journey to xixi's didi

3 Weeks and 2 days later...

2009-12-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. The last few weeks feel like a blur. This post is a bit long...hang in there!

We arrived home at 2:00 AM on November 8th- after traveling/flying for over 30 hours. Everyone adjusted well to EST except for me- it took me 10 days to get over the time zone change.

Zach is adjusting well. He loves exploring the house and the neighborhood. He loves playing with all of his new cars and trucks and legos. He loves trying to ride XiXi's big wheel. He loves chasing XiXi around. He loves scribbling on his art pad. He loves to laugh and smile.

the verdict is still out on the dog! he is slowly warming up to our furry canine friend- Xavier! :-)

XiXi is also adjusting to being a big sister and having to share the love and attention with someone else after being the sole recipient for the last 4.5 years. She has grown up so much since we flew out of Reagan on October 20. Much more confident, independent and nurturing. It was so much fun seeing China through her eyes. She just LOVED her time there! She talks about it all the time!

I'm adjusting to being a mom of two. We are so grateful to our wonderful friends at our amazing church who brought us meals the first few weeks we were back. We continue to be amazed at the ways God provides for us and these meals were such a tangible measure of that!

We were able to go to South Carolina for a quick trip for Thanksgiving. It was great seeing my parents my sisters, brother-in-law, and niece. Zach and Helen totally hit it off. I loved watching them play together!

At one point during- Helen came up to Zach and took a toy from him and he just looked at her and yelled, "MEI MEI!" (little sister) and started laughing. Mei Mei it is for Helen!

It was also fun to see Zach follow Ayi Jennie around again. His face just lit up when he saw her.

He loved getting to know his Lao Lao and Pop Pop- he would just smile and laugh everytime he saw them!

According to the doctors- Zach is in great health! 50% height and weight- on target for gross and find motor skills.

We had our first visit to the Hopkins Cleft Clinic last week. They are very optimistic about the palate repair and said they can do a great lip revision in the future as well. We are waiting to get scheduled for his palate surgery- it will probably be sometime in late January/early February.

So- yeah- we have a lot of be thankful to God for...a smooth and safe trip to and from China, Zach is adjusting well to our family (especially to MaMa after not wanting much to do with me in China!), our family is adjusting well to Zach.

This will be my last post for a while to this blog. Please continue to follow our family's journey at my other blog www.theblauwkampbeat.blogspot.com

Matching Christmas outfits courtesy of Lao Lao!

Zach was not liking XiXi's cuddling at this point!

What a difference 5 weeks makes!

Belly laughing on the floor!

XiXi sure loves her DiDi!

Zach and his tractor! (this was Ross' when he was a kid!)

Cousins hanging out in their matching Oscar the Grouch shirts (in honor of Uncle Bo!)

Zach and Helen hitting it off!

A few final pics!

2009-11-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Last Day in China!

2009-11-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

Number of days spent in the Middle Kingdom: 17
Number of shopping items purchased: lost count
Number of undeleted photos on my digital camera: 1107
Number of memories made: infinite and priceless

Our bags are packed. The shopping damage has been assessed and another suitcase purchased to accommodate the damage. Good byes to our new friends we've made have been said.

I am typing this last post listening to Chinese pop music on the radio as we get ready to go down for our last amazing White Swan Breakfast Buffet.

There is a sense of excitement and anticipation for two little people to ride on another airplane. XiXi is excited to go back to her house again. Ross is looking forward to sleeping on our SOFT bed again. I'm ready to not live out of a suitcase for a while.

But at the same time, there is a sense of sadness as we get ready to leave a country that has captured such a huge place in all of our hearts. How do you say goodbye to such a place? How do you begin to describe the impact a trip has made on your soul? I feel a bit like Frodo after he returns to the Shire after taking the Ring to Mount Doom. How do you go back to your old life after such an adventure as this?

Our last full day was spent at the park. Several groups of Chinese students studying English came up to us asking for wishes for the people and country of China on their 60th Anniversary Celebration of China Day (October 1, 1949). As Ross and I wrote little wishes on post-it notes and took pictures with these amazing students- I felt a bit like I was writing snippet of my farewell to China.

