Bringing Belle Home

Dedication Video

2012-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Here is the link of getting Belle dedicated a few weeks ago at Fellowship Bible Church in Nashville. Marley and 2 of her kids got to come and several of our friends had theirs dedicated that same day-it was very special! Belle-I can't wait for you to see this one day! Mommy

http://gallery.me.com/carissapereira#101577/belle_dedication

China Video

2012-01-21T20:53:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to a short video of our time going to get Belle and bring her home! Makes me cry!

http://gallery.me.com/carissapereira#101577/belle3&bgcolor=black

Belle's first time to the beach! Prayer Request

2011-12-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

We spent a wonderful week of Thanksgiving in Naples, Fl. Belle felt the sand for the first time and loved it. She also loved the pool and getting beat by the waves in the ocean-salt water did not bother her one bit! She is developing so well except for her speech. Please be praying for her surgery this coming Friday, Dec. 16 at Vanderbilt. They will be doing tubes (and can hopefully get one in her small ear) and doing an ABR test to see if she can hear. Right now-the fluid is blocking her from hearing thus delaying her speech. We are hopeful that this is all that it is but there is also a chance she could be partially deaf. I hate that I have waited so long to update the blog! I hope to capture her first steps soon on here-she just started last week and she is a busy busy girl around the house AND eating like a horse these days!

The Pereira clan soaking in the rays!

Luke is an amazing older brother-he truly loves her!

Meeting Aunt Maggie and Uncle Carl for the first time!

Mama with her 2 baby girls! She loves the water!

All girl-accesorizing already!

The lifesize gingerbread house at the Ritz!

Belle's Crab Crawl

2011-12-01T12:15:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Aug. 17-Summer winding down!

2011-08-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Wow-lots has happened in the last 10 days! We went to see her plastic surgeon for the first time on Aug. 10. She has microtia-a term meaning small ear. About 1 in 5,000 children at born with this condition. He suggested we wait until about 5 years of age before we do the surgery. That way-she will have grown more into her ears and it is a good time before they start school. It is a 4 part surgery. The first two are more painful because they have to take cartilage from her chest. The last 2 surgeries are out patient. Dr. Kelly would put the final touches on her ears and pin the larger ear back. Thankfully-we wont have to worry about that for several more years. We go next month to the inner ear doctor. We will see how her inner ear and bones are formed and check her hearing. We are praying that her small ear is fully formed internally but if it is not-we have the best doctors that will help us navigate hearing issues. So far she seems to follow noise and sounds very well.
Belle has also been a part of helping us celebrate Anna Caroline turning 5 and Luke turning 8! She loves watching us eat dinner at night as a family from her bouncy seat. She continues to love the pool as you will see from the photos that follow. She loves watching her brothers ride a bike or play basketball from her stroller chair we keep out by the garage. Belle is just now starting to get the sensation of putting weight on her feet. She is getting so strong and is starting to hold herself in a seated position for longer periods. She is also breaking a third tooth! I continue to marvel at how much the kids truly enjoy playing with her and trying to get her to laugh. I am most thankful that she has attached well to both of us so far. She reaches for me often and my heart just fills up because she knows I am her mama! Thank you friends for helping us "make it over the hump" of being home a month now-your food, e-mails, prayers, and dropping in on us has made us feel very loved. Luke, Meyer, and Anna Caroline start school tomm so we are off for a big drop-off in the morning. The kids have asked if they can bring their new pride and joy for "show and tell!"

enjoying the last few days of summer as a family!

Luke is smitten with his sister!

Belle likes watching all the activity outside!

Aunt Rebecca comes for a visit

Huths get to meet her for the first time

Hannah Huth has the touch! She loves those babies!

Belle is flourishing and getting strong!

2011-08-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

We have started Belle on a 90 day low strength dose of antibiotics for her kidneys. She has put on close to 2 pounds in the month we have had her! Our gotcha day was July 4 so we are celebrating having her one month now! She is slowly learning how to sit up on her own-she will sit up for several seconds and then start to topple over. She is getting her top two teeth in full bloom and her hair is growing out quickly. She is starting to get very attached to mommy and loves to be in my arms. Michael has been so sweet to her which is an answer to prayer-we knew it could go either way-being very jealous or very loving-they are only 15 months apart. Luke, Meyer, and Anna Caroline are really enjoying her as well. Anna Caroline brings her dolls all day long that she wants her to learn to hold. She will bring piles of blankets and lovies and put them beside the bouncy seat. It is amazing to see the built in nuturer that she has become! One very big highlight this past week has been having our cousins Tatum and Chloe from Tampa in town for almost a week! We took them to the lakehouse and had fun playing around the house and in the pool with Belle. They were a welcomed set of extra hands to help with all the kiddos!

Her shirt says "southern Belle"

Belle with Livy-a precious girl who was adopted from china

Working with siblings on trying to sit up

Meyer and his baby sister-we love her smiles!

She loved the boat and being at Rock Island!

daddy and his first mate!

Chloe and Anna Caroline on dock with Belle

Tatum and Chloe in pool with Belle-she loved it!

Belle in her pink tutu suit!

All the girls-with the Jeansonne girls!

Piling on the trampoline with cousins!

Pin Wheel Pic!

Belle is loving the action!

Most Results are In!

2011-07-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

I am up late tonight (thursday night) just rejoicing in the many prayers we have had answered.
This morning we saw a pediatric urologist for her enlarged kidney. He was able to show us on the ultrasound where the fluid was building up. He seemed to feel fairly confident that her condition-this hydro nephrosis-will go away eventually on its own. They do want to keep an eye on it every 3 months so we will repeat the ultrasound and see if she is better or worse. In the meantime-he wants to preventatively get her on some low dosages of antibiotics to help prevent a bad kidney infection possibly. Surgery is an option down the line but it is not necessary right now. Next-we went to the pediatric cardiologist and found that her heart is perfectly normal and healthy! We are so thankful! We will go to the inner ear specialists and plastic surgeon next month but as far as we can tell-she is hearing really well and responding to us! Our pediatrician called yesterday and said that all of her bloodwork can back normal...we are super grateful for that as well! TEIS (tennessee early intervention service) came out today and did an evaluation for us. It is a free service offered to those kids who are "delayed" and they help with all kinds of therapy-several people have told us they are great people who do their work well. She will have a customized plan for her in the coming months BUT I think main therapy will be engaging with all her siblings around the house! It will be good for me to learn some of their therapy techniques so I am eager to learn. She is already doing better trying to sit up on her own and she is holding toys on her own now. She has put on a full pound in the 3 weeks we have had her and we can tell that she is changing so much from the nourishment. She just seems stronger to us overall even though she is still so small.

