It's Official!

We are now officially a family of "4"
















Me and my girls!























Happy Birthday, Rick!


















The Gilbert Family
















Soon we will be on our way back HOME, USA here we come!
















Hello everyone. We have had busy few days here in Guangzho. The children had their physicals which was not fun for them, on Tuesday. Then, yesterday, we all went to the Consulate to take "oath" and to get the baby's visa and passports. All went well.

Now, we fly out this morning at 8:30 to Hong Kong and then to Chicago about 15 our flight. Please pray safe travel and that Jenna and all of the other children on the plane (probably about 50 families) will do okay. For most of them, this will be their first time flying.

Check out the photobucket, new photos posted last night.

Thanks to all who have followed our journey and prayed for our family. I will post updates periodically so all can see how well Jenna is doing.

Blessings,
Rick, Teresa, Madison and Jenna Gilbert

Guangzho Day 1

Do we have to do this?!?


















Moving through the different check stations. Ears look good!


















Hey guys were almost done!


















Other families waiting at the Medical Examiners facility.


















Sweet dreams, precious little one!


















Our flight was very smooth from Nanchang to Guangzho on Sunday and Jenna did very well. Madison did a great job of keeping Jenna occupied with magazines, drawing and of course eating snacks.

We have been having some trouble here in Guangzho getting on the internet which is why we haven't posted any updates. I can get in to the site to post but can't see the site like you all can - very weird.

Anyway, yesterday we took Jenna to get her physical exam - she passed with flying colors. There were lots of other families there getting PE for their adopted children as well. It was heart wrenching as some of the children would not let go of their mommies, clinging on with both hands and legs due to fear of either the doctors or fear that the parents were going to leave them - very emotion experience.

Jenna's personality is really starting to come out more and more each day - Sunday, on the way to the hotel from the airport madison had her laughing and singing, which was the first time we'd heard her talk at all. Yesterday, she goofed off a little with mommy and grandma playing peekaboo and just being silly - it was just an awesome feeling to hear her laugh and sing.

When we got back from a very short shopping trip, Jenna finally made a poopy on her own. It wasn't very big, but we were all excited about it. I am a little concerned, though, now that the damn has broken (hee, hee) and we are gong to be out most of the day today.

Today, our guide will take our paperwork and fees to the Consulate where they will check to make sure everything is in order. She also will send off the paperwork for Jenna's Visa. Then on Wednesday, we go to take the oath at the Consulate which is the final step here in China.

Please pray everything will continue to go smoothly. We appreciate all of your prayers!

I will post more later.

The Gilberts

Update from Guangzhou

Well, we have arrived in Guangzhou and are enjoying it much better! Unfortunately I've been unable to get our blog page to open so I haven't been able to update you on what's going on. I have someone actually typing this update for me to post on our blog. In the morning I am going to try and post and fill you in on what has taken place the last couple of days. If I am not able to post it from here I will have my friend do it for me so check back soon for more details!

There are new pictures in photobucket under "Day 1 Guangzhou"

Take care,
Teresa

Final Day in Nanchang

Aren't I just too cute!!


















See Saw with my girls!


















Watch out! We are driving Chinese style!!


















Seeing Americans; Excitement of the day for these Chinese ladies!


















Silly Girl!



















Well, we ventured out today for another taxi ride to the park - we survived. I thought I was really going to be sick on the ride back to the hotel though. The girls enjoyed the park for the part.

We are hitting the bed early tonight 'cause we have to be up by 5:30 a.m. to be ready to leave by 7:30 a.m. Guongzho here we come!!!! Time to power shop!

Check out the new photos in the photobucket. I have done pretty good, I think, only 300 photos so far.

Please pray for safe travel - fourth out of seven flights to take for our journey!

The Gilberts

Nanchang Day 5

Check us out! Do we look Chinese?
















Gilbert Family at Buddha Temple























Jenna feeding Mommy!


















Boys with new toys!
















Mommy & Sweet Daughter, Jenna!


















Daddy & Jenna
























Madison & Mei Mei (Little Sister)























Hello Again,

Today went very well - we picked up Jenna's passport at about noon today so she can travel to Guongzho on Sunday.

Today was pretty adventurous. At breakfast we found out Rick's parent's room had a leak starting at 3:00 from the ceiling. They found something to put on the floor to collect the water but had to listen to the dripping all night. Every day it seems something goes a rye here in this hotel.

I called Lilly (our guide who is wonderful, by the way) at 7:30 a.m. and she spoke to the manager of the hotel - within an hour the hotel had another room ready for them to move to on the same floor. Unfortunately, that room was very musty and with Gil's asthma, that was unacceptable - so, the hotel moved them to yet another room on the same floor.

