Our Journey to Baby Claire

More pics

2008-12-28T22:23:00.002-06:00

Claire Turns 2 and a year in review

2008-12-28T22:20:00.002-06:00

Okay, I am 6 months behind but hope to be better in 2009. Have a great year, enjoy the pics, hope to post every 18th of the month in 09.

Summer Days

2008-06-17T21:00:00.003-05:00

Claire is doing great, we are taking swim lessons and doing gymnastics. She was so flexible in China and we are building upon her skills, however she hates to forward head roll. All is well, Claire is saying many new words like God, good, Papa, down there, touch that and more. We love love her so much and could never imagine our life without her. Here is a pic of her 101 year old Great Great Aunt in Oklahoma. Also, pic with DaDa on Mother's Day. Love, MA

Bluebonnet Pics and Update

2008-05-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

So sorry it has been since Christmas! My how time flies. We are doing great! Claire is walking, talking, running and exploring everything. Here are the April Bluebonet Pics and I will post more soon, lap top issues so it is taking me a little longer. Love to all, MA, J and C

Welcome 2008

2008-01-27T14:41:00.000-06:00

Sorry it has been so long but 2008 is here! I have been adjusting to a schedule to get things done. Claire had her eye surgery on WED, the 23rd and is doing great. Already she sees better, and more detail we think, hopefully she will start walking soon. Here are some pics, the rest of December and some new ones. Enjoy! Love, MA, J and C

More Pics from my birthday!

2007-12-19T21:56:00.000-06:00

My First Birthday Party!

2007-12-19T21:48:00.000-06:00

I am now 1!! I celebrated with friends and family on Saturday and with Mommy and Daddy on Tuesday! Happy Birthday Claire! Merry Christmas to Everyone!

Pics of Claire, November

2007-11-28T19:16:00.000-06:00

Claire is growing, crawling and close to walking. We had a great first Thanksgiving and are getting ready for her 1st birthday on December 18th and 1st Christmas. Love to you all, MA , J and C

More Pics of Claire

2007-11-12T14:34:00.000-06:00

Claire Bear a cutie!

2007-11-12T14:30:00.001-06:00

Finally more pics of Claire !Enjoy will blog updates tonight!

Lots of first and Boo Pics!

2007-10-30T19:08:00.000-05:00

Claire has had a lot of first this week most all good except for Mommy's mashed potatoes, yuck! Anyway, she has had a lot of first this week: first "all done, 2 word combo, 1st play group, 1st fall festival, 1st Boo Halloween outfit, 1st Boo Ghostie purse and more ! We are loving her so much and today woke up to say to ourselves, did she grow overnight ? Enjoy the pics, love MA, J and C

Pumpkins oh my!

2007-10-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

Claire has developed a fear of pumpkins. You see she is not afraid of much however when we first got our fall pumpkin and put it by the front porch she got poked by a green holly leaf so she thinks the pumpkin poked her. Well, we were going to take her to a pumpkin patch but we will wait until next year, we don't want tears over a big bad pumpkin. These pics are taken right before the tears and trying to get away. Claire is continuing to make lots of progress and she is eating, growing and doing well. She even said "all done " at breakfast, okay and more very clearly. We are going every Friday to a Garland play group with other kids ages 6 months to 4 and even learned the itsy bity spider in espanol, so she might be trilingual. We are so blessed to love her and call her daughter. Love to all, MA, J and C

A girls new shoes, jeans and experiences

2007-10-21T23:21:00.000-05:00

She had her first big boo hoo and boo boo with blood drawn in both arms and she is finding out about a talking Barney who plays peek a boo, princess shoes and so much more. Enjoy!

New Pics of Claire loving TX and America

2007-10-21T23:12:00.000-05:00

I apologize that it took me so long to get going again on the blog, I know everyone has been waiting to see our China cutie. Please forgive my busyness and enjoy the pics. We have experienced so many wonderful memories and moments with Claire, wish we could tell you all of them but here are some pics of her personality and sweet sweet little life. Love, MA, J and C

Update on Miss Claire

2007-10-17T14:08:00.000-05:00

Hey friends, We apologize for being so busy to not update the website more, ha ha! Well, just an update and will post pics of her soon. Claire is sitting up on her own and reaching out for our dog saying du du for the doggie. She is also scotting backwards trying to crawl. She is still saying mama and baba and is learning lots about her world. Jason is busy back to work working so hard for us and we love his dedication to our family. Wll, we must go play and see the Elmo and Wiggles video so we will post more later, just wanted you to know all is well. Love, MA, J and C