Meeting cousins on Pereira side! Her second week home!

2011-07-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Its the second week home now! She seems to be getting settled into her own crib now and is starting to sleep through the night. We are seeing small strides in her gaining strength. She is grabbing for our fingers and toys now. She is beginning to like bouncy seat some and eggersaucer. She is actually eating some baby food for the first time-she only likes the all natural home made kind that Lilian makes so we are glad. We are thankful she is learning to use her tongue and experience some textures. It may be awhile before we begin introducing anything harder since she only has a speck of a tooth showing! She likes vanilla and chocolate pediasure only-not berry or banana! She is like her daddy-loves that chocolate flavor!
We are still awaiting her blood test results which we should get back any day. We went to vanderbilt last week and had all her bloodwork done-she hated it! Thankfully-a sweet friend went with me so i did not have to be the one pinning her down. We also got an ultrasound. The pictures revealed that she has an inflamed kidney-the condition is called hydro nephrosis. We will go in this thursday and meet with one of the best pediatric urologists at vandy about this condition and any other findings. Hopefully-we can gain a much better understanding of what this means at her appt. Then-we go have her echocardiogram after that appt. Our prayer is that her heart would be perfect! Please pray as we continue to get her little body examined and determine what health needs we may be facing. We feel really at peace knowing that our great God "has formed her innermost parts and knows them well." It is such a huge relief knowing that the Lord already knows every little detail about her formation.

One of the highlights this past weekend was having all of Tim's family together and all the cousins getting to love on her for the first time! I must say-this little Belle was one loved on little gal all weekend! Belle has 11 cousins and counting so far!

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Rudi from Ohio

The girls all sewed Belle pillows!

We are thankful for Emma who just had a heart repair!
She enjoyed holding her new cousin!

Pool Time!

Lizzy and Luke with Belle!

Aunt Rudi with ballerina girl at RCC for first time!

So smitten!

We are working on trying to learn to sit up!

First Doctor Appointment!

2011-07-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

Today we went to see our pediatrician who has been wonderful with all of our kids. He sees a lot of adopted kids so he is experienced and knows what to expect. Thankful he has walked this road with us and helped us make an informed decision-even though there are always lots of unknowns based on the limited into/photos you get in a referral sometimes. She totally feels like ours! Cant imagine her not being a Pereira.
We spent a good 2 hours there and got her looked over from head to toe. He answered a lot of my questions I had about her-from what to feed her, to constipation, to her joints popping, and her sweating!
She is like a 6 month old on growth chart in an 18 month old body. She has"severe delays"in development but I know we can catch up! We will be going to therapists for occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy and thankfully there are lots of good resources out there and suggestions he had! We had 5 vaccines yesterday and attempted to get 6 viles of blood (but only were able to get 2). Her veins are super small and you cant see them at all-nurses were so sweet. We will go down to Vanderbilt Children's today and try and get all her blood we need so he can run all the tests he wants to run. Pray for mama-whew! So hard to see them screaming so loud and getting poked and prodded! They sometimes go into their head vein-i am not a needles person either! Her kidney ultrasound is scheduled for Friday am. Dr. White had already lined up appts with specialists. We will have an echocardiogram, see the ear specialist, plastic surgeon, etc, We will know more about her overall health once we get all the data back. I look forward to learning exactly how to work with her on her gaining strength. She is already holding her head up better. She has extreme "laxity of the joints" so hopefully wtih the vitamins we are starting and pediasure we are pumping her with/exercises we are doing with her she will gain strength quickly. We continue to covet your prayers and we are thankful for all the amazing medical professionals here in our backyard!

When Love takes you In-Everything Changes!

2011-07-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

morning snuggle time with Meyer and friend Eric

Fresh out of bath-I smell better now! I sweat a lot!

Kissable lips!

bath time last night!

2 sweet cousins almost the same age!

All 5 with daddy-she loves water now!

papaw loving on belle!

my new magargee friends

We are back home safe and sound!

2011-07-17T12:24:00.001-07:00

We arrived back safely at 8:30 pm on wednesday Night. We could not believe her Homecoming at the airport. Our hearts were overjoyed at the family and friends who took time out of their night to greet us and meet Belle.

Tim and I were afraid to take ambien on the way home because we wanted to be fully aware/awake for her so we were exhausted for thursday and friday. She did amazing for all three legs (about 20 hours total). She fussed maybe for 30 minutes on the really long 13 hour leg. That was just a huge answer to prayer for us. We smelled like sweat and were so ready for a shower. We never had much time between connections and customs so we were hungry and I was running low on diapers and formula-BUT WE MADE IT!

Thank you Lord for your protection over us and that there were no hitches and delays on our return! Thank you friends for reaching out to us over these past few days and making Belle feel so very loved and special.

There is no doubt in our minds that she was hand picked for our family. She seems to be adjusting well so far. The kids completely smothered her all day Thursday. My parents left that day so we were all sad to see them go but I know they must have been exhausted and tired themselves. They never once complained and they got a chance to really know our kids personalities over the past 2 weeks. They took them to doctors appointments, fireworks, to and from camps, Radnor, shopping, out to dinner, pool time, bedtime-you name it! Thankfully-Tim did not have to go to work thursday and friday so we could spend time teaching our children how to attach to their new sister. We have spent hours getting unpacked, laundry, mail, e-mails, grocery-we are finally coming up for air! Finally got a nap in today! Belle is learning to adjust to her own room/crib and all the toys she has never seen. We are slowly letting her experience the eggsersaucer, bouncy seat, swings, etc. She seems to really follow noises well and likes to see what action is going on amongst her siblings. It has been fun to have friends stop by and want to meet her. Today was her first big outing. We went to a pool party. Again-Luke and Meyer and Anna Caroline are just in awe of her and want to introduce her to their friends. Michael is a total toddler-likes her but in his own little world. We are just trying to keep a close watch on him since he likes to swing things and find markers and write on things these days!

