For The Love of Mary Elisabeth

Emmy's Chinese New Year

2012-01-22T00:04:00.001-06:00

We attended the Central Arkansas chapter of the Families with Children From China New Year celebration at Sherwood Forrest, sponsored by Dillion International. Dillon isn't our adoption company but still appreciative of what they do for families wanting to adopt. We still love America World Adoption and our caseworker Melissa Blauvelt!

Everyone take care. We'll try to update the blog more often in 2012.

Love to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy.

2011-07-24T17:59:00.001-05:00

http://lailablogs.com/google.php

Emmy on Mother's Day

2011-05-08T19:29:00.001-05:00

This is Emmy in her Sunflower Dress that she wore to Nana's house on Mother's day. She is such a little ham!

Emmy's second Easter

2011-04-24T18:16:00.001-05:00

Today was Emmy's second Easter in Arkansas. The Easter bunny brought her a
basket with a Rugrats movie, candy, candy, wooden whistles, an outfit, etc.

We went to church at Palm Street Church of Christ and were joined by Aunt
Carole, Uncle Clay and even P-paw! (my dad). After church, there was an Egg hunt
for the children. We went to lunch at KFC in Lonoke then went to Nana's for
desert.

Hope all is well. Sorry it has been so long since we've updated the blog. Love
to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy

Emmy's second halloween

2010-10-30T22:31:00.001-05:00

Emmy got to hang out with first cousins Heather, Devon and Kaitlyn during her second halloween on Saturday. We also visited Nana, Aunt Carole, Uncle Clay and P-paw. She had a big time and got lots of candy.

Family picture

2010-09-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've updated and I'm sorry about that. We just completed our 12-month post placement visit! Hooray! Our last major hurdle is going before Judge Whiteaker in Lonoke County Circuit Court so we can get Emmy's Arkansas birth certificate.

Enjoy the photos. Emmy is the perfect child for our family! We love her more than anyone could ever imagine.

Love to all

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2010-08-18T12:23:00.001-05:00

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Emmy's first vacation

2010-07-05T18:51:00.001-05:00

We are in San Antonio, Texas on Emmy's first vacation. We left on Friday and spent the night in Austin. We went shopping in San Marcos on Saturday before driving on to San Antonio.

We went on a carriage ride around the downtown area after we ate at County Line BBQ on the River Walk. Emmy threw a bit of a fit...okay, it was a huge one because she wanted to ride the boat.

We survived that and road a boat and did some touring on Sunday. Emmy was tired but had a great time.

On Monday (Today), we had lunch with a friend of mine, Jamie and her Chinese adopted daughter Grace. Emmy and Grace had a great time. Jamie brought a portable DVD player and the kids watched Yo Gabba Gabba.

After lunch, we went to the River Walk area and rode a trolley bus and went to the Mexican Market, where we did some shopping and ate at La Margarita.

We're back in the hotel, relaxing. We'll probably go swimming later. Try to update more later. Love to all.

Emmy update

2010-05-22T00:58:00.001-05:00

We've had a really busy time lately. Linda's drama club play, Annie Jr., went well last week but it was very time consuming. I've been busy with the state baseball-softball and track stuff and we've been trying to chase down a chinese-American 2 year old named Emmy, who is growing like a weed and is learning so much.

Her vocabulary is getting better and Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Carolyn at the former Peppermint School in Lonoke have really been working with her and they have her "repotty trained"

On Friday, we took Emmy to the Relay for Life in Lonoke. She had a great time running on the track and we took her photo next to the banner that the newspaper bought in Memory of mom (aka Granny Rosie).

We hope you like the pix. We'll have more again real soon.

Love to all,
Mark, Linda and Emmy

Emmy's first easter

2010-04-04T22:11:00.001-05:00

Well, today was Emmy's first Easter in America. first, we got up at 8 a.m. and the Easter bunny brought her a basket of candy and a couple of her favorite Nick Jr. shows on DVD

She wore a sailor's dress she got from her Aunt B and we went to see Mema at Golden Years before heading to a packed house at Palm Street Church of Christ.

After services, a egg hunt was held for the children in the church. Emmy didn't know what to think at first but when Justin W showed her there was candy in the eggs, she was all about it!

After Church, we went to Nana's house in Carlisle for an awesome lunch and visited with Nana, Aunt Janice, Uncle Jim, Dad, Carole, Clay and Uncle Dickey. We had a great time. It was a lot of fun.

After that, Emmy slept on the way home and took a two hour nap. Now if I can only get her down for bed!

Oh, by the way, it was 16 years ago tonight, I was in Charlotte, NC watching the Hogs win the NCAA basketball title. My, how times have changed. Some in a better way (Linda and Emmy) others in not such a good way...like the Hogs bball team being horrid.

love to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy.

Emmy's first haircut

2010-04-03T14:58:00.001-05:00

Sorry it took so long to get these photos on here but Emmy had her first American haircut on March 24, 2010 at Salon 305 in Cabot. Debbie Hutslar has cut Mark's hair since 1995 after he returned from college in Fayetteville.

Debbie was wonderful with Emmy. Emmy didn't cry any except for when Ms. Becky was using electric clippers on her client. I guess it scared Emmy and reminded her of when she had her head shaved in the orphanage.

Hope you all have a great Easter. We'll share more photos soon.

Love to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy

Memphis Zoo

2010-03-27T22:35:00.001-05:00

First of all, sorry for the long breaks between updates. I'm going to try my best to update more quickly since Emmy is growing like a weed. She got her hair cut this week and I'll put those pix on the blog when I get a chance real soon.

We took Emmy to Memphis Zoo on Saturday and she loved it. She was enthralled with all the different animals on display. She is growing and getting smarter each and every day. We can't remember what it was like before we brought her home six months ago.