More Pics of Claire at Home

2007-10-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Howdy from TX! We are home and Claire is doing great! She is mastering the backwards "I want to crawl" scoot. So, we are working with her. She has found a new friend in Elmo and The Wiggles, she loves her Mr Pander puppet too ! Yes, Pander :) Texie is recovering nicely while at my moms she was bit by a copperhead snake 3 days before our return but thanks to quick thinking from my mom and the ER Vet they saved her life! She lays at Claire's door to guard it and gives her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Simba is now interested in Claire's bobble and thinks it might be kitty milk. Well, enjoy the pics, love to all,God is good! Love, MA and J and C

Finally More Pics of Claire, Hong Kong, Disney and Home

2007-10-07T23:12:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics from Disney, Hong Kong and 1st 5 days at home. Claire is eating so many new foods, her favorites are baby bananas, sweet potatoes and she still loves apple sauce. She is almost sitting up, praise and loves Elmo and the Wiggles. We are learning about the cat, dog, flowers and a home and family. Thanks again for the prayers, emails and blog comments, they all meant the world to us, now that we have slept some more I will try to update the blog more regularly. Love to all, MA, J and C

We are back in TX!!!!!

2007-10-04T22:45:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, let me apologize again for the delay! The day of September 29th when we left for Hong Kong was our last blog but now we are home and settled. Hong Kong was an interesting part of our trip, we did that part on our own without our group so it was a little more challenging. The fun part was going to DisneyLand with sweet Claire, her favorites were Snow White and Tigger. But, for a short update we arrived home on the 2nd and have already gotten her to sleeping 8 + hours. She is sitting up more and more and eating a lot, new foods are bananas baby food and rice cereal. Lots of friends met us at the airport and we ordered TEX MEX to go when we got home! She has seen 1 specialist in International Adoptions and our family physician and even met the fireman Chris to adjust her car seat with her riding in it. So, the appointments went well and we will continue to share and post milestones in our sweet babies life. We hope you will continue to follow and more pics will be posted after MaMa has more sleep and time, ha ha ! Love you all, our God is so good to gift us with baby Claire. MA, J and C

Swearing In, Keeping Up and Going to Hong Kong

2007-09-28T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, it is Friday night and we are all packed for tomorrow's trip to Hong Kong. We leave at 11:30 for a short 45 minute flight up and down. We are looking forward to our last part of the journey. The only thing we have planned in Hong Kong is to maybe tour, maybe go to Disney Land and go to Macau Island ? We'll see how Miss Claire is doing. We will keep up with our blog once we return back to TX so everyone can keep up with Miss Claire, it may not be as often but we will update you. We will also update you sometime in Hong Kong. Today we had the oath and swearing in at the American Consulate. Claire was laying on my shoulder holding up her right hand looking at her fingers. Mommy was crying with tears of joy in being able to bring her to America and Baba was proudly saying our oath. She continues to make great strides! She loves to stand and may walk before she crawls? She loves apple sauce and continues to make us laugh and smile! Yesterday the red couch photos were so cute! The babies all sat on the couch very cutely and quietly until they started crying, falling over and wanting Mama's. Well, we will updte you once we get settled in Hong Kong. Love to all, MA, J and C

Red Couch Photos from the White Swan

2007-09-27T05:57:00.001-05:00

All the babies took a picture today, as you can see Claire had her foot up as usual. The boy is the one in blue in the middle. Tonight at dinner we met a family from Mt. Vernon TX, wow! So, enjoy the new pics of the playroom and red couch and family photos. Love, MA, J and C

1st swim and more adorable pics of Claire

2007-09-26T08:31:00.001-05:00

We had our first swim, she looked so cute and liked the water. We had a restful day and tomorrow we go before the American Consulate for our ceremony and visa to return her to the USA. She becomes an American citizen upon reaching American soil, which will be our stop over in LA. YEAH! She continues to make us laugh and smile every moment, our hearts are full of love, we are blessed. Can't wait to see everyone soon! Love, MA, J and C

Our morning 926

2007-09-26T02:07:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone, Claire is asleep with Baba, she usually takes a 3 hour power nap. Now that I am a new Mommy, I continue to sleep even more lightly always saying prayers for our sweet Claire, Jason and our new forever family. We went to a Temple today and the babies got a monk blessing, this afternoon we hope to swim in the pool for the first time! Claire continues to do well and is really liking baby apple paste and some yogurt. Tonight we will have a quiet evening and play in the Swan Room and maybe go for Starbucks and 7-11 ice cream. Tex Mex is sounding so good right now. Claire does great on travel, we get in and out of a tour bus a lot and she does fine in the stroller too, we are so blessed. Will post more pics later, your later morning. Love you all, Miss you! MA,J and C

More cute pics for you ! Love to all, Miss you all!

