Adoption Journey to Delaney Marie

GOTCHA DAY MARCH 13, 2007

2007-03-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Today is one year since our beautiful daughter Delaney joined our family-oh how fast the year has gone. Delaney has changed so much-the once fightened, shy and almost life less child is now beautiful outgoing, loving, happy, smart and full of life. It's hard to keep up with her, she is so busy and talks a mile a minute. She makes us laugh and smile and gives the best hugs. She knows her alphabet, can count to ten in English and Spanish, loves to read and play outside. Her favorite TV character is Dora and she loves Winnie the Pooh just as much. She is very social and loves to shop or go bye-bye. She enjoys going to church and is always asking when are we going to see God. Although she is growing in height she has only gained a few pounds over the past year. Her favorite foods are vegetables and fruit, she's not a big meat eater.

I have posted pictures of her in her Gotcha Day shirt we had made for her special day and some pictures of our family celebration. Hope you all enjoy them.

Christmas 2006

2007-01-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

The picture below is Delaney ( several times-oops) in her beautiful jean jacket which was a gift from her godparents-Aunt Cindy and Uncle Jeff. Doesn't she look adorable!

Christmas was an extra special one for the Fitzgerald family. Not only did we have a new addition to our family, but grandama came for a few days and spent Christmas with us. She had not seen Delaney since May and could not believe the progress she had made in 7 months. Delaney did not understand the whole idea behind Christmas she just knew there was a big Christmas tree in her family room and pretty lights and decorations every where. She did not get in to opening the gifts, after the first one she was ready to play and the heck with the rest. So mom had to assist with the opening of her gifts. Her favorite gift was a Dora cd player since she loves music. She could not figure how to keep the headphones on her head since they were too big. Mom came to the rescue with a few bobby pins. Then it was time to figure out how the cd worked-maybe not he perfect gift for a two and half year old. She got several ornaments-one that she is holding is a winnie the pooh baby's first Christmas-every child needs one of these. Her day was full of reading books and listening to cd's on her Dora cd player.

Halloween 2006

2006-11-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

With this being Delaney's first Halloween we wanted to slowly introduce her to the whole idea of dressing up and trick or treat. She was dressed in a butterfly fairy costume and Mom took her to a few neighbors houses. She wasn't sure what to make out of all the costumes, but she seemed to have a good time Here are a few pictures...

More Updates

2006-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We know it has been a while since we added anything to our blog and felt it was about time especially so those of you in other states could view our precious daughter's pictures and hear about her progress.

Delaney is doing well, a typical 2 year old. She is fun, loving, mischievous, busy and sometimes throws a temper tantrum or two. She is 33 inches in height and still only weighs 23 lbs. She is a good eater but I guess with how busy she is all the time burns off what she consumes. She loves to read, listen to music and has discovered Pooh and Mickey Mouse. She also loves the outdoors. We took her to the NC State Fair and she loved all the rides, lights and food.

It gives us all such a good feeling remembering the child we were given in China-sad, frightened, almost lifeless and knowing the beautiful loving child who is full of life and love we now have.

We are looking forward to spending Delaney's first holidays with her and seeing her reaction to the beauty of the holiday season. Here are some recent pictures-ENJOY!

Updated Pictures

2006-06-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

All is going well with our new addition to our family. Delaney has adjusted well to her new home and it seems as if she has always been part of our family. She had her second birthday on Friday, June 9th. It was a quiet celebration with just the four of us, but it was nice. Tina has started back to work full-time and Delaney has started day care full-time as well. She has adjusted well and seems to like her teachers and the kids in her class room. She is expanding her vocabulary and will repeat words, no sentences yet. She's like a parrot and also likes to imitate her big brother Michael and his friends. We all enjoy her so much and couldn't imagine our family without her.

Home Sweet Home

2006-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

We came home to a decorated porch with a "Welcome Delaney" sign and balloons and a nice welcome home greeting from our neighbors the Patti's.

This picture is of Delaney's first night in her bedroom, she seems to like what she sees.

The picture below is Delaney playing with her new friend and neighbor David John.

