Eli Heyong Braun officially became our little boy on Wednesday, July 27 – Baba Jeff’s 40^th birthday. I’d say he ranks as Jeff’s best birthday present ever!

Getting Evie was amazingly smooth compared to Eli’s adoption. This most recent adoption was chockfull of ups and downs. I wish I could describe all the craziness we experienced, especially how every last detail came together when at times it looked impossible.

After receiving Eli’s referral and returning the official acceptance document, we then needed to wait for a permission letter to go get him. It would allow us to also make an appointment with the U.S. consulate to obtain a visa so he’d be allowed to enter the States.

The first leg of the adoption trip would be to Changsha, in southern China’s Hunan Province, where Eli was living. We needed to stay there for five business days – the time it took to process his Chinese passport. The second leg would be to Guangzhou, south of Changsha, for the visa.

Late Friday, July 22, we received the travel permission. We immediately called the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou for our visa application appointment. The first available day was August 18. Not good news. Jeff explained that we needed to move out of our apartment by mid-August. He was told to send an email explaining why an "urgent" appointment was needed. The following Monday afternoon, July 25, after some begging and pleading, we were granted an appointment on August 3. This was the last day they were scheduling appointments before closing down for a week and a half due to a move to a different location.

Our August 3^rd appointment meant we needed to fly out of Harbin the next day in order to spend the five business days in Changsha. A former student who works at our university’s Foreign Affairs office worked after hours, helping to book us tickets to fly out the next afternoon.

To back up a bit, we had expected to have Eli in our arms around the end of June. But due to a glitch in our dossier (our application paperwork), our referral and permission to travel all happened a month later than we had anticipated. The delay was complicated by the fact that we were in the process of moving back to Minnesota. Our university in Harbin was gracious in allowing us to stay in our apartment for the summer, but we needed to move out by mid-August.

The pre-trip arrangements and appointments were full of last minute "little miracles" in order to get Eli before mid-August. We arrived in Changsha late on the night of July 26. We had pre-arranged for an adoption facilitator/guide to help with the process.

Tuesday night, the 26^th, when we arrived at our hotel, we were told we would meet our facilitator at 9:30 the next morning to head to the Civil Affairs office where we would meet Eli at 10:00 AM.

Our facilitator, LiLi (English name Lily), called our room at 8:20 and said the time had been changed and we needed to meet her at 8:30 AM.

How does one prepare to meet his/her new son? Though we had been through the same experience with Evie, I found myself much more nervous this time around. Eli was five months older (13 months old on "Gotcha Day") than Evie was when we got her. The pictures we had received of him were probably taken when he was about four months old. I knew the little boy we’d be meeting that day would look older and different. Many adoptive parents talk about "bonding" with the referral pictures. I must admit I had a hard time emotionally connecting with his pictures. I had this feeling inside me that the pictures didn’t fully and truly depict our little boy.

After receiving Lily’s call, we finished throwing ourselves together (missing breakfast…I don’t know if I would have been able to eat, anyway) and the three of us quickly videotaped a message to Eli. We rushed downstairs and met Lily, a 24 year old, post graduate English major, who helps with adoptions as a part-time job during her holidays (seemed appropriate that we should be matched up with an English major, eh?).

We caught a taxi and arrived at the Civil Affairs office about ten minutes after 9:00. I had wanted to get there early in order to give ourselves some time to mentally prepare for meeting him rather than walking in and finding him waiting for us.

