HBO Documentary July 14th

China's Stolen Children

The boom in stolen children in China has resulted from the government's one-child policy, which makes it beneficial to have a boy. Approximately 70,000 boys are kidnapped each year, and sold. This film follows the parents of Chen Jie, a five year old, who was snatched from a market where his grandmother was selling vegeables, as they continue to try to find their son. It also presents cases where parents who don't have permits to have children are forced pay fines they cannot afford and, so, must sell their children to traffickers. Director Jezza Neumann. Broadcast July 14

Journey for Jensen

Since our trip is completed, please return to our regular blog in order to read about our daily happenings. Thank you for sharing the journey with us.

www.journeyforjensenkorber.blogspot.com

We're Home

Just to let you know we made it home safe and sound. Jensen did remarkably well on the three flights we had.
Adjusting to home life is going to take some time, of course. He hates his crib. He screams bloody murder when we put him in it. He is so afraid of it for some reason. Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy have not gotten much sleep. The only way he will get any shred of sleep is if he sleeps with us. I know a lot of you out there are against co-sleeping, but it's the only thing that works for us right now. Once he gets used to his surroundings more, we're hoping that he'll sleep by himself.

Jensen Vs. His Socks

Jensen hates to wear socks and shoes. He's always trying to pry them off of his feet. Here's proof.

More Pictures

Here are some new pictures for you to enjoy!!!! Jensen wore the little polo shirt and khaki pants to his consulate swearing in ceremony yesterday. We weren't permitted to film anything there so these are our consulate day pictures of him. The other picture is of Jensen is the White Swan playroom.

Last Day for Blogging

We want to let everyone know that today will be the last day that we do our blogging here on our site until we get home. We only paid for two weeks worth of internet service here at the White Swan. It was a bit pricey, but it was so worth it. It was wonderful to be able to keep in contact with our friends and family throughout our trip.
We basically have a free day here until 6:30 this evening. We're going to go out to supper with our guide David at the Cow and Bridge Thai restaurant. I'm proud of Ron for suggesting that we eat there again. We had a delicious meal there a few days ago.
I guess we're going to start our packing and maybe go buy a few last souvenirs perhaps. I hope no one will be offended if we didn't buy them a gift. We did send postcards home to a lot of people. We don't have too much room in our suitcases for too much extra stuff. I did buy some things here for Jensen: a pair of silk pyjamas, a beautiful silk blanket with dragonflies on it, some movies,Chinese/English books, and Chinese lullaby Cd's.
I can't believe that we leave China tomorrow. I am truly amazed at just how fast our trip here went. We'll be happy to be home, though. There are so many people who are very eager to see our little man. Plus....it'll be nice to have our comfortable bed back once again!!!

Change in Schedule

Well, things got changed up a bit today. We had our swearing in ceremony today instead of tomorrow. We don't know the reason why things got changed, but they did. It was a very simple procedure, actually. The White Swan provided a charter bus to the American consulate for the families going to the ceremony today. It was about a 30 minute trip there from the White Swan.
When we arrived at the America Consulate, they gathered all the adoptive families into the processing room. We stood in line one by one and the officials checked our paperwork and verified we were Jensen's adoptive parents. After that we took our seats and we waited until all the other families were processed. There were probably 100 families there with us. When all the families were done we all gathered together and said an oath that maybe took five minutes tops to do. Easy stuff.

Danny's Bagel

We tried a new restaurant here last night called Danny's Bagel. It's an American-style restaurant which has lots of yummy comfort foods on their menu. They make deliveries to your hotel, too, which is an added bonus!!!! We're going to have take-out from them for the last couple days of our trip.
Last night we got macaroni and cheese and chicken noodle soup for Jensen. The soup was real hearty with nice pieces of carrots, celery, onion, chicken and noodles. He ate two big helpings of it. He loved it! Then we gave him some of the macaroni and cheese and we think he liked that even more than the soup. He kept licking his lips for more. Our son definitely has a healthy appetite. We were worried that he might not be a good eater due to his cleft palate, but he's proved us wrong luckily. This kid is an eater for sure! He'll fit in real well with our families! HA HA!
Ron got a cheese steak and said he was great. I got the chicken Parmesan and the portions were HUGE, enough for two people. It was definitely worth the money to eat there. The quality is excellent.
Check out their website: www.dannysbagel.com

Consulate Appointment

Today is our Consulate Appointment for Jensen. Our guide David is going to take care of it all for us. We met with him yesterday and filled out all the paperwork that needed to be done for this appointment. There's just so much paperwork involved with adoption. It truly amazes me how much has to be done for a single adoption.
Tomorrow we will all go to the U.S. Consulate and do our swearing-in ceremony. We will take our oath for him to become our son and an American citizen.
The U.S. consulate is about a 30 minute drive away from our hotel. Our guide said it used to be so convenient because the former U.S. Consulate building was close to the White Swan and families could just walk there. No big deal, though. At least we get transportation to there and back.....that's all that matters to me!!!

