Red Couch and Oath

PICTURES: The girls that were adopted through Madison, the families that adopted through Madison, Our picture outside the American Consulate and Yanzi with her friend Natalie, the matching was not planned.

It is funny how by the end of the day, things are such a blur to me. If I did not write these things down before I went to bed, I am sure I would forget by the morning.
Today was a very busy day. We first went to a Jade and Pearl Store and spent some more money. Our guide then took us to a Pizza Hut for lunch. We all enjoyed our pizza and Yanzi even had chicken wings again! We the rushed back to the hotel, took the infamous red couch photos( however only one of the girls got to wear the traditional chinese dress) and then it was off to the American Consulate for our oath. We will try to get Yanzi to wear her dress for a little bit so we can get the picture tomorrow.
We took a large bus with many many families to the consulate. THere were two busses that left from the WHite Swan hotel. It took over 30 minutes to get there but it was enjoyable to see the town. We went up to the 5th floor, went through security and sat in a room with about 40 other families. We waited until our daughter's chinese name was called. Then showed our passport, signed a form and sat down until all the families were done. Then an officer came out and and gave us the oath to say and we were done. It will be so great when we land in Chicago on Friday and go through immigration, our daughter will then be a US Citizen. I know that does not mean much to her now but we know how important it is and are so thrilled for her.
We then did some walking around the island tonight with a little more shopping. Now I don't want you to think that we are actually buying things on all these shopping excursions but just the act of going around, looking at the shops and talking to the people is fun. We then ate at a restaurant called the Orient Express. I had never heard of it until a couple earlier in the week mentioned it. It is French and had a train car on the outside. THere were not very many people there because it is out of the way from the main hubbub but it was an excellent restaurant. THe food was great and it was great to look at inside. For those who may be coming to the island soon, walk out the back of the White Swan and down the street that is perpendicular to the hotel. When you get to the next street, make a right. THere will be a Starbucks on the left once you turn. Walk on this street until it dead ends, the restaurant will be on your left. One you are on the island for several days you start repeating the restaurants that you go to so a new one is always nice.

I don't know if I will get to post tomorrow. We will do packing and last minute picture taking and then leave for Hong Kong at 4:30. We won't get there until about 7pm and since we are staying at the Disney Hollywood hotel. I am sure we will spend the little time we have walking around and visiting the gift shop( more shopping) - I better get all my outings out of the way now because once I get home, I don't know how much I will get out of the house. Then Friday is off to the airport and the long ride home. We will get to Chicago at about 2pm Chicago TIme and after a 5 HOUR LAYOVER and up back HOME at a little after 9pm. Oh home, my kids my own bed, no suitcase!!!

No real changes today with Yanzi, I would have to say we are at a stand still right now. She loves to be around people and was really great today since we were with other families most of the day. However, once they were all gone, and she had time to sit and think in the room, she was getting a little tearful. She never balls but just usually gets a distant look in her eyes and tears. I am hoping that once we get home, all the newness will keep her busy and not make her sad. It is not that I don't want her to miss China but there is so much for her to miss right now that I think it would be too overwelming for her. I have to say there is a part of me that is going to miss being here. I will miss the families that we have met, I will miss looking at the way of life here and seeing how hard the people work and how appreciative they are of the small things. I will miss having my husband negotiate a better price for something, I will miss not having someone else do my laundry for cheaper than I can buy detergent back home, I will miss having a breakfast buffet that is out of this world, I will miss taking in the culture so that I can tell my daughter about it when she is older and I will miss hearing my daughter speak her native language with such pride to all the people we meet.

THank you for all your prayers as we have gone through this journey. We still have a very hard road ahead of us but we will have family and friends beside us then. Your prayers have met so much and I can not tell you how blessed we are to have had such a smooth and enjoyable time in China as well as being blessed with an amazing little girl.