And on that note, we had our six month visit with our social worker on Friday. Things seemed to go well. It was rather nerve wracking but we got through it.

Love to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy

P.S. It was great to see Kentucky lose today and the people of Memphis loved it!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T00:58:00.001-06:00

here are some more photos!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T00:55:00.000-06:00

Thursday was Emmy's first Thanksgiving as an American Citizen. We spent time at her Aunt B's house for lunch then went to Nana's for supper. She got to spend a lot of time with her cousins and it was so much fun seeing her play with Heather and Vivian at Nana's house. There are only four months separating them in age so having three 2 year old girls was so much fun and we know Christmas will be the same way.

Love to all.

test

2009-11-28T00:28:00.001-06:00

Just testing to see if this works

Soup and push ups

2009-10-13T12:22:00.004-05:00

Sorry we haven't updated lately. We've been extremely busy with Emmy and me trying to cover games and getting back into the swing of things at the paper.

Today, we visited the daycare in Carlisle where Emmy will go. She did well, playing with the little kids, including her first cousin Heather. We think it will work out well.

Tonight, Emmy ate soup by herself sitting next to Mema and then had an orange pushup. As you can see, she is doing well. We still have problems getting her to settle down at night but she is turning into a typical American 2-year old!

there is still a little paperwork to do in the next couple of weeks then we'll have a home visit from our social worker in March.

We'll try to update more later...I promise.

Love to all

Mark, Linda and Emmy

photos

2009-10-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

here are some new photos. Emmy is being a toot right now. Norah scratched her today so now she is scared of Gov. But it will all be okay. Love to all

Eating, Dr. office

2009-09-29T00:46:00.001-05:00

We took Emmy to see Grandpa Gaines on Sunday and he was so happy to see his ninth great granchild!

Linda and I then took Emmy to US Pizza on McCain. She really enjoyed eating Linda's salad. She insists on using the fork or spoon herself and she is getting pretty good at it.

On Monday morning, we took Emmy for a checkup with Dr. Norcross in Lonoke. She's developed a little bit of a rash but he wasn't concerned and gave us some lotion to help her itching. We also did blood work on Emmy....she didn't like it. And they had trouble finding a vein. Sounds just like her mommy. She was a little anemic so I got her some Flintstone Vitamins with Iron. Also, Emmy and I saw a lot of people at Wal-Mart who just loved our little girl.

Then, we ate spaghetti at home tonight. The Kraft in the Green Box, just like Mom used to make. Emmy loved it! As you can see, she had a full plate and ate 99 percent of it then some off of Linda's plate. Reminds me of the time that uncle Jonathan ate spaghetti for the first time.

We'll get some more stuff on the blog in the next couple of days. Love to all.

Mark, Linda and Emmy

first cousins

2009-09-29T00:35:00.001-05:00

Our oldest niece Deanna and her daughter Tori met Emmy on Sunday after church. There are more than 30 years difference between Deanna and Mary Elisabeth. It was a lot of fun seeing them together. It looks like they've been one happy family all these years!

Hello from the Buffalo family

2009-09-27T15:52:00.002-05:00

We can honestly say that the last 2 1/2 weeks have been some of the most hectic, scary, apprehensive, rewarding, of our lives. When we got Mary Elisabeth on Sept. 14, our lives changed forever and in the most positive way possible.

Being a first-time parent for both me and Linda is something we've always dreamed about and wasn't always sure would happen. But when we finally saw Emmy on Sept. 14, the realization of what was happening hit us like a ton of bricks. But there is nothing in this world that we would change!

Emmy is the light of our lives. We know that things will be different for us, especially when we go back to work. I'm heading back next Thursday and Linda is taking off until Oct. 19. We know, financially, that things will be tremendously different but it is that way too for a family that has a baby naturally.

We've been blessed by a wonderful family and wonderful friends. It was a lot of fun to go to Wal-Mart on Saturday and be able to show off our little girl. So many people we might have known at one time or another or people who knew who we were came up to us, just to catch a glimpse of our little sunshine girl! It is overwhelming.

We'll post more stuff later on and I'll have a follow-up story in the paper in the coming weeks.

Love to all
Mark, Linda and Mary Elisabeth

photos!

2009-09-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

Sorry we havne't had a lot of time to update the blog since we got home. This will be short. Got home on Thursday at 11:30 to the LR Airport. since then, we've been on the go for the most part. Emmy is meeting family members and playing with her new first cousins Orion, Kaycee, Devon and Heather. Here are some pix from the last couple of days. We'll update more later on with some more details.

Love to all

final update from Guangzhou

2009-09-22T23:02:00.001-05:00

The last 24 hours for us have been extremely stressful. An important piece of paperwork wasn't processed by immigration at home. Melissa at America World got it straightened out for us and we get to leave for Hong Kong tonight before flying from Hong Kong to the US of A on Thursday!

We'll update more, with photos, when we get home. Thanks to everyone who has shared our journey so far.

Love to all,

Mark, Linda and Mary Elisabeth

Monday in China

2009-09-21T06:36:00.001-05:00

Monday was a light day for the family. We ate breakfast then we went to an outdoor museum. It was a lot of fun but extremely hot. We then left for the island again. We had to get Emmy's TB skin test checked and it was good then we went to eat and shopping again. We found a few more things to bring home as we are getting gifts to give Emmy each year on Sept. 14 – her Gotcha Day.

We came back to the hotel and took a two-hour NAP!!! We went to Pizza Hut for supper. I would just like to say, for the record, that Pizza Hut in China is not Wing Street like in Arkansas or Lonoke for that matter. I'll miss it here in China except for the lack of pepperoni.