Medical Issues Today

Today hasn't been the happiest day of our trip for our little guy. We started things off with going to the medical clinic. It was only a short walk to there from our hotel. Jensen did well for most of the exam. He was tired, though. You could see it in his eyes. By the end of the exam he was indeed a bit cranky. He threw a minor fit during the hearing test. They checked his heart, took his temperature, checked his weight, and checked his sight and hearing. He did fine in all those areas.
However, our little man has been quite the constipated little one as of late. He's only pooped for us one time. We took him to the clinic here at our hotel and the doctor gave him an enema. Poor little guy was so scared and afraid. It broke my heart to hear him crying so harshly. But the enema worked its magic. Our little man is no longer constipated. He is cured!
I know.....like you really wanted to hear about enemas and constipation today! HA! I'd really advise all the parents who are coming to China in the future to bring some sort of children's laxative or something to help with bowel movements. A couple of parents have mentioned that their children are constipated. Stupid us brought every medical item known to mankind with us to China, but forgot any sort of laxative item.

More Pictures

More Pictures

Here are some pictures from our Pearl River Cruise. Jensen seemed to enjoy being on the boat.

Medical Appointment

We have Jensen's medical appointment today at 10:00. Luckily for us it's not too early in the morning so we can sleep in today. Jensen and his Daddy like to sleep!! Most people who have done the medical portion on the trip have told us that it's not too bad. Jensen is so mild mannered so I don't think he'll cry his eyes out when the doctor examines him. Of course, I say that now. Watch me eat my words! HA!

Pearl River Cruise

We pretty much have a free day today until this evening. Hopefully the rain will subside so we can go out and do some shopping. There are a few things I'd still like to get for Jensen before we leave China. I want to get him some squeaky shoes and a few outfits. Also, I want to get some friends and family a few small souvenirs. And, yes, Sheryl, we are going to hunt down that item for you today, too.
This evening we're taking a Pearl River Cruise. I assume most families take this cruise while they are here adopting in China. I'm looking forward to it. There's supposed to be a big Chinese supper on it. Yummy! Let's hope that there is something there for Ron to eat.

Blogger Still Down

Are any of you out there having problems with Blogger???? We've been trying to access our friends' blogs here since yesterday, but they won't work for some reason. Blogger still lets us post to our blog luckily, but we can't view our blog. I guess the posting works since we're still getting comments. It's just annoying that we can't view other blogs!! Grrrrrr!!!! If you have something on your blog that is important for us to know, please send us an e-mail instead. Our e-mail works fine: vdkorber@yahoo.com
Thanks!

Laughing Boy

We finally managed to get a picture of Jensen in laughing mode! Isn't he adoreable? I'm quite biased, of course!!!!!! We were having lots of fun playing on the big king size bed we have. He absolutely loves rolling around on the bed. He just laughs and giggles the whole time he does it. It is priceless, trust me!!!!!!!!!!

More Pictures

I know today is Memorial Day back home. We spent today at two different places. The first place we went was to the Park of the Five Goats and also we visited the home of the first President of China. Enjoy the pictures!

Weird Blogger

Our Blogger is acting up this morning. I can post items, but I can't view my blog or other family's blogs for some reason.
April, if you are able to read this, e-mail us at vdkorber@yahoo.com I sent you an e-mail this morning about getting together if you're able to.
I hate when Blogger acts up like this. At least I'm still able to post on this site.........

One Week

It's amazing to believe that we've been a family for one whole week already. Our little man has been ours and nobody else's! What is also amazing are the changes in Jensen in just one short week's time. He is laughing and smiling now. He seems a little more relaxed with us. His appetite has grown by leaps and bounds. He has so much personality it amazes me. He makes our life complete. We've wanted a child for such a long time. All the pain and sadness we've experienced during the past six years just doesn't matter anymore. I love my little guy with all my heart.
Today we're going to take a tour of the home of the first president of China. We've passed the house several times on our way to other appointments. It looks beautiful. There will be some great opportunities for pictures. Hopefully the rain will subside. We haven't taken as many pictures as we'd like to on this trip due to the weather conditions.