Well, after much waiting and a long trip to China, we have Samantha now, still a bit jet-lagged, but she is settling in fine with us and her brothers. China was fascinating, could go on and on, the good and the bad. Dunno if/when I will at BA again, will try to make the JCG match at CJ in Oct----

Mazel Tov!!

congratz to you all.. A friend of mine adopted a chinese girl about 15 years ago so i know what you went through..

 

I can remeber the shirts he had made the one that sticks out most, made in china..

Wow! Congrats sir and best wishes. She is adorable.

congrats sir!

 

How old is she?

I think this is a Chinese import that's worthwhile Congrats man

Congrats, she's beautiful

Hey Matty! Awesome news! Congrats to all. Glad everyone is doing fine. Now try to get some sleep

Congrats man, she is beautiful!

Awesome Matt! Congratulations to you and your wife.

Congrats!!!!

Congrats...Went through the process in Korea almost 2 years ago....Its amazing how you soon you forget you didnt actually birth her/him...

Congratulations! One of my very good friends is the son of two loving parents who went through the same process years back. Again, congratulations!

Thanks, everyone! She is 23 months old, will be 2 on 19 Oct. This is our 2nd adoption, we have a boy from Korea who will be 3 next month. He is not quite sure what to make of her yet, but our 5 year old is thrilled to have a baby sister. It was an interesting trip, very hot and humid there in South China. The Chinese people we met on the street are used to seeing adoptive parents in that area and some were very interested in her, and were happy that the kids were getting homes. Guangzhou (Canton) is spiffing up for the Asian Games in Nov, and there was a lot of construction going on for that, as well as big high rise apts going up all over the place. Saw a lot of that also in Beijing. Tons of traffic on very narrow roads, gazillions of little and bigger shops selling anything and everything you can imagine. We did get to a Carrefour store, and the Jade & Pearl markets Firearms wise, only saw a few PL Army with flap holstered guns at gates near the consulates on Shamian Island. Did see a guard with a black AK pattern rifle with bayonet extended at a gate to a military base that our bus driver went towards by mistake. Only stayed a few hours in Hong Kong, unfortunately, I did want to see that city. Ah well, now we have an excuse to go back that way!

Congratulations! a "daddy's little girl" is wonderful!

Congratulations on the adoption! I'm American-Born Chinese (ABC) and love to see adopted babies. Where in China is she from? It's hard to say but from her looks, she may have some mongolian blood in her too.

Congrats! She's gorgeous.

Congrats!!

Congrats to you and the Missus, and Best for all3 of your Little ones Matt.

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing

Congrats to you and the family!

Congratulations on the adoption! I'm American-Born Chinese (ABC) and love to see adopted babies. Where in China is she from? It's hard to say but from her looks, she may have some mongolian blood in her too.

 

 

She is from Dongguan, Guangdong province. So we spent the whole time in Guangzhou, just about. Most other people in our group went to other provinces to get the child from China Civil affairs and to all that paperwork for the Chinese gov't, then travelled to Guangzhou to get the US visa from the consulate there. Its the only one in China that does immigrant visas, so anyone adopting or immigrating has to go there. The great thing is that she is a US citizen right after processing at the Port of Entry (EWR). The ICE people were happy to helpout, its a bright spot in their day, after dealing with 1000s of tired surly people on line in Newark.

Very nice. Made it pretty straightforward for you huh?

Very cute. They grow up fast!

Congratulations!! Happy and healthy future.

Very nice. Made it pretty straightforward for you huh?

 

Yeah, the 2.5+ years of waiting and paperwork prior to going was all to make things go as smoothly as possible once we got in-country. And to not have to go back & forth with ICE when we get back. We still don't have citizenship papers for our other boy She has a cleft palate that will need more work, we knew that long ago,of course. generally, international adoption timelines have been stretched out considerably since the Hague Convention treaty on int'l adoption. For kids with Special needs, the wait is 2-3 years, for non Special needs is 4 years + generally.

Mad props to you then for being willing to take on a special needs child. If you feel the need to immerse her in some chinese culture, let me know - i'll take you guys over to chinatown.

Congrats to you and your family. She is a beauty