On Tuesday, we have to wait in our hotel room from 10:30 to noon in case the US Consulate calls with questions on our paperwork. We're going on a dinner cruise on the fourth largest river in China on Tuesday night. We then fly to Hong Kong late on Wednesday night then fly to America on Thursday!!!

Try to update more tomorrow. The computer is still acting goofy.

Love to all

Sunday in Guangzhou

2009-09-20T06:38:00.001-05:00

Today was not a typical Sunday for the Buffalo family. We ate breakfast in the rotating restaurant then had to be to the bus at 9:30 to go shopping on the island here in Guangzhou. Next Sunday, we plan on being in church at Palm Street Church of Christ in Lonoke!!!

We stayed on the island until 1 p.m. We walked all around and bought some stuff all around the place. Each time we stopped, we were "stalked" by salespeople trying to make a sale to us Americans! One time the salesperson followed Linda around with a fan!!! Emmy and I tried to stay in front of the air conditioner because it is HOT!!!! We were so lucky with the summer we had in Arkansas. Linda and I are paying for it right now!

We kept our string of not eating Chinese food and had lunch at Subway, eat fresh! Not too bad. We found out that Emmy loves Lays potato chips. We don't know if that is a good thing or not.

During our walk around the island, we saw several brides getting their photos taken. I was jealous of some of the lighting equipment they were using. Oh, and all the photographers were using Canon. And the brides were all beautiful, some wearing traditional Chinese wedding dresses and some wearing American style wedding dresses.

We came back to the hotel and I had to go to the "paperwork party" while Linda stayed in the room with Emmy. The paperwork took about 2 hours and we got the stuff done we need to be able to get Emmy's visa and bring her home later this week.

We then went to the Italian Restaurant down the street from our hotel. We had garlic bread and pepperoni pizza. It was pretty good. Linda and Emmy then went back to the hotel while I crossed the bridge and went to McDonald's to get us a Coke and some chicken nuggets.

We've noticed that Emmy is having trouble eating at times. She hides her food some or stuffs her mouth. We think it might have something to do with being in an orphanage and being afraid that she might not have enough food. Hopefully, this is something she will grow out of when she finally figures out that she doesn't have to worry about food or not having any.

Tomorrow, we go back to the medical exam office to have Emmy's TB skin test checked. It looks good right now so hopefully, we won't have any problems. We also go to a local museum tomorrow.

And yes, I'm wearing a Lonoke Jackrabbits' T-shirt, the one I got after the Jackrabbits won the 2008 state basketball championship. And for you Bison fans, I've got a Carlisle one ready to put on!

Love to all.

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corn on the cob

2009-09-19T06:48:00.001-05:00

Tonight for supper, I made a run to the Colonel, which is next to our hotel. Emmy, as you can see, loves corn on the cob. I can't wait until she gets some real corn. She would have loved Papa's corn from the garden!

The other photos she is playing with her cheerios!

Love to all

Saturday update...photos!

2009-09-19T05:22:00.001-05:00

Sorry I forgot some photos!

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Saturday update

2009-09-19T05:18:00.001-05:00

First of all, sorry for the long time between updates.

Friday was a long day for the Buffalo family. After Sherry brought our paperwork from the public notary on Thursday night at about 8:30, we got up about 7 and went to breakfast in the hotel in Xi'an. After that, I made a run to Wal-Mart and bought Emmy a suitcase so we could finish packing.

We had to check out of the hotel by 1 p.m. because of a convention coming to our hotel. We left our luggage with the concierge and walked to Pizza Hut for lunch. The pizza was awesome and the Pepsi drinks were better than any coke we've had in China so far.

We walked by some shops and went to the mall across the street from the hotel and bought Emmy a pair of shoes at Van's department store, which is a pretty upscale place.

We met Sherry back at the hotel about 2:45 then we went to the Civil Affairs office to get Emmy's passport. After that, we drove to the airport and waited until we could check in with our luggage and get our tickets at 5 p.m. Before we went through security, we had to say good-bye to Sherry. She is someone whom we will always be grateful to and for because she is the one person who helped us through the first 5 days of being parents to miss Mary Elisabeth. We love her very much!

We got through security and I had to walk Emmy around the terminal because she was getting restless. She didn't have her afternoon nap, which made her pretty fussy. We got on the plane and she didn't want to sit still but did okay. I fed her some rice…Linda and I didn't eat the food :( So we were hungry all night.

We finally got Emmy asleep on the plane and she was doing okay until something startled her and she woke up screaming. She wanted her mommy. She still had a few moments but her first plane ride went okay.

Getting our luggage was a chore. First, we had to get off the plane onto the Tarmac. Then we had to take a tram to the terminal to get our luggage. Then, the airport had about 5 flights picking up their luggage on the same conveyor belt. Two of our pieces went around several times because I couldn't get past some of the people there to get them. We were frustrated but managed to pick everything up.

Us and two other families met Rosa, the national guide, after we got our luggage. We packed into a van and drove to the hotel and got here at about 11 p.m. We had to be in the lobby at 8:30 a.m on Saturday so, needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

I got up about 6. Took a shower and let Emmy sleep a while. We then went to breakfast on the 45th floor on a rotating restaurant. It was nice but it took me a bit to get my bearings back. After that, I had to make some photocopies of a couple of documents then we loaded on the bus with the other families to get to the medical examinations and get a photo of Emmy taken for her visa application.

At the clinic, each child went to three stations. One, they weighed and measured emmy. Two, was an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Third was a check of her special needs. Emmy also needed to get a TB test. She screamed only a little bit and was fine. She'll get it checked on Monday morning.

We then went shopping at a supermarket type place, which was similar to Wal-Mart in Xi'an. We got another stroller (we donated our first one to Sherry) some bottled water, powdered milk for Emmy and some snacks for all of us. After that, we had the rest of the day off!!!!

