Let's Do Lunch

Eric:

Anyone hungry? Read this post and you won't be any longer. Today we went to the local restaurant for lunch.
Well, I went there for lunch, the rest of the gang came to watch. Don't know the name of the place but it's right
across the street from the White Swan. Regardless, they have numerous tanks of all sorts of goodies (alive goodies)
up front when you walk in....All kinds of fish (flounder, grouper), lobsters, snakes, clams, silkworms, eels, shrimp, etc.
We got seated and the tea service began. They had a teapot going on the table and the waitress made each
of us our own from a 'tea list'. It's easy to order food, there are pictures of most of the dishes. So, what did I get?
I stared off with 'Fish bowels in black pepper sauce served on a hot iron plate'. Yes, you read that correctly, I said Fish BOWELS....It was very good. I was a clean plater...The sauce was the best part, you could have put fish guts in it and it and it would have been good..Oh wait, they did. LOL.
Well I just couldn't order one entree. Next up, Fried Turtle served in it's own shell. It was sauteed with cilantro, red and yellow pepper, garlic, ginger and onion. It was good, but a lot of work. Not as much meat on the turtle...legs? as I thought.
I rounded the dinner off with an order of Baby Pigeon. Think teriaki chicken wings served with a head on it. Besides the fish bowels, my second favorite dish. I was stuffed. Wonder what I'll get for dinner.

Joann:
THought you would all want to be aware, there is a declining supply of Jade in China as we speak. Have hired two coolies to get bags to airport. Speaking of airport, although we are having a wonderful time, we are anxious to get back to USA.

Bob:
There is a increase supply of US dollars in China to correspond to decreasing amounts of jade. My teeth are turning black from all the tea. The temperature was 101 degrees yesterday, get me out of here. I had a Chinese nightmare last night. It's time to come home.The city of Chongqing was flooded severly a few days after we left.

Max:
I love the pudding in China, I love the rice and bananas. I loved the swimming pool. Okay, he really didn't say those things....

Mary Claire:
Ready to get back to Tiffin so my son will stop eating pudding at every meal. In love more every minute. Missing Corinny.

Max see's the Doctor!!!

HI Guys!Missing you a lot!!! Really ready to get home now... Mollie I cannot WAIT for dinner Sunday!
Blog:Good morning from China (where else would we be...)Glad yesterday is over...it was medical check day. I HATE that particular appointment! Max did NOT like seeing doctors, he got upset the minute he saw a white coat. They do height, weight (27 pounds!!) head circ. etc. and then the do a physical exam. This particular doctor pushed and pushed on Max's left foot. Then he got another doctor to see it. Then they made him cry. All to tell us that we are going to need to have it worked on at home! Like DUH! I was frustrated and had tears in my eyes the whole time. Max got over it immediately. He certainly doesn't hold a grudge!. In the afternoon yesterday it was off to the red couch pictures. These are a time honored tradition for people adopting from China. He sat on the couch like a little soldier. He never moved, just watched the other kids around him. (most of whom were screaming!) We had dinner last night with another couple from the group. She cried whenever they put her down . She has not eaten one solid piece of food since they got her and has been to the doctor everyday. Mom tried to help last night. She is acting like I sort of expected Max to. It turns out that the people at the orphanage held her all of the time. And there is our Max...passed from person to place all the time here! Eric has not had any strange food in days. Today he is going to rest for lunch with beetles and worms etc. we will see what he eats!Internet is so slow...ttyllove MCvvvvv

Finally - Word from China (again)

