Baby Girl

This is our whole travel group, less one family who left earlier. One of the awesome unexpected blessings of this trip was sharing such an immense life changing experience with such amazing people. Two weeks ago we were all total strangers, now we're linked together through this incredible place, and these really beautiful kids. We love this whole group of people, and we've fallen in love with their new children.

 This is little Chu Chu. She LOVES Gary! She plays games with him, and next to her dad, she will only let Gary hold her. We love her and her family! She is adorable and we will miss her.

This is Yao Ming and he LOVES me! He is the cutest little boy oh my goodness. He lets me hold him and love on him and he blows kisses to Emily, then hits her! Oh my goodness I love this baby.

 Em and I went wandering today. She had a rough day, and a really rough night last night. All of the adopted children here have mourned the loss of their orphanage life, and the absence of their Nannys, their second mothers. Emily was happy with us from day one. She accepted us and loved us. Last night, and today, she's regressed a little bit. She's pulled back, and is starting to mourn perhaps. All of the babies have been restless. They sense the change that is happening. All of us parents are anxious about our upcoming long flights. We're anxious about our children at home. We're anxious about our "new normal" and how it's going to go, and the babies are picking up on this. We think that it has just hit Emily that we aren't going away, and that her little life is getting rocked upside-down. She has been far less generous with her smiles and affection today, she's cried for the first time since we got her. I've been so stung up, going on no sleep and stressed out about my baby, we just needed a quiet moment to reconnect. I found it in this little park. It was quiet, uncrowded, and so very beautiful. We sat on a bench together, I took off her socks (and got told off for it by a cute old lady so we had to put them back on), and we just sat. We held hands, and enjoyed the moment. She didn't smile much, but it was just what we needed.

 When we got home, she laughed and smiled with us, she took a nap, gave out some kisses, and was back to herself a little bit.

 Her little life is going to change oh-so-much. It breaks my heart in half to think of all that she's going to have to take in in the next several weeks. It's not going to be easy on her. We love her so very much! We know this is the best thing for her, but it will come at a price.

 Self portrait at the park shortly after our scolding for not having socks on.

I read a story today about a baby girl that was abandoned in China. She had a tear drop shaped birthmark right under her eye that the Nannys at the orphanage said was the tear from her mother who would love her and miss her forever. Our baby also has a tear shaped birthmark. As her birthday approaches, I've been thinking about her wonderful birth mother, who first loved her, who had such high hopes for this baby, who let her live and who surely must miss her desperately. I will pray that she will have peace in her heart and know that her baby is so very very loved, and will be taken care of and cherished for her whole life. We are so blessed and so lucky to have this beautiful daughter in our family.

x

Shamian Island

 We had another free day today. I wish there were fewer free days, and we could go home sooner! We went to Shamian Island today. It's the coolest place. It looks like New Orleans Square at Disneyland. There are these fabulous sculptures all over, and beautiful gardens, and awesome architecture! We only spent a couple of hours there, and the heat got to everyone so we left. We'll go back for sure though and wander some more. We came home and Emily was OUT! We have a really early day tomorrow and needed her to go to bed early tonight, so we woke her up after a couple of hours. We ordered Papa Johns pizza for dinner. It was lovely!!

 I think she is the cutest thing ever!

 Before bed, we went on a walk. We found this super awesome alley way near our hotel. It was very narrow, very crowded, and lined with little shops and street vendors on both sides. It went on for quite a while. There was laundry hanging from the electrical wiring, and people were familiar with one another. There was a lot of chatter, and acknowledgement of friends. It was the coolest thing ever. So real, so not touristy. I loved it.

 Dragon Fruit.

This girl is the queen of chill-ax! She just hangs out, twirls her ankles, and babbles. She is so cute! On the way home from our walk, we got totally lost! The boy insisted that we weren't lost. "Just keep turning right on main roads" he insisted. He was totally right. We finally made it back.  

Tomorrow morning is our consulate appointment.  Then we get her visa, then we come home! We got her passport today and can i just say I want an 8 X 10 glossy of her passport photo!  So cute!