Just Hanging Out

Today we finally slept in. Oh it felt so good. We have finally adjusted to the time here and now we leave in 3 days and have to adjust back.
We had our consulate appointment today but our guide goes for us and handles the paper work. We just have to stay in our room for any questions. iT wasn't even an hour and then we were off walking around. First we found the store "A Gift from China" We had been looking for it. THey have things that are made by orphans and all the proceeds go to support the orphans. The things were beautiful and I could have bought everything. By far this was my favorite store on the island, we did not even have to deal with shopkeepers following us around the store.
We then decided to venture off the island and it is an entirely different world. This is how the chinese really live and shop. Many interesting food choices to pick from, or not. WE saw dried sea horses and curled up snakes. We would have liked to look some more but it was 95 degrees with probably 200% humidity so we were all dripping wet and ready to go.
So we decided to go swimming to cool off. However it wasn't long before a storm rolled in and we headed back to our room. THe nice thing about the rain here is that at least it cools things off for a little while.
We ended the evening with dinner at our favorite Thai plce with the two families we met earlier in the week. It is so great to make new friends on an adoption trip but sad when we know we have to go our separate ways.
Our little Yanzi is such a character. She talks up a storm to all the shop keepers and we think we have figured out why she often gets upset with them. It turns out that even though she speaks mandarin, she has a strong Tianjin accent. That and with talking very fast, I think some of the chinese have trouble understanding her, that is why she gets frustrated when she has to repeat herself to them. SHe even told one shop keeper, "I am proud of my Tianjin accent." I would liken it to a New Yorkers accent in the States.
On the bonding side, Dominic and Yanzi have enjoyed watching a cartoon that is very popular here, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Dominic actually gets very excited to watch the videos even though they are all in chinese.
Oh, I forgot to mention how the outfit choice went today. SHe was not real pleased with the choices she had and now I know why. She motioned that she wanted short sleeves and everything I had were sun dresses. I had heard that the chinese woman do not wear sleeveless tops. But unfortunately that is all that we had so she choose one and was ok the rest of the day.
Since she also does not want to wear any of the hair things that I brought. I decided to use them as a bonding experience and started putting them in my hair. SHe had fun joining in and putting them all in my hair. It was a fun time.
My only real concern now is getting her food that she likes. Today she ate toast with jelly and chicken wings( not at the same meal) and liked them. Hopefully that will continue when we get home.
Only 3 more days, wow, the time has really gone fast. I can not wait to get hugs and kisses from all my kids at home and to have them all get to know Yanzi as we have in the past week.

TB Test and Swimming

Yes Yanzi's TB test was negative. We were not too worried because her arm had no swelling but it was just nice to have it officially read. All the girls in our group were fine so it was a good start to the day. We then got together with our guide and gathered all our paperwork for the US Consulate. She will take it all to the consulate tomorrow and we just have to stay in our room in case there are any questions. And that is all our plans for the day( great to have nothing planned).

We did some more shopping and all the shop keepers comment on how good Yanzi behaves and looks. They can not believe that we just got her, they think she has been with us for awhile. That is all due to the wonderful care of her foster family.

We also got to go swimming for the first time today. I was concerned that she would not want to go. But once we told her in Mandarin, "swimming", she was ready to go. We got her suit on, she was very concerned that it covered her scar on her back( which it did). And once she saw it was ok, she was ready to go. She was not afraid to get in but did not like us holder her in the deep part. She would do it for a little while but then would start to wimper about going to the side. Once she found the shallow part, she wanted to stay in that part the entire time. THere was a little girl there that had been adopted awhile ago but spoke some chinese still. She would translate what Yanzi was saying. She kept saying "This is fun". In fact tonight, after we got ready for bed, she motioned swimming and said something, I am guessing she said that she wished she could go swimming again but it was dark and getting late( it was only 8:30 but for us that is late)

She is only getting upset now, when we eat. It is not an upset but a sadness. I think it is that there is not much food that she likes and she is missing that. It has been really hard because we have eaten at chinese restaurants and the breakfast buffet has both western and chinese foods but she doesn't seem to want anything. Finally today, we opened up some almonds that we had. SHe tried them and really liked them so I will make sure that I have them at all meals just in case. Otherwise she likes french fries and coconut milk. Not a very balanced diet but right now we are just trying to keep her full. She will try things for us( at least one bite) but something she will eat today she will not eat tomorrow. Oh well! Tonight we ate dinner with two other families and having someone that she can talk to really helps her during meals.
She was in a great mood after dinner and she even took out her pony tails( I think to show us she wanted to swim). When Russ commented (in chinese) that she looked beautiful, she lite up. She left her hair down for the rest of the night(she normally sleeps with her pony tails in - ouch!) and would keep going back into the bathroom to look at herself. It was so cute. THis was great because I tried to braid one of her pony tails today and she was about in tears.

THe big test tomorrow will be getting dressed. She has now worn all the cloths she brought and the two outfits that she picked out from the store. They are all dirty now and she will have to pick something that we brought for her. That will be a really big step for her so we will see.