The third-floor waiting room was filled by an adoption group of about twenty families who had received their little girls the day before. They were waiting to complete their paperwork. Quickly scanning the room, we discovered that Eli had not yet arrived from his countryside home at the orphanage. After staking out a place in a quiet corner, Jeff and I mingled with other families. I asked one mother the age of her new daughter. She, in turn, asked the age of our soon-to-arrive daughter. "Well, actually, she’s a he," I responded. This was the first of many encounters and curious questions throughout our ten-day trip about being referred a healthy baby boy (see blog entry "About a boy named Eli")

The room was full of energy with these new families. Jeff and I continued to chat with several folks and I remember glancing at the clock around 9:35. Guess we didn’t need to rush after all. While chatting with a mom near our corner of the room, I heard Jeff quickly and quietly say, "Molly, he’s here." I froze. How did I miss him coming in? I turned around and my heart stopped. Just as pleasant as could be, there was our beautiful, beautiful, Heyong, sitting in the arms of Mrs. Qu, the same woman who had brought Evie to us two years earlier. (After receiving pics of the event, we discovered Liu Jian Hong, "Jessie", was also there – the other woman who had brought Evie to us). All my fears and nervousness melted away. He wasn’t at all the somewhat grumpy looking little guy in his referral pictures. He just sat there with a simple look, blinking, probably wondering what all the excitement was about. At first I didn’t know if I should touch him. I couldn’t believe he was ours! I reached for his chubby little hand and planted a soft kiss on the back of it. Mrs. Qu began to hand him to me. He resisted a bit, wanting to stay with her. She gently insisted he go to me. I took him and he didn’t seem to mind at all. He just pleasantly sat in my arms in the midst of all the fuss (though after getting pictures back of the event, it looks like there was a short moment when he cried. Neither one of us recalls this happening!)

As I sat with Heyong, Mrs. Qu continued to "chat" with him. Yet as she spoke to him, I kept hearing her say "Yingzi". With Lily’s help, we found out this was what he was called in the orphanage. "Ying" is how "Yong" is pronounced in the Changsha dialect. The funny thing is, during those first few days, Evie mistakenly called him "ming zi", which is the Chinese word for "name." She has often heard us use the phrases, "xiao ming zi" (nickname) or "shen ma ming zi?" (what is your name). A month later we are still calling him Yingzi and Evie calls him "Baby Yingzi".

After several questions and pictures, Mrs. Qu left and there we sat, our little family, with Lily, in the corner of the Civil Affairs office. It was hard to believe it was real. Evie was immediately very sweet with Eli, gently going up to him saying things like, "Hello little munchkin." We sat and soaked up the experience, then packed our things and headed back to the hotel. Evie and Eli fell asleep in bed together as Lily helped us complete paperwork for an adoption meeting later that afternoon. We also took the time to make some quick phone calls to our parents back in Minnesota.

That afternoon, we had our first family meal together (Eli enjoyed slivers of meat, eggs and noodles for lunch at a nearby restaurant) and headed back to the Civil Affairs office. There, in the eyes of the Chinese government, we signed papers and took an oath to "officially" become his parents. The young woman who handled this asked Evie how she liked her new little sister and was slightly embarrassed when she realized what she had asked. An honest mistake considering the fact that she doesn’t often ask siblings about their new brothers!

The Changsha #1 Social Welfare Institute is the name of the orphanage where Eli lived for the first 13 months of his life. For his first several months, the orphanage was located in the city, but last Fall (2004) it moved to a new facility in the countryside. Technically, the facility in the city was Evie’s orphanage as well. However, a couple of weeks before getting Eli, we came across the startling revelation that Evie had actually been in foster care the majority of her eight months before coming to live with us (see blog entry "About a girl named Evie") Two years earlier, China was facing the SARS scare, so we were not able to visit the orphanage when we went to get Evie. So we were eager for the chance to visit Eli’s Changsha home.

We hired a taxi to make the 45-minute journey to the orphanage. This orphanage is particularly nice and has lots of support and attention from the large number of foreigners who have adopted children from there. We were ushered into a meeting room and spent some time chatting with Mrs. Qu (the Director of the Children’s department) and Liu Jian Hong ("Jessie", who said she with the orphanage’s international relations), the women who had brought us both Evie and Eli.

