Goodbye China Hello USA

It is about 6pm in China, and Walt is ready to come home. This afternoon, we, along with all the other families in our group, took a bus to the US Consulate. There, we stood, along with about 50 other families, and took an oath that all the information we had provided was truthful. With that accomplished, we were given Walter's passport with a freshly stamped US visa inside. Walt enjoyed this ceremony very much. He clapped and danced throughout the entire process.
Tonight, we are staying in and packing. We will get a 5 AM wake-up call and our bags will be picked up at 5:30. Thirty minutes later we will leave the Asia International Hotel for the last time, and go to the Airport. Our flight will leave for Beijing at 8:30 am, and we should land about 3 hours later. We will then have about 5 hours to wait for our flight to Chicago. I am sure that Walter has lots of fun ideas about how to spend our time in the Beijing Airport, and Joy and I are just hoping there is a Starbucks.
After a 13 hour flight to Chicago, we will then board our final flight, the 7th in two weeks, to Richmond.
It is difficult to describe our emotions over the last two weeks. We have run the gamut from excitement to fear, from hyperactivity to utter exhaustion. Most of all, we have experienced unbelievable happiness. We have watched Walter blossom in the last two weeks. He is a bright, funny and energetic boy who has a personality that draws you in and wraps you up. We are amazed at this gift we have been given, and we anticipate all the challenges and rewards of being his parents.
We can't wait to get home so everyone can meet Walt.

Medical Exams and Sweet Tea

We are winding up our time in Guangzhou, and we ARE SO READY TO COME HOME!!!!
It has been a busy couple of days for us: Tuesday, our entire group posed for a picture in the lobby of our hotel (Walt was enjoying his bottle too much to really notice the camera), then we headed out to the island to get his Visa picture and medical exam. The clinic was a huge place filled with
adopting families and local folks who needed care. We piled in and waited on benches until we were called for our visit to three stations: height and weight, ENT (squeaky toy for hearing and a look at his ear drums), and the internal medicine exam. Walt and I were fine until the internal medicine exam part--when a resident started messing with him and hurting him--and I LOST IT--no one spoke English and I called for our translator to explain to the resident what he was looking at and not understanding on Walt's exam--at the same time, an attending showed up who finished the exam and pronounced Walt "perfectly healthy" and we were allowed to leave. It took both Walter and me about 30 minutes to calm down--I chilled (literally) with some iced coffee while Walt fell asleep listening to the jazz playing at the local island Star Bucks (Walt really likes music).
Today was a little less frenzied--Bill had to run to the U.S. Consulate to notarize one last document--we explored a little this afternoon--and discovered our son has Southern taste--he LOVES sweet iced tea! Walter actually loves anything to EAT. And he is getting heavier and more wiggly by the day! A group of us went out to a local restaurant tonight where Walter enjoyed Minestrone Soup, a hot roll, and his classic fried rice with egg on top. Bill and I are longing for a Ukrop's Salad Bar and any kind of homemade CASSEROLE!! We are definitely NOT going to eat Chinese for a while on our return. Deep fried bullfrog, birds nests, and fish lips just are not staple foods for us at this time!
Tomorrow (Thursday) we are going to the Consulate to be sworn in--Walt will then get his Visa and he will be ready to become an American citizen. Friday we begin our journey HOME with our son--first to Beijing, then to Chicago, and finally to Richmond. We also understand that we MISSED the only snow storm to hit Richmond in years!!!
We will send out one more blog tomorrow--then will be signing off as we start back to the States!