Our guide took us to a famous noodle place for dinner. Our "Last Supper". It was one of the best meals we ate here- two kinds of noodle soups, fish, pork, eggplant, green beans, and dumplings to name a few of the dishes. We got to watch the cooks make the dumplings and pull a 20-foot strand of noodles. Pretty amazing!

Our flight for Seoul leaves at 12:50- we will arrive @ Reagan at 11:44 pm local time- after about 24 hours of traveling.

Thanks for following us on our journey- we can't wait for all of you to meet Zach and share in person more amazing stories that just can't be described on a blog post!

Zai Jian!

Guess who we ran into here in China?

2009-11-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

XiXi spotted him first- sitting by himself on the famous red couches at the White Swan Hotel- looking sad, lost, alone- and a bit crumpled and flat. She and Zach asked if he would like some company. He just stared at them thru his sunglasses w/ a cheesy grin on his face.

After a few minutes of small talk, they wandered over to gaze at the indoor three story waterfall- complete w/ a pagoda and koi fish pond.

Many photos were taken- both by the kids' parents and the flat, crumpled, sunglasses wearing, camare toting gentleman.

When asked where he was heading, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know- I'm just gonna be moving right along!"

Having a blast here in CHINA- can't wait for all of you to meet the newest Blauwkamp!

Julie, Ross, XiXi and ZACH!

Tiger Paw Falls!

2009-11-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Go Tigers!!!

More playground fund!

2009-11-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

The pictures say it all!!!

School Days

2009-11-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Right next to the park where XiXi and Zach played all week is a local school. Every morning the students would march out onto the courtyard for the morning exercises.

Red Couch Photos!

2009-11-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

One of the famous Chinese adoption things to do in Guangzhou is to have your adopted child's photo taken on the red couches at the White Swan Hotel. Our group was no exception!
All of the kiddos pictured here are two and older- seated left to right youngest to oldest. They did pretty well posing.

Look what we had for lunch!

2009-11-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

Just kidding!

Actually, we at this!!

Dem bugs are crunchy!
Gotta love the Qing Ping Market!

*Disclaimer: none of the Blauwkamps consumed any food pictured above!

Shamian Brides....

2009-11-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

One site we've become familiar with while walking around Shamian Island is seeing couples getting their wedding photos made. With tons of beautiful, tall, Banyan Trees lining the streets, old 19th century European buildings, and gorgeous foliage- it is the perfect photographic venue.

Couples pose all around the island, and it is not uncommon to see them walking from spot to spot to get the perfect pose. One bride we saw was wearing jeans and pink high tops under her fancy, poofy wedding dress!

As promised....lots of pictures!

2009-11-05T04:54:00.000-08:00

Getting the Lay of the Land

2009-11-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

We're in the middle of day 4 here in Guangzhou- sorry it's been a few days since my last post...

Zach continues to warm up to all of us and everyday, more and more of his personality comes out. He is such a happy and active little guy- for a little man- he has a HUGE personality!

He loves to strut around with his back pack on his back- it's as if he is saying, "Come on y'all- try to keep up with me!"

He enjoys playing hide and seek in the closet in our room- closing the closet door and a few seconds later- popping out to "surprise" us!

The hotel where we are staying, The White Swan, is a world class hotel. It is located next to where the U.S. Consulate used to process adoptions, so over the years, a lot of American families have stayed here while in Guangzhou. The White Swan has become synomonous with Americans adopting Chinese kids. Matel built a special playroom in the hotel for kids to play in and gives every U.S family a "Coming Home" Barbie- a totally jazzed up fashionable Barbie holding her newly adopted Chinese baby (and now that you asked- why yes, I have looked totally jazzed up and fashionable every day I've had Zach!). All around the hotel you will see American families with their Chinese kids along walking around next to world class executives in 3-piece suits! And the pool here is amazing- complete with a waterfall!

On sunday nite, we went to dinner with some other families in our travel group to an Italian place- the chef is from Italy- the food was amazing! The kids kept us entertained with their cuteness- Zach had his fork full of noodles held above his head lowering the noodles down into his mouth and laughing the entire time.

Yesterday we toured two different sites- a buddhist temple and the Chen Family Temple. The Chen family temple was amazing- the detail of the wood carvings and paintings on the buildings were unbelievable! During the tour, Zach got bored and got his plane out of his backpack and began playing with it- he and xixi also chased each other around as well. Pretty cute.