Safari Park

PICTURES: The Sea of Umbrellas, the girls in our group, Yanzi and her umbrella, Feeding the Giraffi, One of the many pandas

Today we did get to go to the Safari Park even though it was pouring rain. I really wanted to go to the Christian church down the street but it was at 11am and the service was 2 hours. Our group was leaving for the Park at 9am. I figured the kids would not make it through church so we did go to the park. As I said, it was pouring rain when we got there. We had umbrellas but at points it was raining so hard, that we were still getting wet. We ended up buying some rain ponchos for the kids, unfortunately the kids sizes were only in pink so Dominic really had to want one to wear pink. Thankfully the rain did taper off and eventually stopped. THe park was really great. THere was a walking area and a riding area. The thing that stands out at this park was just how many of each animal there were. On the riding side, we got to see tigers (white and regular), lions, bears ,deer and zebras but there were not just a few of each, there were many. Dominic saw 14 in the white tiger section! There were also 10 panda bears here. More than any other place in the world. 6 of the Pandas had been transferred from a Panda rescue that got hit hard in the earthquake last year. It was really great to see these animals. Yanzi had said that she had never been to a zoo before so she really did enjoy seeing the animals. We even got to feed the giraffi. Yanzi did not want to do it at first but after she watched several others do it, she was excited to try. The thing that cracked me up the most was when we were on the tram riding through the park, Yanzi would wave to the animals, every single one of them! And it was not just a normal wave, it was the princess parade wave. It just was so cute.

That was the big part of our day. We ate a late lunch at the Deli( which is out the back of the hotel to the left) and then a late dinner at the Western restaurant on the Island named Lucy's( to the right outside the back of the hotel). You never know quite what she will eat but she definitely is a french fries girl.

THe only break down we had today is a nap time. Even though you could mistaken the crying for sadness, she was just upset that I made her lay down. I laid with her but the crying kept getting worse. I was actually getting a little peaved because I knew that she was trying to convince me to let her up but instead, I held her some and the crying toned down until she finally fell asleep. After 1.5 hours Russ woke us up and it was hard to get her out of bed ( I knew she was tired).

We also started some shopping today. Got some really good bargins thanks to Russ' negotiating skills. Even the shop keepers laugh at how serious he takes it. More shopping on the list tomorrow, I think Russ actually is looking forward to it.
Not much tomorrow just the TB test reading and some paperwork.

A Few more pictures

Dominic at the inside waterfall and a picture of the pool.

First Day in Guangzhou

PICTURES: At the medical exam, my the water fall in the hotel, the fish on the pond in the hotel.

Well our flight was pretty uneventful. We were about 1.5 hours late in boarding and then sat on the place for about another 30 minutes but at least the air was on in the plane. Yanzi did great in the plane, she did not want to put her backpack under the seat, after she refused me two times I said fine, lets leave and grabbed her hand as if we were getting off the place. She immediately stopped an complied. I am starting to stand my ground more especially now that we are in Guangzhou. She gets the "mom stare" and understands that I mean business. She tries to push to get what she wants but as I stand my ground she has been folding pretty easily.

She also did great regarding NOT getting sick on the plane. I explained the special bags and even took a few for the car later, but there was no using them on the plane. She was not even scared on the place, except for the landing, which I was a little concerned. We did not land until about 9:15. We met our guide and another family and off to the hotel. Yanzi ended up sleeping in the car but did not get sick( I think that is her defense mechanism in the car). THings went smooth for check in and the kids got cleaned up and off to bed. I finished getting things ready for the morning because we needed to leave by 9:15am for the medical. THe room is great! WE have a suite and have lots of room so that we are not on top of each other.

I really like being here on what they call the island. It is more like a little outlet of land on a river that goes through the city. Once we got on the island, I felt like we were in a resort area. Fewer cars, the streets remind me of walking around in Savannah GA. THe hotel we are staying at is called the White Swan and is beautiful. It is big and fancy. THe breakfast buffet is the best yet, there is sooo much. THey also have a great pool that Dominic is dying to get into. THen there is a little river that runs through the hotel that has these amazing coy fish. I am sure that Dominic would take one home if he could. As for the weather..... it is HOT! THe humidity is very oppressive. The little walk we took to the medical appointment today made us sticky and sweaty before we even got to our appointment. They sky is overcast but I am not sure if it is the weather or smog. THe high today was 93 degrees F with about 150% humidity.

THe other great thing is that there are so many adoptive families. We have seen all the families from our agency and then the two families that we met on the plane here. We also met a family at breakfast who is from the Cincinnati area, I think we are going to have dinner with them.