Lily was with us in the room and continued to tell us that Eli was very well liked and well-known at the orphanage, particularly because he was the only infant boy there at the time. Orphanage workers caught wind of the news that Heyong was back for a visit and made their way to the office to see him. Meanwhile, I spent a bit of time chatting with "Jessie". She mentioned that Eli occasionally went home with different orphanage workers to spend the night. Our chat gave me a chance to tell her that we were very happy but a little surprised to be referred a baby boy. She was surprised and responded, "You didn’t request a boy?"

It was nice to visit the orphanage, especially since this was the first one we’ve been able to visit in China (the one in Harbin is closed to foreigners). However, we were shown only a very small portion of the facility. On the second floor, we visited a little playroom and also the room that was apparently Eli’s room. Jeff and I both wish we had the time to get down on the floor to play with the little girls who wanted attention. The workers we encountered were nice and loving, but there were obviously a few too many kids to all get the personal attention that they need and desire. We really wanted to take pictures of the kids, but it was against the rules.

While Evie climbed on a playground set, many workers came out to see and hold Eli. He was even whisked away by the orphanage doctor and came back with cookies in his hand and mouth. Our visit lasted just over a half an hour, much too fast for us to really get a feel of the place. As we were leaving the facility, we saw, from a short distance, many of the cooks peeking their heads around the corner to see Heyong. Even the gardener seemed to know him. Lily was amazed at all the attention he received.

From the Dolton Hotel, where we stayed for our seven days in Changsha, we needed to walk only several blocks to the Women’s and Children’s Clinic where Eli had been found on June 28, 2004. We spent about a half an hour shooting pictures and video of this special spot.

Many folks have asked us if we know much about Evie and Eli’s background or parents. It’s very rare for any information of an orphan to be passed along. In China, parents do not have the option of arranging for their child to be adopted. As a result, almost all orphans are abandoned. Once in awhile a note might be left with a baby, but none was left with Evie or Eli.

During our stay in Changsha, the weather was incredibly hot and humid. With Lily’s help, we returned to the neighborhood where Evie had been found in hopes of finding the exact location. Despite having an address, we had been told that two years ago the shop numbers had been changed. We wanted to give it a second try since we had this chance to revisit Changsha. A shop owner directed us to a neighborhood community office. The workers there called a local police station. Lily and I went to the station as Jeff and the kids hung out at the community office. The police station was the same one that we had been told two years earlier that Evie had been brought to after being found. Lily showed a policeman the address of Evie’s finding spot. This led to others joining the group and a big discussion. Eventually, the policeman in charge ordered another to look through the records to see if she had been brought there. After hanging out in the station for some time, the police officer could not find any record in the books of paperwork of Evie being brought to that police station. They directed us to another police station. But we were very hot, tired, and hungry, so we decided to visit the police station the next day.

Upon returning to the community office, Jeff and the kids had been invited to join the workers for lunch. So the five of us joined the staff for their lunch in their little lobby (they had ordered in Chinese – go figure!). Lily was very impressed by their kindness and generosity…we were, too!

Our first stop of the day was the police station where Evie actually had been brought after she was found. After much discussion amongst the few officers there, one officer drove the five of us in his police car to the location they believed was Evie’s finding spot. It was in the same area where we had visited two years earlier. Unfortunately, many of the shops had been torn down, so the exact address could not be determined. But now we felt a little more assured of the place so that if Evie is ever curious, we can pass along to her pictures and a map with the area highlighted.

Next, we headed to the Grand Sun City Hotel – the place we stayed when we got Evie. We had decided to stay at the Dolton Hotel for the trip to get Eli since the Grand Sun was undergoing some remodeling. As it ended up, it seems we had made good choices for hotels for each trip. The Grand Sun was in the general area where Evie had been found and the Dolton was just several blocks from where Eli had been found.

The nineteenth floor at the Grand Sun was one of the floors being remodeled. We hung out on the floor for some time, taking several pictures, including one by Room 1918. This room was particularly special since this is where we first met Evie (rather than the Civil Affairs office where we got Eli).