There is a great playground area about 2 blocks from our hotel...a lot of the local people go there with their children and you also see older people there doing Tai Chi and other exercises. It has both aplayground and exercise equipment and a little track surrounding it. XiXi has become a pro at the running-in-place exerciser and Zach totally loves going down the big slide!

I've also been doing a LOT of shopping. There are a lot of shops here on the island that are geared to adoptive families that all sell pretty much the same thing. They stand out on the street and when they see an american with a Chinese child, they come up and hand you a flyer and tell you all about their store. Some of them are a bit more pushy than others. Our guide, Kelly, gave us the lowdown on which shops had the best respective items (chops, clothes, art, etc.)!

Last nite our guide took all of the families to a local Cantonese restaurant- it was amazing!

Today, Zach had his TB test read- it was negative- not even a little bump! PHEW! All of the kids in our group were ok! Stay tuned for a picture post coming up next!

Day 1 in Guangzhou

2009-11-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Guangzhou late Friday night. Our flight from Guiyang to Guangzhou was pretty sweet as we were all in First Class- too bad we won't have that for our long flight next Saturday!

Yesterday was a bit crazy- Zach had his visa photos and medical examination/TB test.

He was a total Zoolander for his photo- he sat right down in the chair and just sported this totally adorable smile. I think I might have a little casanova on my hands

The pic of Ross and Zach below in front of the medical exam sign was taken BEFORE the exam- there were a TON of tears during the course of two hours. We had to go thru several different stations with a long wait between each stop. During the wait we were able to catch up with our travel group and swap stories and also meet other families from other agencies. There are a lot of families here adopting special needs kiddos- every person I meet and every story I hear brings tears to my eyes- it's been cool seeing how God has woven all of these families together.

After the exam, we took our laundry to a place that Jennie and XiXi scouted out to do our clothes. They will deliver our CLEAN clothes later today!

The White Swan Hotel is just as amazing as I remembered it. The breakfast buffet is to DIE for- and the view of the Pearl River from the window is equally amazing. XiXi and Zach both love the indoor waterfall with the big Koi fish swimming everywhere!

Zach is warming up to me. This morning at breakfast, Ross got up to get some food and left Zach at the table- he screamed for a few minutes and then motioned for me to get him out of the highchair and let me hold and comfort him for a few minutes before he pointed to the highchair again! He also let me swing him around a bit ago too! YAY!

Apparently, a lot of the other families have experienced the Dad being the "chosen one"- so we are not alone in this...

This morning we went to the porcelain, jade and pearl markets- the shopping here is amazing! and I have 5 more days of it! WOO HOO!!!

We are enjoying getting to know the other families in our travel group- one other family had a 5.5 year old daughter they adopted in 2004- she and XiXi have totally hit it off!

It's so great to be here- the weather is in the 80s and sunny- lots of other american families to meet (HEAVEN for a sanguine extrovert!).

gotta go and take xixi to the pool!
more later!

Last Day in Guiyang

2009-10-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well today is our last day in Guiyang- we fly out to Guanzhou later this afternoon. This morning, we awoke to the sound of fireworks going off @ 6:30am outside of our hotel window!!

I am sad to be leaving the only place Zach has known...in some ways, it feels like we are leaving a part of him here. But I am looking forward to being in Guangzhou at the White Swan Hotel w/ the other Great Wall families and one step closer to coming home again- or at least back to not living life out of a suitcase.

Yesterday, we ventured down the street from the hotel and found a university campus that has a beautiful open space. A lot of grandparents also walk around there w/ their grandkids. Today, when we were there, several people approached us with their kids to practice their English. One woman asked if we were foreign teacher! They handed XiXi and Zach fruit and spoke to them in Chinese. It was really cute.

We went back to the restaurant we ate at the other nite- the one that our guide wrote us out a menu- the server brought 3 sets of silverware and 2 sets of chopsticks, which she placed in front of Zach and XiXi. Clearly she thought the Chinese kids would use the chopsicks and the lao wei (foreigners) would use the silver- when we put the chopsicks on our plates, she came back and put them back on XiXi and Zach's. LOL

Today we saw more of Zach's mischevious side! He actually let me put his clothes on him this morning and let me tickle him a few times. I have caught him smiling at me too.

