TOUCHDOWN!

Back in the US! Will continues to adjust to life with his family and we continue to adjust to life with him. Chirs' Mom is here (which is a God-send!) helping out. It's clear that the girls love their little brother and after a "transition" (a.k.a. sleepless) night, they're still on board!

The second Will's feet touched US soil in San Francisco he became an American citizen. Will was relaxed on the flight for the most part and Chris and I were able to take shifts with him.

A flight attendant on the flight from Taipei was bilingual. She dropped by our seat a couple of times and spoke to him in Chinese. When he heard the language his face light up and he focused on her intently. Clearly, he recognized the language if not the words. Just before touchdown in San Francisco, the United crew moved us up to Business Class so we could get out of the plane and through Customs quickly. They also gave us a bottle of campaign to celebrate (which we won't be drinking for a while!).

Thanks to all of you who showed up at DIA to welcome Will to America. We appreciate all the love and support. Additionally, thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with the trip on the blog (I still think we could have found a word better than "blog"!). We're signing off for now; safely back in the states.

So, we go from here . . .

Homeward Bound!

The last day and we're ready to be home. Did some shopping at a very interesting market today, ran through the only 4-star hotel in Taiwan and got packed up!

Things keep moving forward with Will and he seems to have gotten to know us in these last few days. We'll likely hit the reset button on some of the progress we've as he gets used to his new home and family. Something tells me we may be back here some time in the future to do a little more exploring and running around.

Car leaves the hotel at 8AM and we'll be in it! This is 3/5 of the Bianco 5 signing off from Taiwan. See you all at home.

Back In The Saddle Again

How does that country song go? ". . . So, I'm back in the saddle again . . .". We're with a baby once more and feeling it! Will continues to make strides with us both on bonding, which is a good thing. The bad thing is, he's been very fussy which, we think, is being caused by something in his digestive system. That combined with the fact that he's been through quite a week and we're not home yet makes it understandable. Also, there's probably some teething going on since he's at that age.

Despite all of this, we managed another day of running around. The guide ushered us through some very interesting hot springs, a Buddhist temple and lunch on the coast. She watched Will for us for a few minutes while Chris and I took a little stroll on the beach and searched out some sea shells for the Bianco girls! Taiwan is a very interesting and beautiful place with a rich history and culture. We've seen a lot we didn't realize was here.

But, our main focus continues to be trying to bond with Will. He seems to be getting more and more comfortable with us with each passing day. Last night was the best night yet with him. Not a full night's sleep, but a good step in the right direction.

Tomorrow's the last day! A little shopping, a little packing and a lot more of Will and we'll be ready to head home. We miss all of you a lot. We especially miss the Bianco Beauties and can't wait to give them hugs and kisses when we get back!

On Top Of The World

Another day in Taiwan and another bunch of steps taken to get to know Will! We spent some time at breakfast and later in the afternoon with an Australian couple who just adopted their second Taiwanese son yesterday. Conner is only about 3 weeks younger than Will but Will looks like he could be twice as old! Then, we had some what of a nap (Will's still not into any sort of a regular schedule and keeps taking cat naps as opposed to a good, solid 2 hour nap . . . Something that will be remedied when we get back to the States!).

Our afternoon found us on top of the world (almost literally)! We rode the world's fastest elevator up to the top of the world's tallest building. The views from on top of Taipei 101 were breathtaking! Will slept through half of it, and the half he was awake for was fast . . . The boy can get fussy!

From there, Daddy and Will tried to go swimming in the kid pool at the hotel only to find out that here in Taiwan children are not allowed in pools (even kiddie pools) until they are 3 years old! The ladies at the adoption agency were terrified to hear about Livie and Evie's swimming lessons at 1 and 2 years old! I guess they worry about young children in pools. The Taiwanese people seem to be particular about pools in general; even with adults. What a country . . .

So, instead of swimming, Daddy and Willie went for a walk in Taipei. Will loves the stroller and seeing the sights as we walk. We found our way to a book store where we picked up a book on the history of Taiwan. It seems clear that Will's speciality will be wooing the ladies! He was laying the charm on pretty thick!

Since we haven't had too much of an American meal since our arrival (other than last night's Pizza Hut that is), we found an Outback Steakhouse just around the corner! For those of you who've adopted from China or Guatemala, I bet you would have liked to have seen one of those on your trip!

So it was another full day on the eastern front. Tomorrow, we're seaside and will finally get Will's visa and passport! More to come . . .!

