Our Story

We decided years ago to build our family through adoption but our hearts were in China and both of us had to be 30 years old to qualify to adopt from that country.  So we saved our pennies and aged as fast as we could. We filled out countless forms and submitted to endless questioning and finally our dossier flew to China in October 2006. Then we waited. And waited. On April 3, 2007, we received the call of a lifetime and over email saw our daughters face for the very first time. The next few months were a whirlwind of VISA applications, packing (and repacking), home improvement projects and wild emotions.

On July 5, we flew from Kansas City to Chicago and on to Beijing. After a 14-hour flight we landed, met our guide, Sherry and headed to our hotel. We smelled bad, could barely function from exhaustion and were starving. But mostly, we were silly inside with anticipation. We were in Reagans country at last!

The next three days we toured Beijing, climbed The Great Wall and worshipped in an international church with hundreds of other believers. We got to know other America World Adoption Association families who stayed in our hotel. The weather was atrocious and we were absolutely bone-tired from heat exhaustion. At night we bathed and the water turned brown from our dusty, sweaty bodies. We did not care. Reagan was waiting so close! Just an hours flight to the south!

In Changsha, Hunan Province our lives changed forever. We arrived after a short flight (though it seemed long because of our cramped situation and the anticipation of the journeys end). Our guide, Dimple, met us at the airport and whisked us off to our hotel.

When we entered the hotel room, it really came home to us that this adventure was about to get wild. Our room held a baby bathtub, stroller and a crib. We sucked in our breath, said a prayer and watched the clock tick away the final minutes of our married-without-kids status.

We drove for what was probably only 15 minutes or so but felt like a lifetime to arrive at the civil affairs office, a completely ugly building that smelled of smoke and lacked any touch of charm. We filled out more paperwork in a wood-panelled room. Our voices cracked, everyone was smiling nervously. Then we caught a glimpse of Melody Potter being carried by. The babies had arrived. The other families were called up one right after another and united with their lovely daughters. We snapped photos fast and furiously and waited. Ru Xian was not there. We have all this video of us standing around while the other families laugh and cry in the background. Our daughter was late and our anxiety level reached an all-time high.

Then there she was. She wore a hot pink tank top, what can only be described as jams and socks way too big for her. They nearly reached her knees. She was the most beautiful baby in the world and God ordained she be ours. She did not cry and though we teared up a bit, we didnt either. Ru Xian came to us quietly and we held on and did a lot of smiling and whispering, telling her in stilted Mandarin that we loved her.  Wo ai nee.  Wo ai nee, Ru Xian.

We flew to Guangzhou and Reagan was a dream baby during the entire trip experience despite having a horrible rash and bug bites. We thought she had scabies.  We sent every piece of our clothing to be laundered and we treated our sweet baby and ourselves with a lotion that was basically pesticide. As it turns out, Reagan did not have scabies (the examining doctors on Shamian Island told us that) but at the time, we didnt know and decided to be safe rather than sorry.

Guangzhou was by far our favorite Chinese city. It was much cleaner than Beijing and more modern than Changsha. We ate Papa Johns and McDonalds and relaxed in our fancy hotel. It was just a blessing to be pampered a bit and to not stick out. All American families must travel through Guangzhou because the American Consulate there is the only place to receive travel VISAs for the new babies. We saw dozens of other families adopting and we were reunited with our large AWAA travel group from Beijing.

We relished shopping on Shamian Island which is an adoptive familys dream come true. We purchased presents for Reagan for years to come and we ate at Lucys Cafe (grilled cheese for Lisa, enchiladas for Danny). We splashed in the gigantic, refreshing hotel pool and slept hard in cozy beds. We walked through a lush, green park with our new friends. Guangzhou was an oasis for us and just what we needed before embarking on the journey home.

Our guides represented us at our American Consulate appointment and the next day we went back for our swearing-in ceremony. Dozens of parents raised their right hands and promised ourselves to our new babies.

On Friday, July 20 we woke up at 4:30 a.m. and finished packing in the semi-darkness while Reagan slept a bit longer. Then she woke up and we fed her and got her ready to embark on the longest day of our lives. With whispers we greeted fellow AWAAers as we stumbled on to the bus one more time. We said goodbye to many friends the night before but a few brave souls had early flights like we did.  We flew to Hong Kong and then stood in line over an hour and a half to get boarding passes to get on another plane for the 14 hour flight to Chicago. Reagan held together better than we ever could have dreamed throughout the whole experience. We know she was hungry and tired (she slept on the plane floor approximately seven hours and that cant be very comfortable). She was probably so confused but she was ever curious and even downright cheerful and silly most of the time. We rationed out the Cheerios and prayed time would fly by. The only time she got a bit fussy was after landing in Kansas City. Our fight had to sit on the tarmac for 30 minutes or so and our little peanut was done. She wanted OFF and frankly, so did we. We changed her out of her simple onsie into a festive red number and swept off the plane to the cheers and tears of our friends and family. What a welcome home for such a tiny, special little one.

We fully intend to return to China whether to just take Reagan back to her first country or to adopt her little sibling. China is in our hearts as so many special places are. It is the birth country of our precious girl and we are grateful to China for allowing us to adopt one of its daughters.