We ventured down the street and over a walking bridge to McDonald's! Emmy had her first taste of the Golden Arches and she loved it. She had Chicken McNuggets and French fries. We then came back to the room and Emmy is taking a nap, Mommy is going through our clothes and I'm writing the blog.

We'll update some more tomorrow. Love to all!!!

Thursday update

2009-09-17T04:06:00.001-05:00

Today, Thursday, was a light day for us. We got up early and went to the breakfast buffet in the hotel then went back to the room. The Buffalo clan just hung out for a while. I washed some underwear in our sink with some laundry soap that Sherry, the best local guide in the world, helped us get at Wal-Mart on Monday.

After that, all three of us took a nap about noon and got up about 1:30 p.m. Linda and I both showered and we went across the street to the mall and ate lunch at the CSC. We all had chicken wings and Pepsi, which actually tastes better than coke here in China.

We then went to a store like Sears and I looked at cameras but all they had were Canon Digital Rebels or the equivalent to them. After that, we went to Wal-Mart and got a few needed things. Emmy was waving at everyone she saw.

Then, we went to Dairy Queen for the second day in a row. Emmy loves ice cream. We couldn't shovel it in fast enough for her. She had it all over her face as you can see from the pix.

We crossed the road and went back to the hotel. We're waiting on Sherry to come here with some paperwork about 7:30 p.m. Meantime, Emmy is picking up stuff and throwing it away for us. I guess that is something she learned to do in the orphanage. Maybe it will come in handy when we get home.

Oh, I've also included a photo that Linda took of me and Emmy. Thanks to Pam Clem in Cabot Athletic office for the T-shirt I'm wearing. Also, Emmy is wearing a Raggedy Ann outfit that Linda bought one day with her Grandma Rose Mary when Linda took Mom to one of her treatments last year. They got it at Mom's favorite restaurant Cracker Barrel in North Little Rock. I know Mom is looking down on all of us right now. It brings a tear to my eye as I write this.

We'll try to update tomorrow sometime. We're supposed to fly Guanghzou sometime tomorrow evening. So say a little prayer for us.

Love to all

Terra Cotta Soldiers

2009-09-16T01:50:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, the Buffalo family, along with our guide Sherry (who is the best), visited the Terra Cotta Soldiers museum. Sherry told us all about it on the trip to the museum then was our guide inside the museum. I had learned somethign about it from Coach Andy Runyan at Cabot High School.

Emmy was great except when we stopped in a gift shop to buy a jade bracelet. Emmy pitched a Lilly-Munnerlyn-Buffalo-Gaines-Raborn fit. She wanted her daddy to get her out of the stroller, which, of course, he did. I'm already wrapped around her pinkie.

Emmy loves to eat. We have a pretty good idea that she didn't get to eat as much as she would have liked in the orphanage. It is very difficult to tell her "no" especially when it comes to snacks.

On Tuesday when we visited the civil affairs office, one of the nannies gave Emmy a bracelet with her birthdate on it. There is a matching bracelet that she will receive when she comes back to visit. It was very touching.

Well, tomorrow (Thursday) is a free day for us. We'll probably wash some clothes and maybe get something good to eat. We'll meet Sherry on Thursday night to get some more paperwork from her from the notorary here in Xi'An.

Love to all

Mark, Linda and Mary Elisabeth

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Second Day as a family

2009-09-15T05:47:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was a busy day for the Buffalo family!
We woke up at 6:15 a.m. and Emmy was soaked. She peed the bed but we took a quick bath and she was fine.
We went to eat breakfast about 7:30. Emmy loves watermelon and banana nut muffins. She kept begging for her mommy's muffin!
Sherry, our local guide, took us to the civil affairs office and we were interviewed as a formality. We then went to the police station for Emmy to have her picture taken for her passport back to America.
We then ate lunch at….Pizza Hut! They didn't have pepperoni but it was really, really good. Then Mommy, Daddy and Emmy all took a two-hour power nap before Sherry returned.
We then went to the square in Xi'An and saw a lot of really cool things, including artwork and a big pagoda. We even rode in a taxi…Mommy said it was like a bad ride at the state fair!
We'll try to update more later. Here are some pix we took today.
Love to all

Our Gotcha Day

2009-09-14T07:11:00.001-05:00

Our guide Sherry picked us at the hotel at 3:30 and we went to the civil affairs office in Xi'an. While there, we had to sign some paperwork and the nannies from the oprhanage brought An Qing Shu to us. She cried and didn't want to have anything to do with us. She was throwing a Raborn fit!!! The nannies told her who we were and when we left, I carried her to the car and after that, she was an angel. She didn't really cry any again until we gave her a bath then put her down in the baby bed in the hotel room. We gave her some warm milk and she was out like a light!!!

Sherry took me to Wal-Mart and KFC to get some stuff for Emmy and some food for Mommy and Daddy. It wasn't the greatest in the world but we hadn't eaten since breakfast so it was awesome! And while I was gone, Emmy and Mommy bonded. As you can see in the picture, she is ours.

On Tuesday, we have to pay funds to the orphanage and go through an interview process. We had to pledge that we will never abandon this little girl. She is so gorgeous. She babbled some and enjoyed listening to music coming from the TV. At least someone liked it! ha ha.

so please say some more prayers for us. We are in this for the long haul.

Love to all.

Introducing Mary Elisabeth Buffalo

2009-09-14T04:34:00.001-05:00

Here are some pix of our beautiful little girl, Mary Elisabeth Buffalo. I'll give you all some more info later in the evening. About to head to wallyworld to get some stuff for Emmy

Love to all

update

2009-09-14T02:08:00.001-05:00

We met with our local guide Sherry at 1 p.m. Monday. She took us to the bank to exchange funds then showed us around the mall across from our hotel but it is like playing chicken trying to cross the road!