Medical Appointment

 Today we had Emily's medical appointment. The medical clinic is very nice. There is a section just for adoptive families. The floor made us laugh, Mickey Mouse and bear claws. Ok. It went really well considering there were so many of us. It was just a formality anyway. We learned that Em has gained 3 pounds since our last update in May.

 Here she is getting weighed. When she gets overstimulated, which happens easily and often, she focuses on her hand, and blocks everything else out. She will put her fingers in new and interesting positions, and study it. It's an institutional behavior that will disappear with time. It used to make me nervous, now I think it's sweet.

 This doctor did an over all check up. Em did great.

 We came home and napped, and went back to that awesome park and took the time to explore it. It is exhaustingly hot, and sooo humid! This park is amazing! It's built on a huge hill, over 100,000 acres. There are trees, plants, flowers, bamboo, hiking trails, paved trails, monuments, pavilions, lakes, waterfalls, pagodas, and an amusement park. That's just what we saw. There is so much more too. It's amazing. You really feel like you're walking through a rain forest. The birds and bugs are so loud, you have to talk over them. I love that so many Chinese people take time to stroll in parks. We saw it in Beijing, Zhengzhou, and here. Every age, every type of person. They walk slowly. They enjoy it. They enjoy whom they are with. They do some tai chi, or play bad mitten, or cards. They chat and laugh, they make music, or listen to music. It's such a lovely culture. I love China!

 Me and Em. You can see how huge the park is. You can sort of see the city through the smog and distance.

 I think this is their version of "keep of the grass". There was also a sign that read "no spit everywhere".

 This cool flower garden at the entrance.

 Tonight we went on a dinner cruise. It took us past the 3rd tallest building in the world. It once was the tallest building. Em loved  the wind outside, and the lights, and the noise. She has noticed a lot more today. She looked out the bus windows instead of snuggling into us and studying her hands. She looked around while we were on the boat and got big eyes and said "oooohh!" when she saw something she liked. She's coming out of her little shell when we leave the comfort and familiarity of our hotel room.

She is so much fun! She is getting stronger everyday. Every day, we notice little changes. She is so wonderful. We got to Skype with our girls tonight. We cannot wait to get home to them! We can't wait to be a family of 6!

Guangzhou 1

Today we went to this amazing temple. It was beautiful and very interesting. It's the oldest Buddhist temple in this province. It's about 1500 years old. It was very neat.

 We also went to this awesome place. It was a school built a very long time ago by everyone in the province with the last name of Chan to educate their children in. It's now an arts and crafts museum. It was the most decorated place I've ever seen. It made Rococo look a bit plain.

These little bonsai trees are everywhere. They're in parks, buildings, on the streets and they're always in lovely pots.

This huge urn was filled with water and had a few huge goldfish in it. Emily has been sitting up much stronger today, and she's been holding up her head really well. Thriving-galore! Oh we love her so much!

Yesterday when we arrived, there was a welcome basket for Em on the dresser. So cute!

She was so happy to get undressed and roll around on the bed. She's starting to grab at toys, but not very much. I don't think she's really been around toys that much because she hasn't even known what to do them at all. She mostly just stares at and plays with her hands. It breaks your heart really.

 She's great with her tongue and makes all sorts of pretty sounds!

 So sleepy after dinner.

She is so cute! the 6-9 month clothes that I brought her are too small. I'm going to leave them all here for orphanages. Even though is totally hot and super humid un Guangzhou, I still feel like I have to have her in an undershirt. I don't know why. We're staying in a Marriot and we're LOVING the amazing air conditioning. The AC left much to be desired at our last hotel, not here though! We took a nap and woke up COLD! It's awesome! As I'm writing this, Em is in her bed next to me cracking up at who knows what. It's so cute, but so sad! How many hours, days, weeks did she spend alone in a crib, cracking herself up. Did anyone love up my baby? We're making up for lost time! We can't get enough of her and her big, wet, open-mouth, tongue slobbery kisses! She is so wonderful!