Zai Jian Guiyang!

Jie Jie and Di Di

2009-10-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

After having Zach in our family for almost 5 days, we are finally starting to see him warm up to his Jie Jie (big sister).

Today they have been playing a modified version of hide and seek in the elevator lobby/stairwell- Ross and Zach hide in the stairwell and XiXi comes to look for them. This produces a lot of laughs.

This afternoon, we introduced Zach to the movie, Cars. Being that his favorite toy is his wind-up car, it is no surprise that he was instantly hooked on the movie. During the movie, he and XiXi would make funny faces at each other- too cute. I was able to sneak a few good pics of them...

Currently they are on an elevator adventure with BaBa!

more later...

More photos!

2009-10-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Day 3 with Zach!

2009-10-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

It's nap time again! Hard to believe we have had Cao Fu Hai for almost 3 days now...

Here are some fun things we are discovering about him

1) he can feed himself with a spoon, fork AND chopsticks!
2) he loves kicking a ball
3) he puts things away after he uses them (future Montessori kid!)
4) he LOVES to sing- in fact, he sings all the time! totally cute!
5) he likes to be helpful- he brings us our shoes after we put his on, puts things in the fridge, and hands us kleenex.
6) he HATES taking a bath and getting his teeth brushed- last nite I told him, "gan jing ya chi" (clean your teeth) and he got upset (he knew EXACTLY what I was saying!)

Last night we ventured across the street to a restaurant our guide recommended to us- she wrote out items for us to order- which we gave the servers- we had Kung Pao chicken (which originated here Guizhou), sweet dumplings, a pork dish, some vegetables, and steamed egg for Fu Hai. The local food here is spicy- but good!

Today we toured another famous Guiyang landmark- Jia Xiu Lou- and then went to a government run museum and store to buy some gifts for Zach from his province.

XiXi continues to be a trooper- yesterday at the monkey park, she had a terrible episode of diarrhea and managed to hang in there with the sub-par squatties!!! More than I could have done! She is loving her little brother!

My sister, Jennie, has been a HUGE help- can't even begin to describe how amazing it has been having her along!

Gotta go- someone just woke up!

Tuesday Update

2009-10-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it's nap time here-

This morning we went to the Famous "Monkey Park"- a very popular place for people here in Guiyang- it is HUGE- a big lake (where we actually saw people swimming in the 15C water!)

One of the most popular attractions is the monkeys that roam around- playing and eating out of the hands of the local "feeders"- our guide told us that each feeder knows a few monkeys and has a name for each of them. You can hear the feeders calling out for the monkeys to come and get food!) we were standing less than 5 feet away from these wild monkeys- cool and scary at the same time!

The ride to and from the park was like something out of National Geographic Explorer- it was best @ times not to look at where we going! We have seen some very interesting parts of the city.

Zach is doing better- some of you have asked about his palate and eating- he seems to eat pretty well- nothing out of his nose yet- he drinks from a bottle (formula) in the morning and before bed- he is very particular about that! He can also drink out of a plastic water bottle and he can screw and unscrew the lid all by himself! He loves noodles, eggs, fruit, and veggies- and of course- chinese snacks!

He still strongly favors BaBa over MaMa, but I have caught a few smiles in my direction! He has a little backpack that he is insistent on carrying everywhere- w/ an attached balloon! Yesterday, we went to Wal-Mart and bought him a new pair of shoes- little did we know they were squeaky shoes! (anyone who has adopted from China can understand the angst between the lines here!). He loves them, of course, so it will likely be a while before we can sneak out the squeaks!

XiXi is taking everything in stride- a great helper for her DiDi- and has been an adventurous eater as well. More later...

Here he is!!!!!!!

2009-10-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys:

Sorry it has taken us so long to post anything- the last few days have been a bit of a blur. So the long and short of it:

We are in Guiyang
We got Zach (Cao Fu Hai as he is used to being called) late Sunday afternoon.
We got to meet his foster mother (more crazy and amazing stories about this when we are stateside).
The adoption is finalized- he is officially a BLAUWKAMP!
There have been a lot of tears and favoring of BaBa over MaMa and Jie Jie.
The first nite, he scribbled on a pad of paper for 2 hours as his way of coping/grieving (sniff)
He has a great personality- very smart and STUBBORN!
He is SOOOO STINKING CUTE!!!

ok- if you read all of that w/out first looking at the pics, you get a prize!

