Orphanage Visit

We had the official request to visit Jillian's orphanage approved yesterday. We had to make an offical request because foreigners are not allowed in this town. The trip was 1.5 hrs of travel through Hefei and rural China!!

It was an incredable journey that we will be able to show Jillian when she is older. The staff and nannys were excited to present there orphanage. They are very proud of the work that they do to provide a safe and healthy life for the abandoned children. You will see from the pictures that it is a clean and organized place. This gave all the families a sense of relief to know that our girls were given good care for this first part of there life!

The nannys spotted their girls and were calling them out by name. Jillians chinese name is Xi Meng Jing. We heard one of the nannys calling Meng Jing. They are very special people!

This day is something we will remember forever!! Also we will be able to give Jillian some insite into her local town and orphanage when she would like to know!

She had a great ride and did not cry at all. If you think boston drivers are bad, you have not seen anything until you see these people drive. Trucks, cars, motorcycles,bikes all have the right of way!! Not traffic lights, stop signs and it is everyman for himself!!!

Paul

Just another day at the ZOO!

Today's adventure was a trip to the local Hefei ZOO! As usual all the families were right on time for the 9:30am departure! We have a great group of families! The trek through Hefei was quite an experience. There are no traffic or stop lights anywhere. It is a complete free for all with bikes, motorcycles,cars, trucks and buses all having the right of way!
We have been traveling and walking around Hefei for 2 days and still have not seen anyone but asian! All very nice! The zoo trip was great and if you check out the pictures for March 21, you will see the next Eddie Shoemaker in training. Eddie Shoemaker was a great horse jockey! You will understand what I mean when you see the next american camel jockey!! Jillian had a great time at the zoo. Someday she can look back and view the pictures of her native animals;ie monkeys, Pandas, tigers.....
Another great day as part of our China Experience!!

Paul

Day two with Jillian

Jillian slept last night from 9pm to 5:30 this AM. She woke up smiling and babbling. It is fun to dress her up. She doesn't mind at all. She is stylin' in China. Today we wentr to a local office to give our financial donation to the orphanage. Jillian was footprinted, we were interviewed and had a picture taken as a family. It is official, she is ours!!!!!!!

The weather is nice 60's and sunny. Icarried Jillian in a Snuggli carrier on me. She faced away from me and watched all the sights. Pedestrians have no right of way so you take your life in your hands. There are no traffic lights or signs on street corners...it is a free for all..cars, trucks,buses,motorbikes,bicycles and us poor pedestrians. It is chaotic and scary. People stare at us as though we are from planet Mars. We just ignore it. Jillian is experiencing so so much. I don't beleive she's ever been out of the orphanage since she arrived to it. She's lovin' life.

Believe it or not, Jillian is potty trained. She hadn'tdone poopy for two days and someone suggested getting an infant potty. We bought one for 10 bucks, put her on it and voila(1 and 2). Just amazing!?

I think I may have mentioned that Jillian had a physical with the US doctor and she is one of the healthiest in the bunch. Most of the other babies have colds and ear aches. As she compares to other chinese babies she is in the 60 percentile for weight, 75 percentile for height, and the 10th percentile for head circumference. The doctor said not to worry because her head has alot of room to grow. I forget what word she used.
She is the peanut in the group.

We just got word that we may travel to the orphanage which is 2 hours away by bus. Paul would like to videotape in case Jillian would like this info. when she is older. we will be going on Thursday.
Jillian has bonded with both Paul & I already. She just seems so comfortable. I am so pleased. I can't wait for everyone to meet her. she's not only beautiful but she has a great personality. I believe she got alot of attention at the orphanage. She was well taken care of. We met the nanny she was so sweet.

Day one with litlle Jillian

We have had a marvelous day with Jillian. She is such a happy baby. She smiles and laughs and coos constantly. everything they stated about her health and habits has been exact. We are so lucky. She was examined by the U.S. doctor tonight and is right on target and very healthy. She had a couple of bottles today, applejuice and water mix, and this evening had congi(overcooked rice in water) and steamed eggs that looked like custard. She has a great appetite!! When we came back from dinner she rubbed her eyes and I laid her in the crib and off she went. She also had a 3 hour nap this afternoon.

We had given her a bath in a blow up tub that we brought and she didn't love it but when it was over she was so happy to be clean. I stuck a bow in her hair. She is so adorable...I can't stop stairing at her and what a personality. Anyway, so far so good. We are in heaven! Don't forget to look at the pictures for Gotcha Day. click on Gotcha Day on top right of blog. Paul was so good about taking pictures and video of everybody. It was easy for him as Jillian was so content with me just watching most of the other babies cry. She is able to cry when she is hungry,wet or tired which is good.

Gothcha Day!

Hi Everyone!
Today is the day Paul ,Gina, and I have been waiting for. The day we receive Jillian is called the "Gotcha Day". This will be a celebrated date in the years to come--March 19. paul was up at 4Am and I was able to sneak another 1 1/2 hours of "Z's". Now we are pacing. We will be united with Jillian at 9-9:30 which is about 2 hours away. We are going to ask someone to videotape our greeting with Jillian and somehow download it fin the blog so everyone can see the event. Keep your eyes peeled! I am getting too ansy to stay put and need to sign off. Next time we communicate you'll see Jillian. Please say a prayer that she is as healthy as the medical records displayed. Lots of Love, Kerrin&Paul

Anticipation is killing us!!

A day full of site seeing in Bejing! Tieniman square, Forbidden city. Check out the new pictures!! Flew to Hefei and are awaiting the 9:00am trip to meet Jillian!!! We will be the second couple to meet our baby out the 5 couples!! Our minds keep imagining what this first day will be like!! Incredible emotion!! Jillian will be leaving her native country to start a new life and be part of "The Mazzola Family"!

It will be around 10:00 - 11:00PM EST when we get back to the hotel.

Paul & Kerrin

Great Wall of China - March 17

Had a great breakfast before our trip to the Great Wall of China. It was a 1.5 hr trip through bejing!! Major construction projects everywhere due to the olympics coming in 2008. Can you imagin that the chinese created a stone wall on the edge of mountain for 4000 miles!! The wall stretches from boston to california!!! They projected 1million people died during construction. Check out the pictures by hitting the march17 button in the top right. We recieved new that we will not be getting Jillian until Monday am china time. That would now be Sunday PM EST. This was a last minute change that came up. This is not an issue.

Off to Forbidden City tomorrow and on a flight to Hefei. This is the province where Jillian is located.

Paul