Also, had to take Jenna to see the hotel doctor who did not come in until 9:00 - she took care of the constipation problem Jenna is having - I will spare you the details but it was not fun for poor Jenna.

By 10:00 we were off to pay for the notary and then to pick up Jenna's passport. We did do some shopping on Porcelain Lane between the two and learned how to spot quality Porcelain. Picked up some nice gifts and porcelain for the girls.

Lilly's (our guide) agency provided some pool time at another hotel for us this afternoon. That made Madison's day. After lunch at McDonald's, we went to a very fancy hotel with a nice pool for two hours. When Lilly arrived to pick us up, she advised us that our bus driver got stuck in traffic and she had to take a taxi to get to the hotel in time - but, we were to wait for the bus driver to get out of traffic. About 45 minutes later, she decided to get two taxis to take us back to our hotel because our driver was still stuck in traffic. Lilly, Rick and Gil took one taxi because they wanted to go to the Market to pick up more boy toys and Madison, Jane, Jenna and I took a separate taxi back to the hotel. Let me just say, that taxi ride was even more scary than the bus rides. Poor Jane said "that took 50 years off of my life". I just had to laugh the whole time to avoid crying. The traffic patterns are so unbelievable - you have to see it to beleive it. I am truly amazed that we haven't seen anyone get run over, yet.

We have taken video of the streets but you really do have to experience it to beleive it - it is almost like organized caos but it is truly scarey.

Tomorrow, we are here without a guide. For some reason, a guide is not provided to us on Saturday so we have no way to communicate to anyone to order our food, take us places, negotiate prices for us should we decide to go shopping or take us to the park. We have decided to try to take a bus to the park, but I am not sure we will do this after the adventurous taxi ride we took today. We may just stay in and play it safe.

Check out the photobucket - we posted lots more photos today. I will post again tomorrow but their may not be anything exciting to tell if we decide to stay in.

Our plane is scheduled to fly out to Guongzho on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. - can't be soon enough! Please pray for safe travel and that Jenna will do okay on the plane.

Take care,
Teresa

UPDATE

Hello everyone,

Sorry I didn't update the site yesterday. Jenna was very fussy last night and I could not put her down - I had to rock her to sleep standing up and could not let go. She still has not had a bowel movement (it's been five days) and I think she is very uncomfortable. She is having a lot of gas pains so hopefully she will go poopy soon. She eats very well and loves fruit which is about the only form of fiber we can find around here.

We go this morning to get her passport which is the last step here in Nanchang. We should be back to the hotel mid afternoon and I will update the site with photos then.

Sorry for the delay. We greatly appreciate you guys taking this journey with us and your encouraging words. Please continue to pray the paperwork goes well - if something is wrong with her passport today we have to go back to Beijing.

When you wake up, I promise you will see updated pictures.

Blessings, Teresa

2nd Day in Nanchang

Our Super Star! Jenna loves her stroller!


















Wahoo! We found Pizza Hut!!


















Check out the buns! Split plants are a common site here.


















Side street from our hotel!


















Meat Market! We totally lost our apetite at this point!


















Hello again everyone,

The weather here today was extremely hot. We went out shopping and couldn't bear the heat. The chinese people do not use the air conditioning like we do in the states. We go to the dining area of our hotel every morning at 7:00 and I can feel the sweat beads popping up on my face 'cause it is so hot in the hotel. We wake up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat. Nanchang is considered the "melting pot" which is an under statement. We found out today that the hotel does turn off the ac after it reaches a certain temperature, which explains why we wake up hot. Unfortunately our hotel does not have a pool so it is pretty much impossible to find releif from the heat.

Today was a little trying due to the heat and pretty much not a whole lot to do in this city. We have almost exhausted all touristing areas. We are planning to go to the Pavilion (which is indoors) and try to do some shopping, then try to go to the park - the weather forecast calls for rain tomorrow and possibly 5 degrees cooler temperatures - please pray for rain!

The highlight of the day was finding Pizza Hut. It is so hot here none of us have much of an appetite, though.

Jenna is doing very well. She is becoming more interactive with her toys and with us. She still doesn't allow daddy to get too close for any length of time, but we anticipated this. We have discovered she is a bit picky when it comes to her food (well, she fits right in with me and madison). She does not like applesauce. She drinks formula (special kind from her Province) and loves conjee (which is just watered down white rice simmered for two hours) which is very bland. She is balancing better when she walks and is more willing to walk without a fus now. But, she still loves to ride in her stroller - who wouldn't? The first few days she would not hold her bottle or cup on her own - instead, she would pick it up and hand it to me or Madison to hold for her. Today, we started encouraging her to hold it herself, and she did a few times.

