China Visas

We received our China travel visas today.  That's a very good thing.  While you can leave home without them, you can't enter China without them.  They're multiple entry, good for one year, and allow us to stay for up to 30 days at a time.  Not that we'll actually be doing any of that.

We've also learned a bit more about our daughter.  On February 3, 2010, she received the approval and consent of the Liangjiang City Civil Affairs Bureau.  She then entered the Guangdong Province Liangjiang City Welfare Institute for guardianship and rearing.  Her umbilical cord was dry, but had not fallen off yet.  "Judging from the condition of her growth, development, and umbilical region, her birth date was estimated as January 28, 2010, and she was given the name:  Lian Yin Ye."

Today is also our 12th wedding anniversary.  What a deal...

Itinerary

Here's our itinerary:

11/4     Leave LAX on Cathay Pacific at 12:20 PM

11/5     Arrive in Hong Kong at 6:45 PM (15hr 25min flight)

            Go through Customs & Immigration

            Check in at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Shatin Hotel

11/6     Tour Hong Kong… shop… try to get some rest

11/7     Leave Hong Kong for Guangzhou via bus

            Go through Customs & Immigration

            Check in at the White Swan Hotel

11/8     Gotcha Day!  Go to the Provincial Civil Affairs Office at 3:30 PM to fetch Alaina

            Shopping at a local department store for supplies

11/9     Complete Adoption Registration and Notarization

            After this point, the Chinese government prohibits relinquishing your child in China

11/10   Receive adoption registration certificate

            Check all details very carefully

11/11   Alaina’s visa physical and visa photo in the morning

11/12   Free time in Guangzhou… rest… tour… shop…

11/13   More free time…

11/14   Receive notary certificates and Alaina’s passport

            Again, check all details very carefully

            Prepare paperwork for US Consulate appointment

11/15   Visa application document packet delivered to US Consulate

            Go to the US Consulate and take the oath in the afternoon

11/16   Free time in Guangzhou

11/17   Go to US Consulate to receive Alaina’s visa packet

11/18   Depart Guangzhou on Dragon Air for Hong Kong

            Depart Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific at 1:05 PM (12hr 30min flight)

            Arrive at LAX at 9:45 AM… on the same day… what’s up with that?

            Go through Customs & Immigration

New Photos

Our adoption agency received two new pictures from the orphanage in LianJiang.

It looks like they're actually letting her hair grow a bit.

Travel Confirmation

Today we received the e-mail confirming our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China.  I was working in the field... out in the Delano Clinic installing PC's... and decided to check my e-mail about mid-morning.  There it was... our appointment confirmation... along with all the details.  I called Christy via phone to deliver the good news.  While I tend to be "a bit reserved", Christina became quite animated... and a small crowd gathered around her cubicle.  It's nice when everyone gets excited about something so special.  Somehow, we both managed to finish out the day at work.

Our appointment date is confirmed for 11/15/2010.  We will be taking the "oath" on the afternoon of 11/16/2010 and receiving our daughter's passport on the afternoon of 11/17/2010.

Our adoption agency has requested our presence in Hong Kong on or before 11/05/2010.  As such, we'll depart from LAX on Thursday, 11/04/2010 and arrive on 11/05/2010.  It's just a short hop... only 15+ hours.  We'll have one day to rest... or tour... or recover from jet lag... then it's on to Guangzhou on 11/07/2010.  November 07 might be the day...  then more paperwork... on both the Chinese and United States ends.  We're scheduled to leave Hong Kong and head home for LAX on 11/18/2010.

It's been a very long five-plus years to arrive at this point.  Many families dropped out a long time ago.  While we're not done yet, it's time to prepare for travel.  Our travel to and from Hong Kong is in place.  The remainder of our travel and hotels "in country" will be arranged by our adoption agency.

Many thanks to our family and friends who have been with us... and continue to be along with us... it truly is the journey of a lifetime...

Travel Approval

While we don't have a departure date, we have received travel approval from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) to come & get our little girl.  Our adoption agency is now seeking appointment dates with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China.  Once the Consulate appointments are confirmed, we'll know when we'll be leaving.  Our adoption agency states the earliest we would be leaving is 11/4/10.  After that, the next departure date would be approximately 11/18/10.  We have applied for our travel visas and will spend the weekend getting things together... should we travel in early November.  Other families with the same match day have already obtained their Consulate appointments.  However, they are in different travel groups... traveling to Provinces other than Guangzhou (our Province... also where the Consulate is located).