The picture to the left is Delaney opening her first present given to her by our friends the Meltzer's.Below is big brother Michael showing Delaney that a head band is not so bad to wear after all.

Delaney loves to take baths and loves playing in the water.

We have now been home for two weeks and Delaney has been part of our family for three weeks. Delaney has made great strides the past few weeks sleeping 12 hours a night and taking three hour naps/day. Her tantrums have lessened and Dad and Michael can hold her withour her getting upset. She is eating well, loves most foods and will smile ear to ear if given chocolate. She has the most beautiful smile which will brighten any one's day. Delaney and Lizzie (our dog) are getting along fine neither cares much about the other.
The pictures we know have been long in coming, but we have been very busy getting ourselves acclaimated to the time change and the new member of our family.

Delaney has already brought so much joy to our family and we look forward to all the good times ahead. Thank you God for bringing her in to our lives, we are the luckiest family in the world!

March 21, 2006

2006-03-21T01:15:00.000-08:00

There was a misunderstanding about going to the US Consulate today. The agency representatives were going to the consulate and wanted a parent in their room from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM just in case there were any questions about the paperwork. We did not get a phone call which was good news. Tina took Delaney out to shop for a new dress while Michael and I stayed in the room. At 11:30 AM all the families met in the lobby of the hotel for a group photo. Tomorrow is our swearing in ceremony at at he U.S. Consulate for Delaney's citizenship. After the ceremony many of the families are headed home. It will be sad to see them go since we have a bond that is unlike any other.

This is Michael with all the siblings of children that were adopted along with Delaney.

March 20, 2006

2006-03-20T02:36:00.000-08:00

Today Delaney had her medical exam for the final paperwork for her visa. We all met in the lobby of the hotel and walked to the medical facility. Delaney did not like going through this process. Luckily it only lasted a short time. We ordered a pizza from a restaurant called Danny’s Take Out that was pretty good. We all went to a pearl outlet mall where many people bought jewelry. We promised Michael if he was good and the price was right he could get an early birthday present. One of the tour guides took us to an electronic outlet and Michael got his Game Boy PSP. He is in heaven.

March 19, 2006

2006-03-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

We were up early this morning so we would finish packing. Our group met in the lobby of the hotel around 9:40 AM and left for the airport. Delaney did surprisingly well on her first airplane ride, she was very pleasant the whole trip. As we were boarding the plane several Chinese people were talking to the babies and laughing and having a good time with them. Delaney looked at Tina and gave her a big kiss on the lips. The Chinese people went wild, laughing and cheering her on to do it again. I guess Delaney knows who her mom is. Tina gave her a bottle of juice during take-off and landing which really helped with the change in pressure of the ears. It took about 45 minutes to an hour by bus to get to the hotel. Hopefully the flight home will be just as pleasant.

March 18, 2006

2006-03-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

This morning we left for a local zoo at around 9:30 AM. All the kids really enjoyed walking around the zoo and looking at the animals. It was a nice pleasant morning and everyone had a great time. We all were surprised at how close you were able to get to the animals. In many of the areas people were petting and feeding the animals. The animals were not the only main attraction at the zoo-so were we. Many of the Chinese people, young and old gathered around us, talking and smiling and we even had our pictures taken by a few.We stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. The afternoon was free for everyone to pack for the trip to Guangzhou the next morning.

March 17, 2006

2006-03-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

This morning we met as a group to continue filling out paperwork for the passport’s and visa’s. Around 5:30 PM everyone got the babies passports. We will get the visa when we get to Guangzhou. Most of the day we spent going to the mall and just keeping Delaney entertained.

March 16, 2006

2006-03-18T02:50:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the orphanage where Delaney lived. It was very disturbing to see the conditions these children live in. Many of us could not hold back the tears, it was heart wrenching.The room where the children slept was apprx. 10ft by10 ft with concrete walls and floors. The bedding was worn and the room was dark and dingy. The crib Delaney was in had rope holding some of the bars together. It was very sad to see the condition these babies live in. It was very apparent they didn’t get much stimulation of any kind. There were about 7 cribs in the room with two babies in each crib.One nanny cared for 12 children. As we were getting off the bus there were several loud explosions. There is a coal mine right next to the orphanage that operated 24 hours a day and these explosions occur all through the night. There was a very large grave yard next to the orphanage. We were all shown where our babies were found, Delaney was found at the gate of the orphanage. . The round trip was apprx. seven hours with a stop for Chinese food for lunch-Tofu was the speciality-Yum, Yum.