Please pray for cooler weather here as it is miserable both inside the hotel and out side. We miss everyone back home and can't wait for you all to meet Jenna.

Take a look at the new photos on the photobucket - we got mooned again today but got a good photo of it. Also, there are photos of some of the locals in their normal everyday settings. The meat market is enough to turn me into a vegetarian. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Will post more tomorrow.

Teresa

Day 2 in Nanchang

Proud Big Sister!


















We found McDonald's!!!


















Mom playing with her TWO daughters!
















Daddy with his new daughter Jenna!


















Hello to all again,

Thank you to everyone for your encouraging words - we are truly enjoying watching Jenna make so many strides. Initially, she demonstrated some muscle weakness in her neck as well as being able to sit up on her own. I have since been told by another family who adopted from this orphanage that it is common for the children to have muscle weakness. They did not get much exercise in the orphanage and spent a lot of time in the walkers. Since yesterday, her neck muscles have already gotten stronger. Please pray that her muscles will continue to get stronger.

Also, she is very unsteady when walking but that is getting better as well. Her face lights up and she smiles from ear to ear when she sees the stroller, probably because we are encouraging her to walk more than she would like. Although, as long as Madison holds her hand, she is happy to walk. We use the stroller only when walking around in the city.

I must say, the people in China, for the most part, are very eager to please and willing to do anything for you. It is quite amazing to us the amount of people who can speak a little bit of english like "photo", or "beautiful", "you're welcome" et cetera. What is even more amazing is, if when trying to communicate to the waitresses, and other hotel staff, if they cannot understand what we are saying, they ask us to write it down and then they recognize it. That is just fascinating to us because their written language is so different from the written english.

Another thing that is pretty fascinating is the fact that with all of the crazy drivers, we have yet to see anyone have road rage or even use sign language (if you know what I mean) when someone cuts them off, turns in front of them or even almost hits them on a scooter or bike. We are gonna attempt to get this on video tape because it is truly hard to beleive people actually drive like this.

We got mooned today, by a little boy in he hotel who was leaning over to see the fish in the fish tank in the lobby (he was wearing split pantws. It is so odd how these children have their privates exposed and releive themselves where ever they are. My mother-in-law saw an adult male releiving himself on the side walk today. There are also beggers everyone and I do mean everywhere. It definitely makes us appreciate being US Citizens after seeing the conditions in which the chinese people live.

Check out the new photos we posted from today. You can see just how much Jenna has come out of her shell in less than one day of being with us. God is so awesome and it is just amazing to us to see him working in our lives.

We found McDonald's today and we were all ecstatic to see fries and a burger - tomorrow we are going for Pizza. Never thought I would get sick of Chinese food, but it is really starting to get old.

Tomorrow, we are going to the August First Park (hopefully will learn about the history of this park), have pizza for lunch and then go shopping (yippee!). Jane and I are really excited about the shopping part of our schedule for tomorrow.

Will post more tomorrow.

Take care,
Teresa, Rick, Madison and Jenna

First Night!

Our Sweet Angels!


















Bedtime, sweet dream precious little one!


















Exhausted Girls!! It was a long day!


















Jenna, for now, seems to be a little timid and reserved but knows how to communicate when she does not want to do something by shaking her head no. After her bath, I layed her on the bed with her baby, panda bear and blanky and she just layed there for about 30 minutes, no fuss, and just went to sleep. So far, she is a very easy baby. I have heard so many horror stories about babies crying for days due to be so scared of the changes, but she is already smiling at - we are so blessed and so thankful for our girls.

I tried to put her on the potty (western potty like we have at home) but she did not like that at all. The kids in the orphanage are only use to little potties that sit on the floor. The director tells us that she is potty trained - however, she is adult trained, which means, the nannies put the children on the potty after they have a bottle or eat and the children have to sit there until they go.

Will post more tonight.

Thank you all for your encouraging words and prayers.

Teresa

Gotcha Day!

Gotcha Day!
















First Dinner With Us!
















Such A Doll!


















After a 2 hour flight from Beijing to Nanchang, we finally got to meet our little Jenna today. During the plane ride, the flight attenants all wanted to take pictures with Madison - she is s bit star now.

At first, Jennna cried a little when I took her from the Director, but it didn't take her long to settle down. Once we gave her a bottle with water in it, she was fine. Unfortunately, she wouldn't let anyone else hold her, including her big sister and that caused some hurt feelings. But, after we all (me, rick, grammy and poppy) talked to Madison about how they attach and that it will take some time, she was somewhat okay.