Tonight is Saturday night and we hung out by our pool together and she really loved to be in the water and watching the others swim. She also ate a tiny bit of the rice we were having for dinner-a yummy dish that Grandma Ellie had made for us. She ate a tiny bit of baby food yesterday. She loves her bottle best and she took some whole milk for the first time this morning! We are just slowly introducing it all to her. She is also barely cutting a tooth-yipee! Tonight when I was laying her down she actually had enough muscle control to pick her arms up and wrap them softly around my neck-made me tear up a little. Her great grandmother Nannie also left her a message today on the answering machine. I get emotional about all of this because it is such a gift for her to even have a great grandmother and she has been sooooo warmly welcomed into both of our families with grace, love, and hope-A picture of Christ's love for us. He comes to us with open arms and without judgement.

I better go to sleep now! We are going to attempt church in the morning with all 5! Love to all and hope you can see her precious ways from the photos. Please be praying for her doctors check-up this Tuesday if Belle comes to your mind.

All the little kids who came-such a treat for us! Will post some clearer ones later

from those who got better photos!

Meeting Cece for the first time!

Meeting uncle and Papaw for first time

Meeting Grandma Ellie for first time!

A priceless Homecoming for baby belle! Her new family!

Add caption

First night at home! Boys cannot wait to snuggle!

Anna Caroline shows off her Matching outfits she found with cece! She wants to dress up her sister

like her! Guess Belle will have to wait on all the "accessories!

Mommy Time at Night!

Luke in his new silk chinese pajamas!

Thank you friends for the posters! She will know one

day how loved she is! We loved y'all greeting us with a warm welcome!

First bath ever! She took a baby one at the hotel but this was first "real one" last night!

Meyer is in heaven holding her-she loved it and did not cry!

Luke giving his first bottle to her!

Luke is in his element!

Last Days

2011-07-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

A typical chicken dish... can you find the head? :)

Last night at the hotel

She loves looking up at her daddy

Pizza party with our group on the last night

We are almost home!

2011-07-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here's our flight info...

Wed. july 13 United #850
depart beijing at 4:10 pm and arrive chicago at 4:03 pm
depart chicago at 7 pm (flight # 6078)

Arrive nashville at 8:38 pm on Wed July 13th!!!!!

Please pray specifically for our over 20 hours of travel home. We start off with a long in-country flight from Guangzhou to Beijing. Pray that we would have patience with one another, with baby Belle, the airlines, customs, potential delays and lines. Pray she would sleep some on the flight and that our backs would stay strong.

Thankfully, this has been a reminder to both of us that we travel well together, enjoy similar things, like the same pace, and try to be a team. I am thankful for the ways that being together for 2 solid weeks has built us, grown us, and forced us to communicate with more clarity.

We are off to a local chinese market right now. Then back to room for her nap and to begin packing! We should get her visa this afternoon. She is taking a nap on my chest right now as I type with one hand! Forgive the run on sentences and errors as I don't have time to edit! Eloise made a stretchy wrap sling that i wear and it comes in handy. Tim likes the Baby Bjorn. We are going to leave the stroller here as she can't quite sit up in it yet-we have one at home too!

She has made so much progress in the days we have had her! Rolling over, smiling, reaching! We love spending hours playing with her on the bed. It has been so good to attach without the distractions of home and other kids. We really think she is going to love the craziness of her 3 brothers and sister( and all you fun friends!)

Love,
Carissa and Tim

More photos...

2011-07-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

Third pool day, no tears!

Sign around the pool... you can smoke thought

Photo shoot at a small park

Belle loves watching her fingers and toes move

This pair is a hoot! Both are 7 and being adopted by america world families-Paige is on the left and Cami is on the right-

they have been able to have talking in chinese all week and none of us can understand them!

Our group travel photo from America World-all 5 families together! Each family is special in a very unique way and we will take away some fond memories and laughs with them!

Little Nugget feels bigger to us in one week! She even will pose for a photo now and can hold her head up!

WE ARE OFFICIAL!!!!

2011-07-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Monday the 11th. We are official! Today we met our guide in the lobby at 7:30 am to take us to our consulate appointment! All in all-it took about an hour. We went through security and then waited on the fourth floor, did some paperwork, and took an oath with several other families. We now wait for her visa to be processed and our guide will pick it up and deliver it to us tuesday afternoon (we hope it all gets done at least!). Then, we fly out Wednesday morning for the 20 hours of travel home!

Right now Baby Belle is sleeping in her pack and play in the room. We meet up for a group photo in a few hours and travel to a museum. Tomorrow morning we hope to hit a local Chinese market that is supposedly very interesting. It has been nice to be in a clean hotel with a few people who speak English. Still seems all the Chinese people smoke-even around all the babies. I have learned that I always need to take my toilet paper with me... all the public toilets are holes in the floor and they do not have toilet paper in the stalls. We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and words of encouragement that sustain us.

Carissa

Sunday am-Guanghoux

2011-07-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a free day and we went by bus with the other families to Shamia Island-where the famous White Swan Hotel is. We went inside the hotel and saw several other families who were also in the adoption process and it seems high season for chinese tourists as well. The streets are very pretty around this area and there were bronze statues and fountains and tourist shops everywhere. We spent about 2 hours shopping and getting interesting little gifts for our kids. We had lunch at Lucy's with a few other families and then headed back to the hotel for Belles nap time. She will either nap once or twice a day.

Tim and I took turns hitting the gym (we are in a Marriott now and the facilities are much nicer than the previous hotels) and then we spent the early evening at the pool. It is an outdoor large pool that feels really nice. The second day she truly seems to love it. We enjoyed seeing two of the families who are adopting 7 year olds-have their daughters get in the pool for the very first time in their lives-it was a happy moment for sure and lots of squeals! It has been a real joy getting to know the other families these past 2 days... why they adopted... how long they have been in the process... their heartaches and challenges... how they are attaching, etc. Two of the families had older children that they brought along and the other 3 families were like us and left their kids behind. It has been a lot of fun for us to be able to Skype back home with our family and at least be able to see our kids. I think cece and papa chuck are surviving and having fun! Luke is at Daystar's Hopetown Camp right now and we know he is "in his element." My parents will go pick him up on Tuesday in Kentucky.