We were all tired after the trip, so Bill went to Pizza Hut and brought a pizza back to the room for Michael and Tina and he went to the hotel restaurant for fettuccine.

March 15, 2006

2006-03-18T02:49:00.000-08:00

The group was going on a tour of a temple and an elementary school. We had already toured a school while we were in Beijing and just wanted to take it easy. Michael went swimming for a little while at the hotel while Tina and Delaney took a nap. Delaney has been very pleasant today and has really had fun with Michael. She still has not warmed up to Bill. If Tina is not in the room, Bill can hold her and calm her down if she is crying but if Tina is in the room, she does not want Bill near her.

We took another walk to the department store and bought a small stroller. Dinner was at KFC
I guess we all are tired of Chinese food. It was just a nice relaxing day for all.

March 14, 2006

2006-03-18T02:39:00.000-08:00

We met today to fill out paperwork for Delaney’s visa. There were several notaries and one person from the Chinese consulate. We went through a brief interview then we had paperwork notarized so we could get Delaney’s passport before we left Hefei.

We spent the day getting acquainted with Delaney. We noticed yesterday she appeared to be very irritable and was pulling at her left ear. All the babies had runny noses when we got them. Tina started her on an antibiotic just to be on the safe side. We also had a problem with Delaney being constipated. We contacted the tour guide that had someone from the hotel get a suppository that worked in just a few minutes. We did manage a walk to the supermarket and to the department store. Everyone enjoyed stopping at Pizza Hut for dinner. It was nice change from Chinese food.

March 13 Gotcha Day

2006-03-12T21:12:00.001-08:00

This morning started with breakfast at the hotel restaurant, western food buffet. Our adoption group met at 9:30am in the meeting room of the hotel to get our babies. The babies had about a 3 hour ride from the orphanage to the hotel. Our family name was called and Tina was handed Delaney. She was crying as was all the other babies, it took a little while for her to calm down. Delaney’s nanny was present and kept coming over and taking Delaney. We did not say anything since we knew how attached these people can get with the babies. After filling out more paperwork we took Delaney to the room, fed her Cheerios and formula. She appears to be a good eater. Tina gave Delaney a bath and attempted to give her the rest of the formula. Delaney was falling asleep while trying drinking the formula. We put her down for the afternoon, what a big day for all of us..

March 12

2006-03-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

Today we were up early to catch our flight to Hefei. Once we got checked into the hotel we went to the restaurant for lunch. The girl that waited on us could not speak English. We ordered two bowls of French onion soup and a pizza with pepperoni. When the pizza arrived it had peppers and onions not pepperoni. We sent the pizza back and Tina spelled out exactly what we wanted on the pizza. The next pizza had pepperoni and tons of onions. How she arrived at the conclusion that we wanted onion is beyond us. Needless to say Bill and Michael did not eat the pizza so they went back to the room and had snacks that we brought from home and waited for dinner. Bill and Michael went to the game room in the afternoon and played pool. After dinner at the hotel restaurant everyone went to bed early. It was nice just to relax after all the running around we have been doing.

March 11, 2006

2006-03-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today we started the day at a jade factory. They demonstrated how they took the stone and rough cut the stone into a design using a small rotary type tool. After the rough cutting was completed the stone was then precision cut with the same type of tool. The last step was polishing the finished product.

The next stop was The Great Wall of China. We took a cable car up the mountain to the great wall. Just as we started to climb, it began to snow. The size of the wall was enormous and worth fighting the cold and snow to see. We got to the first landing and decided to go back. By this time there was enough snow to make it very slippery. It took a long time to get back down to the starting point.