Sorry for being so quiet! Actually I have continued to blog each day but Mollie just told me our emails are not coming thru. Hopefully this one works! How is Tiffin? We re on the countdown to coming home. I really think this time alone with Max is a blessing. I never thought I would sy that! Of course we miss the Shoo very much, but we have had the opportunity to really bond and get to know Max. He will absolutely LOVE the other kids in his life when we get home. He is very outgoing and naturally gravitates toward other children. He was snuggling in bed with us this morning and I told him that next Sunday he will be snuggling with us and his big sister!
The White Swan rocks. Eric says it is like being in Vegas and coming home to the casino you are staying at. You just feel comfortable. Mom is able and VERY willing to go out shopping on her own. It is very safe and people with babies are everywhere! We are happy with the food here...too happy as a matter of fact! Last night we had cocktails in our room and then went to a Japanese steakhouse. They are so kid friendly here...Max had a rice omelet with papaya and a deep fried scampi..that was the kids menu! He LOVED it. Actually, he ate great yesterday. He loves banannas and will eat anything that you mix them with. It is hotter here than even in Chongqing...and it was HOT there! It is not the temp so much (about 90-94) , it is the humidity. You feel like you are walking in quicksand the minute you step outside. Eric and dad sweat thru their shirts immediately. Eric and the Zhonger have really started bonding. It is awesome to watch. They are already further along that he was with Corinne for like 2 months! I had to leave for 2 hours yesterday to do more paperwork and they had a great time together. We are not really bonded with this group. It is not like last time. I think it is because we were not in the provience together. Gettin your babies together is a extremely bonding experience. This group all went our separate ways and now have come back together. They babies are beautiful though. It is so fun to see all of them. Many have special needs of some sort . In fact, 8 babies out of our 9 are classified specail needs. One little girl doesn't have a hand, another repaired clef lip/palet etc. It really hit home with us that this "lslow down" had really been good for the babies that might have otherwise not have ben adopted thru the "normal" process. It really warms your heart. We found out that when we got Corinne in 2005 adoptions over here were at their peak of 8000 adoptions/year. Last year it dipped to a new low of only 2800 adoptions/year. CRAZY numbers!
EWric ran around the Island yesterday..it is just over a mile around and he ran it 3 times. Impressive because he did it in the afternoon heat! He was soaked!

(The fact that it ended so abruptly with no sign off means they were cut off - so this is Meg signing off for them).

Love,

Mary Claire, Eric and Max!

You Ate What?!?!

Ni Hao from Chongqing, I'm blogging today, Mary Claire is giving 'The Zhonger' his bath. We had a lot of fun today. Breakfast at the Harbour Plaza which for me includes fresh fruit, sushi, and a visit to the noodle station. The other 'Westnerners' at my table were having bacon and eggs I think (blah).... We spent the rest of the morning touring local shops and buying junk......I mean 'Chinese souviners'. Joann wanted to have lunch at the Marriott two blocks over, so off we went. The place is pretty swank indeed. We had some lunch buffet that set us backapproximately half a million RMB or some such thing. Bob and I went out later in the afternoon to walk off some of theDuck in Orange sauce that we had earlier. We checked out another grocery store (shocker)....and watched them "prepare" some chickens for sale. By the way, the refridgerator cases were Sanyo and manufactured in Japan. Also of note, you could buy bowls of animal blood...I don't know if they were on special or not.Our guide (Joan)and driver (Mr. Chan) picked us up at 430 to go visit Old Town Chongqing. I think we visited the Chongqing equivalent of the Seneca County Flea Market. We were good tourists....pictures, buying "souvenirs", and I had some Cluster of Mutton. Tasty.Afterwards we all went out for Hot Pot. Chongqing is known for their hot pot style of eating. It's very similar to our Melting Pot restaurants. They put a pot of very spicy broth in the center of the table that sits over a burner.They bring all the meat and veggies out raw; fish, beef, chicken, noodles, bok choy, winter melon, bean curd...etc. You simply dump the food into the boiling broth and wait for it to cook. Scoop it out withyour chop sticks and have at it. It was very very spicy and we were sweting like crazy. We drank Tsingtao beer like it was going out of style. I could not leave well enough alone andordered cow tripe (stomach) and duck entrails (guts) for my hot pot....Not as bad as you think. After dinner we drove around the city for a tour at night. The buildings are all lit up and mind-boggling how large the city skyline is. We leave for Guangzho tomorrow afternoon, and I hope to post another blog update when we arrive.

Blog:We had a change of plans yesterday. We were supposed to go to DAZU to see some Buddha carvings in the mountian. It was a 5 hour drive round trip. After having Max 1 day we decided that that would be a form of Chinese torture. He is what they call "spicy" around her...which is to say stubborn and amazingly active! All boy. Instead we stayed around the city and rented a car and driver. Our guide took us to some beautiflu places...3 rivers gorge museum, highest point in the city etc... it was a really nice feel for his culture. We are on our own today until 4:30 when we are going to an acnient street and doing Hot Pot with the guide. Max is just getting up sp I have to go... I will try to post more later, you never know with this internet!Mary Claire