We are supposed to meet her at 3:30 p.m. (230 a.m. at home) and head to the Civil Affairs office to get Mary Elisabeth.

We are still having some computer issues. We'll try our best to get a photo posted tonight. If not, we might have to wait until Friday when we meet up with our travel group in Guangzhou. If that happens, we'll call one of our family members and have them put that on the blog.

Take care and keep praying

Mark and Linda

computer issues, getting Emmy

2009-09-13T19:50:00.001-05:00

First of all, I would like to say, DON'T get a Dell Inspiron 10 Mini computer. It is slow, even on our Internet at home. But, today, I've had this thing crash and would start up three times because of "Hardware failure, call your hardware administrator." What's up with that? I did finally get it started to check NFL scores and shut it down properly before we went to eat breakfast.

When we got back to the room, I started it up again and it messed up again. If I try again later, I'll write down the message and maybe one of you all out there can help figure out what is wrong. So, I've got it started in safe mode with networking and I'm able to get to the Internet, thankfully.

We're supposed to meet our guide Sherry at 1 p.m. at the hotel. She is going to help us get some stuff ready then we'll see what we do next, as far as getting Mary Elisabeth today. As soon as we know something or have our daughter, we'll let you know, computer willing.

Love to all

False Labor Pains

2009-09-13T06:29:00.001-05:00

We made it to Xian and it is cold and rainy, kind of like Arkansas this past spring when it was raining all the time. We were told that we would get Emmy today but because of some difficulties at the oprhanage, not with Emmy, it has been pushed back to Monday. So, we had false labor pains today.

For our people in Arkansas...guess what? Our hotel is right across the street from, all places, Wal-Mart! Yeee. Hawww. We might have to buy a jacket there tomorrow.

Love to all

hotel view, breakfast

2009-09-12T19:05:00.001-05:00

this is a view from our hotel window. If the pix isn't there, please email us.

We had an American style breakfast...bacon, toast, ham, fruit...for once, we're pretty satisfied. In fact, a friend of ours went to China three months ago and she said to load up on the breakfast buffet. She was right!

Love you all

Mark and Linda

Gotcha Day is Sunday

2009-09-12T08:15:00.001-05:00

It is 9 p.m. in China right now and we spoke with our main guide Rosa and we were told that our "Gotcha Day" for An Qing Shu is Sunday!!!! We are scheduled to fly to Xi'An City and check into our hotel. The orphanage will bring the soon-to-be Mary Elisabeth to us at the hotel! Please share this with any family members who might not see this. As soon as we can get a moment, we'll post some pix of our China Doll

We're in China!

2009-09-12T04:38:00.001-05:00

Linda and I made it to China, flying in to Beijing International Airport on Saturday at about 3:15 p.m. Beijing time.

Going through health check, baggage claim, customs, etc, weren't too bad. We survived it!

Our guide Rosa met us outside the airport after we got our luggage. It was a fun 45-minute ride to our hotel, which is a Best Western, not like the one that Carlisle had in the past but it is really nice! Now, if we can find some food!

On Sunday, we go to Xi'An City, where An Qing Shu is living. We will meet with her on MOnday for Gotcha Day. Please pray that everything goes smoothly for us.

Happy birthday to Nana! She's 90 on Saturday! Love to everyone.

Mark and Linda

Adoption Column 4

2009-09-08T21:09:00.001-05:00

Editor’s note: Mark Buffalo is the sports editor for the Cabot Star-Herald, Carlisle Independent and Lonoke Democrat, which are members of Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers. He and his wife, Linda, who is a teacher at Lonoke Middle School, will be adopting a 2-year-old girl from China, who will be named Mary Elisabeth. They are scheduled to travel in September. This is the fourth of several columns about this family’s adoption experiences and the process. His e-mail address is mbuffalo@cabotstarherald.com

By Mark Buffalo

Linda and I attended our one-day Vacation Bible School at Palm Street Church of Christ on Saturday, June 5. While outside shooting pictures of the various activities, my cell phone rang and the caller ID said “American World,” which is our adoption company. We’ve received calls from them on weekends before, but it usually means they have a child’s case to review.

And sure enough, our case worker, Melissa, was on the line, telling us about a little girl who would be 2 years old in a couple of months. She was on the waiting child program, with some special needs, but ones we knew we would be able to handle. So, Melissa sent us an e-mail with the child’s photos and medical records. I told Linda about the phone call and we told our pastor’s wife and we hurried home to check the e-mail.

When we opened the message, we knew that, finally, we had found our Mary Elisabeth. There were a couple of photos and her medical records. We had to talk to a doctor that day and get his opinion on what he thought about her health. We were convinced that we were making the correct decision about our chances of finally being parents.

We called Melissa back at America World and told her that we wanted to go forward with adopting the child. There were some formalities to take care of, such as paying a translation fee, writing a nurturing plan for the child and promising to take care of any medical needs she might have, even if they weren’t covered by our insurance. After that, we knew we were a mommy and daddy. For me, personally, it was the most special feeling I’d had since Mom died on July 28, 2008.

While we knew we finally were going to get our Mary Elisabeth, several stages of approval were left for us to go through with the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We had to stay patient ,but for the first time in this entire process, there was light at the end of the tunnel.

We were told that if everything went according to plan, we would go to China to complete the adoption process before the end of the year. This was such a blessing. God was looking down on us and blessed us by making us parents.

As we continued to wait, we received our preliminary acceptance. At this point, we still couldn’t post the picture on a blog or Internet group. She was still ours but we had to follow all the conditions set forth by the CCAA and our adoption company.