Next stop was the copper vase factory. They demonstrated how the copper is stretched to make the pots. The workers were busy hand painting the vases. The next process was to put the product in a kiln where the glaze is baked onto the vase. Glazing and firing of the glaze can take place several times to get the final design. The final process is to polish the vase.

After seeing the factory, we went to the second floor to a restaurant for lunch (you guessed it, Chinese food again). A special guest joined us for lunch, the only problem was he was part of lunch.

The next stop on our trip was the emperor’s summer palace. This is where the emperor stayed from May through August. Most of the large buildings on the interior were being renovated in preparation for the Olympics and we were not permitted to access them.

The final stop on our tour was a pearl outlet. There were several stores in this building and all were selling pearl jewelry.

Tomorrow we leave for Hefei China where Delaney is, we're getting closer !

March 10, 2006

2006-03-10T14:30:00.000-08:00

We woke up early this morning after checking into the hotel late last night. We started the tour viewing the two buildings that made up the gates to the Forbidden City. Both buildings are under renovation due to the preperation of Beijing for the 2008 summer Olympics.

The next stop was Tian'anmen Square where parliament must have been in session because the area around the capital building was secured by uniformed armed service personnel.

We did get to go by the Nation Museum that is just across the street from the capital building. This is where the emperor’s private residents are located. They also had a clock running indicating the count down for the summer Olympics in 2008.

The next stop was in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City where some of the buildings on the grounds are still used today for administration people. There was a lot of renovation going on again in preparation for the Olympic game. The Forbidden City sat on 122 acres and needless to say we did not see it all.

The next stop was a bicycle ride with a carriage driven by a towns person through a typical city street of Beijing. It was very interesting to see how these people live. They do not have very much and most of the buildings are old and run down.

We stopped at a day care/ kindergarten school and saw the kids at the play ground.

We went to a typical family’s home where they prepared lunch for the group. The food was very good and the family was very proud of what they had.

The next stop was the a very large farmers market that sold just about everything from clothing to food.

The next stop was at a silk plant where demonstration of how silk it is made into cloth and other useful items.

Tomorrow we are going to the Great Wall of China.

March 9, 2006

2006-03-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

We met the tour guide at about 11:00 am and headed to Fubo Hill which is the largest mountain in the city of Guilin. We climbed 250ft. up the mountain then headed back to the hotel to pick up another family for lunch that was joining us for the rest of the day. We had lunch (guess where) Chinese restaurant, you are catching on.

After lunch we went to the Reed Flute Cave which are known as the "prettiest caves" and indeed they were pretty. This is a natural cave with many of the rock formations depicting shapes such as a bear, statue of liberty, fish., a lighted city etc.

After touring the cave we had about 90 minutes before dinner. We went back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby with Lisa our tour guide. Guess what we had for dinner? (Chinese again). We ate at a local restaurant so our guide could accompany us. After dinner we were taken to the airport to catch our flight to Beijing.

Guilin Tour-March 8, 2006

2006-03-08T07:04:00.000-08:00

To day was a start of a better day for us. We ate breakfast in the hotel and they had a western buffet i.e. fresh fruit, banana bread, egg omelets made to our liking, oatmeal, bacon, sausage, doughnuts which was much better from yesterdays breakfast.

After breakfast we met our tour guide Lisa and started our tour amongst the rain and fog. The first stop was a 4 hour boat tour down the Li River. It was a beautiful site with large mountain ranges lining both sides of the river. We also saw rice fields, water buffalo, fishermen, and may villages along the way.

Michael really enjoyed watching the men on Bamboo rafts coming right up to the side of the boat we were on and trying to sell souvenirs. When timing was right, they would grab onto the boat while it was moving. The rafts were only about 2 feet wide with about four to five bamboo sticks tied together. They would hold onto to our boat with one hand and wave souvenirs in the other hand.

We also saw rice fields, water buffalo, fishermen, and may villages along the way.

The boat docked in a town called Yang Shuo, which was a market place where the towns people sold merchandise they had made. We were swarmed with people begging us to buy things one out bidding the other. We had fun bartering with local people for merchandise.