Match Day

We received our phone call at exactly 11:59 AM on Thursday, September 30.

That day is also the twelve year anniversary of the passing of Christy's dad, Jesse.  We knew Wednesday night that we would be receiving a phone call on Thursday (9/30).  We went to work as usual (we both work at Public Health) and waited all morning long.  Did I mention the L O N G morning?  At lunch time, we drove to the cemetery with flowers and an American flag (Jesse was in the Army).  The phone rang just as we turned the corner to enter the cemetery.

We both knew it was THE CALL as I struggled to rip the phone from my pocket.  Pulling over to the side of the road, I released my seat belt and picked up just before the call went to voice-mail.  I always have a pen and shouted at Christy for a piece of paper.  There on the side of the road, across from the cemetery, I feverishly began to scribble the first details of our daughter.  After so many years of waiting... we were both excited... yet somewhat reserved. 

 When the phone call had ended, we conversed for awhile, amazed the day had finally arrived.  We then proceeded into the cemetery to pay our respects to Jesse.  While we knew a first picture of our daughter was waiting in our e-mail... we opted to have lunch first.  After enduring so many years in a holding pattern, another 45 minutes was but a drop in the bucket.  We used the time to fill our tummies at La Mina and reflect upon all the years of waiting.  It was a rather surreal lunch... both barely daring to believe all those hollow years of waiting might actually be reaching a conclusion.

Back at work, we downloaded the first picture of our daughter together.  The picture above is our first family photo.

So... what's in a name

While we finally thought we had her name figured out... we changed it again.  While Lian is a beautiful middle name, it also comes with baggage.  Lian is her surname and denotes the orphanage she comes from.  Using this as part of her name is a major faux pas within Chinese culture.  Her given name, Yin Ye, was translated as prosperous business or industry.  Not exactly how we think of our little girl.  What to do???  We considered an entirely English name.... then other Chinese names.  Once again... how do you choose a name for your child... especially your first child.  After much consideration, Christy came up with Mei... which translates to beautiful in English.  She mentioned it one morning and it fits just right.  Alaina Mei Pruitt... aka:  AMP.

Name Change

So... how do you choose a name for your child?  Especially your first child... where do you start?  Well, we started in Hawaii... on the beautiful island of Maui.  Walking back from Front St. in Lahaina one afternoon, we came upon the word maile.  It stuck with us and we soon discovered it was the name given to a fragrant vine found on the islands.  It sounded so sweet and wonderful we decided it would be the perfect name for our daughter.

Then Miley Cyrus shot into super stardom.  While the spelling is different, the sound is the same.  The name lost some of it's magic, but we didn't want to lose that special moment when we named our daughter on Maui.  We moved malie (or miley) to her middle name.

Now we needed a first name.  Once again... where do you start?  We came up with many beautiful names, but most were already given to the daughters of relatives and friends.  Then, out of the blue, we came up with Alaina over a sumptuous chicken burrito and shrimp taco at La Mina Cafe.  A quick gaze into each others eyes confirmed that we had a winner... Alaina Miley Pruitt.

That was fine... until match day.  After more than five years, we finally arrived at the day we could never imagine.  We saw the first pictures of our daughter and learned of her name.:  Lian Yin Ye.  It took awhile, but after a few days, we realized that Miley was way off base.  While the afternoon on Maui still evokes wonderful memories, the name was no longer magical.  We felt the need to acknowledge her Chinese ancestry and beauty.  As such, from this day forward, our daughter will be known as Aliana Lian Pruitt.

Sometimes... even the best recipes need to simmer a bit before they're done... Alaina Lian...

Standing tall...

Standing tall at seven months... with a little help.

Her Chinese name is Lian Yin Ye.
Lian is her surname
Yin means respectful.  It's also third of the twleve Earthly Branches in the Chinese Zodiac
Ye means industry or business

She was born on January 28, 2010 and is living at the Lianjiang City Welfare Institute, Guangdong Provence
Yin Ye stands 2' 2" tall and weighs almost 18 pounds
She is active, fond of toys and playing games, laughs aloud, and has a ready smile

Turns out... she's really eight months old.
This picture was taken in the orphanage at seven months.