So our activities for today were to get her visa photo taken and the medical exam. Photo no problem, except for no AC and we were all very hot. The medical exam not good for our little girl. First, there is some AC in the building but there were sooooo many families I could not even begin to guess. Every area we went to there were more families. We took care of the the payments first. They had said that Yanzi needed 3 shots! Yea that is pretty good (Chicken pox, FLu and DTaP). We then went back to the really cool area and had her weight/height, eyes checked, ENT and a doctor take a look at here. All went very quickly a pretty smooth. She weighs 16 KG which is about 35 pounds and about 3' 7.75 inches. ANd she know how to say AHHHHHH when looking in ther mouth. THe doctor kept checking out her spine about her scar and even asked another doctor to check it out and then they went on. Don't know what that is all about but we will get better answers when we get home. THen it was shot time, we were the first in our group and really thought she would be ok. You could tell she did not want to do it but I thought she would be tough. But once she got the TB test done, she started wailing and crying the entire time. THe thing that was so frustrating is that the nurses were so slow. Back home, if the kids get shots, the nurses get things set up and you are done just like that. I could not believe how slow they were between each shot. THen after is was all done and we got her to calm down( which see reached for me to comfort her---YAAAA!) I realized she had 4 bandaids. She had 4 shots!! What? I was so busy trying to calm her down that I did not even realize she had 4. Going back to look at the records she also got MMR. Well at that point it was over so what could I do. We will go back on Monday to have the TB read. SHe has has a BCG vaccine that usually causes a positive TB test so we may have to get a chest xray but we will see.

After a nap for Yanzi and unpacking, it was raining. Dominic really wanted to go swimming so Russ took him down while Yanzi and I went to the really nice play room here at the hotel. It is just as nice for the parents because we can all talk while the kids play. We then went to dinner with two families that we met just today. One was the family we met above and the other was a family that they had just met. We got a long great and had a wonderful evening eating at a Thai restaurant called the Cow and Bridge. It was great food and what was even more amazing was that both of the kids ate great. I am so amazed how God gives you little gifts that you are not even expecting or even asking for but tonight was one of them. Tonight we ate dinner with two other families that are all very strong Christians. We had so much in common and one only lives a few hours away from us. To think that when I woke up this morning, I did not even know these people existed. And then to have a wonderful dinner with total strangers.

I know that each day I say that Yanzi is getting better. But today she made really big strides. She ate more today than I think she had all week. She seems more ok with things in general. I am also starting to lay down a few more ground rules on how things need to be and even if she is not pleased with it, she doesn't get too upset about it. I think that being around other families that look like ours has really helped her understand that it is ok. She is not the only one that this is happening to. It is hard for me to believe at times that she is mine and she gets to come home with us, it just blows your mind away when you really start to think about it.

THank you all for your prayers again. I just can not say that enough. I have been through an adoption where things just always seem to be going wrong and it has been a blessing beyond imagination how things are going on this trip. Just seeing my little girl in bed with her eyes closed and hands together as I pray something that she does not even understand just melts my heart. Please continue to pray that things go well with Yanzi's TB test. Here arm looked ok tonight but you never know. I like this place but not enough to stay here a few more weeks.

Blessings to you all.

Travel to Guanzhou

The pictures above are of 3 of us at our hotel, playing hide n seek, eating a McD's french fries, the kids as we rested from our walk and Yanzi looking at our plane.

We got to sleep in today since we did not have to leave for the airport until 2pm. We managed to keep ourselves pretty busy. After breakfast we finished packing and then the kids managed to play a good game of hide and seek for about an hour! We then found a McDonalds that was about a 20 minute - Yanzi walk( she tends to walk really slow and drag her feet when she gets bored). She seemed to know about the french fries and wanted them but did not want anything else. Even when the McDonalds worker was telling her about the happy meal, she was insistent on just getting the fries. Mom over ruled and we got her chicken nuggets also. I got her to at least eat one.
Our ride to the airport was enjoyable because we got to see more of the city. It is just amazing how big this city is. We drove for over 30 minutes and there were still high rise apartments! There was a section that we drove through that use to be under European control. You could tell the western influence, with all the stores and western looking buildings, I felt I was is New York.
The airports here seem so much easier to navigate than the Russian airports. I am very thankful for that. We have had a few more tears today, but I was expecting that. THere were some at breakfast, some when we left our guide Michael and some when we tried to throw away her drink bottle that she brought with her from her foster family. We ended up convincing her that she had to drink what was in it and they may let her keep it. So she downed about half a bottle, we jammed it in her back pack and proceeded through security. There was no problems - whew. She got a kick out of the security checks and quickly forgot about the bottle. Unfortunately, later the zipper on her backpack broke and now I am starting to loose my patience with trying to keep every little thing that she had... I mean it is just a green tea bottle from the store - but I know that she is loosing everything.