Here are a few pics! ENJOY!

P is for Pandas!

2009-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today's Adventure: The Beijing Zoo!

2 Trains- 7 Stops on the Beijing Subway..

Pictures, Pictures!

2009-10-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

XiXi catching a nap on our suitcases at JFK

A drink from Starbucks at the airport in Seoul

The Birds' Nest

XiXi getting her hair done at the restaurant.

Tiger Dumplings!

"Swimming" at the Water Cube.

First Full day in China!

2009-10-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 23
7:42 am China Time

Well- we made it thru our almost 24 hours in China! woo hoo!

After some well needed showers- we headed out to explore Beijing!

Since our friend, Kristalyn, is fluent in Mandarin, we feel a bit more adventurous to explore the city...

Adventure for October 22- BEIJING SUBWAY SYSTEM!
For about 35 cents, you can ride the subway one- way anywhere in Beijing. The subway stations are clean and over 50% of them were built just for the Olympics (as are a lot of new things here in Beijing- many more new skyscrapers, fewer cranes, fewer bikes and more cars since were here in 2005!)

So- 4 trains and about 10 stops from our hotel is the Olympic Park. It was amazing! The Bird's Nest is unbelievable- as was the water cube- and everything. Words can't do it justice (as with most things here!

We were approached by about a dozen people, who were all selling the same little paper Olympic kites, asking us to buy one. We would say, "Bu yao" (no!) and they would follow us and say in Mandarin, "why not- what kind of parent are you not buying one for your pretty daughter?!" lol

From the Olympic Park- we took a taxi to our friends, Chris and Paige's, apartment. At this point XiXi was fading and we desperately tried to keep her awake- not a pretty site. She perked up by the time we arrived at Chris and Paige's place and within 10 minutes, she and Stella (their 5 year old daughter) were laughing and running around.

We went to this FABULOUS dumpling restaurant for dinner. While we were waiting for our food, one of the wait staff came out with a comb, a mirror, and a bag of hair accessories and did the girls' hair. Cute Chinese Girl's Hairstlyes. They looked ADORABLE!

The dumplings were AMAZING! Some of skins were dyed different colors- they used broth from boiling different vegetables as the dye! We had green, purple and yellow (RAVENS!), purple, yellow, orange- and the traditional plain colored ones too. I have no idea what was in most of them- but they were all good (esp. the orange ones that had shrimp and cucumber in them!)

XiXi fell asleep on the cab ride home- her last words before zonking out were, "I'm so glad I'm back in China!" Too cute!

We all slept well last nite- despite the VERY hard beds (a luxury in china!). We're all feeling much better this morning. As I type this-Jennie and XiXi are still asleep in their room!

Today we are heading out to either the Summer Palace or the Beijing Zoo- and later we will head to Chris, Paige, and Stella's place. XiXi has been invited to a playdate @ Stella's apartment this afternoon.

XIXI's CORNER:

Quotes overheard by XiXi yesterday:
(upon arriving at the Beijing airport) "Welcome to the country of my birth!"

(to us as we were riding to the hotel after Ross and I were commenting on the changes made since we were last here) "Well- I remember EVERYTHING about China from when I was a baby too. And yeah- I even remember Beijing"
Ross: "XiXi, you were never in Beijing."
XiXi: (laughs) "yeah- ok- so I still remember stuff about the country of my birth!"

Cutest quote of the day: "I'm so glad to be back in China!"
Well said, XiXi! So are we!

We're in Beijing!

2009-10-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We arrived in beijing at 10:27 am China time after traveling for almost 30 hours. We made it thru the quarentine testing and immigration without a problem! And all our luggage made it too! woo hoo! Our guide met us at the airport and took us to our hotel.

Our friend, kristalyn, met us at the hotel and we had a fabulous meal for $7.50 for 5 of us!

XiXi did great on the plane- she slept most of the time and seems to have adjusted well to the 12-hour time zone change. I did not sleep well on the flight from JFK to Incheon- crashed during our layover- and am doing ok now.