2007-09-25T19:33:00.001-05:00

Claire is so cute! Click on the pics to enlarge, she loves to suck in her bottom lip and the towel one is after her bath in the sink. The one with Jason is at the Chen family Temple, will post more pics later! xoxoxo MA, J and C

New Pics from 9/25

2007-09-25T09:20:00.001-05:00

Pics from our day at the White Mountain Gardens, beautiful place and pics with Claire and her Baba! Love to all, MA, J and C

More pics from 924 Day

2007-09-24T07:08:00.000-05:00

She was knocked out after our trip to the DR. and McDonalds and then DaDa is reading her ladybug book to her in her jamjams almost ready for bed. xoxox MA, J and C

Praises, McDonalds, Swan Play room and more !

2007-09-24T06:55:00.000-05:00

Well, the Dr.'s checkup went great, no tears and development is all normal, praise! She weighs 18.2 lbs and is 68 cm long. So, after our visa photo we went to the clinic for the Dr's exam. Claire is a gagger like her MaMa, Daddy did most of the holding. After the dr's appt. we had the day free so we all came back for a 3 hour nap! WOW! Then the day started very rainy but we got out and walked to McDonald's for lunch,we had chicken nuggets and fries and it was good! We passed on the soy bean pie and other local McDonald items. Once we returned to the hotel we took Claire into the Swan Playroom made and sponsored by Mattel. She really responded to Winnie the Pooh and gave him a big hug ! After we played we came back to the room to rest and got out later for a 7-11 ice cream! So, we had another terrific day with Miss Claire! Her hair is growing and tonight she ate a lot of rice cereal, well a lot for her :) We will 1/2 day tour tomorrow and rest in the afternoon. Tomorrow in all of China they will celebrate the moon cake festival so we might try to fnd a mooncake for a dessert. We still haven't been to Starbucks but will go soon. Love to all, MA, J and C

New dress, new barbie, new pics! Oh so cute!

2007-09-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Her first Chinese dress, what a doll! Will post more pics from our day! Love, MA, J and C

dadadada, shopping, Spicy girl and thumbs up

2007-09-23T03:01:00.000-05:00

Well everyone, we are loving Guangzhou! Everyone told us we would and we do! We went from pbutter crackers and stale animal cookies to 7-11 and Papa Johns Pizza and Maserati shopping center! Yesterday we just got oriented to our new place at the White Swan. Claire's sleeping was still sound yet a little more restless due to the different crib. This morning we ate a delicious Western breakfast overlooking the Pearl River, we had french toast, tater tots, bacon, omelet and more! We were still hungry from our trip in Chongqing, however we did enjoy a delicious PaPa Johns large pepperoni pizza last night! The mommies are going for a mommy starbucks soon and then the new dads are going for another type of beverage ha ha! Everywhere we take Claire in the stroller she rides with her feet in the air, we still think she will be an acrobat or gymnast! She catches everyone attention young and old with her hair sticking up and blowing in the wind and her feet in the air. Yes, it is very windy and tropical here and we enjoy the more fresh air and water! When people ask us where she is from we say Chongqing and they all say oh .... she is a Spicy girl so we have nicknamed her Qi Spice! For us, that is good because we know she will love TexMex once we get back to TX. However, for now she is only eating her bottles, she gags on cherrios, fruit puffs and apple paste but is trying. The Chinese also give us the thumbs up for meaning you are a very good person, they appreciate us loving Claire and taking her to America for a good education, little do they know how much we appreciate them for giving us such a sweet child. Tomorrow we do the medical exam so we hope all goes well with that and it is not too traumatic! This morning Claire was singing daddadadadadaddaddad all morning, so cute and when Jason talks to her she just smiles and smiles. She also loves Mommy to kiss her and tickle her nose. Well, we will post pics later, just wanted you to know all is well. Love, MA, J and C

More final pics of Chongqing and baby Claire

2007-09-22T08:08:00.001-05:00

Thanks again for the prayers, our sweet baby Claire is doing great ! We love her so much and are so blessed. Enjoy the pics! Love, MA, J and C

921 and 922 we are in Guangzhou! YEAH!

2007-09-22T06:53:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, we have moved from 3rd world to Starbucks and 7-11! We flew to Guangzhou this morning very early! We arrived at the beautiful White Swan around 10:30 and rested in the room. Yesterday was our last day in Chongqing and we were glad to leave and go on with the rest of our journey. Everyone speaks great English here and the White Swan is so nice and beautiful. They have personal attendants on every floor and meet our every need. We will post more after miss Claire goes to bed but wanted everyone to know we are here safe and sound! Love to all, MA and J

More pics of Claire

2007-09-21T03:58:00.000-05:00

We are leaving for Guangzhou in the morning, 5:30 a.m. so we will post later once we get settled. Hope you love the pics, click on the pic to make them larger. Love, MA, J and C

Chongqing market

2007-09-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the Chongqing market, Claire was quite the celebrity there. We were again surrounded by curious Chinese people. We came across a teenage girl that was originally from Claire's town. She said that the town was not that big, however according to Chinese standards a town of 100,000 people is only a small village. She did say that her town was very poor and there were a lot of farmers there. Yesterday we ran into a girl at the park who knew of Yunyang and was very informative. She told us that many times when a mom will abandon a child they are very shameful and will go into hiding before giving birth. She also said that Yunyang was very poor and that there were many farmers there. She said that you are required to pay for public education in China and that many of the farmers can not afford this for their children. Also the fines for having a second child are very high and this prevents many poor from keeping their babies. She was very surprised when we told her that in America everyone is provided with an education no matter how rich or how poor.