Ok done with my grumpy attitude for now. Our flight was delayed an hour because of the typhoon that is coming up the coast of China, I just hope it does not get delayed any longer, we are already not going to land until 9pm and then have to get to our hotel. My understanding is that tomorrow will be an early morning, because we are going to the medical appointment. Please pray that there won't be too many shots. SInce she is 5 and that is when you usually get your boosters, I am concerned that she could get several shots. I just have to trust the Lord, because it is all in His hands. We have been so blessed this trip, I just pray it continues.

Visiting Her Finding Spot

THe first picture above is Sophia's finding spot. This is the spot where her birth mother placed her so that someone would find her and care for her. I am so thankful we got to visit because it gives us another little picture of her past. The place she was left was at a Children's Care Center. It is a place that was established by a doctor from Europe to care for orphaned children. This was not the orphanage that she stayed at because of her medical condition but knowing that her birth mother left her here shows how much she wanted her to be taken care of. THis was a very secure, clean and beautiful campus. We got to walk around some and you could tell the children were well cared for.

On Tuesday when we were back at the orphanage, I had stayed in the car while Sophia slept. While everyone was inside, I got to see something that most probably don't get to see. A car pulled up in front of us and two police officers got out. Once got a box out of the back and the other opened the door for a woman carrying a baby. The baby could somewhat hold its head up, while the woman carried him in, on her shoulder. I am pretty sure the woman was a social worker, and the box was this little babies cradle as it waited for someone to find it. So as one little girl finds her forever family, another little one becomes part of the system.... my heart just breaks.

Now on to the positive side of adoption: Sophia is also getting closer to Russ. As you can see she will let him carry her. And tonight after her bath, she sat on his lap while we watched some TV. We almost made it through the day with no tears. At dinner time, she started to tear up. She was very tired and it was rally a boring day for her ( a little shopping and a lot of packing). I think she is realizing that we are leaving this place tomorrow and she does not really understand where we are going. But holding her helped the tears and she just cuddled the rest of the night.
Again improvement each day. Today we went to a mall to try to get her to pick out some cloths. SHe does not want to wear what we brought so we thought she could pick something out and that would be ok. She was ok with picking out and outfit but was very particular on what she wanted. We found a skirt that she tried on and it was a little too big. She measerued how big it was and went out to tell the saleswoman so we could get the right size. She can take care of herself, that is for sure. When she finally picked one out, I asked if she could pick out one more. SHe told our guide that two was too much, she did not need any more. OK she did not need any more but I wanted her to have more especially since we are going to Guangzhou where it is still very hot and she had 2 pair of pants and one shirt. So we got her to get a pair of shorts and a skirt with two tops. Success!

Tomorrow we head off to Guangzhou. Since she gets car sick, so I am wondering how it will be on a 3 hour plane flight? We are sad to leave the town she has called home for 5.5 years but we are ready to move forward with the next phase of her life. We feel like we are stuck in neutral right now and are looking forward to getting our entire family together - all 7 of us!

Few More Pictures

Just thought I would post a few more pictures of TIanjin from our hotel room, hanging out in the room and my favorite sleeping babes. We got our first hugs last night before bed. Russ had to ask her for them but once she hugged him she willingly went around and gave everyone hugs with a smile on her face. Now we just have to work on waking up with a smile!

Improving Each Day and Ancient Culture Street

Well each day is just getting better. She definitely is NOT a morning person. So she rolls around in bed while we all get ready. But when she gets up she can pretty much do everything herself.

We had a little breakdown this morning when I did not have her same underware and cloths that she brought with her. We thought it was time to get them washed so we put them away with the other cloths. She was not happy and started to cry. I have a translator on my iphone that has been coming in very handy. We explained that she would get them back and that they were being washed and she calmed down but refused to put any of the cloths on that we brought for her. She had one top left that she brought and put it on but she did not want any of the skirts that we brought. So we were not going to push it ( a top with pj bottoms). However, as we were getting ready to walk out the door, she stopped , pointed to her bottoms and ran back to the bed room. SHe picked a skirt we brought and put it on! Yea success. Now it was huge on her and I had to pin it but Hey I will take every little step we can get.

THere was only one other break down today when she started crying, I could tell she was sad so I held her for awhile, we found something to do and she has been fine since.

We went to Ancient Culture Street, walked around and got a few things. We purchased scrolls hand made with Xin Yan and Dominic's names painted on them. He did a beautiful job and we got both of them for about $4.5! We all had to laugh and she gave our guide the business, when he did not write her chinese name correctly. SHe is such a character.

Her and Dominic are best of buddies but she looks to me for comfort. We use Russ to make her laugh! We are starting to get along very well. We spent most of the day in the room and had a great time doing homework, play dough and stickers.

