Last Day in Nanjing

All our bags are packed and we will leave for Guangzhou at 10am Saturday morning (8pm Friday night in Alabama). Weather.com reports it is Sunny and in the 70's there so it will be a nice change of scenery. Nanjing is a very busy, bustling city and I think Guangzhou is more laid back. This will be Sam's first plane ride and we are a little anxious to see how he reacts. Today we relaxed and got out a little bit this morning for a stroll to the river walk. This time it was just the three of us and again we drew crowds. I attempted to buy a banana for Sam at this little stand and I could not make the lady understand I just wanted the banana like it was.. she put batter on it and deep fried it, then put it on a stick for me. Nick and I can not eat the fruit here and Sam did not like it. I gave it to a man who was digging in the trash for something to eat. We've seen a few homeless people and some ask us for money. They are starting to put up Christmas decorations in our hotel... and last night a Chinese lady delivered a Holy Bible to our room! It is a new translation version with both english and chinese. I would really like to keep it. I could not understand the lady who brought it to our door.. I do not know if we can keep it or if we have to leave it for the room. Regardless, we are praising God that a window of opportunity is opening here in China for Christianity. We had sent the orphanage two disposable camera's to take pictures of Sam and we got them developed last night. Unfortunately only 9 pictures are all that developed. Something was wrong with our film. The Schmidt family's pictures turned out good and Sam is in some of those pictures with their son Cole. They were kind enough to give us a copy. The pictures you see of Sam and Cole were taken at the orphanage. Sam is in the red and blue. The other pictures today are of Sam playing in our room this morning. That is all for now... we will write again from Guangzhou.

Having fun with Sam

Sam opens up to us more and more each day. Lets just say he is 100% boy!! He is walking everywhere and is curious about everything. He is very observant and learns things quickly.. do we sound like proud parents or what?? We are having so much fun with him. We laugh so hard at him at times when he is running around and playing. He is also having lots of fun... giving us deep belly laughs. You can get him squealing and laughing when you tickle his feet or his stomach. Today we went on a tour of the Nanjing Wall. Nanjing used to be the Capital of China many years ago and they built a wall around the city. There is a tale that the mortar in the wall is made of rice!! We also went back to the notary office and picked up our Red Book which is the official adoption documents. On the way back to the hotel I was christened as Sam's mom.... he wet on me!! Sam got a little fussy on the ride back to hotel so when we returned we went straight to the room and made him some instant cheese grits that we bought from home. He really loves them! He also likes taking off his clothes. So here we are in the middle of China with a baby with only a diaper on and cheese grits all in his hair and on his face. He might have been born in China but he is a Southern boy through and through! After he ate he was like turbo toddler... running around the room.. laughing and playing. We had so much fun with him. He also played in the tub tonight without crying.... it was a major breakthrough! Everyone in our group agrees he is right on target developmentally with his age. We also had our laundry done today. It came back so pressed and tightly folded. Sam is now asleep and we are happily exhausted. Good night for now and we will write again tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures of the day!

Hanging out in Nanjing

We had a free day today and it was good to relax and rest. We are waiting on the babies passports which will be ready Friday. When we get the passports we will fly to Guangzhou Saturday morning at 10am. They say the weather there is nice and in the 70's. The high in Nanjing today was in the low 50's. Sam continues to thrive. He is sleeping really good. He is taking long naps and still goes to bed at night right at 8:30. Nick and some other members of our group went back to Walmart today. They took a cab ride and had quiet an experience. Those of you who have been to China know how crazy the traffic is... I mean it is really nuts.. people everywhere on bikes, mopeds, and everyone going in all different directions. Lets just say Nick will never forget his taxi ride to Walmart! We are about a block from a river and there is a riverwalk next to us. We went looking around this evening with another family in our group. Boy, we were stars!! Everyone stopping, staring, pointing, and talking. When we would stop for just a minute we were quickly surrounded by lots of spectators. It is quiet amusing. The first picture iI am sending is of Sam waking up first thing this morning. Another picture is of Nick changing his first diaper!! One of the pictures is Nick and Sam with Nick Schmidt and their son Cole. Cole and Sam were playmates at the orphanage. The pictures from the orphanage show them playing together at a playground. Rene Schmidt is a nurse and she checked out Sam really good. He seems to be in good health and we are praising God! Another answered prayer is that Sam seems to be bonding to both of us. He has also developed an attachment to both of us. Today we walked around alot with Sam just holding his hand. He can really work up a trot. We have noticed he is a little shy when he is around new people... but once he gets to know you his personality really shines through! We fed him cheese grits this morning and he LOVED those... of course there is not much he doesn't like to eat! One thing he really hates is getting a bath. That is all for now. We are exhausted.. but it is a happy tired! We will post again tomorrow. P.S. One more thing.. for those of you waiting to come to China please remember to bring salt and pepper.. we have had problems finding both!!