We went for a walk tonight and this girl showed off her extreme flexibility! She had both legs out for a little bit in a perfect split.

In less than a week we'll be home. I'm so thankful for the time that we've had to bond with our new baby, but we can't wait to share her and show her off! Mostly we can't wait to see our girls. We miss them like crazy. I cried all morning after I talked to them this morning. We are so thankful to everyone who is caring for them and loving them while we're gone. So many people have made this trip and bringing Emily home possible for us, and we love you so much for it! She is so worth it! As hard as this  has been, we'd do it again in a second. She's just fabulous that way!

Guangzhou

We flew to Guangzhou today. Em did great. It was quite sad to leave her province.  We're all wiped out. I can't figure out how to get pictures off my phone to post. Sorry. Our hotel is amazing!! This city seems bigger and more westernized. Is that a word?! There are a lot of adoptive families all over this hotel. That's cool. Pictures tomorrow.

Zhengzhou Zoo

Total picture fest today! I hope that's ok.  Em woke up a bit contrary today. We planned a trip to the zoo and I wasn't sure how it would go over. She wasn't too into the animals at all. She did look up when the Lion roared. That was awesome. It was a neat zoo. We got to see two giant pandas. Super cool!

 She preferred to be carried over the stroller.

 We've seen a few such hair cuts here. He had a pig in the back, and a fish on top. So cute!!

 Stroller snack!

 As we are leaving Zhengzhou in the morning, we wanted to spend a lot of time in the park that we love. There was a lot of music going on. I got awesome video of this guy playing a flute. It was sooooo pretty! You could hear him from all over the park. It was lovely!! Several people approached us and asked about Emily. We wear these cards around our neck that say in Chinese that we are here to adopt our daughter Ning Jing. They get so happy when they read it. They love us. They are so kind. One cute couple followed us out of the park and down the block and even helped carry the stroller up and down stairs. It's really sweet. China is awesome! I love Zhengzhou. It's where we got our girl! It's a beautiful city, and I'm sad to be leaving it behind. 

 There is such rich and long culture and tradition in China. It's beautiful. It's peaceful. You can feel it. It's manifest in everything you see, hear, and do here. It is a wonderful place. As we walked around the park I got sad thinking that I am taking Emily away from this. Her birthright heritage, and a really cool one at that. Sadly though, these orphans have no place here. They have no chance at a decent life at all. We look at our daughter who physically is so weak. She would have no future here at all. We received documentation of our children's abandonment today. Where they were found, where they were taken, and the ads placed in the paper to try and locate their family before declaring them legally abandoned. It was sobering to say the least. They will have marvelous futures now. China will forever be with us now, and we will not forget those left behind.

 We also ran into a band! They were really good. Their music was very traditional Chinese. It was nice. This is the gong and symbols guy.

 Here is the rest of the percussion.

 This sounds like a violin and was hooked to an amplifier. It was beautiful. There were two men playing these. There was another percussion instrument, a hollow stick that was struck with a heavier one. An ancient guy was playing that. He got up in the middle of the song and left to go have a smoke. He handed his instrument over to a bystander old man. The old man looked at it and told him in Chinese (i'm pretty sure anyway) "I don't want this, why are you giving it to me?" The ancient guy retorted (I think (: ) "Oh just take it and hit it every now and again!" So he went and lit up, and the other old man took the instrument and hit it every now and again. It was so funny. Em loved the music! She moved her hands and feet, and smiled the whole time.

 Our darling daughter! We can't get enough of her!

Walmart

 Walmart in Zhengzhou is sort of similar to our Walmart. We both have fish and chicken,

We both have Lays potato chips in delicious varieties,

We both have cute babies hanging out in strollers! So, we're pretty similar then. 

 We went back to the super cool park after the Walmart excursion and naps. I love that park, and I'm so going to miss it when we leave Zhengzhou.

 China is a really cool place. There is a lot that I love about it. The culture is amazing and the people are so kind. There is great pride here, and we are so thankful to be connected in a small way called Emily.