is also enjoying her little stroller and the best part is she falls asleep in it! That's been the only really hard thing is that she fights falling asleep at night. Other than that she's smiling, laughing and having a great time.

We have one other CWA family traveling with us, Sean and Abbey Kennedy. They have adopted a little girl who is eight years old. Her name in Jin-Jin and she is adorable. She's been helping keep Mia entertained in the van or when we have to wait in lines. We are all having a good time together.

We want to thank everyone for all of the nice posts to our blog. It's so nice to know people are following our trip and keeping us company. I'll add some of my favorite pictures now and we will post more later!

Tracey

Dinner at Lucy's in Guangzhou

indoctrinating Mia early on who her favorite team is, but she's not too happy about it

Nice playroom at the White Swan Hotel

2 happy dogs at the farm (they were pets as far as we could tell)

sign outside our hotel in Changsha we thought was amusing combination

did you miss us? 9/1 & 9/2 update (we'll post more pix in a little while)

2007-09-02T18:41:00.000-04:00

We needed to get out of Changsha to maintain our sanity, so on Saturday our guide Peter took us to the countryside, a little under an hour from the city. It was really cool, we saw the rice paddies and farms, and then we stopped at a farm where people come for lunch. It was a little early for lunch, plus when Tracey saw the farmer carrying a live chicken to the back, lunch there was no longer an option. They had 2 dogs which Mia enjoyed seeing as well as a chicken which was still enjoying life. We sat and had tea with the farmer and 2 policeman who came for lunch. They thanked us for adopting Mia and taking her to a new life.

So that was our last day in Changsha. For the Northerners reading this, picture the amount of traffic and people in NY City and multiply by about 100 - Charlotte multiply by at least 1000. There is no quiet area in the city.

On Sunday we got to the airport about 9am for Mia's first plane ride. She did great (and so did her Mom). We kept her entertained with Post-It Notes and some of her little stuffed animals. We were hoping to get to cut the line and get on first, but that is not Chinese practice - they didn't give a hoot that we were toting a baby and 3 carry-ons.

We arrived in Guangzhou around 11am and our guide and driver had us sit for a while waiting for the other family who we had met in Beijing to arrive on their flight. Abbey, Sean, and Jin-Jin are in a couple of pictures. Jin-Jin is 8 and has been living with a foster family.

Guangzhou is very nice. It is quieter and more touristy. We'll tell you more about it with our next post.

Today we do some official stuff - Mia's physical included. Then some touring.

Speak to y'all soon.

Mia, Tracey and Eric

8/31 update

2007-08-31T18:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we received more official documentation back that they were processing since Tuesday. The last thing we need is Mia's passport, which will be here today (yes, they work on Saturday here!).

This morning is the first morning when Mia woke up that she was not upset, so she is getting used to us. We've been trying to tell her she won't always be living in a hotel with lots of people, but we're not sure she understands.

Yesterday we went to the park along the river, it was neat. Similar to what NYC has done on West Side Highway, but bigger.

Mia had a good day. She wasn't hungry for breakfast, which was the first time she hadn't really chowed down. Her stomach was a little upset judging by what came out a little later (I won't go into details). Rest of day was good, one of the pix you see of me holding her had Tracey in histerics...when I took her, she immediately started wailing, but I was going to get in a picture. The last picture in our hotel room she had finally let me hold her with no problems, including holding her crossing the street from the restaurant. Maybe today Mia won't cry when her Mommy leaves the room. It's amazing to see how well she's taken to Tracey.

Anyway, all is great. Today if it does not rain we are going to the countryside. Maybe eat in a farmer's hut if he allows it. If it rains, our guide had set up going to a museum.

This is our last day in Changsha. Tomorrow morning we take a short flight to Guangzhou, first test of Mia on a plane. That should be fun.

Regards,

Mia, Tracey and Eric

8/30 update

2007-08-30T18:44:00.001-04:00

We are all awesome here...actually as I'm typing this Tracey just said "2 more days here, thank God"!

Although it's great, it is hard living out of a hotel room and not being home.

Ok, one funny thing regarding language problem. We usually can find someone who speaks passable English. I was trying to find someone to vacuum our a little better and couldn't get it across to a couple of housekeepers. Finally I thought I did by making a vacuuming motion. When we got back to the room a couple of hours later, there was a nice stroller they provided! Very funny!

Yesterday was a fun day. We went to the Embroidery Museum (the Hunan province where we are is very well known for this) with our guide Peter. He is a great guy. Has plans for the mornings for us every day, then he leaves us alone for the afternoon, then we eat dinner with him right across from the hotel in a restaurant (it's Chinese). The photo of Mao we posted as well as the others that look like paintings are embroidery - the work they do is amazing.

So we got some nice culture. Then we went to Walmart, which I think was just as amazing. Walmart with items for the Chinese, including a lot of fresh fish and who knows what else.

Mia is doing great. She is getting more used to me- we played roll the big beach ball for a while yesterday. Lucie, I bet today I'll be in some pictures! She is very feisty, likes to babble, and is very energetic, especially in the afternoons.

Today we are going to a park along the river.

Thanks to everyone for following our journey and for posting to the blog. We enjoy reading everyone's comments.

Mia, Tracey & Eric

8/29 update

2007-08-29T19:12:00.000-04:00

We ended up just staying in the hotel yesterday. I think all of us were just exhausted from the last few days. We were supposed to go to a park with our guide...oh well maybe one of the other days.

Mia did great yesterday. We had a hotel doctor and interpreter come look at her because she was wheezing a little and pulling on her ears. The doctor said she was fine (first-time parents??), so that made us feel better.