After we left the Civil Affairs office, we went to Walmart to pick up some school supplies, clothes and toys for the kids at the orphanage as well as formula since I didn't bring any with me. She was holding on to me for dear life the entire time we were at Walmart.

After returning to the hotel, we had approximately one hour to freshen up and get downstairs for supper. During that one hour, Jenna warmed up to Madison and held her arms up to Madison to carry her - that just made Madison's day. She carried Jenna on her hip until we got to our table. She is such a good big sister. Jenna was not really interested in the formula but loved the conjee and watermellon the waitresses brought to her. While eating her conjee she became a comedian making faces at Madison while eating - she was so cute!


Tomorrow, we have to go back to the civil affairs office to more paperwork and then we can rest for a few days. We are all still having trouble with the jet lag.

Check out the new photos we posted of Gotcha Day.

Will post more tomorrow.

Teresa

Touring in Beijing

Peiking Duck Dinner!
















Our time clocks are still off a little. I woke up a midnight thinking it was time to get up. Hoewver, it was only midnight. After tossing and turning I looked at the clock (the sun was up) and it was only 5:30 a.m. Madison woke up shortly thereafter and started playing with moon sand right away.

We all boarded our bus around 8:30 and from that point on, we were praying for our lives. The chinese do haved traffic laws, but the do not follow them. Pedestrians do not have the right of way here - so, we just knew our driver was going to hit someone before we could get back to the hotel. One lane roads often turned into two to three lane roads. If the driver didn't drive fast enough, the car behind us would drive in the median to get by. We could stick our hand out of the window and touch the automobiles going by - very scary!

We shopped at the jade market here in Beijing but the prices were quite high. Hope to find jewelry at a much more reasonable price when we shop in Guongzho.

We walked up the Great wall for about an hour before Madison and I were too tired to go any further. We didn't realize how steep the Great Wall was until we started climbing it. the scienary from the higher parts of the wall were just spectacular. The only thing we didn't like was all the peddlers getting in our face and asking us to buys something, post cards, toys, scarves, et cetera. They would not take no for an answers. I did purchase some post cards, the original price was $20, but by the time we ending our bargaining, we got two packs for $10 - not bad.

We had dinner at nice restaurant with a gift shop beneath it. We had Duck for dinner which was awesome. It was so juicey, we think it was deep fried.

Our plane leaves around 10:00 a.m. in the morning - we will finally be able to put our arms around Jenna by the end of the day tomorrow. We are all so excited! That wait has been gruelling but I must say, we have learned a lot through this process. The tours were long and tiring, but learned lots about chinese history.

We are so glad to be in China and are enjoying every minute of the time we are here. Can't wait to get to Nanchang and learn more about the Province where Jenna was born.

We have posted new photos in the photobucket - take a look.

Will post again tomorrow night with photos of our "Gotcha Day"

We greatly appreciate your prayers!

Take Care, Teresa

Touring in Beijing

Madison is now our STAR! Everyone wants a picture with her!
















We had a vert full day today. First, I woke up at midnight thinking it was time to get up only to find it was only 2 hours after we went to bed. So, then I dosed in and out (which has been my typical sleeping pattern for the past few months) until about 5:40 when we all woke up for the day. Madison is full speed from the time her feet hit the floor - her first priority was to play with the moon sand.

We had an awesome breakfast this morning. When then boarded a bus that took us to the Forbidden City - we were not sure if we would make it in one peice or not. The chinese do have traffic laws, but none of then, including our bus driver, obeyed the traffic laws. Also, pedestrians do not have the right of way - we just thought for sure our driver was going to run someone over before we could make it back to the hotel. As you can see by the photo we took while in the bus, one lane roads actually turn into two to three lane roads. If you are not going fast enough, the traffic behind you will drive on the median just to get by you and cut you off. Thank God for my Scopalamine Patch.

Both of the moms from the two other families in our group left presents (V) on the plane. The landing in Beijing was a little rough but surprisingly enough we did okay.

I think between the Forbidden City and the Great wall, we must walked at least 20 miles today. We had some very unusual sites to see as well - lots of babies and toddlers being help up to urinate with split pants on - seemed we were being mooned quite often.

Madison is the new attraction for the chinese people. Lots of people wanted to take pictures with her and at first she thought it was pretty cool. But, by the end of the day, she was tired of it.

As much as I love chinese food, I can't wait to find McDonalds or Pizza Hut!