TIanjin is not a tourist town. It is like a large metropolitan city with many many high rises. We are downtown and there is not much to do for kids. No park no big open spaces to run. So we have walked up and down the street looking around but that gets boring after awhile. There are also not very many foreigners here. We stick out like a sore thumb and since we have had Yanzi with us the stares have increased and some not so good. Tonight we went to Pizza Hut. We sat down and no one wanted to wait on us. Our waitress practically ignored us. We were about ready to walk out but I finally made eye contact with her and she came over. I have enjoyed seeing Tianjin but will be glad to move on to Guangzhou where we can be outside more.

We managed to not take any naps today and now it is 8pm and I can hardly keep my eyes open. See you later

One More Picture

She is officially a Canestraro!

I will try to keep it short today, Russ said I had too many words and not enough pictures. To my defense we had problems down loading one of the cameras so we did not have much to post.
The first three pictures are at the Civil Affairs office and then a few more of Sophia and her big brother!

Highlights of the day: we went to the Civil Affairs office to make the adoption official. SHe is our daughter according to the Chinese government. Now we just have to get her visa from the US and once she touches American soil, she will be an American Citizen!!!
There was some other running around and we were able to get her finding ad: this is a picture they posted in the paper after she was found searching for her birthparents. THe only real baby picture we will have of her.
We spent most of the morning running around in the car but unfortunately Yanzi( which is what we are calling her now) is very car sick. I thought she was getting worried about where we were going but when the guide asked her - she said she was getting sick. She did well for awhile, but then got sick(thankfully I was prepared), then she fell asleep in my lap. This was actually a blessing because she was asleep when we stopped back at the orphanage.
You could tell she did not feel good moat of the day, she did not eat lunch and was pretty spaced out most of the time. When we finally ate dinner, we were at a buffet. I asked her what she wanted and she did not want anything so I got what I thought she would like, including Jello( always good for a upset stomach). SHe ate some and did drink a lot. After we got back to the room, she was back to her old self. Playing with play dough seems to be her favorite thing. She has finally let Russ hug her, under the influence of a bribe but he will take what he can get.

THe funniest moments: Her first english word she learned the first day at lunch ... SUGAR. And now it is the only english word she will copy and she says it so adorably.
Tonight the most hillarious things was that she was trying to tell us something in Chinese, Dominic interupted her and without a hesitation she said something to him in Chinese and gave him the hand. She definetly knows how to hold her own.

Tomorrow we will do a little sightseeing. TIme for baths BYEBYE

Our First Day with Sophia(Yanzy)

After breakfast, we headed out at 9am. We thought we were going to get the orphanage donation exchanged first but our guide(Michael) said that we could do it later and go back on Tuesday to give the donation. SO it was off to the orphanage, I thought it would be a little while but it was not even 5 minutes and we were turning into the orphanage. I quickly got out my camera and started taking as many pictures as I could. It seemed very clean and a newer orphanage. We went into a reception room and waited. We were told at one point that Xin Yan was on her way but they were having trouble with the car. Then later our guide told us that she gets car sick a nd she had gotten sick in the car - good thing I brought a barf bag for us! We were then told that she was there but she was having trouble with her shoes hurting her feet and they were trying to take care of that.
We had filled out some paperwork while waiting and they gave us some things. Two gifts from the orphanage and we even had what looks like a baby book that we were told the foster mother had kept. We will have to get that translated. I had a list of questions that I gave the guide to find out some could really only be answered by the foster mother but we did find out that Xin Yan has been in foster care since she was 5 months old. We think it is with the same family but are not absolutely sure. We also found out that her nickname is Yanzy so that is what we have been calling her.
Another mom, Mary was also with us to get her 11 year old. She is on crutches and came in first. SHe started to cry when she came in the room, it was soo sad to see what there wonderful children have to go through to get their forever family. We know that their lives will be better with a family to care and love for them but leaving all that they know is so very hard for them and for us.
Finally it was time for us. The orphanage staff brought in three bags of stuff from the foster mother, one of food and snacks, one with some cloths and a backpack with some toys and hair ties. They gave us the photo album that we sent her and we looked through it while we waited. THere were many pictures added of her foster family. So when it was time for her to come in there were about 3 women and Xin Yan that came in at the same time. We recognized the woman carrying her as the foster mom. At first she was all smiles and very silly. THey had said that she was timid but she was hamming it up, she reminded me of Micah, especially when he is nervous - he gets very silly. They introduced us to her as mama and baba ans she seemed to acknowledge that, so I think she was prepared some. They then went over to her bags to distract her and the foster mom slipped out. As soon as she saw she was going she started to cry. I went over to pick her up and she let me. She then sat on my lap the rest of the time. Her cries slowed to sniffles and then it was time to go. We quickly grabbed all our things and headed off to the van. Since she gets car sick, they suggested that her and I sit in the front seat so we did.
It was off to the police station to get her passport. The driving her is quite crazy but now that I was in the front seat! I tried to either look away of keep my eyes shut. On the way she sniffled the entire way. When we got there, I carried her because her heel was hurting. WHile we were waiting a big bug landed on my shoulder and when I shooed it away, we got her first smile! I then let her down and she really opened up. Playing with Dominic and the other girl. You could see her personality coming out. Once we took care of that, we went to get money exchanged. The first bank was giving us a hard time so we went to another one. The entire time she was doing really well and then all of the suden, she stopped, pulled out her winie the pooh washcloth and started rubbing her eyes. SHe let me hold her while we finished the banking and then we went to the hotel. She livened up again, as we saw the room, ate lunch and then went down to the local store(Carrfours) to get some food for the room. We played in the room for awhile and then we thought it would be time for a nap. She had told us that she would take a nap after lunch if there wasn't anything good on TV. I was going to lay down with her but she wanted us all to come. So we all layed down and she was out in less then 5 minutes. Her and I slept for 2 hours! Boy did I need that so I am sure she did. I was worried when we woke her up that she would cry but she did not. Mary and her daughter visited the room for awhile. I then gave her a bath and tried to put PJs on her but she insisted on putting her cloths back on so we did. SHe definitly knows what she wants and is insistent on doing it. Then my family called through Skype and we talked and she watched them all. SHe was very tired at that point and just watched all that was going on. We then were able to get her to eat some more fried rice( her favorite) and off to bed. I had her and DOminic lay in bed while I blogged and before I was done, she was alseep. That was about 8:45 pm and it is now 6 am and she is still out. We will need to get her up soon because we need to get ready, skype, eat breakfast and get our money out of the safe(China's largest bill is 100 yuan which is about $14 and change so when you get money exchanged you can end up with quite a wad) at be ready to leave by 8:30am.