Max Facts

Hi All
Well the internet is a little faster this morning so I will try to be a bit more detailed. We had our first full day yesterday with Max. It is crazy how fast you learn about your own child. I was so worried he would wake up scared...he was fine. He wakes up so slow, just like Corinne. I fear we won't be getting out of the house before 10:00 am any morning at home!! We then took him to breakfast, he liked sausage and steamed egg. He still didn't drink anything for me. I have tried hot/cold milk, formola, juice, sippy/bottle, nothing has been working. He doesn't seem to mind though. We then came back to the room to send the pictures of him. At 10:00 on the dot he pulled at his ear, got a little fussy , walked to his crib, and stood there...I can take a hint...nap time! We left to officially make him ours at 11:30. First we went to a department store for some supplies. $50.00 American for a bubble stroller! We tried to buy him new shoes, which wasn't easy. He has a short FAT foot...and I mean fat! His shoes really need to fit because his feet are not quite right yet. His right one is pretty straight, but his left one is a little turned in. It doesn't not stop him from RUNNING everywhere so it is something we will take care of back in Tiffin...Thank God for my Brother-in-law the podiatrist!! We got to the adoption ministry center and were feeling nothing but dread. Eric and I both were so worried about Max having to see the nanny from yesterday again. We didn't know how he would react. They were late getting there and the director of the Orphanage came, not the nanny. When she tried to to take Max from me HE WOULDN"T GO!!! He wanted to stay with me. There is NOTHING on God's earth that could have made me hand him over, and they tried. Eric said he thought they were happy because that , obviously, is a good thing. We learned that Max has had an interesting life so far. He spent the first 2 months in an orphanage. Then in July 2008 he was taken to Beijing for his surgery. A foreign doctor did it at a free hospital. I Beijing he stayed with a foster family until we don't know when. He then was placed in the hospital for rehab. He had one other buddy with him and a nanny taking care of both. We are unsure how long he was in there. We know that he was brought back to the orphanage in June of this year and joined with us a few days ago. He probably adjusted to the situation so well because of all of his travels.
Our guide and her daughter joined us for dinner last night so they could help us decipher the menu. Eric ended up getting cow's nose, dad rabbit mom beef and I got eggplant. It was soooo spicy that Eric and dad had tears in their eyes. Eric swore that they had dumped battery acid on his tongue!
Max Facts:
1. He has a great laugh! His whole body laughs. Dad and he played a game with a kleenex last night that had him, and dad, rolling!
2. When he is sad, there is no one sadder.
3. He has the cutest big ears that he like to pull on.
4. He is STRONG. I think he may rivial Billy for upper body strength. Dad lost a tug of war yesterday.
5. His hands are big and feel as if he has worked in a rice paddy field. I am going to work with my lotion!
6. He looked EVERYWHERE for Eric last night at the restaurant. He likes to keep all of his playes close.
7. He love riding in cars. No carseats here and crazy traffic. Not for the faint of heart.
8. He loves his bath.
9. He sleeps perpendiculaar on a bed
10. We love him so much !! How is that possiblke? We haven't even KNOWN him 36 hours!

Love to all, Hope all is well,
Eric and Mary Claire (Max too)

The First Pictures!!!! (More to Come)

Hi from China
We are happy to report that we have a son! He came into our lives yesterday about 3:15. We are so blessed, he is perfect. He (and us) cries for about an hour. He was laughing and playing the whole night after that. We couldn't even believe it! He is pudgy with short hair. He is a great eater, but not a good drinker. He is already able to find Eric and I in a room as mom and dad. He LOVES toys and obviously has been played with a lot. He slept the whole night last night with no problem and was not scared this morning. We keep pinching ourselves. He ate in a 5 star restaurant last night and he charms everone he meets. Corinne got to meet him on skype last night. She seemed pretty impressed and excited.He ate a great breakfast this morning and is now asleep. He has been keeping his old schedule to the letter. I am not trying to change it in China.He seems to love other kids. So that is great for Corinne and the Bremyers! Today we make it official.
I cannot WAIT to hve my whole family togehter in Tiffin.
The lag on the computer skips letters...sorry.
Anyone have a remedy for motion sickness? I have been dealing with it since we got off the first plane.
Mom and Dad are great. Max immediately took to mom and is warmming up to Dad.
We are in Love ...again...Thanks for all of the prayers, they sure were answered. We are sure a red bird is looking over us.It took about 45 minutes to type this because of the lag, I will try to do better if it improves.
Love and Hugs to all
Eric, Mary CLaire and Max!!