The General Joseph Stillwell Museum, that we went to yesterday, was located in a very poor area of Chongqing. Many of the living quarters were basically concrete walls with a concrete top built into a hill, they had no front walls or doors, they were primarily just a shelter to stay out of the elements. Many had no running water or plumbing as Mary Ann found out when she stepped in human poop. Many of these people sold goods from the fronts of their homes in order to make a meager living. Some people here live under tarps. One thing we have not seen is a house. Everything here is built up. The whole city is full of tall buildings and most people live in highrise apartments. Most people hang their laundry out to dry from their balconies. Our guide tells us that in China the number 6 means good luck and that people pay a premium to have an apartment on the 6th floor. He told us that the number 4 is bad luck and that you can get a really good deal on apartments located on the 4th floor.

Claire is still doing very well. She seems very content and happy. Even the Chinese people here are impressed that she is able to do the splits. I'm still thinking she would make a great Chinese Acrobat.

Today is our last day in Chongqing; tomorrow morning we will travel to Guangzhou and will be there for a week, we are really hoping the smog situation will be better there. We did see the sun again today, at least through the smog, so this is only our third day out of 10 to see the sun.

We have really been blessed beyond belief with Claire and thank you all for all your prayers.

Love to all,
Jason, Mary Ann and Claire

Our Day 9/20 and new things about Claire

2007-09-20T06:45:00.000-05:00

Today we had a super sweet day with Claire ! We went to the 3 Gorges Museum and Park. We bought Claire a life gift of a pic of her town YungYang from a disabled artist and had her name painted on it. All of the art work is done with a brush in his mouth. The park was neat and again we were surrounded by tons of Chinese ladies looking at Claire. One young girl said she is very lucky and the FU in her name means lucky too. After the park, we took our first Taxi to the Stillwell Museum to see the Flying Tigers Memorablilia because the guy who started and led the Flying Tigers was named Claire Lee Chennault. He was from Commerce, TX. After the fun taxi ride, up a mountain we crashed for a nap, everyone! The taxi ride was an experience to say the least. I just didn't look and Claire loved it, she is miss busy body looking at everything. So, now we are playing and she is talking and talking to DADA. Here are some new things we know and love about Claire: she loves bags, she is loving us too :), she loves to roll around and have tummy time, she tried applesauce for the first time, she loves to "head butt" up and down, she loves to coo and swing her arms up and down and of course she is the cutest thing on earth ! Will blog more later. Love to all, MA, J and C P.S. Good poo day too!

Our day 919

2007-09-19T05:53:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, Get some tissue when reading Jason's blog, he is a real sweet Daddy and super hubby! His post just made me cry! Today we took Claire to the Chongqing Zoo with all the new mommys and daddys and babies. They all did very well. Then we went to Wal Mart Chinese style and KFC for lunch. So, we are back now and resting, having some poo issues and tears about it, our first ones but doing great! Claire said DA and MaMA already!! BaBa is Daddy in Chinese. Enjoy the pics! Love, MA and J and C

Our first big cry.....

2007-09-19T04:01:00.000-05:00

and one suppository later a much happier baby.

Claire's a real cutie

2007-09-19T02:23:00.000-05:00

What can I say other than God is good. We are blessed beyond belief. Claire is such a cutie and appears to be very healthy. She has cried very, very little, except for the present moment in which she is showing us she does have a good set of lungs. She just said momma quite clearly. She is so much fun and has the cutest little laugh. Her almond eyes are so beautiful and her skin complexion is very pretty.

The Gotcha Day was a totally amazing experience. We were walking to the building to get our babies and we're waiting for the elevator when several nannies with babies arrive. Of course all the mommies start shouting and crying and we're directed to proceed onto the elevators. We get to the 14th floor and there are about 10 babies in a room. We look through the window and I recognize Claire. There she is the active one. She's rolling around, sucking on her thumb and drool is rolling out of her mouth and of course she is rolling around in her spit. She does love her thumb, I think she would be totally content with her thumb and nothing else (toys). I stood over by the window watching Claire and they called our name, Mary Ann was standing at the door tears running down her eyes and I'm still at the window and sure enough the nanny comes over and picks up the baby I had picked out as being Claire and takes her and places her in Mary Ann's arms. So I run over give a little hug and then remember I'm supposed to be videoing the whole event so I yank out the video camera and do what daddy's supposed to do. It was great. Claire loves tummy time and prefers that to being in a stroller or constricted. All the babies in our group have been great and all appear to be healthy. Her hair is still sticking straight up even after tons of mousse.