Sam is Officially Ours!

This morning we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to complete the paperwork for the adoption. They asked us questions like why we wanted to adopt from China and if we promised never to abuse or abandon Sam. We then had to print our right thumb in red ink and stamp it over our signatures. We gave them all gifts. The orphanage director was there along with two other care givers. We gave them gifts. Director Gu presented Sam with a jade pendant on a red string. The pendant is a dog because Sam was born in the year of the dog. She also gave us a copy of the note from Sam's birth mother. It seems she did name him Hao.. and it also has his birth last name which is VERY unusual!! I am attaching a picture of the note. She also gave us a picture book with pictures of Sam they had taken at the orphanage. Sam was asleep until the very end and when he awoke and saw her he started crying really hard and arching his back. She kissed and hugged him. We thought he was upset because he wanted to go back to her, but she said no... he is upset because he thinks I am going to take him back to the orphanage. It absolutely broke our hearts to think that he thought we were giving him back. After the Civil Affairs office we went to the Brocade Museum. Nanjing is known for their hand made brocade material... and it is very lovely. We saw some awesome costumes worn by former Emperors. Sam is still eating very well. This morning for breakfast he had yogurt, congee, watermelon, and eggs. For lunch he ate noodles, rice, and steamed eggs. Of course in between meals he ate cheerios, gerber graduates sweet potato puffs, and gerber fruit treats. That boy can put down some groceries!! He also takes a bottle with formula first thing in the morning. He is so sweet and lovable and he smiles alot. He loves to give us kisses. Right now as I am writing this Sam is taking a nap with his Daddy. Nick is head over heels for Sam. I can't wait for everyone to see the two of them together.. they are really alot alike in their personalities! Sam started walking for us this morning. We have to hold his hands because he is a little wobbly. We will not be visiting the orphanage hometown because the road between here and there is under construction and it would take five hours with the detour. Instead we are going to sight see some more around Nanjing. We fly to Guangzhou Saturday... and then home next Thursday. By the way we love getting emails and comments from everyone. Enjoy the pictures and we will post again tomorrow.

Gotcha Sam! (Part 2)

Sam is asleep now and we wanted to send you some more pictures! He is EVERYTHING we prayed for. God has outdone himself!!!!!!! He ate his first french fry tonight and he loved it. He had one in each hand eating as quick as he could! He is a good eater! We gave him a bath and he did not like that. When it was time for him to go to bed we laid him in his crib and he went right to sleep. He does suck his thumb when he needs comforting. He has a callus on his left thumb from sucking... we think he is left handed. The orphanage director said he could walk, but he has not done so for us yet... although he stands. One of the pictures is of him and Isabell, Martha Galluhue's little girl. We will write again tomorrow!
Love,
Suze and Nick

Gotcha Sam!

Gotcha Sam!
We have our son!!! WOW... what a day. Nick and I are so thankful to God for this precious gift. He is beautiful and so sweet and so lovable!!!!! We got to the civil affairs office about 10am. We waited in a room with two other families (besides our three) who were also getting children. They bought their babies in first then about 10 minutes later we saw them walking outside and coming in. Sam was first and we recognized him immediately!! They walked in and said "Jin Hao" and Nick was the first to hold him. At first he just looked at us... then the water works started and he cried very hard for about the next hour. They were huge tears and it just broke our hearts! He was very close to his caretakers and he was confused and scared when they gave him to us. It was really good for him to cry because it means he can attach to his caregivers and that is what we want. After 30 minutes we got back on our bus and headed to Walmart. Sam was so exhausted from crying that he went to sleep in my arms. I waited on the bus while Nick went with the others to buy water, formula, and a stroller. Sam slept the whole time and awoke when we got to the hotel. In the room I took off the three layers of clothes (he was soooo hot... his hair was wet). We changed his diaper and then he ate yogurt, congee, and cheerios! He loves to eat (YEAH)!! He is now sitting on the bed playing with his daddy. He is smiling and playing. He is also very lovable... he hugs on us and lets us kiss him!! Nick and I are so in love with him!! He is walking and he loves the stacking cups and his ball. We have to go back to the civil affairs office in the morning to start the adoption paperwork. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!! He is a gift from heaven and we couldn't have asked for a sweeter baby! Nick just goot him laughing! I can't wait for everyone to see him! Love to you all... the Moss Family of three!