Max's First Night!

Hi Everybody,

This is Meg Posting. I just talked with Mom and Dad in China. They said Max had a GREAT night. Dad was up and ready to go to Breakfast early this morning, but Max was still asleep! He only woke up once during the night. He is definitely Corinne's Brother!

Mom and Dad have this fun game of asking Max "where's Mommy?" and no matter where Mary Claire is he will find her and point to her. I saw it myself (a version of it) on Skype this morning. His eyes follow her everywhere. I think we can say that the bonding is happening!

Mary Calls him a "Little Eric." He is very laid back. He only cried for a little bit after Mary and Eric got him and after that he was even giggling! I am sure I will receieve an email from Mary soon with all the details. As soon as I so I will post it.

I did just receive this email from Mary stating:

"HI Meg! he is still asleep. What a great night last nght. I thought you could post on our blog that we are going to try to have you put up pictures LITTLE LATER THIS MORNING...THAT WAY PEOPLE CAN CHECK BEFORE BED. i HAVE GOTTEN TONS OF EMAILS ASKING FOR THE PICS."

A little later this morning for them means 10:00 -11:00 pm our time. They are exactly 12 hours ahead of us. I promise I will post the pictures as soon as I receive them and to those who have emailed me, I will send you copies personally.

Thank you to everyone for all your love and prayers during this amazing adventure! Now we just need to get them home safely (after they have an amazing time at the White Swan Hotel - I remember it, and I am very envious of their time there!).

Love,

Meg

Last Post Before MAX!!!!

It is Monday morning the 27th here...we get Max today!!! More on that later, I will start at the beginning....
Saturday night was a blast. We bar hopped at these great hotels. One, The Legendale, was by far the most beautiful hotel we have EVER seen. We went to the "sports Bar" there for a drink. Once we were seated in the most plush room I have EVER seen, we were all given Hot towels to wipe our hands and faces with. Needless to say, drinks (1 round) were more than dinner that night!!! This hotel , and 40 others, was built for the Olympics. 26 Heads of state stayed there. That night for dinner we went to a little hole in the wall that open up to a beautiful open outdoor space on the inside. Eric had duck again but it wasn't as good as the night before. We all completely crashed and most of us (not dad) managed to sleep until 6 the next morning.
WE got to talk to Corinne Saturday night via skype. It was sooo great to see her. She is having a wonderful time and is excited to see Max. Using the skype really helped me with missing her. There is a little 51/2 year old in our group. She is a beautiful Chinese girl and needless to say, I can barely restrain myself from hugging her and pretending it is Corinne. I gave in yesterday...
Sunday morning was orientation. Because we had been thru this before, I knew that we would be getting updated pics and info on Max. We have become friends with several couples in the group and I told them what was coming. They made us sit through a 2 hour slide show and the whole time I kept look over to the table with the red binders on it...I knew what was inside...About 11:15 we got it, the updates pic! He is absolutely beautiful. Pudgy, just a hit of a dimple, they have shaved his hear so not much hair. He looks ready to smile. Really he looks full f it...we MAY have our hands full!!! He now has 12 teeth. Loves to eat, but NOT veggies with leaves. He only wears a diaper at night (split pants the rest of the day, THAT will change). They are giving him 4 bottles (formula) a day and 2 at night!!! THAT will also be changing...lol He has learned how to say mama papa and sister in Chinese!! This is HUGE to us because it tells us that they showed him the photo album we sent!! He LOVES a bath and likes going on car rides. You can see a bar stool in the picture so we think he will fit right in.
It was then on to a beautiful group lunch. There was lots of beer flowing and much excitement. We then made it thru a 3 hour tour of Tienanmen square and the Forbidden city. We had done both before and almost didn't go again. 3 hours of walking thru beautiful palaces. Eric thinks we walked about 8 miles. For dinner we did our first Hot Pot. Once again we were they ONLY Caucasians in the place. Hot Pot we discovered is kind of like fondue. Boiling broth, meat, veggies , and noodles. Only difference is the ingredients. Seaweed, diakon radish, mutton, etc. It was fun and messy.
Needless to say, it is better than the BEST Christmas morning in this room right now. One more plane ride to get thru and at 3-4 this afternoon we finally become the parents of a little boy!! Eric keeps saying that is is surreal and funny. For so long now we have loved being the parents to Corinne. And then we got to say that we have a daughter and are getting a boy in China. And FINALLY , today, we get to say we have 2 children!!!
Sorry for all of the typos. There is a MAJOR lag in the typing and it doesn't let me go back and correct. Thanks to all of you who have emailed us! We love hearing from you! Next blog will hopefully contain pics of the little guy!!! We skype with Corinne tonight for her to meet her brother. . Love to all, thanks for the continued prayers!