We had dinner last night at the hotel at their casual Chinese restaurant with a family from Maryland-we hit it off great with them and they have kids the same age. They are adopting a little girl named Cami, who has Spina Bifida. She loves baby belle and loves to smile. You guessed it...fried rice and noodles! I am trying to stay away from the fruits and raw veggies since they are washed in tap water so I am dying to dive into fruits and veggies when I get home!

At night-Baby Belle has her fussy time right before bed. She is usually really sweet all day and then screams at night for awhile. This is a joyful time for Tim as you can imagine-he loves loud noises!:) We did have a break through in food yesterday with her-she liked the chocolate pediasure we mixed in her bottle. She still does not care for baby food or soft cereal bars. So-right now we are sticking to rice cereal and formula mixed in her bottle and she will try an occasional soft egg or play with her noodles. She looks really funny at her hands when they rice or noodle gets stuck to her hand and she cannot get it off. She does not seem to put her hands in her mouth so much or like to suck on her fingers. She definitely prefers taking her bottle on her back versus sitting us as this is the way they did it at the orphanage.

Weekend photos

2011-07-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I'll like this...

I love this pool!

Daddy and Belle

Japanese dinner at our hotel bar :)

Belles name in ink block

Pereira in Chinese

She likes the action seat

I love this position

My new outfit

Quick photo in the lobby

Leaving Lanzhou

2011-07-09T07:34:00.001-07:00

Friday we departed Lanzhou at 8am. We drove an hour to the airport, in time for Belle to catch her flight to Beijing. Belle was so sweet to join us this past week and so very helpful. Not every family here had the privilege of traveling with a professional photographer!

Our flight left two hours later and baby Belle did pretty well for her first 3 hour flight. We arrived in Guanghoux, a much larger city in the southeast part of China, around 4:30pm. The temp was around 100 degrees- much warmer and more humid than last week. We drove an hour through traffic (again) to the China Hotel, a Marriott hotel with a Starbucks, ESPN and Bloomberg news channel, and met up with the other four American families adopting through America World that we had initially met upon arriving in Beijing that first night.

We strolled around the shops attached to the hotel, walked around the outdoor pool on the fourth floor, then had a really nice dinner at one of the four hotel western-style restaurants.

Today, we all had the required doctor's appointment for the children - not very comprehensive, but baby Belle checked out fine. No fever, ear infection, etc. Our little bus stopped at a grocery store so we could get some more diapers, formula, water, Pringles (barbecue flavored) and fresh chicken feet...

Thank you all again for your prayers. God has been so faithful and continues to go before us.

Tim

Saying goodbye to Bebe for good-she is on a 20 hour journey home and we are on a 4 hour flight to the southern part of china for more paperwork

"I was hot on the bus so my mommy took my pants off! I wanted to show off again that I would be a gymnast!"-belle qing

belle loves to be carried around by daddy in the bjorn! these teenage girls are from austin(sisters) and their parents were bringing them back for a "reunion trip."

mommy on the airplane giving bottle-lots of stares for sure!

Another adoptive mom who lives in baltimore-our babies are the closest in age

Baby Belle getting her medical exam

More Pictures :)

2011-07-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

China's "Toms"

Biker

Off to market

Smoker

Market dentist

Teeth for sale

Spices

Pictures

2011-07-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sweet Baby Belle

2 Belles

Smitten

Our sheep skin raft (Yellow River)

Last day in Lanzhou

2011-07-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Lanzhou has been quite interesting. Again, we have not seen one foreigner at all and it has been a week now. Not even one at our hotels. We just cannot get over the way people stare at us everywhere-I got some good video of it today.

The employees here now know what we want after 3 nights when we ask for ice or salt. Belle had to draw a photo for about 4 people one night to explain that we would like some ice (i sometimes forget to bring my little translation booklet). None of the Chinese use ice. They drink warm water, warm tea, warm coke, and even warm beer!

Today we had our usual buffet at the hotel. We have been sticking to toast and fried eggs. The veggies do not seem very appetizing for breakfast. I had beef noodle soup to change it up this morning though! I got a great little video clip of the way they make their noodles-it is very fascinating!

Our guide picked us at 9:30 and we headed to the zoo. It is at the base of their mountain range and the weather was good today after several days of rain. People here everywhere have umbrellas. We heard a large group of people singing Buddhist songs before we entered. We spent about 2 hours in the zoo looking at all the animals. It felt good to walk. Belle likes to be on her daddy in the Baby Bjorn. Thankful he has a strong back. It is difficult here to use the umbrella stroller we bought because the sidewalks are so bad... even the sidewalks at the zoo. All of the Chinese kids wanted their photos with us and wanted to see the baby. Belle Johnson and I decided to be adventuresome and take a camel ride for 10 Yuan(roughly $1.50). My favorite animal may have been the panda.

We left the zoo and moved to the Waterpark Area that shows the history of the old water wheels. It is down by the Yellow River. There is so much history there with the silk road and the river. There was an opportunity to float down the Yellow River with Muslim men on a sheepskin raft. (I truly cannot wait to see these photos!) Our guide encouraged us to "take the 15 minute trip" so she held our baby and cameras while we ventured out! We put on life jackets and the three of us hopped on this tiny vessel made up of about 20 hard blown sheep skins that were tied together. This is from a tradition that the Muslims started 400 years ago on the Yellow River. Belle got some great video too! It floated us down at a fairly rapid pace (water extremely muddy but we did not get too wet!) and then a small motor boat took us back. This was a great chance to say that "we floated down such a historical river!"