Finally, a low-key day with no real big plans. We revisited our favorite restaurant where we ate almost every day while in Changsha (noodles with meat slivers, fried rice, and steamed pumpkin). Later that evening we hooked up with a gal named Stephani who lives in Changsha and works with ELIC. We were very excited she was in town. Another ELIC family (the Packs) were in town visiting her as well, so the group of us enjoyed dinner and a visit that evening.

Almost a repeat of Sunday. In the evening we rejoined the ELIC teachers, Stephani Crammer, Steve, Joanna, and Savannah Pack for a special supper at Pizza Hut. Before heading to Changsha, we had only spent a little time with Stephani and had never spent any time with the Packs. It was a treat to be able to get to know them a little better.

Prior to leaving on our trip to Changsha, I had posted info on a Yahoo group site whose members have adopted from Changsha. A gal named Kyla sent us a personal email in response to my post saying that she lived in Changsha and offered to meet with us while we were there.

Tuesday morning we met Kyla for breakfast at our hotel. Kyla, originally from Australia, has worked in Changsha for four and a half years with special-needs orphans. We had a wonderful breakfast with Kyla (who is also a Sister). We chatted about her calling to China to work with orphanages and her work with a very special group of kids. I was disappointed we were only able to meet with her for breakfast.

That afternoon we had a farewell lunch with Lily and said good-bye to Changsha, flying an hour south to the city of Guangzhou later that night. We were all more than ready to hit the hay when we finally made it to our room at the White Swan Hotel.

We celebrated the morning of our ninth wedding anniversary with an 8 AM appointment to meet Samson, our Chinese facilitator in Guangzhou. Though born and raised in Guangzhou, we got a kick out if his Westernized lingo like "okie dokey" and "hey, how ya guys doing?" He’s not yet thirty but has been working with the adoption biz for nine years. Though laid back and casual, he’s got a passion for what he’s doing and has good "ins" with the right people.

Guangzhou is home to the United States consulate that processes and issues visas for Chinese kids adopted U.S. parents. Samson got us to the clinic for Eli’s health check, required for the visa application. It was fun to have our picture taken with the same doctor who had checked Evie two years before.

Later that evening we visited Lucy’s, a Western joint down the street from the White Swan Hotel. A former student (English major) and friend, "Amanda" from Harbin Engineering University, made a two-hour journey through rush hour to join us for dessert. She now lives and works in Guangzhou. It was a real treat to be able to spend time with her. We ended the evening in the hotel playroom, mainly provided for adoptive families, Evie’s favorite place during the trip.

Our last piece of official adoption business to take care of while in China – the "oath ceremony" at the U.S. Consulate – was late morning. We gathered in the small lobby with about twenty other parents and their children to swear that all the info we had provided them was accurate and true. I had the opportunity to chat with the vice-consular after the short ceremony. I had heard rumors among adoptive parents living in China that their children hadn’t been granted U.S. citizenship. I explained that Evie had a U.S. passport and Social Security card. He said the rumors were true – that the Department of Homeland Security did not consider her a citizen since she had been residing in China since her adoption. He kinda chuckled at the irony of the situation - the passport and social security offices obviously consider her a citizen, but Homeland Security does not (we have some investigating to do now that we are residing in the U.S.)

Later that evening we ventured out to a popular walking street in Guangzhou. The half-hour walk there took us through non-touristy neighborhoods – something we especially love when exploring. We ultimately made it to our destination – a traditional Guangdong province restaurant. Very crowded, customers packed in like sardines around little round tables on little round stools – strangers sharing tables with each other. We had been to this restaurant on each of our two previous visits to Guangzhou and wanted to continue the tradition. The first visit was pre-kids with some Chinese friends who introduced us to the place. The second visit we just happened upon it when we were there on the adoption trip with Evie. A little more of a challenge with a baby. Our last visit with both Eli and Evie was purely for sentimental reasons. Not a restaurant recommended for small (tired) children and a stroller on a hot and humid night!