Then, on July 31, exactly one year since Mom’s funeral, I was taking a photo in Carlisle while on my “vacation” when Linda called me crying. She had received a phone call from Melissa at America World. She said we had received our referral approval, which meant Mary Elisabeth was ours! We could finally introduce her to world. I really think Mom was looking down on us, trying to give us something to remember July 31 for other than her funeral. My mom had a silly way of taking care of us, even after she was gone.

At that time, Melissa told us we could possibly travel to China by the middle of September. That meant Linda’s school year and my football. volleyball, golf, tennis and cross country seasons would be interrupted temporarily while we went halfway around the world to bring home our beautiful little girl. We knew that this would be a possibility during the adoption process. So, Linda started getting ready for school. I started covering my three football teams, trying to get our football preview issue completed. Then we got some more great news on Aug. 25.

Next: Making plans for a trip to China.

Adoption Column 3

2009-09-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

When timing not as planned, patience pays off

Editor’s note: Mark Buffalo is the sports editor for the Cabot Star-Herald, Carlisle Independent and Lonoke Democrat, which are members of Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers. He and his wife, Linda, who is a teacher at Lonoke Middle School, will be adopting a 2-year-old girl from China, who will be named Mary Elisabeth. They are scheduled to travel in the middle of September. This is the third of several columns about this family’s adoption experiences and the process. His e-mail address is mbuffalo@cabotstarherald.com

By Mark Buffalo

When Linda and I completed our paperwork, we hoped that we would be parents by the end of the 2007. Experiences of other adopting couples indicated that the process wouldn’t take too long.

It turned out that wasn’t going to be our experience.

We stayed in contact with our case worker at America World and were told that timing of our adoption and a possible trip to China still was a ways off. Although disappointed, we continued to be patient, working in our respective careers.

However, as many people know, my mother, Rose Mary Buffalo, was diagnosed with cancer on Aug. 1, 2007. Mom and our entire family were so supportive of our desire to adopt. Mom tried her best to fight the cancer, going through chemotherapy and radiation. It appeared around Christmas 2007 that Mom had beaten the cancer. It was a glorious holiday.

The next couple of months were good for our family, but Linda and I were hoping to hear something about our adoption process. In some respects, time was ticking slowly, but in other ways it was flying by.

In May 2008, we found that Mom’s cancer had spread, but she continued to fight. She wanted more than anything to have her third grandchild. She told me once that “I wish you could hurry up and get your baby.” This broke my heart because we wanted her to be able meet her second namesake. My brother, Jonathan, and his wife have a daughter named Heather Rose, who was named after Mom.

Mom died July 28, 2008, just a few days short of a year after being diagnosed with cancer. She fought a good fight and her legacy will live on with everyone who knew her. And Linda and I will make sure that our daughter will know as much about Mom as humanly possible.

After Mom’s funeral, I went back to work at the paper following a two-week hiatus and Linda had to get ready for the school year. They weren’t easy tasks for either of us. We contacted our case worker at America World to see what we needed to do about renewing paperwork.

We had to reapply for our I-171h before the first one expired. We had to return to Fort Smith to Immigration Services and get fingerprinted again. We also needed our home study updated and Ed Appler took care of that for us. During this time, Linda and I considered the option of adopting a special needs child.

We applied on America World’s Web site to join the special needs program. There was a list of special needs that we would consider or not consider for a child and we filled out the checklist. We prayed about our decision and felt good about it.

Later in 2008 we received a call from America World about a shared referral for a young girl, who was in the special needs program. Linda and I were interested, but since it was a shared referral, the child was available to any family with any adoption company in the world. So, before we could review her paperwork with our physician, we got a call from our case worker saying that the child had been locked in by another family.

We were disappointed but knew that it wasn’t meant to be. Our faith was tested but it was one thing that helped us realize that the child wasn’t the one who was going to be Mary Elisabeth.

Over the next couple of months, we received a few more calls about possible shared referrals, but we didn’t feel like those children would be the ones for us. We felt in our hearts that those children would find a home with someone who could love them as much as we will our own daughter. That is the faith we have.

We continued to wait. We made it through the end of the school year, which signals Linda’s summer vacation and a slowdown in sports coverage for me. We bought a new car because we knew that we both needed reliable transportation for our child, whenever we got her.

Our church, Palm Street Church of Christ, was holding a one-day Vacation Bible School on June 5. And since I’m the “official event photographer” for my pastor’s wife, we attended the VBS. And on that day, our lives would change forever.

Up next: The news we had been awaiting for years.

Adoption Column 2

2009-09-08T21:06:00.001-05:00

Editor’s note: Mark Buffalo is the sports editor for the Cabot Star-Herald, Carlisle Independent and Lonoke Democrat, which are members of Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers. He and his wife, Linda, who is a teacher at Lonoke Middle School, will be adopting a 2-year-old girl from China, who will be named Mary Elisabeth. They are scheduled to travel in the middle of September. This is the second of several columns about this family’s adoption experiences and the process. His e-mail address is mbuffalo@cabotstarherald.com

By Mark Buffalo

In early 2007, I got a call from America World Adoption, telling us that China’s new adoption regulations were going into effect in May of that year and that we would be affected if we didn’t get our paperwork completed by the middle of April.

Basically, we had to complete the “paper pregnancy” in about 3 months. Normally, it took families from five to seven months to complete.

So, the first thing Linda and I did was to look at our information we received from America World at the seminar in Arkadelphia and the information we received after our initial registration with the company.

The biggest thing we had to do was to get our home study completed in a short amount of time. We contacted Ed Appler, a social worker in Conway who we met in Arkadelphia. We called him and he set up our home studies, which consisted of one in-home visit and three visits in his office in Conway.