Today we went to the Chongqing Zoo and saw the Pandas and even the Red Pandas which they tell us that this is the only zoo in the world with Red Pandas. Afterward we went to Wal-Mart. It was similar to the Wal-Marts back home, but difficult to find what your looking for due to the language barrier. Most of the people in the hotels and other areas where there are a lot of tourist speak English, but otherwise it is a little tricky.

Yesterday we were presented with a 24k gold plate from her province which will great for her to have when she gets older. We also did fingerprints yesterday too. Off course we had to pull Claire's thumb out of her mouth to get the fingerprint, then she just slams her whole hand on the ink pad and then smears her whole hand print on the document rather than just her thumb. We were trying to wipe the ink off of her hand as she was trying to stick her thumb back into her mouth.

We can't wait for everyone to meet and see Claire.
Love,
Jason

Pics from 918 Official Day to Become Parents

2007-09-18T07:03:00.001-05:00

Miss Fu Qi Yang officially became Claire JoLee Qi Gray today at 3:30 p.m. YEAH! Check out those shades, cool cat !

More album Gotcha photos and more to come after bedtime

2007-09-18T06:12:00.000-05:00

Hi ! Hope you all are doing well. We had a great day, we are officially Claire's parents! Yeah! Tomorrow we are going to the chinese Wal Mart and to the Chongqing Zoo to see the Panda's. Love to all, will post more pics later after Claire is asleep. MA , J and C

Our first 20 hours with baby Claire

2007-09-17T21:02:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, thanks so much for everything, the prayers, comments and emails . So far, the first 20 hours are going well. She slept from 9:30 p.m-6:30 a.m. and did a lot of giggling, laughing and looking at us. She has cried little and has been loved on very very much. We are still working on the eating thing but are trying to get her to take a whole bottle. She even ate Chinese pudding and some rice cereal, we are not ready for the Cherrios yet. The hotel has a baby playroom and we have taken her there 2 times to see other babies. We are still working on the head/sitting up completely but she is so amazing, she has already learned to push herself up and sit up for a little bit. She is very fast and absolutely is in love with her Daddy, he is so in love with her too. We have given her baby massages and she responds very well. Today she will have her first bath and then at 1:30 we go back to the Civil Affairs office for her family photo with us. Every Chinese woman just thinks she is so cute, and touches her sweet face, that is part of the culture. Will post updated pics from our day later so maybe in the morning you can see them. We are so thankful for this sweet blessing! Love to all, MA and J and C

More pics of baby Claire 1st day 9/17

2007-09-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

Here are some more of our cutie pie little lady bug! Love, ma and j and c

Gotcha Day ! We got her!

2007-09-17T04:14:00.000-05:00

Oh my, it was amazing! She took to us right away and was laughing, giggling and saying mama! Baba is daddy in Chinese so we are saying that too and she turns and looks at Jason. She is already attached to Daddy and has felt his beard many times. So, we are back at the hotel, when you wake up you will see her! She is absolutely adorable and is now out sleeping. She has not cried yet but we expect her too and she loves to look at lights! We are so blessed, love to you all, we are going to eat our crackers and take a breath to rest. MA and J

P.S. We think she is going to be a Chinese acrobat because she does the full splits and has a stong grip, a cute giggle too.

1st pics of Claire Gotcha!

2007-09-17T04:10:00.001-05:00

Future Parents, Gotcha Day!

2007-09-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, today is our Gotcha Day ! We just woke up to honking horns and smog, lots of smog! We are so excited, nervous and ready to meet Claire. We are family 6 in line of nine. The baby bag is packed and we leave the hotel at 2 to travel to the Civil Affairs office to meet Claire. We saw a new pic of her, very cute with spiked hair ! So, we will post once we get back to the hotel and settled in for the night. It might be a long night. We so appreciate all of your prayers and God's answers over the past 28 months. Today we will hold Claire in our arms. Yesterday we walked the city to "Trust Mart" like WalMart, whew, what an experience! Chongqing Province, municipality, City is very, I mean very poor, 3rd world! We saw people cooking, eating and selling on streets, pots of water on the sidewalk and more. We are so thankful to bring baby Claire home. Here are pics of Jason practicing with the stroller and me thinking what do I do with all this stuff ? Love to all, xoxo MA and J

Pics of Bejing and todays trip to Chongqing

2007-09-16T07:42:00.000-05:00

Hope you enjoy the pics, will post more later. The diaper bag is packed and we can sleep in tomorrow, one last morning. We get Claire at 2:30 , finished her paperwork today and saw an updated pic, so cute! Love to all, MA and J