We then stopped at a museum called Peach Paradise. The museum started with a boat trip and took us around a village where the people known as the minority people depicted their lifestyle. There is only one group of people in China that can be the "majority people", everyone else is the minority. It was a good experiences for Michael to see how hard these people have to work and how they live.

At the begining of the boat ride we went through a small cave that was formed into the hill side.

Along the way there were several demonstrations of dancing and singing by the minority people which reflected their culture from many years ago.

We also went through a typical house for these people.

Since Michael was not fond of the Chinese food, we let him pick where we would have dinner. Amazingly we ended up at Kentucky Fried Chicken. After dinner we strolled through the shops in the market place before heading to an acrobatic show. It is amazing the number of people in the streets at all hours of the day and night.

This is a picture of the building were the acrobatic show took place. We were not permitted to take pictures during the show. The acrobatic show was entertaining and Michael enjoyed the show much to our surprise.

Tomorrow will be a busy day with touring most of the day and traveling to Beijing tomorrow night.

March 7, 2006

2006-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

We got a wake up call at 6am, showered and went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, if you want to call it that. Bill seems to be the only one that enjoyed breakfast.
After breakfast we left for the airport only to find once we arrived that our flight had been cancelled and the next one would be 5:25 pm. We decided to hang out at the airport until the next flight. We sat at the airport for about eight and a half ours checking the monitor frequently making sure the next flight was not cancelled. What a long day.

We finally got to Guilin at 7:00pm and were met
by our tour guide Lisa. She took us to a very nice Chinese restaurant where a Chinese wedding was taking place. We were served a variety of Chinese food and I know many of you won't believe this but Michael and Bill ate the food as well. I guess when you are hungry you'll eat just about anything. We checked in to the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel that overlooks a beautiful pagado and a large pond. Michael laid down on the bed and was asleep within minutes. Tomorrow we will start our tour since we were not able to tour today due to the cancellation of our flight.

Travel Day to China-March 5, 2006

2006-03-07T05:57:00.000-08:00

We left for the RDU airport Sunday morning at 5:30am, our neighbor and friend Don Patty was kind enough to take us to the airport. We left from the RDU airport to St. Paul, Minneapolis to Tokoyo and then to Guanchong, China. What a long plane ride especially the leg from Minneapolis to Tokoyo, 11.5 hrs. Our total flight time was approximately 21 hours arriving in China a whole day later-Marh 6th at 11:30PM. We are not looking forward to the loooooooong flight back with a 20 month old. We were met by a guide Bob who took us to the New Century Hotel. Once at the hotel we checked in and exchanged money and made arrangements to have a van pick us up and transport us to the airport the next morning for the start of our tour in Guilin.

One piece of our luggage was left on the ramp in Tokoyo and will be delivered to us once we get to Guilin. Unfortunately the suit case that did not show up was the one with Bill's medications. Thank goodness all the other luggage showed up. The people here are very nice and they try to be helpful but they don’t speak english and the ones that do speak a broken English and are difficult to understand. What an experience and challenge trying to communicate with people who don’t understand what you are saying.

Packing Day

2006-03-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

It is the day before we leave for China and we are feeling like we have things under control.... Oh well, we spoke to soon, the weight of the luggage exceeds the allowed limits of all the airlines, now what? Bill to the rescue, time to add a few more suitcases. How could four people have so much stuff? No shopping for us in China, we don't have any room in our luggage to bring anything home.

Updated Picture

2006-03-04T15:21:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful surprise-an updated picture of our precious daughter.

It's reassuring to know that she has grown so much since the referral picture and is a picture of good health. It looks like our "little" Delaney likes to eat!