Next, our guide took us to a neat place to buy some souvenirs. I am trying to collect some things to give baby belle each year from her province. I got a really neat piece of art for her nursery that I can frame when we return. Also, bought some local tea and dried painted gourds that have scenes of the town on them. Last, we went to get Pizza! We were so excited to eat something different than Chinese Food for a change! Belle and Tim thoroughly enjoyed having some coke on ice too! By that time baby belle was pooped and it was time to go back to hotel for her nap! She seems to like her crib OK and we are beginning to pack a little for our flight in the morning.

We will be sad to say goodbye to our dear friend Belle Johnson but so thankful for the fond memories and laughs we have shared. She will head back to Nashville and we will head southeast to Ghaungoux. Supposedly, it is VERY hot and humid there right now (Tim's favorite combination!) We hear that it is a neat city to explore- we will have more paperwork there to do and a doctor's check-up. We will also reunite with the other 4 AMerica World Families we met the first night in Beijing.

We will hold those amazing memories of Gansu close to our heart. We hope that someday we can bring baby Belle back to her roots with the other kids. Again, please pray for our continued safety and that all the little details on her paperwork will go as planned. Will post photos soon!

Love each and every one of you!

Carissa

Day 6 in China!

2011-07-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

We had a restful day off from any official paperwork, which was helpful in trying to establish a good sleeping and eating schedule for Belle. She has only had three bottles a day, and one nap a day, which is probably not quite enough for this little 16 month old!

Around lunchtime, we took a stroll to an eight-story mall and milled around for a while. The line "gee (elwood), this mall's got everything" kept ringing true. More gawking and staring, so Tim decided to start speaking in Spanish to curious ladies that would come up to us, staring and looking us up and down. Like puppies hearing a new sound, they would tilt their heads, not quite sure what to make of it, which was extremely gratifying.

We spent most of the afternoon reading, charging cameras and re-organizing our suitcases. There are no western TV channels on the television (why would there be??), so we were reduced to watching women's soccer with Chinese play by play. Baby Belle slept again, which was great, then our guide showed up around 6pm to deliver notarized copies of all the paperwork that we will take with us to the next city. She then took us to a local seafood restaurant with the evening's options: sea worms, beltfish or turtle. Hmmmmm. We went with the fried rice... again....

Carissa and Tim

Some pictures

2011-07-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

new passport photos

paper work party.

bundle of love:)

look what I can do :0

tiny fingers

loooong eye lashes!

her crib is empty!

Another fine day.

2011-07-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our guide finished up some more things with a notary while we made our way to the e-market around the corner (thankfully our hotel here is very centrally located and we can walk many places). It was like the Chinese version of Best Buy.

As most of you know-Belle was in her element looking at camera lenses and all the new gadgets out. Baby Belle still continues to take in all the new sights and smells she has never seen before. She really likes facing outward in the Baby Bjorn on daddy or facing forward in the sling on me. Belle has been a very welcomed extra pair of hands as she is so sweet with babies and we are carrying cameras, strollers, and diapers bags around too.

We try to bring Baby Belle back to the hotel around noon for her nap and we usually will order room service from the Japanese restaurant downstairs (we will not want any fried rice or noodles for awhile when we return). Our guide took us to Gansu's famous museum yesterday afternoon where we saw the origins of the silk road, pottery, great wall, dinosaur bones, and many other very interesting pieces of history. There was a local "antique shop" next door where I found one or two treasures to pass along to her one day from the dynasty days. Our guide Jessica and our driver took us to a local place for Chinese food. She usually tries to get us a small private room because the smoking is so bad everywhere. Then we went to the Yellow River at night
and saw the "lit up" RiverPark. A wonderful very big dragon that is huge along the river and one of their famous landmarks here in Lanzhou. We were all very sleepy last night!

Today we woke to do some more touring. Baby Belle is still a little joy to carry around. Please pray that she will continue to attach to us and for our safety. We almost got hit yesterday by a crazy driver... and as you know, no car seats here!

We have Wednesday and Thursday here and then we all depart Friday morning. Belle will return to the states and we will go to Guangzhou for the week. We will reunite with 4 other America World families and have our consulate appointment and wait for her passport.

We are thankful for all of your prayers once again. We miss our kids back home but we have heard they are doing very well with grandparents! It has been such fun to Skype with them!

Carissa

Oh, and here's a wonderful picture Belle took the other day of Daddy and daughter :)

Paperwork Party!

2011-07-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Monday - July 4th

After a fairly restful night, we awoke to a drizzly and overcast sky. Tim went for a run, dodging taxi cabs, souped up mopeds and rickshaws along the way and enjoyed the morning sights and sounds of this "small" city of 3 million. Our guide met us at our hotel at 8:30am and we made our way to a photography studio where we were to have Belle's passport photo made. This place was more or less their version of the DMV and she didn't like this at all. She screamed and screamed (like most of us do at the DMV) and the line grew longer. Finally they got a shot that will pass for a passport photo.

We then made our way to the Civil Affairs office for the official paperwork. Our guide is very good and very efficient - she was able to have all the paperwork lined up, filled out ahead of time, copies made, etc before our arrival and the process was smooth and uneventful - another answer to prayer. All in all, we finished everything in less than 3 hours in one visit versus several appointments this week. We found it ironic that she was "officially official" on July 4th - Independence Day on many, many levels!

We returned to the hotel for a bite of lunch and let Belle take a nap, then met our guide later in the afternoon for a visit to the market. It was kind of like a Wal-mart, Trader Joe's and Kroger's all rolled into one. We picked up some more diapers, formula, etc and milled around looking at everything from badminton raquets and chinese barbies, to the fresh fish, fresh chicken feet, hog's nose, sow's ears, and other delicacies that we chose to pass on. We made it back to the room and watched the end of the taped Tour De France coverage (in Chinese, of course) and fell into bed. Long day, but so good!

Thank you again for your prayers. More later!

Tim

2011-07-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel in Qingyang City. We all gravitated toward the toast with all the interesting veggies on the table.

We asked if we could go back for an hour to the orphanage even though baby Belle had left at 6:30 am to make the long trip to the capital of Gansu. We wanted to see it again so we could really see all the rooms and say goodbye to the nannies and hold the other babies. Yesterday was such an overwhelming day that it was hard to completely take it all in. We took a photo of her crib and what her walls looked like and the apricot tree growing outside the window. It will be so neat to show her this one day.