Our Day September 15th, 2007 in China

2007-09-16T00:37:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, Finally we are in Chongqing and we are leaving at 2 for Wal Mart to shop for the babies. YEAH! We have paid our $$ and tomorrow we get baby Claire!!! So, here is about our day yesterday and I will post and blog some more tonight. Love to you all! xoxo MA and J
We started our day with our last yummy Western Breakfast. Got pics of it to come. Then we started out at Tianamen Square, so crowded. The air is heavy and smoggy, constantly crowded and dull, we have only seen sunshine once since being here due to the smog. Jason says he takes back what he earlier said about the traffic "not being so bad" ha ha! Imagine rush hour in Dallas x100 but wait it gets better ! After Tianamen Square we spent a lot of time at the Forbidden City. Then we went to a copper factory where they make beautiful Asian vases and had another traditional Asian meal. This time our guide is Michael, a very nice 27 year old guy who dreams of coming to America. He will be with us until we fly to Guanzghuo. Finally, our day ended at the Great Wall, we climbed at least 1000 feet straight up. We even got a engraved hero card for climbing the Great Wall, we were so proud of ourselves! We even saw the couples and film crew of the Amazing Race going up. But.... we got back to the bottom of the Wall huffing and puffing and we found some more hero cards, same as ours but for NOT NOT going up. So, we didn't even have to climb it after all that! Oh well..... We got some more life gifts for Claire, a silk handkerchief for her wedding day and a pic of the Great Wall on rice paper. So, we will blog more later, going to Wal Mart. We are SSOOO Hungry for Tex Mex! Give me some Poncho and Lefty's! Thanks for all the emails/blog comments, we are really enjoying them.

Going to Chongqing and our day on 9/15

2007-09-15T16:27:00.001-05:00

Hey friends and loved ones, Just a quick blog and we will update later while you are sleeping :) Remember we are 13 hours ahead so it is 5: 30 a.m. on the 16th here, it is 4:30 p.m. on the 15th at home. Yesterday the blog would not work so we need to catch up. Anyway, we are leaving the hotel at 6 for a flight to Chongqing, Claire's province. Can you believe we get her tomorrow ? 2:30 p.m. is Gotcha Time! But anyway, we saw Tianamen Sq., Forbidden City and climbed, yes climbed straight up 1000 ft straight up the Great Wall, it was amazing, will post pics later. God is so good to have chosen sweet baby Claire for us. I just cried and cried on the bus yesterday when our guide Michael was telling us why the mothers have to abandon these sweet babies and what to expect from tomorrow Gotcha Day. So, we are packing the lap top and must go but I will blog later. Love to all, MA and J

Pics from 9/14//2007

2007-09-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

All Day September 14th

2007-09-14T09:09:00.001-05:00

Dear loved ones and friends, We just got in at 8:30 p.m. from this morning leaving at 8 a.m. Our day was full of things to fall in love with China! We started our day by bus with a tour guide named Jerry. He was very kind and sweet the entire day. The first place we went was the Beijing Zoo to see the pandas. They were awesome! By the way, we have NOT gained 20 lbs in our pics, in fact we have lost but we have our money belts tightly strapped to our tummies and pinned to our jeans. The morning was super super foggy and rainy. Basically we got wet and rained on all day today. So, after the Beijing Zoo we went to the Summer Palace, a beautiful, peaceful place. We stayed there for a long time and when our bus stopped we got mobbed with tons of people trying to sell goods, fake rolex watches and purses. Jason got a kick out of the sellers, they made him laugh and laugh. China is absoultely beautiful and we wanted to love it for Claire. I can say we do! After the summer palace we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant for a 10 course meal . It was pretty good but we were careful what we ate. The guide then took us to a real pearl market. We all got educated on buying good real pearls, many good buys. After lunch, we went to the Temple of Heaven. It was built in 1490 and was constructed of wood, amazing for sure!

All Day September 14th Pics

2007-09-14T09:09:00.000-05:00

Pandas inside at the Beijing Zoo. We bought Claire a Panda unmbrella and Panda slippers as one of her 18 gifts of life.

Friday September 14th

2007-09-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

Our Journey has gone well so far. Since we've been in Beijing the weather has been in the 60s with misting rain and fog. Beijing is a very big city, but we've only seen a small area as we've stayed within the circumference of our hotel. There are many many buildings, but we have not seen any near the height of the ones in downtown Dallas. There are a lot of cars and bikes, but the traffic is no worse than traffic in Rowlett at 5pm. The people have been very nice, especially the young people who are very curious or want to practice their English. We went to Baskin Robbins and Subway for dinner yesterday. The young guy working at Subway asked a lot of questions about my t-shirt. His English was limited, but he got help from the other workers. After Subway we went to Baskin Robbins and had ice cream. The whole time we were there the three young girls behind the counter leaned over the counter with big smiles on their faces and watched our every move.