From Chongqing to Guangzhou

Hello from the Guangzhou, China. We made it here (barely) on Saturday--after having had our tickets canceled with Air China. Our guide Frank would not completely reveal the problem as Bill, Walter and I stood in front of the counter for an hour while watching Frank race around the airport frantically, call on two cell phones, negotiate with the folks at the desk--and finally, get us through security. Bill was running with the bags, and I was running with Walter. We made it at the last call--we were exhausted--but Walt thought the whole thing was fun. We were worried that Walt would be freaked out by all of the travel--but the little man LOVES IT. He grabbed hold of Bill and laughed out loud as our plane took off--and then sat back, watched the clouds, and ate his lunch of fried rice--completely unperturbed.
This morning, we headed to "the island" where we visited the White Swan Hotel, had coffee at Star Bucks, and shopped! Walter loves the outings, and has discovered Star Bucks Apple Scones. We settled back in at our Hotel this afternoon--Walter had another first--he fed himself--and with his LEFT hand--could he be another lefty (in the proud tradition of the first Walter and our Bonnie??). We'll see!
The pictures attached are of us at the White Swan Hotel, and then one of him napping--a pass time that is getting shorter and shorter!
We cannot really express our deep love for this little boy--it is quite overwhelming to us both. He is truly the love of our lives.We are awe struck by how much he is changing day by day. He is full of smiles and lots of belly laughs now, and is very secure with both of us. We are counting the days until we can introduce him to his new family and all of his friends.

It's Walt World and We're Just Living In It

Today was a quite day, but another big day for Walt. We received his Chinese passport. This means that he is ready to leave China, but no one else is ready to let him in. Our time in Chongqing will end tomorrow, and we will fly to Guangzhou where the US Consulate is located. We have our official meeting on Wednesday, and that is when Walt will receive his Visa to enter the US.

Walt has introduced us to new facets of his personality today. He is a singer and a dancer. He is singing along with his mother, and he can already dance quite a jig. He moves his feet and puts his hands over his head. He is quite adorable when he does this. He also is quite a reader. We brought several books that all of his admirers gave him, and we read them over and over again. Walt continues to make strides toward crawling. We have no locomotion as yet, but he holds himself up and at least points in the right direction.

Today, we ventured out into the pedestrian mall where our hotel is located. Walt is a rock star. At one point, he had half a dozen young ladies adoring him. I approved. Walt has also let us know that he has no use for baby food. Instead he prefers watermelon and banana bread for breakfast, and for dinner he likes pork and shrimp won ton soup. He sits in his stroller and eats spoonful after spoonful of broth. We also learned that Walt does not like his afternoon nap, at least when we want him to go down. Yesterday, he took no nap, and today he didn't take his nap until 4:30 pm. That means, you guessed it, it is almost 10pm and the little man is going strong. Momma and Daddy are ready for bed though. He isn't concerned about that.

Everyday is a new adventure, and we are ready for this journey to get us home. We hope to be able to post from Guangzhou. Until next time this is WALTER, joy and bill.

Getting to Know Walt and Breaking all our Rules

We have now been Walter's parents for four days, and we are loving getting to know this amazing little boy. Walt has a very strong personality, and he is quick to tell us when we are doing something wrong, like missing a bottle or not changing him quickly enough. Walt is also amazingly sweet. We are start to figure out his little sounds. He has a happy sound, a I need something sound, and most importantly, I am doing some deep thinking sound. He is being very patient with us, and he is trying to help me write this post.
One of the things that Joy and I have figured out quickly is that we are no longer experts in parenting! Before we got Walt, we were both adamant that he would not watch TV or eat fast food. Day two found the three of us watching the golf channel in Chinese. The instructional segments were excellent after Walt provided translation. Day four found us hungry in the hotel room around lunch, and one can only face so much fried rice and egg. You can see the final outcome of that situation in the picture.
We are having a great time with our little guy. He wakes up in the morning very happy, and we spend a couple of hours together in the room before we go down for breakfast. There are about 6 other couples here who have adopted and we are all staying in Chongqing while we wait for our children's passports. All of the children are adorable, but Walt is the best ;-) We have breakfast every morning with a couple from Minnesota who have adopted a cute little girl. She and Walt flirt with each other when they are not eating their eggs and drinking their watermelon juice. He is quite the lady's man.
We will receive Walt's Chinese passport on Friday, and then fly to another province near
Hong Kong where the U.S. Consulate is located. We have an appointment there in a week to arrange for Walt's visa. With his two American parents, a Chinese passport and his U.S. visa, he will become a U.S. citizen upon passing through his first American port of entry--in our case, this will happen in Chicago. We can't wait to get home. We miss you--and look forward to you meeting our son.