Travel to China

2006-03-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

Bill and I decided to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity of traveling to China and tour before the adoption week. The following is our itinertary for our tour and adoption week:

March 6th: Arrival Guangzhou with NW9 at 10:35pm. One night at NewCentury Hotel.March 7th: CZ3232 from Guangzhou to Guilin. Arrival Guilin at11:15am. Guide picks up and transfers you to Waterfall Hotel.Afternoon, Guilin city tour---Elephant Trunk Hill. FuBo Hill.March 8th: Li River Cruise.March 9th: Guilin city tour, Flute Cave, Li River Folk CustomsVillage. After dinner, you will catch Air China CA1226 at 8:55pmfrom Guilin to Beijing. Arrival Beijing at 11:35pm. Upon arrival,your Beijing guide will pick you up and transfer you to NovotelPeace Hotel.March 10th: TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong Rickshaw tour.March 11th: Great Wall(Ju Yong Pass). Summer Palace.March 12th: Take China Eastern MU5170 at 10:30am to Hefei. ArrivalHefei at 12:10pm. Your guide will pick you up and transfer you toHoliday Inn Hefei.March 13th -18th: Adoption week in Hefei.March 19th: Fly with CZ3519 at 11:40am from Hefei to Guangzhou withone of your guide and arrival Guangzhou at 1:20pm. Transfer toWhiteswan Hotel.March 20th: Medical Check.Mach 21st: Consulate Appointment.March 22nd: Swearing Ceremony and get baby¡¯s American Visa.March 23rd: Arrive back in Raleigh, NC at 6:47pm

Whew, I get tired just reading what is ahead of us, better wear some good walking shoes.

Confirmation of Consulate Appointment-March 22, 2006

2006-03-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

Harrah's has notified us that they have received confirmation of our Consulate Appointment. It is set for Tuesday, March 21, 2006 so that means we need to be in China by Sunday, March 12, 2006. Better start packing!

Travel Approval-February 17, 2006

2006-03-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

Travel approval has arrived, we are one step closer to getting our precious daughter-Delaney. Some of our friends have been waiting for the next post but Bill and I have had some health related obstacles to overcome. We are both healthy and ready to move forward with this wonderful journey to adopt our daughter Delaney and nothing is going to stop us now!!!!

Now that we have travel approval, what next? Our adoption agency will request a consulate appointment and once we have that our travel date will be known. The U.S. Consulate appointment will provide us with Delaney's passport and her visa for entry into the U.S. We thank God for bestowing us with patience because this waiting game is about to drive us crazy.

Referral Day: Thursday January 5, 2006

2006-01-07T04:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Delaney's adoption website. We will be posting details of our adoption journey as well as our trip to China so that our family and friends can follow our journey to bring our daughter Delaney Marie home. The most recent updates and photos are at the top of the page-scroll down to post.

Wow, what a roller coaster ride the past year and a half has been, we thought this day would never come. We initially heard referrals were to come on Tuesday 1/3/06, what a long day with no referral. Wednesday looked hopeful, then we heard the agency referral packets were "misdirected" to the wrong place-how disappointing.

Here it is Thursday, January 5, 2006-Bill and I are at work eagerly waiting for referral news. My coworkers are on alert for the phone call and they know to hunt me down if someone calls for me or the consequences could be life threatening. I had a doctor's appointment at 2pm and I had a strong feeling I would get the call while I was there. Don' t you know at 1:50pm as I was waiting for Bill in the parking lot of the medical office my cell phone rings and it is Harrah's (adoption agency) to give us the good news about our daughter. I was shaking, full of emotion as I was writing all the details about her. Once we received the news we were anxious to see her picture which would be e-mailed to us in a couple hours. Once home Michael and I frantically tried to open her picture in the e-mail and could not. Bill shortly came to the rescue and we were able to view her beautiful picture that we waited so long for.

DELANEY MARIE ZHI FITZGERALD

Chinese Name: Huai Dong Zhi

She is in the Huainan Children's Children Welfare Institute, Anhui Province in China. She was born June 9, 2004 (19 months old). Wt. 22lbs, Ht. 30". She is a deep/moderate sleeper, stands alone, walks with holding on, imitates words, knows what "NO" means, is timid, shy and quiet. She likes to listen to music and play, gets along with others, sometimes impatient and energetic. Sounds like a perfect child to us.

We are in love and can't wait to hold her in our arms and love her for the rest of our lives. Michael is acting like the proud big brother telling all his friends and asking for a picture to share with teachers, classmates and friends.