Our route to China was different than what I expected. We flew northwest over Utah, Idaho, Washington State, Mount Rainer, the Canadian coast, the Alaskan coast, across the Bering Sea and then down off the Russian coast to Tokyo. Between Washington State and Canada the outside temperature was -70 degrees at 40,000 feet. Before we arrived in Japan we flew through a snow blizzard. The Tokyo airport was small about the size of Love Field, but there is a larger airport in Tokyo.

Today we will tour the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and Beijing Panda Zoo and tonight we will go to the Chinese acrobat show. We will be out most of the day so there will be no updates until later. All is well. Thanks to all for the prayers.
Jason

Beijing Pics

2007-09-13T06:50:00.000-05:00

Jason as we are crossing a bridge. We went to the Poly Art Museum and Jewelry market and had dinner at a Subway with Baskin Robbins Ice Cream too. Love, MA and J

Pics from China

2007-09-13T06:04:00.000-05:00

We just stayed near the hotel today since we tour all day tomorrow. It was cold, 60's and rainy today. We video taped things for Claire and went to the jewelry market and grocery store. The dragon is in our hotel. Everyone is treating us like royalty. They just smile and say hello to us, they do everything for us like push the elevator button. We feel a little lost with the language but are already loving China. Coutdown to Claire, 4 days! Love to all. MA and J

Day 1 in China, Sept. 13

2007-09-12T20:20:00.001-05:00

Hey guys, We are well rested and have just finished a yummy Western Breakfast. Yes, we were starving. The plane ride served us lots of food, even cheese pizza but we lost a day in travels. Anyway, we ate pancakes, omelet, potatoes, cereal and more. It was just like home except we ate some fried rice too, Jason too :) So, today we are resting, going to walk around our hotel and just relax. Here is our schedule for tomorrow:
8:00 Leave for Summer Palace, Bejing Panda Zoo and some other sights then we go to a Chinese Acrobat show so we won't be back until late tomorrow night. Our day is your night and so on. Thanks for the emails and comments, we are getting them. Well, off to the bank for currency exchange and some waters, waters. P.S. We are eating lots of snacks, homemade fudge, rice krispies and cookies compliments of Becky and Brooke and tons of pb crackers. Love to all! xoxoxo P.S. We also met many new adoptive friends one couple from Austin, update ya'll later ! MA and J

Welcome to Beijing, We are here!

2007-09-12T17:32:00.001-05:00

Well guys, we made it to Bejing. It is 5:30 a.m. Chinese time on the 13th. That was so weird losing a day flying. We made it to the hotel fine, and now we are waking up to start our day. The email/blog situation is tricky, only lets us on for a few mins at a time. So, we hope you know how much we love all of you. The prayers were with us and we had NO problems traveling, except the guy next to us for 13 hours on the plane, he had some bodily issues, ha ha ! Well, we hope to send pics later and see Bejing. 4 days closer to Claire! We are getting your emails but may not respond. Love to all, xoxoxoo MA and J

1 Day Until the Plane to China!

2007-09-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Dear friends, We are leaving at 12:05 tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 11, 2007 YEAH! We are so excited ! See you on line and with baby Claire in October! Love, MA and J

9 Days and Counting

2007-09-03T21:03:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, Well, the countdown is on! Only 9 more days until we fly out. First, thank you again and again for your continued prayers and support during and through this journey. It's not over yet, our journey is really just beginning. We covet your prayers while we are gone. Check out our blog with our schedule. For you guys that are new to blogging (so are we) then just type in the address and hit go, it pulls us right up. If you wish to send a comment the user and password we set up will allow you to.

We just wanted also to take the time to remind everyone how important bonding and attachment will be during and after our trip. This process could take weeks and months so we ask that you please be patient with us in wanting to hold baby Claire until she and we are ready. Our social worker again stressed the importance of us being the only one to hold, feed, change and care for her during this early process and that is what we want, a good and lasting attachment.

You see, in an institutionalized setting these babies have many care takers and maybe only 1 consistent nanny so we want to make sure baby Claire loves us and knows we are really here for her as mommy and daddy and will never leave her. Many times the babies experience trauma after leaving the nanny for her new parents and if she goes to another person for holding and love, she could experience that all over again. So, we want to avoid that if at all possible. Please don't take it personally if we don't let you hold her right away, we just ask for your patience as we go through this transition.

We will try and return phone calls and emails quickly upon our return but please do not take it personally if we are out of touch for a while. We hope you understand and continue to pray that baby Claire takes to us and bonds and attaches well. Thanks for understanding! We can't wait to return to the USA with our new little baby girl and look forward to sharing many happy memories with each of you. Love, xoxoo MA and J

Here is our blog: http://tochinaforclaire.blogspot.com If you want to comment, just use this user and password we have set up.

User: ClaireJoLee@gmail.com
Password: Chongqin

Love, MA and J

God is faithful to build our family !