Official Ceremony:Walt is an IRWIN!

Bill and I wrapped up our little guy and returned to the adoption center yesterday for the final paperwork, family photo, and ceremony where Walt became our son officially and legally. He has been the son of our hearts for months now, but the ceremony made everything seem very real and finally: FINAL!
Walt is really amazing. He is blossoming like a little flower--just after 36 hours of being the center of our world. He started pushing up on his hands today for the first time (he would not hold himself up when placed on his belly when we first got him). He sits well and tries to walk when we hold him in a standing position--but the crawl is new to him, and will take some work. He loves his bath--and his little farm animal book has been a big hit. He is also quite excited about new foods-- today he had applesauce and banana bread for the first time--BIG hit. He smiles and laughs out loud and is attaching very well. Yesterday back at the adoption center he saw his nanny and turned to grab onto Bill. He seems to have put it together already that the three of us belong together.
Last night, we all were sitting on the bed and Bill found ESPN on our TV. He and Walt had quite a conversation about the PGA Tour, and Phil and Tiger--and Walt was fascinated by the game (and let's face it, this WAS probably the first time in his life he had seen a TV--and a flat screen to boot!!). Still, as I sat back and watched his little face and heard him interacting with Bill over the game, I was amazed all over again at the number of changes that have transpired in this little fella's life--and he is soaking it all in.
So are we. We have heard some folks out here talk about how fortunate these little ones are to be adopted--but Bill and I are the ones that feel overwhelmed with this incredible blessing. Our lives too have been transformed in just 36 hours. He is truly our miracle.

Walt's First Pictures

The Big Day

Well, we will not delay the news. We have Walter,and he is wonderful. We woke Monday morning in Beijing very early. Our bus didn't leave for airport till 5:30 am, but we were both up much sooner than that. We arrived in Chongqing a little before noon, and we were able to go to our hotel to relax for about an hour. At 1:30 pm our guide Frank met us and we went to the ministry of adoption affairs. We walked into the lobby of the office not knowing what to expect, and there sitting on the sofa, with his nanny was Walt. We both recognized him at once, and his nanny brought him over to us. She held him and we started talking to him, and we were both trying not to cry. A few moments later, she put him in Bill's arms and they started to bond right away.


Walt is a just a few days past his 1 year birthday, and he looks perfect. They did a wonderful job repairing his cleft lip, and he already has 4 teeth - two on the bottom and two on the top. He was dressed in a pair of red pants and a yellow jacket. We were able to feed him his first bottle while we were getting the paperwork signed, and then we were out the door. Walt went right to sleep on the ride back to the room, but once we got back to the room he let it be known that he was not happy.

For a little guy, he has a loud set of pipes. He screamed loud and hard for about two hours. We finally settled him down, and then Walt found out what it meant to be American. We had brought some Gerbers Sweet Potatos with us from the states, and when Walt tasted his first Yam his demeanor did a complete flip. He ate the yams like the they were going out of style, and then he had a dinner of fried rice with ham and a fried egg. After that, he was pooped, and so were we. We all went to sleep about 9:00 pm, and Walt slept through till 4:30 when we all got up and started to play.

