Maonan

Audra is currently waiting for us at

the Maonan District Social Welfare Institue

in Maoming City

in Guangdong Province

in China

 

This picture shows all of China in pink

with Guangdong Province in red 

 

 

 

 

The picture below shows all of the cities located in Guangdong Province.  Maoming City is located on the western side (in green, with arrow pointing at Maonan District)

 

 

The image below shows the districts

located in Maoming City

Maoming is located on the warm waters of the South China Sea in southwestern Guangdong Province, a 4-6 hour train ride from Guangzhou. The Maoming metropolitan area’s population is 6.7 million and the Maoming dialect of Cantonese is the local language. Maonan is a district within Maoming City.

Maoming’s location on the South China Sea makes it an important fishing and shipping port. Its subtropical climate is ideal for growing fruit, including lychees, bananas and longan (Cantonese longnan.) The longan ('dragon eye') is an evergreen tree native to Southeast Asia. When it is peeled, a black seed shows through the longan's while, translucent flesh, resembling an eyeball. Dried longan fruit is often used medicinally and in Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Maoming the air is scented with the smell of fruit during the May-June harvest and the countryside surrounding Maoming is lush with fruit crops.

 

The pictures below are of the orphanage itself...

 

 

This is the main entrance

 

 

This is the very room where Audra had her "party" when we sent the care package to her.  Look closely at the pictures of her eating the cake (in my "Update" post)...you'll see the same colorful shelves, white tile wall and window in the background of those picture!

 

 

 

Here is some general information I have found about her orphanage:

The Maonan orphanage was set up in March 2001 to handle the children found outside Maoming city limits, including the Maonan District of Maoming. The first girls were adopted in June 2001 to France and Spain.
There are 20 caregivers that work in three shifts. The children are cared for by age, being divided into six rooms, all on the third floor of the orphanage (above that is apartments). One room is for newborns up to 2 months old; another room is for two to six month olds, six to one year, etc. Every three months the women rotate to a different room. Thus, every child is cared for by nearly every caregiver at one point or the other.

Care Package #2

Within the next 24 hours another care package will be delivered to Audra's orphanage.  We really wanted to send an outfit for her to wear the day she comes to meet us.  Because we know that they have such limited resources at her orphanage, we wanted to make sure that they weren't left with one less outfit, coat and pair of shoes the day they bring Audra to us.  All the clothes at the orphanage are shared by the children.  What one child wears today, another child will wear the next day. 
We also included in the care package:
~5 shirts and 5 pants for the children at the orphanage
~cookies for the nannies
~a letter to the orphanage staff thanking them for the love and care that they have given Audra and also asking them to please let Audra look at the photo album with our pictures often and to tell her how much we love her and are excited to come meet her

 

The outfit for Audra is on the right side...a pink lady bug shirt, pants with Oshkosh across the backside (I think!?...is that a typo on the pants?), and a red ladybug sweater.  The warm, furry boots are for her too...I thought I selected pink and white sneakers when I ordered, but oh well.  I am anxious to see if she really comes to us in this outfit!

 

Things that we are hoping for this week...

~for our visas to be returned from the courier in Chicago...safely back in our hands and ready for travel!

~for Audra and Charlotte's visa paperwork to be hand delivered to the US Consulate in China (it will take two weeks for this paperwork to be processed and ready for pick up)

~for us to receive updated measurements and pictures of Audra once the care package is delivered

~for Charlotte's "party" care package to be delivered to her orphanage this week (they have been waiting until the official end of Chinese New Year to send her care package)

~for Tim and Dawn to receive pictures/videos of Charlotte and the "party"

 

Please hope and pray with us this week...and I look forward to having updates to share by the end of the week :)





So Real

We are getting pretty far along in the process now.  And while we impatiently waited during all the previous steps...looking back now, it seems as if the time has flown by!  Audra already feels like a part of our daily life...
We talk about her everyday
We look at her pictures and watch the videos of her everyday
I have talked to our pediatrician about her
I have registered her for pre-school

I am noticing that I am faced with an unusual question quite often....sometimes from complete strangers, and sometimes from acquaintances. 

"How many children do you have?"

While it seems simple, and I have answered this question a million times, it is different now...and it makes me stop and think. 

My answer:

"Three...three at home and one waiting...no, FOUR!"

At which point people start to look down at my belly and congratulate me.  Which then leads to a whole new conversation.  And I'm okay with that.  Because Audra IS my daughter.  Maybe not legally just yet, but in my heart and mind...YES.  I don't need a piece of paper to know or feel that.

I just received an email from our Immigrations Officer.  Our I-800 was approved yesterday! This means that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has approved our petition to adopt Nan Qi Jia and for her to become a citizen of the USA!

Next Step:  Apply for Audra's visa to enter the US.  We have already submitted our visa applications for China.  We sent everything...including our passports...to a courier who dropped it all off at the Chicago Chinese Consulate yesterday.

Guest bloggers

Many people ask me how our kids feel about the adoption...are they excited?  OF COURSE!!  Everyday they ask me how much longer until their sister comes home.  So, I thought I would let them tell you in their own words.  Below are their very own blog posts, which they were oh so excited to create...independently written (or spoken in Maura's case)...and completely unedited.  ENJOY...

By Riley: (my boy of few, yet always meaningful words!)
Hi guys i'm REALLY excited for our new sister Audra I can't wait!
It's gonna be great having a new person to play with around the house.

By Aidan:
An adoption is helping other people that have no family. It is like being a hero, you are getting a child and you're saving the child and the child is bringing joy to your family. The kid is in a foster home when you live in a home that probably has nice toy and games, the foster home has toys that many people have used. Same thing with games, and remember they don't have a home that's why you should really adopt, it's being a hero to the child. Everyone wants the kid to be like them and do stuff with them like me. I want Audra to play sports with me and video games with me and my brother. And my sister wants to teach Audra how to do girl sports. But it is not important about that it is most important that you're adopting a kid...they want a family.

By Maura:
My sister is gonna play with my toys everyday. Even when I go at school. Her gonna have a lot of friends. Her gonna be my sister. And also, we're gonna have a birthday for her. And also we're gonna give her a lot of presents and a welcome party. My sister loves me and my family. And her also is gonna like me too. And then, her is gonna go with me at school. And also, we're gonna love her so much, and everyone else is gonna love her.

Straight out of the mouths of my babes.  Oh, how I love them...and they way they love their sister so much already :)