He and his wife, Sharon, were great to work with and put us at ease about the visit. Linda and I were worried, mainly because we didn’t know what to expect. We cleaned, and cleaned some more. And we were ready for that day in late January.

While we did our home study, we had to obtain a number of other documents, including original copies of our birth certificates, medical examinations, financial statements, employment verification, criminal background checks with the Arkansas State Police, a copy of our marriage license and personal reference letters, all of which had to be notarized by a notary public and certified by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office. Luckily, I work with a wonderful lady who is also a notary public. Jamie Mahoney was lifesaver for so much of our paperwork. She drove from Cabot to Lonoke to notarize quite a few things for us. We can never repay her for that kindness.

Linda and I also had to get valid passports and had to pay to expedite them from the federal government. We did that and had them in plenty of time.

Also, we had to be fingerprinted by appointment at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Fort Smith. Since we live with Linda’s mother, Leara Deanne Lilly, she had to go with us as we applied for our I-171h document, which would grant us permission to adopt. All three of us were fingerprinted after we made the three-hour trip to Fort Smith.

We were feeling pretty good about all we had done, but as April approached, we still didn’t have our I-171h form, which we needed to get our documents certified by the Chinese Consulate.

Linda and I decided to drive to Houston, Texas, to get our documents authenticated at the Chinese Consulate. I made hotel reservations in Houston and we were heading there as soon as we got our I-171h. But we kept waiting and waiting.

We finally received the document we needed and after having the documents certified by the Secretary of State’s Office, I shipped everything, along with some payments, overnight to America World, hoping to make our April 18 deadline.

When we received confirmation that America World had received our documents and would be able to get them authenticated and that they would be on the way to China via personal courier from America World, Linda and I were relieved. Then the waiting — and the uncertainty associated with it — began.

Adoption Column 1

2009-09-08T21:04:00.001-05:00

Mark Buffalo is the sports editor for the Cabot Star-Herald, Carlisle Independent and Lonoke Democrat, which are members of Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers. He and his wife Linda, who is a teacher at Lonoke Middle School, will be adopting a 2-year-old girl from China, who will be named Mary Elisabeth. They are scheduled to travel in the middle of September.

By Mark Buffalo

About four years ago, my wife Linda and I knew we wanted a family. We had been married more than five years and we wanted a child to call our own. We decided to go the adoption route and did a lot of research on different avenues of adoption.

We thought about domestic adoption first since we are both American and possibly would want a child who “looked like us.” But with horror stories about those types of adoptions falling through, we looked at international adoption. We didn’t know at the time that China would be where we would eventually end up adopting from.

One night while eating dinner at Chili’s in North Little Rock, we saw a little Asian girl, who appeared to be Chinese, running up and down the aisle. She was corraled by what looked to be her American parents. At that moment, Linda and I looked at each other and we knew how we where going to get our family...from China!

We did some research on international adoption and came across a company called America World Adoption, which is based in Virgina. In January 2006, America World was having a seminar at a church in Arkadelphia. So, we woke up early and drove there from our home in Lonoke. When we got there, we heard from a family who had used America World for their adoption and we spoke with several people, including a social worker from Conway (more about him in a later column).

While driving home we decided to go with America World even though there are several good companies out there that are closer to Arkansas. We felt like America World was the one we wanted. It is a faith-based company, which felt good to both of us.

Once Linda got through with school that year, we found ourselves a church, one that fit what we wanted to be and how we wanted to raise our child. We joined Palm Street Church of Christ in Lonoke and we were both baptized. That was an awesome day for both me and Linda as well as our families. Not long after our baptisms, we filled out an on-line application for America World, submitted a family portrait and paid our $250 application fee.

Linda got ready for the start of school and I got ready for the start of football season. Later in 2006, the Chinese government passed new regulations on international adoptions which went into effect in May 2007. Those regulations would have essentually knocked us out of consideration for adoption but at the time, I thought since we were in the program with America World that those would not apply to us. Boy was I wrong.

Visa?

2009-09-07T10:32:00.001-05:00

We found out last Friday that we were scheduled to leave on Sept. 10 for China!!! But around lunch time, we got an email from our travel director and there was a problem getting my visa b/c of my profession of working for the media.

She sent our passports and Linda's visa back to us and we got them on Saturday afternoon...the dang FedEx guy couldn't find our house...but Linda's brother tracked him down and brought him back to us. Then, we had to take my passport, visa application, a money order, and a letter saying I wasn't going over to China to report on stuff and send it to a courier in Houston to take to the Chinese Consulate in Houston to get my visa in one day and send it back to me ASAP.

So, the travel director moved our plane reservations back to Friday, Sept. 11 (yes 9-11) so we are scheduled to leave then. Please say a prayer for us that we get my visa back in time...Kristen, the travel person, reassured me with an email about 11 p.m. on Friday night so I'm trying my best not to worry too much.

Mark and Linda

Still waiting

2009-09-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

We got an email from the travel director for America World and as of Wednesday afternoon, we still haven't gotten our travel plans, itinerary for the trip or plane tickets. We were told that we should still be ready to go on Sept. 10

So, please say a little prayer for us that we still get to go next week and be home on Sept. 23 to show off our little girl, Mary Elisabeth.

2009-08-27T23:03:00.001-05:00

Update

2009-08-27T23:01:00.001-05:00

We're heading to china!

Heading to China in two weeks

2009-08-27T22:52:00.001-05:00

We received our Travel Acceptance on Tuesday, Aug. 25. And it was settled on Wednesday, Aug. 26, that we would leave for Beijing, China on Thursday, Sept. 10, which is two days prior to my Nana's 90th birthday. We are disappointed that we will miss her birthday but Nana, along with all of our family, will be excited when we get home with Mary Elisabeth on Sept. 23.