Mia had a great time in a playroom they have in the hotel. She is eating up a storm and can walk on her own (a little wobbly).

Here are some pix. Tracey wanted me to make sure I explained her hair in some of the pix - it is very humid here and our hotel hair dryer hardly blows :)

Thank you to everyone who is following our journey.

Mia, Tracey and Eric

8/28 pictures and update

2007-08-28T17:02:00.000-04:00

We officially got Mia yesterday!! We went back to the Office of Civil Affairs, handed in some paperwork and money. There were about 20 other families doing the same thing, most from Spain. Kind of a crazy day there (it is the same place where we picked up Mia on Monday), then from what we understand the rest of the week slows down.

Here's some more pictures, including her first bath!! The lady in the picture is the Director of Mia's orphanage. We were able to ask her some questions. She said that one of Mia's caretakers took her outside very often, which often doesn't happen in orphanages.

Everything is great here. Mia loves Tracey, she's not too sure about me (I'm not taking it personally yet), we've read that is normal. The one picture we posted yesterday is the only time she briefly let me hold her. We'll work on that today! Here's the first test, Tracey is in the shower and Mia is waking up - yesterday she would wail, we'll see what happens now!

Our hotel's internet connection is very slow, so we'll spend most of the time uploading pictures this morning. Tonight we are going to try an internet bar which is better and we'll give some descriptions.

Give big sister Mocha a hug from us!

Eric, Tracey, and Mia

Some more pictures...

2007-08-27T20:00:00.001-04:00

Introducing Mia Yan Lederer!

2007-08-27T09:37:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

We had THE MOST AMAZING DAY! We arrived in Changsha around 2pm, checked-in at our hotel and then left for the Office of Civil Affairs. We walked into a room where about 20 families from Spain were adopting their babies. It was chaotic and very moving. Our guide, who's name is Peter, led us to another room and Mia was waiting for us. She was with one of her nannies. We just talked to her at first and then they let me hold her. She is so cute! She is still a tiny little girl. I think she weighs about 20 pounds. We then left the office and headed back to our hotel and I haven't let go of her since! Well I did let Eric hold her at dinner.

She has been a little trooper. She cried a little bit at first but put on this little stoic face and went on! When we brought her back to the hotel room we just played with her for a while. She loved all of her toys, especially the little books and stacking cups! We changed her and headed out for dinner. She ate very well at dinner. We are now back at the hotel and she is fast asleep in her little crib.

Our first day was truly wonderful and completely amazing. But I know you just want to see pictures. We will post more tomorrow, but right now we are going to collapse into bed as well!

Eric, Tracey & Mia

A Little Closer...

2007-08-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

Hi from Washington DC!

Well we didn't quite make it to Beijing today. All of the United flights from Charlotte to Chicago were delayed or cancelled due to the bad weather in the Midwest. We did finally make it on to a plane, but then there were mechanical difficulties! The good news is, we have been re booked out of Washington Dulles. The bad new is, we don't leave until tomorrow. We decided we did not want to take any chances so we flew up to Washington this afternoon. We depart for Beijing tomorrow at 12:23pm, arriving on Sunday at 1:55pm. It will mean we will miss some touring in Beijing but "Gotcha Day" is still on Monday! YEAH! Only a few more days until we meet Mia!

Right now we are just relaxing and watching the Panthers game in nice, cool hotel room. Not too bad! It's hard to get really upset about travel problems when we are just so excited to be meeting Mia soon! Please continue to pray for our safe travel, we appreciate all of your support!

Much love,

Tracey & Eric

Introduction

2007-08-15T20:06:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to our blog for our journey to our daughter Mia! We will be traveling to China in about 1 week to meet our beautiful little girl. We hope you will follow our blog so that you can be a part of our exciting trip!

First a little about Mia…
We started our adoption journey in April of 2006. We chose China, completed all of our paperwork, and began our wait for a referral for a child. In April of 2007, we were reviewing our adoption agency’s special needs children list and saw Mia’s information. She has a cleft lip and palate that has not been repaired yet. We inquired more about this wonderful little girl and sent our request to China to adopt her on May 4th. We received our final approval from the Chinese government to adopt Mia on July 9th, a very special day! We leave for China on August 24th. YEAH!

Mia’s Chinese name is Chen Yan Hong. Chen is her last name, because she is from the city of Chenzhou in the province of Hunan. She currently resides in an orphange called the Chenzhou Children’s Welfare Institute. She was born on May 13, 2006 and our last update said she weighed 17.5 pounds. As you can see from her picture on her first birthday, she is TOTALLY ADORABLE!

Here is our itinerary for trip to China. We plan on posting to our blog while we are in China so you can follow our trip.

Friday, 8/24/07

Depart for Beijing, China

Saturday, 8/25/07

Arrive in Beijing, China

Sunday, 8/26/07

Tour the Forbidden City and the Great Wall

Monday, 8/27/07

Fly to Changsha, Hunan, China (Mia’s province) Mia will take a train from her orphanage (with a nanny) and we will meet her that afternoon – “Gotcha Day”!

Tuesday, 8/28/07 to
Saturday, 9/1/07

Spend time in Mia’s province getting to know each other, filling out adoption paperwork and visiting local sights

Sunday, 9/2/07

Fly to Guangzhou, China
This is the city where we process through US Immigration

Thursday, 9/6/07 Return home to Charlotte, NC with MIA!

Thanks for stopping by, we will post more before we leave for China!

Tracey & Eric