One more day

In Beijing

The jet that carried us from Washington to Beijing!


















After approximately 15 hours on the two planes, we finally made it to Beijing.

I have to give praise to Him. He has answered so many of our prayers throughout this process; the most recent of which was calming my nerves so I could get on the planes and He did! I have been more calm this past week than I have been throughout the whole process. Both plane rides were unevenful. However the videos would not work on the plane from Washington to Beijing. The crew tried for three hours to get it to work and was unsuccessful. Thankfully, we had two DVD players, Madison's nintendo and other things to keep our minds occupied. Though, the last six hours of travel were the longest. The seats were extremely small and there was absolutely no leg room. It could have been a lot worse though, so I will stop complaining now.

Madison met a little friend - 10 month old china doll - who was sitting in front of her. She really enjoyed playing pee pie with her.

Unfortunately, we cannot connect to the internet in our room here in Biejing so I had to get on using the Business Center in the hotel. Rick is working on gaining access in the room and hopefully tomorrow night, after we get back from touring the Great Wall and the Forbidden city, we can post some photos.

We are all very exhausted - we couldn't get comfortable on the plane to get any rest. However, we took a little nap before dinner and are now ready to go to bed.

Just one day and a wake up day before we meet Jenna. Please continue to pray for safe travel (we have to take another plane ride to Jenna's Province Capitol Jiangxi on Monday) and for God to prepare her for our arrival. Madison is still bouncing off the walls with excitement!

I will post again tomorrow night after dinner.

Blessings, Teresa

We're Off!

We start the travel portion of our Journey to Jenna tomorrow, May 17th. We plan to leave Wilmington around 3:00 for an overnight stay in Raleigh. We have to be at the airport by 6:00 Friday morning and then off to Washington and then to Beijing. We are all running on low fuel - having a lot of restless nights. Madison is so giddy she can't sleep either - she is so excited about finally meeting her little sister - she, of course, plans to carry Jenna on her hip like the little mama she is. Please continue to pray for safe travel and for God to prepare Jenna for our arrival.

We would like to say "Thank You" to everyone who has contributing to our effort to get to China. Thank you to everyone who donated items for us to take to the orphanage and the monetary gifts we will use to purchase more items such as school supplies for the kids in the Fenyi Orphanage. May God Bless you all! It is amazing the things we all take for granted like having paper to write on, a pencil to write with that this kids live without on a daily basis. You have all helped enrich the lives of the children in such a huge way. I pray God will continue to guide us and show us how we can to help these children in the future. Most especially, we Thank You all for your prayers as we know first hand that He is definitely listening and has opened many doors for us throughout this journey.

We will post a message when we arrive in Beijing.

Blessings, Rick, Teresa and Madison

IT'S OFFICIAL!

We received our airline tickets, visas and passports in the mail yesterday - it's official, we are traveling May 18th. It seems more real now that we have the tickets in hand - and my anxiety level has shot up 1000%. We are all getting very excited around here and Madison is counting down the days 'til the 18th. I hope this will be an exciting, wonderful, lifechanging experience for Madison and for our family. Please continue to pray for smooth transition for us all and for God to prepare Jenna's heart for us.

Our Intinerary

We are gearing up to travel on May 18th. Please pray for safe travel - we are all a little anxious about the many plane rides.

May 18: UA7120 Raleigh Durham (RDU) Washington (IAD) 843A 948A
May 18: UA 897 Washington (IAD) Beijing (PEK) 1223P 155P (Arrive Beijing on 19MAY)
May 19: Arrive Beijing, Stay at Wangfujing Grand Hotel

May 20: Sightseeing the Forbidden City and the Great Wall

May 21: Fly to Nanchang by MU5174 at 10:50, Arriving Nanchang at 13:05,

Transfer to Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang; Meet the Child in the afternoon

May 22: Registration and notarization

May 23: Local sightseeing

May 24: Local sightseeing

May 25: Local sightseeing

May 26: At your leisure

May 27: Getting baby’s passport, Fly from Nanchang to Guangzhou by CZ3536 at 14:30, arriving Guangzhou at 15:45, transfer to White Swan Hotel

May 28: Photos for the baby & Physicals for baby

May 29: Visa appointment at 10:30

May 30: Swearing in ceremony at the Consulate, getting the visa

May 31: Fly from Guangzhou to HK by CZ301 at 08:30, Arriving HK at 09:30

May 31: UA 896 Hong Kong (HKG) Chicago (ORD) 1245P 220P
June 4: UA7592 Chicago (ORD) Raleigh Durham (RDU) 1115A 206P