This morning, Walt has had a bath, read a book, played with a truck, had two bottles and eaten breakfast with Mama and Daddy. We have several pictures of all of this to post, but we haven't been able to get to a computer to upload the images yet. Hopefully soon. What we would like everyone to know is that Walt is happy, healthy little boy is the apple of his parents eye. He is looking forward to meeting everybody when he gets home, and we thank everyone for everything. We will hopefully get the pictures posted soon.
Bill, Joy and Walt

Sunday Morning in Beijing

It is hard to describe 13 hours in a plane, unless of course you have spent 13 hours in a plane. We have. The best I can do is to say that after a few hours you look at the map and still seem no closer to your objective. A few hours later it is the same, but slowly we began to make progress. We flew over the Arctic Ocean, Siberia and I believe the Gobi desert. The flight, while long, was very good, and Joy actually managed some good sleep. We cleared customs fairly easily in Beijing, and we were met by our guide.
On Saturday morning, we met the rest of our group. It is a very diverse crowd. People of all age groups from across the country, and everyone is adopting different types of children. One woman is adopting a 13 year old daughter and another couple is adopting a five year old boy. I have been suprised at the number of people adopting boys. We thought we would be unique in that regard. Yesterday was a very busy day. We toured Tienamin Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. The architecture is quite impressive, and we enjoyed learing about Walter's birth country. The only down side was the tempature. It hovered near freezing the entire day, and we were outside for all of it. We also had some great food, and we have enjoyed getting to know our fellow travellers.
Today, we will be going to the Great Wall and having a Beijing Duck dinner. I hear our meal is served head on. Should be interesting.
We thank everyone for keeping up with us, and we are less than 30 hours from getting Walt. Hopefully the next blog will be all about him.
Bill and Joy

The Journey Has Begun

We awoke this morning at 3:30 relaxed and excited for our trip, but that didn't last long. At 4:55, when our taxi to the airport was to arrive, there was no taxi to be found. My relaxed mood started to wane, but Joy was a rock and reminded me that all was well. Ten minutes later we got a call that our taxi would be there by 5:15. But wait, the fun is just beginning. Our good man Clarence arrived and loaded our bags, and we were off ... kinda. Clarence then informed us that we would be making one other stop to pick up another package. That relaxed mood I spoke of earlier, it was disappearing faster than a 401K. Things didn't get any better as Clarence hit every red light on Patterson Ave as we headed down to the bottom. However, to Clarence's credit, he realized the tension level in the car was rising and he tried to help. First, he ran a red light ( at this point, I wasn't planning on offering him legal representation if he got pulled), and then he began telling bad jokes. The second attempt truly backfired because neither Joy or I found the jokes funny, and Clarence became offended that we didn't view him as the second coming of Henny Youngman. We finally arrived in the Bottom, but the passenger was no where to be found. We then calmly explained to Clarence (read in the sarcasm) that we just couldn't wait any longer and we would have to leave the delinquent fare. As we pulled away, you guessed it, our uneasy rider appeared, and we were off, literally at light speed. Clarence, ever wanting to make good and drive his minivan for NASCAR took off like he was heading for the checkered flag at Daytona. That is until he hit a lane divider and almost flipped the minivan. Neither Joy or I were volunteering for blood pressure tests at this point. However, all ended well. The taxi arrived at the airport and we made our flight with time to spare. We are in the Chicago airport now, and we are relaxed and excited again. I don't know if we will have rickshaw ride in China, but I doubt it will compare to our simple trip to airport in Richmond.

Introducing Walter

Thought everyone would like to see Walter, pre-Irwinization.

Heading for China

It is Tuesday afternoon, and we have just finished with our travel meeting. We have all of our documents ready, the car seat is fully installed (not as easy it sounds) and the clothes are waiting to be packed. This blogging is new to us, but we hope that it will enable all of our family and friends to be a part of our journey to get Walt. We will be leaving on Thursday morning, and if all goes according to plan, we will meet Walt on Monday, February 23. Then the screaming and crying can begin, and I am just talking about Joy and me. I am sure that Walt will be much more mature about the whole thing than we will be. We hope to be able to update this throughout our trip with posts and pictures, but remember, we are both still more comfortable with pen and paper than cyberspace so this may be the last post until we get back. (Walt may be able to help us though) We thank everyone for their love and support, and we can't wait to introduce you to Walt.