A Day Full of Willie B!

OK . . . It's been our first full day with Will! We saw some decent activity and a lot of bonding/getting to know you time. Will is definitely beginning the bonding process (more so with Chris than Roger, but he's making decent strides with us both). All the stress on him is playing havoc with his tummy as well. He seems to have a tummy ache which is causing him to fidget and be uncomfortable (I'll leave the messy details out!).

We had the big appointment with the American Institute in Taiwan today and all went smoothly. For those of you who don't know, this was the appointment upon which we've been waiting for paperwork. Thanks to Chris' insistence and diligence, we were able to get this done without the original information required (which has yet to show up!). While Chris was feeding Will a bottle, Roger got through the interview and all seems to be well on the paperwork end of things. Next step is tomorrow . . .

From there we did some shopping, ate some pretty traditional Taiwanese food, took a spin by the Chang Kai Shek Memorial and spent a lot of the day working on bonding with Will. Right now he's pitching what we hope will be his last bit of fit before he finally falls asleep for a while. He's not really had a nap yet today. We'll see . . .

Tomorrow's another day! God bless!

Got Him!!

Today was the day! At long last we picked up Willie Po-Cheng Bianco! We drove about 2 hours southwest of Taipei to the agency and then to his foster home. Everyone has been helpful and appreciative . . . especially our guide, Meiru, who has driven us around and put up with all of our annoying questions. Tomorrow we have to go to the American Institute in Taiwan here in Taipei for another official interview. After that, we'll be heading out with our guide and Willie to see a little more of Taipei.

It was a long day for us and especially for him. He's still very unsure about who we are and why he's with us (and he's letting us know it!). Chris is doing a masterful job of trying to bond with him and it seems to be working a bit. He's absolutely aware of Chris and knows when she walks away. He's fallen asleep on her a couple of times. Of course it will all happen in his due time!

We miss all of you (especially you Livie & Evie!) and are looking forward to getting home. In the meantime, we'll keep you all updated.

A Little Culture

No Willie B just yet . . . It turns out we'll be picking him up tomorrow morning. Waiting makes the clock move slower!

So, instead we ventured into the Taipei MRT (subway system) and checked out some Chinese history at the National Palace Museum. It turns out that most of China's valuable artifacts are actually here in Taiwan. Centuries of vases, paintings, furniture, scriptures, etc are in the museum. A wing of one floor is full of vases from the Ming Dynasty. They also had a couple of traditional Chinese gardens which we walked through.

As some of you know, Chris LOVES to look at old stuff for hours and hours!! (Can you detect a little sarcasm?). Actually, we only got through 2 of the 3 of the museum's floors before Roger pulled the plug. If left up to her own, Chris would have left a whirlwind in her wake moving through that place so fast!

Taipei 101 was closed today so we'll hold that off until after we get Willie B. Next time the pictures will include us with our son! Check you tomorrow . . .

We're Here!

Good morning from Taipei! We nearly missed our San Francisco connection (notice the picture says "Last Call"), feeling a little gross after being on a plane for 17 hours and a little stiff-necked, but we're here in downtown Taipei! We'll find out this morning if we'll get Will today or tomorrow! We're just waiting for the call . . .

If not today, we'll likely do some exploring of Taipei. The agency gives us a tour guide who will show us around. Just for a frame of reference, if you look at any skyline of Taipei, you'll see the tallest building in the world: Taipei 101. Our hotel is only a block or two from there. That may be one of our destinations today.

We'll keep blogging (that sounds a little painful! Maybe I should say "writing").

- Roger & Chris

WE'RE LEAVING!!

It's 10:20PM, Thursday August 21st and we've FINALLY received word that our paperwork in is Taipei and we can go . . . ! Just made flight and hotel arrangements (another $100 on the phone bill!). We'll be flying the Saturday the 23rd and getting back on the 31st. A pretty quick trip for flying around the world, but we're locked on getting Will on the 26th! Chris continues to "nest" as we speak and Roger is trying to fax a hotel confirmation to Taipei . . . What a life!

We'll keep things up-to-date (if Roger can figure it out!) as we go! Thanks and we'll chat again from Taiwan!

1 1/2 Weeks Away!

So, here we are, 1 1/2 weeks from jumping on a plane to Taiwan to get Will! Still no paperwork in Taipei, but we're feeling pretty good none the less. Still, a prayer wouldn't hurt! We're starting the long process of getting ready to fly . . . More to come . . .