We then went to a "local market"and saw the many fruits and goats and tobacco stands. It is Sunday and it was so fascinating to watch all the activity going on. A man sewing on a old foot pedal machine, a street dentist selling and replacing teeth (Belle got great photos of this!) and lots of people gathering around us because our guide said they rarely see foreigners. We have truly not seen any "foreigners" for 3 days.

Then-we went to a local shop and bought her a few trinkets like a book on Gansu, some embroidered shoes, and a frame for her nursery. Last stop before we left Qingyang City was a drive past the hospital where she was abandoned. I was glad that the orphanage director took us there and it was not out of the way. Again, another small piece of her history she may be curious about one day.

We are making the 4 hour trip in our van back to Xian airport to catch a flight to Lanzhou where Baby Belle is waiting for us. She will get to stay in our hotel room tonight. We will go tomorrow to start much of the paperwork. We have shared so many laughs along the way. Here are some photos that hopefully capture the moment....

Friday night at Tiananmen Square

Happy parents :)

Bebe and Cece and baby girl!

Orphanage Day! Incredible

2011-07-02T08:16:00.001-07:00

We're having some internet problems from my computer so this is from our hotel computer. Please excuse any typos :)

The day started at 4 am when we went down to see if the gym was open or we could get coffee or rent a Panda phone. All three were strikeouts-hotel was dead silent until 6 am. Our driver came for us at 7 am today. We had a 2 hour flight at 9 am on Hunain Air to Xian and then a full four hour drive ahead. We have a wonderful translator and guide and very good car driver (although they do drive like crazy here and it scares me to death when they pass these big trucks carrying fruit in the rain!) In fact, Belle and Tim had me change seats today in the car so I can plant my nose to the outside versus front window. We literally drove 4 hours like sardines in our little van with 5 pieces of luggage, the translator, the orphanage director and her son! Nobody could speak a lick of English but our fabulous translator.

We arrived at the orpahage at 4 pm and I was just stunned. We pulled in a long dirt driveway and wham--there we were amongst about 80 kids at the orphanage. The director and some nannies came out to greet us. Some of the older kids were at the lobby, and they were smiling and ready for our visit. We just learned again today how rare it is to go and visit the orphanage, and it was a day to remember indeed. I am almost without words. We walked room by room and met the other kids and walked in last to Xiaofang's room (Belle) and there she was laying on her belly in the crib. She was in an a very old crib that lined the wall with about 10 other children in cribs. Her nanny asked us to go down the the special needs room so we could visit more. We had made a long list of questions and were able to go through it.

They handed her over to me and I wept and just stared at her with complete humbleness that she is ours. She is uniquely and wonderfully made. She is very small still-7 kilos so about 16 pounds. She is holding head up but not sitting up on her own or crawling. She definitely has the one very small ear and one large ear which makes her even more special. We know we will find a good doctor who can "even this up" in the future. She has no teeth yet and is still drinking from a bottle and takes baby formula and rice cereal. We will be trying to get some of these local items soon that she is used to.

Belle Johnson got some great video and photos. I cant wait to post some--maybe on the next post.

There is just too much to share at one time. We got to go see the new orpahange being built, too. Then the director took us out to an authentic Chinese dinner--more on that later. We got some great laughs, too! We are all exhausted and have a full day tomorrow. We make the long trip back by van and air. Baby Belle travels by land with the director for 8 hours in a car. Please pray for our trip to the capital of Gansu to begin the paper work process. She will officially get to stay in our room tomrrow night! I better go grab a few hours of sleep while we can!

Carissa

The Adventure Begins!

2011-06-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

It is officially midnight and we are packed up and ready to roll out of here at 7 am tomm morning! It has been interesting trying to cram 2 weeks worth of things into duffles-you never know what they may or may not have in the areas we are traveling too. We are packing light but must bring all that our new baby Belle will need for 2 weeks. From what we understand-when they hand her over to us on Sunday, July 3-our Gotcha Day (very ironic with our independence Day!)-all she comes with is what she has on. We are bringing clothes, small toys, pediasure, baby food, cheerios in hopes that she will take to something! We know this will all be foreign to her. We do not have any recent measurements on her so we do not know if she is in 6 month clothes are 12 month clothes. We think she is still rather small-maybe 16 pounds at 16 months. We are anxious to see if she can sit up or crawl and if she has any teeth or hair. We have no recent photos so we are so excited to hold her and get to know her little features. We will meet our friend Belle at the airport tomm am and travel together from Nashville to Chicago to Beijing. The flight is about 14 hours! We hope the Ambien will kick in! We arrive in Beijing Friday at 3:15 pm and head to the hotel for one night. I am hoping if we are not too exhausted from the trip over that we can take a short visit to the Great Wall. We depart out Sat. morning for her province in Gansu. We take China Air and then a 3-4 hour van ride. We sure hope our guides will find us! It is fascinating to google Gansu. It is close to Mongolia. From what we understand-she is in a rural area. We get the rare opportunity to see her orphanage on Saturday-that was a huge answer to prayer for me. Then-on Sunday is our official day that we actually get to take her with us. We are hopeful that we can ask the nanny some questions about her through a translator. We are working on a list of questions because we know we will forget in the middle of all the emotions. We have NO IDEA what this holds as it is unique for each family. There are 4 other families traveling from America World but none are going to this area of China. My sweet friend Belle will hopefully catch some of those moments on film and we hope we can download and share. Many places you are not allowed to photo within the country but we hope we are allowed to take some photos at the orphanage that day. Two things about the day were highlights for me..One-I got a letter in the mail today from each of our sons at camp and they seem great! Two-both sets of our parents prayed with us tonight and we feel so thankful that we have 4 grandparents on board and praying-such a gift! We are grateful also that Tim's company has been very understanding and allowing him to go for the full time. If only one parent travels-it makes it much more difficult to get all the documentation legal when you return home. Tim is such a great traveling companion and helpful.
Our main prayer request for tomm. are safe travels for us and that God will be preparing our child's heart to embrace us and attach to us. We are really hoping for a smooth transition but need to be prepared for either way. She will be leaving the Qingyang Social Institute and that is the only she has ever known since her abandonement at 2 months old. We want you to know we feel your support! Night! Hoping for a few hours of shut eye tonight! Carissa

Arrival into Beijing!