2007-08-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

God is so good ! He is faithful to build our family with the gift of adoption. We are so excited to start and build our family with a sweet baby girl far away in another country. Baby Fu Qi Yang is in China waiting for us to come and bring her home. Her life will change along with ours and hopefully yours as you share in our Journey to China for Claire.

We have our TA and are going to China soon!

2007-08-28T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well, finally we got our TA! What is a TA? Well, Totally Awesome, Terrifically Amazing, All of the above for us! The Journey to China is finally upon us. Yesterday 8/27/07 we got our approval to travel and now we are just waiting on the consulate appointment to buy our tickets. They say we will travel sometime between 9/11-9/13 and return sometime around the end of September. We went to Target one more time for last minute items like gerber baby starters, thermometer and more! Baby Claire, here we come ! Thanks for all the prayers. I promise I will be better at keeping up. Love, MA and J

Whew! A whirlwind of paperwork

2007-08-22T16:35:00.001-05:00

Okay, it has been a while since my last post but things have been very busy. Claire's suitcase is packed and ready with just a few things. I have been waking up at 3:30-4:00 every morning and thinking of checking in, burp cloths and more ! Well, we are still waiting to get the travel okay, we may or may not make the September cut off. So, keep praying. Love, MA and J

Updates on baby Claire "FU QI"

2007-08-08T17:49:00.000-05:00

Hello dear friends, Here is the latest on updates for our journey to baby Claire!
1. We said YES,YES!! Our papers are fedexing to China tonight, fast huh ? We will talk to the travel team on Tuesday. Once we get our consulate appt then we make travel plans. Keep praying! Also, pray specifically that our Airmiles will be useable and seats will be available.
2. Her medical report came back as all normal except her weight is a little low, that is common in institutionalized kids. Praise ! We are soooo thankful and developmentally she seems good, the DR said she seems right on target. Some more information about her is she can click 2 blocks together, she likes music and playing games. Yeah !
3. We purchased the cute pink, flowery car seat last night and had it installed today . Did you know there are certified car seat installers at the fire station ? Well, the guy Chris did it and he goes to Lake Pointe too.
4. We are still playing with the blog. Hopefully it will be going by the weekend but remember we are not techie experts, just trying:)
5. I might have found a sweet little friend of Claire's in the same orphanage in San Diego, we will keep you posted.
6. Just getting everything ready, we had to wait and wait and now we have to hurry hurry. WE thank all of you for touching base with us and praying for us.

Love to all, Mary Ann and Jason

Car Seats, Mattress and WE SAID YES!

2007-08-08T00:05:00.000-05:00

Well, we said yes to our little cutie pie! I have been on the computer looking up information on her province and I might have found a little friend in the same orphanage. Tonight we bought a cute, cute pink carseat and the mattress. The lady bug room is coming along and I am "repacking" her suitcase. We fedexed our package so we hope to travel in September. Love to all, xoxooxoo

Our Journey to China for baby Claire Jo Lee Qi Gray

2007-08-03T22:33:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

We finally set up our blog. It may not be the best but we will try to update it and make it easy to read and enjoy for our journey to Claire in China. Claire's Chinese name is Fu Qi Yang and yesterday, August 2nd, 2007 we met her via email pics for the first time. She is "amazingly beautiful" is what the agency kept saying and we agree ! Here is some more information about her and future prayer requests:

Her birthday is 12/18/2006 so she will be one very soon. This month on the 18th she will be 8 months old. At 6 months she weighed 14 lbs. She is a deep sleeper, YEAH! She sucks her thumb at night, she knows her name of Qi pronouned CHI. She can roll over, hold her head up and she loves toys. She is close to her crib mate and care taker. YES, another prayer, we prayed and prayed she would find favor in a caretakers eyes and God provided. And, her moma's request some hair, yes, she has some hair! This is what we know so far.

On Monday, we will receive our fedex package to find out more about her medical history, her province and about where she was left, her finding place. So, on Monday we will be seeing our physician, signing papers and such.

Thank you soooo much for the prayers, thoughts, emails during our journey. WE are developing a blog so everyone can follow our travels. Here are some specific prayer requests.
1. Medical reports be good and we travel soon, September would be ideal or we may be delayed until November.
2. Continued care for baby Fu Qi until we arrive and after. She will be grieving the loss of her caretaker and crib mate. Transition to us, attachment and bonding quickly and smoothly.
3. Flight plans, details of travel and packing. :) Jason's business while we are gone, Mary Ann's real estate business to be finished and completed before travel.
4. Pray for this sweet baby's birth mother, her sadness and comfort in knowing her child will be loved. We don't know her mother or have any information but we know she had to give up this sweet precious child just for us.
5. More to come, I am sure. We love you all and thank you again and again! MA and J and baby Claire JoLee Qi xoxoxoxo