Over all it has been pretty much what I was hoping for. She has moments where she shows her true self and moments of sadness but she lets me comfort her. The busier we are and the more people we are around the better she does. Dominic has been a great help and good friend to her. Russ, she tolerates right now. She doesn't seem afraid of him but doesn't really want him to hold her either but I am sure she will come around quickly. Sorry for the long details but I want to remember everything I can about these first few days. Thank you again for your prayers, we are so very blessed by them and the grace that our Lord has poured out on us.

I am attaching a video but not sure if it will come through

Waiting to Meet Her

Surprisingly last night I was not too nervous. When we first arrived in Tianjin and started unpacking, the nerves started kicking in. But as the day went and we became very tired(still not over the Jet lag) we were able to sleep - for awhile. Dominic got up at about 2am to use the restroom and we were all up and down the rest of the night. I have to say it was no too much the nerves as it was still recovering from Jet lag( Note to self - Tylenol PM doesn't get me through the entire night so save it until I wake up at 2am!) and the fact that the three of us were sharing a king size bed. We are getting a cot for Dominic but thought we would wait until we got Sophia before we had them bring it up. So Russ threw in the towel at 4:50am and Dominic and I were able to make it until 5:30. Only 3.5 more hours until we leave. So we are double checking everything we need to bring and trying to get the room ready for her.

Wow it is finally here. I have to tell you that I can feel your prayers. I thought I would be a basket case by now and I am not, it is truly an inner peace and a trust in God that he has it all under control. Thank you all.

We have our Sophia!

Things went pretty well today considering. I will have to be brief because we are all getting pretty tired. We have been busy doing things this morning and afternoon and this evening has been pretty quite so it gave her more time to think and therefore more tears. The good thing is that she will let me comfort her when she is sad. SO thank you Jesus for that. What we have seen of her personality is that she is silly and out going. Her and DOminic have been getting along great. In fact when we are out and about, she does not like to hold hands but she will hold his hand.

Tuesday will will go to the civil affairs to make things final and we need to go back to the orphanage to finish up some things also. A little conserned about that because I am not sure how she will respond.

There is another mom here with her daughter that is 11. Sophia and her do not know each other but they can talk to each other so that helps.

So overall everything is going as to be expected. We are really tired so are going to go now. Hope to post more soon.

We are in the Same City as Sophia!

Today was a day of packing driving and unpacking. Nothing really that special, except that we are now in the same city as our daughter. Just typing that still feels so strange. We have been on this road to her for over 9 months now. Nine months at looking at the same pictures(until 1.5 weeks ago), Nine months of reading the same pages of information about her, hoping that I would cathch something new. And now we are only about 12 hours away from meeting her. It almost doesn't seem real, like this whole thing is not real. We are going to have a new daughter tomorrow! My stomach is just at the light stages of butterflies and even Russ finally said, that he was getting very anxious now that we are here.