We are all showering and heading off to the Olympic Park before meeting our friends, Chris and Paige, and their daughter, Stella, for dinner. Will post pics later!

LEAVING TOMORROW!!!

2009-10-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post!

this past week has been CRAZY! we found out on Thursday that we are leaving for China tomorrow (october 20) and are getting Zach on the 25th. There is so much more in between these last two lines that I will spare you of right now. Suffice it to say- this past week has been CRAZY!

We booked our tickets for $900 each (and less!) - have our bags packed, documents double checked, passports ready, cash in hand- we're all set!

Here's an abbreviated schedule:

October 20-22: Fly to Beijing- leave Reagan National at 4:20pm on Tuesday- arrive in Beijing at 9:40am on Thursday morning

October 22-23: hang out in Beijing with our friends Kristalyn Omland and Chris Hickey and Paige Snider (and their 5 year old daughter, Stella!)

October 24: Tour Beijing with the other Great Wall Families- Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City

October 25- fly to Guiyang the morning- meet ZACH @ 4:30pm!

October 25-30: stay in Guiyang- sight seeing, bonding with Zach, finalizing the adoption

October 30- Fly to Guangzhou

November 4- Consolate Appointment

November 6- get Zach's Visa

November 7- leave Guangzhou- arrive back @ Reagan National @ 11:44pm

my sweet friend, Jen VeStrand, will be updating my blog while we're in country-

STAY TUNED!

BIG WEEK!

2009-10-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

This has been a BIG week in the Blauwkamp house...

1) we sent a care package to Zach and his foster parents using Red Thread China Care Packages service.

(This was actually our 2nd care package- I won a care package with Blessed Kids which included a stuffed toy, outfit, camera, treats, a book, letter and questions for the caretakers. This was sent off a few weeks ago.)

Our Red Thread China care package included a photo album with pictures, a letter, mooncakes and tea.
Ann, who works with Red Thread sent us this picture of our care package- pretty cool! take a peek!

2) On Wednesday- we received the following photos from Ann of Zach- AND updated measurements! woo hoo!

I just cried tears of joy when I saw these pictures!

3) and if that wasn't enough excitement for us on Wednesday- we also got our TRAVEL APPROVAL!

WOO HOO! we're almost there!

more to come as we know it!

How Zach got his name...

2009-09-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be wondering how we picked the name Zach.

Back in December, when Ross and I were praying hard thru our decision to switch up our adoption plans-

up until this time- the plan was to adopt another infant girl- and as the wait was getting longer and longer and we were all getting older and older- we were starting to have 2nd thoughts. Add to that- our friends had just returned from China with the almost 3 year old son- and we realized, "hmmmm- we should think about this!"

(I should also mention that this coincided with Ross' 9 day trip to Tucson!)

during one of Ross' meetings, he texted me this:

What does XiXi think about having a DiDi? (little brother)

When I asked her, she thought for a minute- and then looked up at me and said, "Can we call him Zach?"

when I look up the origin of Zach- I discovered that it is a derivative of the name Zachariah- which means "THE LORD REMEMBERS!"

yup- that was his name! God had remembered our family and our prayers for another child and God had remembered our precious son- a half a world away.

God indeed has remembered us!

where is Guizhou Province?

2009-09-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

Zach lives in Guiyang, Guizhou Province which is located in Southwest China.
Guiyang is the Pronvincial Capital of Guizhou.
It is bordered by Yunnan Province to the West, Sichuan Province to the Northwest, Hunan Province to the East, and Guangxi Province to the South.
If you are interested in learning more about Guizhou Province, you can look here: Guizhou Information Page

Meet Zach!

2009-09-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

after months of staring at a picture, paper chasing, and WAITING- we finally received our Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC) from the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on September 8!

WOO HOO!

so now- we are the parents of Cao Fu Hai- soon to be Zachary Fu Hai Blauwkamp!

here's the 411 on Zach:

born June 3, 2007
currently resides in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province
living in foster care
has the cutest cheeks ever (ok- so we're a bit biased on the cheeks!)
is a cleft kid (bilateral lip and palate

we are currently waiting on travel approval so we can get on an airplane and go to CHINA and bring Zach HOME!

we are so glad you've decided to join us on our journey to get a DiDi (little brother) for XiXi!