First Whole Day in China

What a great day. We started the day at the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It is awesome...very Chinese. I had noodles, fried rice, potstickers and steamed veggies. We are still so screwed up time wise that our bodies didn't even know it was breakfast! Then it was off to the Great Wall. We can not get over how may cars there are in Beijing now. It is crazy. It was only supposed to take us about 45 minutes to get there but we got in a traffic jam and it ended up 1/2 hour longer. Eric did the wall. I chickened out on this one. It was literally a vertical climb up. Eric never let go of the railing the whole way down. The steps are all of varying heights so it is not like you can look around as you go...you run the risk of falling. Then it was back on the bus to the Friendship store. Mom did some major damage there the last time but held off today because she knows what good shopping is coming. Then to the Houtong. It was so cool. You get in rickshaws and are taken thru this old Chinese city. We also got in a home. Mom even found something to buy there!!! Needless to say, dad tipped their biker very well! Tonight we are off to a few of the hotels for drinks and probably staying at one for dinner. We get to skype with Corinne at 9:00 and I cannot wait to see her face!!! All of these sweet little china dumplings have me missing her.
Only ONE MORE DAY UNTIL MAX!!! YEAH!!!!!

First Post From China (via Cincinnati)

Hi all!!

Well we arrived in China yesterday afternoon. The flight
was uneventful and everything went a smoothly as could be.
We were exhausted, but needed to stay awake so we took to
the streets of Beijing. We are at a different hotel in a
different area this time. It is really cool. tons of
shopping and street vendors. We went to a Peking Duck
restaurant for dinner. Eric had researched it before leaving
Tiffin and it all worked out great. It was just about a 10
minute walk. There was only 1 other caucasion couple there.
They carved the duck table side and you ate it wrapped in a
little rice wrapper with sauce. It was the best duck we have
ever had. We managed to stay awake until 9:00 ans slept
pretty well until 4:00 am. Today we are going to the Houtong
and the Great Wall. we will be out all day long.

We are 1 day closer to Max!! Only 2 days left. We met other
adoptive parents at the airport in New Jersey. It was really
neat being the "ones in the know" this time.
Everyone was asking us questions. We are part of a really
small group (only 9 familes) and we are the only ones
traveling to Chongqing. We will be with these people here in
Beijing and meet up again in Guangzhou.

It is very rainy here, and we were told it pretty much
would be the entire time. It is amazing how big Beijing
is...18 million people. What is even more amazing is that
Chongqing has 32 million just in the municipality!!
Not so many bikers here, we now see TONS of cars. That is
very different from the last time. One thousand private cars
are added to their registry in Beijing alone every month.
That is pretty amazing for a country that had NO cars like
10 years ago.

We are unable to access our blog from China. Like so many
other sites it has been blocked. We are emailing Meg and she
will act like the administrator updating it for us.
Actually, we have to go thru Mike to get to Meg because
Gmail is ALSO blocked in China. We will try again to access
it ourselves in Chongqing.

Please email comments to marycgriffin@hotmail.com,
we will LOVE hearing from you!

We were able to skype last night and get to do it with
Corinne today!! Yeah!! We really miss her but understand
that she is having a wonderful time with Grandma and
Grandpa Griffin

GMO!!!

Love, The Griffins

LOL. How could I NOT post this, seriously. "What's Happenin'....Hot Stuff?"

Long Duk Dong from 'Sixteen Candles'. How can you avoid qouting him, you can't.....

Getting Started

Welcome. Mary Claire and I decided to create a blog to keep family and friends updated on our travels to get Max.

We depart Cleveland on July 23 at 730A and fly to Newark, NJ. At noon we depart Newark and fly Continental Airlines non-stop to Beijing, arriving 150p the NEXT DAY.....