We need all your love and prayers as we finish up some final paperwork and get ready for an adventure of epic proportions. Also, today, Aug 27, was Mary Elisabeth's second birthday. I even bought her a little purple dress and purple socks...I guess Lonoke colors but she will definitely have her share of Black and Gold!!!

Mark and Linda

RA sent to America World, CCAA

2009-08-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

We received our referral acceptance paperwork from America World and the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs on Tuesday. We signed them and overnighted them back to America World on Wednesday. We're working on an addendum to our home study concerning special needs children, which An Quin Shu (Mary Elisabeth) has. We'll get that submitted to US Immigration before we travel and we'll be good to go.

Luckily, we've also got our finances set for the adoption, which is a relief in itself!!! So, hopefully, it won't be long until we had to China and bring home our little China doll for everyone to see.

As far as the trip, we've talked to several people about their trips to China. In fact, there is one family in China right now getting their second daughter. We were supposed to travel with them if we had both stayed in the regular program and not gotten into the waiting child program.

Here is their blog

http://emmajune.blogspot.com/

Then another person we know recently returned from China with her baby girl. She was able to give us some good insight on what to expect and what to bring. Here is her blog

http://countingdowntograce.blogspot.com/

We'll be updating the blog some as we get ready to go. And we'll update while we're in China. We've ordered a small laptop computer to take with us and a point and shoot digital camera. But when we get home, I'm going to break out the film camera, which means I've got to buy a film battery for my Canon EOS A2 camera. I want Mary Elisabeth to be able to have negatives and prints for when she gets older. It think it is a nostalgia thing for me. Both of our parents had negatives and prints. And we'll get plenty of prints made from our digital files...I just mainly want the negatives. It's just too bad that the new Wal-Mart in Lonoke doesn't process film on its' 1-hour machines but luckily Cabot still does!!!

Take care

Mark and Linda

We'll be heading to China!!!

2009-07-31T12:38:00.000-05:00

We got a call from America World Adoption today and we received our referral acceptance...which means we will be going to China in the middle of September to get Mary Elisabeth!!!

We found out on June 5 that we had been matched up with a little girl named An Qingshu. Her nickname is Yin Ping in the orphanage. The following is an email that we sent out to people back in June.

Linda wrote this email earlier this week! Her mom is feeling better now!

Today we received a message from America World referring to our position with the adoption. The Chinese Government has pre-approved our adoption. This means that we are closer to referral approval. Referral approval is the final step before travel authorization. Once we reach the RA stage, we can send care packages, etc. to our Mary Elisabeth. The time line for the next step is that we can receive our RA anywhere from 1 month to 3 months from our request to adopt (June 5). Of course this time line is not engraved in stone, but it is definitely cause to praise

As you can see, it will be a wild time for the next month and a half. Please say a prayer for us. We've got a lot left to do in a short amount of time.

Mark and Linda

First Update of 2009

2009-01-26T20:33:00.000-06:00

Well, our family got through Christmas, spending time with our family. Dec. 25 would have been Mark's mother's 62nd birthday. It was very hard for everyone but we were there for each other and we know that Mom is watching out for us and we firmly believe that Mark's mom and Linda's dad are watching what is going on in China and looking out for Mary Elisabeth.

Has she been born yet? We don't know but since our parents are in Heaven, they have a look in to things that we don't have here. We just hope that 2009 is our year to get our little girl. We want her to grow up with her cousins Devon and Heather. They are the closest to her age as her other first cousins are so much older but will love her just the same. We know that. On the Linda's side of the family, Emmy will have Deanna, Kortney, Jay, Kaycee and Orion. Orion is the youngest and is in the 10th grade this year. Deanna is older than Mark :) Emmy will have one second cousin whom she will be close to, Victoria Rivers, she is Deanna's 11-year-old girl.

So, please continue to pray for us. This is continues to be a struggle in patience for us. We know it will all pay off for us, we can feel it.

Mark and Linda

Update

2008-10-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

I saw that it has been since May since we updated our blog.

Mark's mom died of cancer on July 28. It has been a tough time for our family but we're getting through as best we can. It is especially tough on Mark because he and his mom worked together at the newspaper for 13 years. They were especially close.

We got fingerprinted again at USCIS on Sept. 17 in Fort Smith, AR as our I-171H expired on Sept. 25. Our social worker took care of sending our home study there and we should be getting our new paperwork soon! At least it wasn't as stressful as meeting the deadline back in April 2007.

We continue to think about how our lives will change when we get Mary Elisabeth. We've lost two parents -- Linda's father and Mark's mom. In fact, Linda's dad only knew one of his grandchildren as he died in the early 1980s when Linda was in college. We are going to make sure that Emmy knows her grandparents inside and out!

We've both got birthdays coming up. I guess we'll enjoy them!

Thanks for checking us out.

Mark and Linda

Update

2008-05-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

It has been a while...a really long time...since we posted but a lot has been going on in our lives and not so much with the adoption.

Mark's mother, Rose Mary, is still having health issues with a new occurrence coming up this past week. Work for both Mark and Linda is steady but we're both looking forward to school being out!

A couple of weeks ago, we attended an America World seminar in Branson, Mo., and really enjoyed it. We've also decided to join the Waiting Child Program. We're not committed to it but we are looking at all options so that Mary Elisabeth will join our family sooner, rather than later.

Thanks for all the continued prayers.

Mark and Linda

Hello

2007-12-06T11:09:00.000-06:00

We are Mark and Linda B and we are adopting a little girl from China. Her name will be Mary Elisabeth. We're so excited this opportunity to be parents. I work as a sports editor/photographer for a newspaper while Linda is a 7th-grade teacher.