Great Day, Great Wall

Ni Hao! We are writing this while waiting in the airport in Beijing for our flight to Nanjing which has been delayed! We are having a wonderful time in China! We got up this morning and after learning how to brush our teeth with bottled water and keeping our mouths closed while taking a shower, we went downstairs and had breakfast in the hotel buffet. They had lots of good food.. just like in the U.S. (scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, waffles, etc.). We even got to drink the orange juice and the water! After breakfast we went to a local store and purchased some bottled water and snacks for the day. People are everywhere walking and riding bikes…. And the drivers in China would fit right in driving down Atlanta Highway and Talladega!!! After we checked out of our hotel we went and had lunch at The Friendship Market which is connected to the Cloisonné Factory. The food was great… it tasted just like Ming’s or Asia Bistro!! We ate shrimp, pork, chicken, vegetables, and noodles. We then toured the Cloisonné Factory. The art of making Cloisonné is very tedious but the finished product is absolutely beautiful. We did some shopping afterwards and I got some awesome Christmas ornaments. Our next stop was the Great Wall. The wall is manmade but the mountains surrounding the wall were designed by God and they are beautiful!! It was very windy and cold but we managed to climb up a little ways. The steps are very steep and uneven. We then came to the airport and since our flight was delayed we ate dinner at KFC!!! This KFC was huge.. about the size of a grocery store! Doris, our guide, had to order for us. It tasted just back home! By the way, our guides, Mrs. Pat and Doris, are taking great care of us. Doris somehow managed to talk the airport baggage person into not charging us an overweight fee. She told them that our extra suitcase was donations of medicines and they did not charge us! The Lord is truly looking out for us and we can feel everyone’s prayers! We just learned that we will be getting Sam at 10:15am Monday morning… that will be 8:15pm Sunday night Alabama time. Please be praying for all three families as we start bonding with our children. The other families are the Schmidt and the Gallahue families. Well I guess the next time I post we will have our precious son!! We cannot wait to hold him!

They Have Landed!

(Sherry- Posting on behalf of Nick and Susan)
Nick and Susan are in Beijing. I spoke with them this morning around 9:30 am our time and they had just arrived at their hotel. Susan was having trouble posting on the blog so she emailed the message to post to me, however I still have not received it. Hopefully I will get it soon and can post on the blog for her. Until then I will try to keep you informed on their behalf. She was happy to finally be there and she said everything went fine. They plan on touring the Great Wall tomorrow.

(The email they sent for today finally came). Here it is.

We have arrived!


By the grace of God we have made it to China! I never thought the day would come when I could post that!! God graced us with safe travel. We made it to Beijing 24 hours after we left Montgomerry airport. All our flights were on time and everyone was very friendly and helpful. And to everyone who knows Nick and were praying for his anxiety..., let me tell you those prayers were answered!! He was so calm and cool as a cucumber!!!! We were both so touched (and surprised) by all of you who sent letters (via Joetta) for us to read on the plane. We felt each of you with us. Our family is so blessed to have all of you in our lives! We get to sleep in a little tomorrow. We do not leave to tour the Great Wall until 11am. Our flight leaves for Nanjing at 8pm.... and of course the big day comes Monday morning. We still do not know the time... and we will not know until we check into the hotel tomorrow night in Nanjing. We should get Sam around 9 or 10am Monday morning which would be about 7 or 8pm Sunday evening in Alabama. We will post again tomorrow night. Love to all of you and keep those prayers coming!!!

Ready, Set, Go!

We are so relieved that our bags our finally packed and we will soon be leaving for the airport. We had to repack and shuffle around a bunch of stuff to get all the bags under 50 pounds. We each have 2 carry-ons and a total of 3 checked bags. We are leaving for the airport at 4:30am. Our flight doesn't leave until 7am, but our travel agent wanted us at the airport by 5am. While we are in China you can email us at suzedmoss@yahoo.com. The next time we post will be from China. Love to all of you!