2011-06-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

We had an uneventful flight over here which we were thankful for. We each were able to sleep a few hours (thanks to ambient!) It was a double decker plane and we sat up where the pilots were and it was quieter upstairs.

When we landed-we met the other 4 families who had already arrived and all our luggage had made it! We found our guide Maggie who was very helpful and we all took one bus to our hotel-it was about an hour in traffic.

It is definitely a hustling and bustling city. We had the evening with no plans so we all put on our tennis shoes and and walked about a mile down to Tian'anmen Square. It was a crowded area with lots of police officers and military men on duty. We then decided to "go easy" on dinner and play it safe and found a KFC. We then came back to the hotel and took another ambient to try and get a full night of rest. For tomorrow is a big day! Our wake up call is for 5 and the van is picking up at 6 am for 7:30 flight. We are the only family moving on the orphanage. We go back to the Beijing airport and fly on Hunan Air for a 2 hour flight to Xian. Then-she said it s 4 hour van ride "into the mountains." I looked at Belle and said, "Do you get car sick?" We are all looking forward to what the day holds and if we will get to meet the director, nannies, and baby today at the orphanage, We are making our list of questions that we want to try and find out while we are there about her-her routine, crib-mates, health, etc.

Pray that we can find out some info. in this rare time we will have at the orphanage. Pray for our safety today as we take a lot of back roads. Thankful all 3 of us are healthy!

Carissa

Our Itinerary! Here we come for you baby belle!

2011-06-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

Beijing----------

THURSDAY, JUNE 30
Depart for Beijing 6/30/2011 9:22 AM on UA 5931

FRIDAY, JULY 1
Arrive in Beijing 7/1/2011 3:15 PM on UA 0851

Gansu (Qingyang & Lanzhou)----------

SATURDAY, JULY 2
AM: Flight from Beijing to Xi’an and van ride to Qingyang PM: Visit the Orphanage & Meet Belle Qing Pereira!

SUNDAY, JULY 3
AM: Van ride to Xi’an airport & Flight to Lanzhou GOTCHA DAY! PM: Pick up Belle Pereira in Lanzhou

MONDAY, JULY 4
Civil Affairs Appointment

TUESDAY, JULY 5
Adoption Appointments / Sightseeing

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
Adoption Appointments / Sightseeing

THURSDAY, JULY 7
Adoption Appointments / Sightseeing

FRIDAY, JULY 8
AM: Belle’s flight to Beijing to return to US PM: Flight to Guangzhou for medical exam & visa appointment

Guangzhou----------

SATURDAY, JULY 9
Child’s Medical Exam Consulate Paperwork – “Paperwork Party!”

SUNDAY, JULY 10
Sightseeing & Shopping

MONDAY, JULY 11
Consulate Appointment at 7/11/2011 8:30 AM Consulate Oath Taking Ceremony

TUESDAY, JULY 12
Pick up Child’s US Visa

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13
Depart from Guangzhou 7/13/2011 11:00 AM on CA 1330 (arrive back in Nashville at 8:38 pm on United from Chicago)

From Sparkles to Belle!

2011-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

When we began this journey with a girl in mind-all of the kids had fun dreaming up names for her. We were all over the place on names and knew we had time to really think it. The nickname that really stuck for all of us is what Anna Caroline came up with-"Sparkles." So-Sparkles it was for about 6 months. For those of you who don't know AC well-she is 4 and all girl. She dresses in glittery things and wears sparkly shoes. It was very appropriate for her baby sister. Then-the "official" paperwork at the end started to roll in and it was time for us to make a decision on a name so that we could fill all of the documentation out correctly. Tim and I had a small list of half family and half non-family names that we had come up with over the year. We did not have an easy Chinese name to work wtih either-Xiaofang Qing. We began to write and say various combinations of names with Pereira (not an easy one either-my good friends still ask me how to spell it!) I spend loads of time repeating P-E-R-E-I-R-A to people who need it on the other end of the phone! So-you can imagine our dilemma on the name! Not easy! Then-one night it all became very clear to both of us. We began scratching names from the list. Belle continued to be at the top. Belle was a beautiful Southern name and it sounded good with Pereira...but it was much much more than that!!! It was family too!
For those of you who don't know her-Belle Johnson is family to us and you need to know her. She was one of my first friends when I moved to Nashville 14 years ago. She is not only one of my closest friends but also one of Tim's favorite poeple too. She is a mentor, teacher, cheerleader, confidante, and encouragement to us. She embodies the qualities we long for our daughter to have...kindness, humility, peacefulness, laughter, joy, confidence in the Lord. We are thankful for our daughter to have Belle as her namesake. The coolest part is that our Belle will get to go with us the first week in China and meet our baby Belle for the first time with us! It was quite easy to fill in Belle Qing(Ching) Pereira on the paperwork after all!

WE GOT THE CALL!

2011-06-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I was hiking Radnor with Melanie and just happened to take my phone with me that morning which was unusual. We were about halfway up Ganier Ridge when she was asking me about our adoption and if we had heard anything. I told her that I expected to hear something in another week or two. Well-It was not 5 seconds later that a 703 area code popped up on my phone! I immediately answered and there was a precious coordinator on the end of the line that said "Congratulations-we have your travel date-it will be June 30th!" I must say-I was shocked, excited, and scared all rolled into one! We had been waiting for this day for soooo long. It almost felt like my "water had broken." I walked around in a stupor and Mel and I jumped around and celebrated and then both prayed and thanked God. June was never on our radar-we totally expected a trip more like mid-July. Wow-our travel approval came quicker than the average wait times. It was a lot to process...We had planned our last trip as a family of 6 to big cedar lodge in Branson for July 4 and to pick our boys up from Kanakuk with my side of the family. We had to do a total mind shift and wrap our heads around that we were not going to see our boys now for a month with the timing of camp and then our China travel dates. Thankfully-my sister and brother-in-law and parents are going to be able to pick our kids up for us.
America World said they would then be calling again Monday once our consulate appt was set and that they would be able to give us our return travel date home. On Monday morning, June 13, we received another great call! Our consulate appt. is set for July 11 at 8:30 am and we will be able to travel home on July 13. We also found out that we were going to get to travel to our daughter's orphanage during our time there-which was a huge answer to prayer for me! I had specifically been praying for this throughout the year and had journaled about this longing of mine. I had hoped so much that we would get this opportunity BUT it is very rare to get to do this because of regulations. We have chosen to forego the sightseeing portion on the front end of the trip in Beijing in order to make the long trip to our child's orphanage in the province of Gansu. We are so excited to get to see this piece of her story/roots-the Qingyang city Welfare Institute- where our daughter has been for the last 16 months of her life.
We had about 24 hours to book flights and I was on the phone for hours yesterday hammering out the details of booking it all only 18 days out. Thankfully-we got a great itinerary on United and are set to depart June 30-July 13. One of the biggest highlights for us too...our dear family friend that is family to us-Belle Johnson-gets to join us for the first week of this wild adventure! More on Belle to follow...that will be my next blog!

Xiaofang Qing's story

2011-05-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Our little girl was born on Feb.22, 2010 and was picked up from the gate of the nurses office by a police officer in Qingyang city on april 22, 2010. She was about 2 months. She was found in a red sweater, wrapped with a pink quilt outside. The police then reported her to the police station. After investigation but failed attempts to find the birth parents-the picker respectively issued birth certificates for picking up abandoned baby. After examination and approval by the Welfare Institute of Qingyang City-she was agreed to be admitted. She has been raised by the Welfare Institute of Qingyang City to this day. A physical exam was done and results were fairly normal-although she is very small and has a deformity of the right ear (actually one ear is small and low set and the other is larger and is pinned out-we will take her to a specialist when she gets home). They say she can follow noises and likes to smile. They say she responds to her name.
We have her medical exams and will just continue to trust God with her overall development. We know that at about 9 months old-she was about 11 pounds. We have her updated weight of about 15 pounds at 14 months old. She will be about 17 months by the time we bring her home! Please pray that our travel approval will come soon so that we can begin knowing more of our exact travel dates-we should find those out in June hopefully so we can better plan what our July might look like! I think of her birth mom often and pray for her as well-I know she made a tough decision to give this child up. We pray that each and every day someone would rock or hold her. Please join us in praying the same for our baby Belle.

Bringing Belle Home

2011-05-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

We began our adoption journey last June but the journey to meet our little girl began over 20 years ago in my heart. It feels a little strange for me to be writing my first blog as I am new to this whole blogging world! I am not even sure where to begin! I want to give a quick re-cap of this past year and then fast forward to where we are now-within weeks away of going overseas...
Tim and I have been attending adoption meetings, conferences, and had our atennae's up for the past several years-mostly just gathering information and walking alongside and learning from friends who had gone before us. We finally decided to take the plunge last year and in faith-at least start the "home study" phase. We had learned about a wonderful gal/social worker at Catholic Charities that several of our friends had used for their home study and so we jumped in and began with the meetings/process. For most of the summer-we plowed through gathering information, ordering files, going to the doctor, and having several meetings with our social worker. At the end of this time-it was time to declare a country and make a decision as to what Agency (out of hundreds) we were going to use. This all felt very overwhelming to me because there was so much to learn and we did not have clarity for months. We are thankful that as we researched and talked to others-it all began crystal clear. The Pereira family was feeling more and more of a nudge to pursue China Special Needs (we had begun looking towards Central/Latin/South America and several doors closed there). We knew there was a huge orphan needs in China but we also looked at the various factors involved with having 4 other small kids at home (like how much time required for travel and how many trips). It has been such a joy to hear the kids get super excited at the thought of having another sibling-Anna Caroline can hardly wait to have a sister she can play dress up with(and smear makeup on!)
In September of 2010-we began making our application to America World and we were accepted into the Special Needs China Program (average wait time for a referral was about was a few months). We hit it off with our family coordinator over the phone and we began the long grueling process of the dossier. In the beginning-it was like reading Greek and we did not have our system down yet. I truly thought I was going to pull my hair out! Then-I talked to several experts who helped me get a good system for keeping track of the paperwork and get the system working. Thankfully-Tim was a champion at helping me locate records, going down to get fingerprinted, and mulling through the paperwork. Our pediatrician was amazing at helping us fill out the medical needs part. We prayerfully had a lot to consider. Our goal was to get the dossier done by the holidays and we turned it in officially before Christmas! Whew-that was a load off for us! Then-the WAITING PERIOD began. WE could NOT believe it! Just 60 days later on Feb. 15-our family coordinator called one afternoon and I was NOT expecting the call at all. It was a time a crazy time of the day when all of this kids had just gotten home from school and mayhem was about to start in the kitchen with after school snacks. The COOL part is that my cousin and Aunt had just driven in the day before to Nashville for the Antiques and Garden show so they were here when i got the call and received the electronic file. I called Tim immediately and asked if he could come home quickly straight from work. I shed tears of joy with my aunt and walked around the house for an hour or two in a daze before I went down to help my cousin get set up for her booth at the show. It was a night I will never forget. I could hardly eat, sleep, or believe this was really happening.
Since our referral in February-we have been filling out loads of paperwork for our travel and visa. We have been working with the travel department at America World to learn all we can before we go in 2 months! They are anticipating our dates to be 2 weeks in July but we will not know those dates until a few weeks before. We have sent one care package to Baby Belle on her first B-day which is in Feb. 22 and we are about to send our second care package with lambie's and toys and a translated letter from our family. I hope she gets it! We are dying to be with her-the weeks have felt long waiting to pick her up BUT we feel so close now! We hope you will pray for her with us. I feel all of 8 months pregnant emotionally right now and ready to have this new child. Pray that someone is rocking her. Pray that our travel arrangements and childcare arrangements will fall into place. Tim and I plan to leave all the kids home with grandparents and sitters/friends but that will be a long time to be away from them. I want to soak in each moment with Tim and this experience when we are in China. thanks for joining the journey with us!