Counting it all Joy

Sam's Baptism Jumper

Donations for Sam's orphanage

Kim and Suze

Promoting Adoption for National Adoption Month

5 days until we leave and time is really passing quick! Today, a dear friend of ours, Kim Hendrix, interviewed Suze on WSFA's Alabama Live to promote adoption. November is National Adoption Month. You can watch the interview by clicking http://www.wsfa.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipid1=1942379&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Local+Family+Prepares+for+Adoption&d1=352867&redirUrl=www.wsfa.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage . Above are some pictures. We also wanted to send a special thank you to everyone who donated medicine for Sam's orphanage. We know they will be very grateful for the supplies. Also pictured above is the outfit that Sam will be wearing when he gets Baptized. Thank you to our dear sweet friend Dot (Aunt Dot to Sam) for purchasing the suit.... it is such a special gift and we will forever cherish it! We also want to send a special thanks to Judy and Jerry... (Sam's Mimi and Papasan).. we love the both of you very much for and we Praise God for Him bringing you into our lives! Our Sunday School class prayed over us yesterday and you could truly feel the presence of our Heavenly Father. God's timing is perfect and we know there is a reason for us to be getting our son during this season of Thanksgiving! Please pray that all of our flights arrive and depart on time (and that our luggage arrives with us)!!God Bless you all! We will try and post again before we leave!! We should be able to post every day while in China.

Giving Thanks

Suze and Jo having "Royal Tea" at Gracie's Tea Room

Ray and Sandra Grace having breakfast with COTW families

Lindy, Mae Mae, and Grandma Pat

Beautiful Mae Mae

Having dinner with our dear sweet friends from church.

(Left to right) Nick, Judy, Jerry, Suze, Brad, Gayle, and Dot

Psalms 107:1 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever".

We are so blessed! This is such a great time of the year: changing of the seasons and Thanksgiving. What a perfect time to get our son! God's timing is perfect and in less than a week we will be off on our incredible journey of a lifetime! We have been very busy packing and buying last minute items. I am sure we will pack and repack many times before we get it right. There is a 44 pound weight limit on all checked baggage in China! We have got Sam's suitcase packed and we are starting to work on ours. Today is my (Suze) birthday. To honor the occasion, Joetta treated me to Royal Tea at Gracie's Tea Room. It was so much fun and very relaxing!! Earlier in the day, several Children of the World families enjoyed at reunion breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We can't wait for Sam to be part of this wonderful COTW family! Our agency director is affectionately known as "mama" or "grandma Pat". She has helped unite hundreds of children with their forever families! She will be traveling with us next week and so we will be in very good hands!! Friday evening, our dear friends Judy and Jerry treated us to dinner at Sommer's Place. We were joined by some other friends from our Sunday School class. God has put so many wonderful people in our life over the last year! Today for my birthday, my "twin" Sherry took me to lunch and then we went shopping for some last minute items on our packing list. Tonight, Nick and I will just relax and order pizza. We are enjoying every minute of preparing for Sam! I will post again in the next few days before we leave!

Sam is growing!

We got good news today from our agency. They got an update on Sam's measurements! Weight - 10 kg (22pounds), height - 80 cm (32 inches), head -46.5 (18.6), chest- 48 cm (19.2 inches), foot - 12 cm (4.6 inches). That means he has grown 2 inches and gained 2 pounds since our last report in August! We are praising God for Sam's growth and obvious good health. He is 4 inches taller than the other children in our group!! We also found out we will be visiting his orphanage. It is a 3 and 1/2 hour drive from Nanjing so it will be an all day excursion. God has laid it on our hearts to give something to all the other children who are still waiting on families. Pat, our agency director, says they can always use infant and children's Tylenol/Motrin and diaper rash cream. We are going to collect some donations of these items from our Sunday school class, family, and friends, and take to the orphanage.
We also have our itinerary.
Leave Montgomery 7am Friday November 23 (fly to Atlanta, Detroit, Tokyo, then Beijing)
We will arrive in Beijing on Sat night
Sunday morning we will visit the Great Wall and the Olympic Venues. We will depart to Nanjing in the afternoon.
Monday morning - Gotcha Day!!!! (this will be Sunday evening Alabama time.. please keep us in your prayers between 8-10pm)
Tuesday - Complete the Adoption process
Wed- visit the orphanage
Thurs - Sight seeing and pick up notary books
Friday - pick up passports and depart for Guangzhou
Sat - Medicals, zoo and jade factory
Sunday - Church - lunch together at the Cow and Bridge
Monday - go over consulate paperwork
Tuesday - consulate app
Wed -Swearing in ceremony at the consulate
Thursday - return home (we will get back in Montgomery around 8:30pm)
14 days until we leave!! WAHOOOOOOO!!