So just a quick recap of the day. We got up around 6:30 did our normal routine. Met a fellow adoptive mom that has the same agency and talked to her for a little while before she flew off to her province. We then had to kill time until 1pm. We were traveling to Tianjin with another mom, who got in the hotel at about 2am, so we were giving her more time to rest. IT was hard for DOminic because we had been on the go so much and now, we were just sitting in the room. So at 1pm we met Mary and our new guide and driver. Drove to Tianjin in a little over two hours with a van jam packed with suit cases. Once we get the girls, it is going to be really tight to just fit us all in the van. You tell we are not in Beijing any more. There are still many skyscrappers and a few million people that live here, but we seem even more of a minority than when we were in Beijing. THe hotel staff speaks very little english, so our guide did all the check in for us. He is staying here in the hotel also, so that is good. WHen we first pulled up, we saw a group of people at the front of the hotel holding some sort of colorful tubing and something laying on the ground. We quickly realized that there was a wedding reception about to start. It wasn't 2 minutes after we entered the hotel that a huge blast of fireworks went off( the something on the ground)! They were extremely loud, glad we made it inside before that happened. And then the bride and groom appeared in a cute little red convertable. THat was fun to see. We then went to our room to unpack. For dinner we went with Mary to walk around at the local Carrfours(walmart like store) and look for something to eat. Well in the store, we kind of got stuck because you can not go in and out of the same door. So we had to try to find the exit - which was on the floor below, and then find the line that let "NO PURCHASES" out. THe store was packed so that was not easy. But we finally made it out and went to eat at Pizza Hut. We were all very thirsty and ordered the large drinks. Of course the waitress did not speak any english, but thankfully the menu was pointer friendly. Well to our surprise when she brought our drinks to us, we had one full glass( DOminic's) and three empty glasses( ours) and 3 PITCHERS of Pop!!!!. We all had to laugh at ourselves, no wonder the waitress kept trying to repeat the order!

Oh the fun and crazy things that happen when you are in another country( and don't speak the language). Well all I am off to bed. I can barely keep my eyes open. Took a Tylenol PM to make sure I was good and tired so I would sleep through the whole night. SO here is praying that they butterflies stay away until morning. Good night on the last day we are a family of 6!

Beijing Day 2

Today was a fun filled day but very tiring, not that we aren't tired enough from Jet lag). It was the day to visit the Great Wall. It took about 2 hours to drive there. On the way we stopped by the Jade store. Got a quick tour a bought a couple small things. There were many beautiful pieces, it really is amazing at what artists can carve out of the Jade.
It was greet to see the Wall. It is just amazing and beautiful. as we got to the point where the climb up started, you think "oh man am I going to be able to climb this thing. I was here 12 years ago, in early August and didn't make it up half the way, it was soo hot then. Today it was warm but there was a nice breeze. So up we went. We would make several rest stops along the way and did not make it up all the way to the top but we made it to the point that we wanted to get to. Dominic was more nervous about going back down( which I don't blame him). It took us about 40 minutes to get up and 30 to come back down. By the time we stopped at the bottom, my legs would quiver if I stood still. I was hoping that we would go to the pass that had the cable car that took you too the top so I was a little disappointed at first but after we accomplished the limb, I am glad that we were here instead.
So we started back to Bejiing. Stopped for lunch at a place that had some good food but way too much and then on to the Acrobat show. We got back to Bejing a little early so our guide took us to Dr. Tea. THe give you a tea sampling and then try to get you to purchase the tea. It was fun but since all our favorite tea was black, we thought why should I pay for something I can get easily back home.
Finally we were on to the Acrobat Show. Remember how we were running early? Well the traffic was horrible getting there and we made it to our seats just before the show started. A special thank you to our driver who got us there in time but also gave us a taste of what it would be like if vans were in the NASCAR races!

The show was fun and we all enjoyed it. It was really great just watching Dominic and his expressions during the show. What was even more amazing was that we got to sit in the first row. The seats were probably not the best for the overall show, but we were so close that a few times I was a little nervous that one of the acrobats would fall and end up landing on us. In fact Russ got hit in the head twice by feathers from one costume.

We then went back to the room had a little to eat and are all ready for bed and it isn't even 8:30. Oh, we did manage to sleep in till almost 6 am today.

Tomorrow we don't leave for Tianjin until 1pm. There is another mom going with us and she would not get to the hotel until 2am, so they are trying to let her get as much sleep as possible. I can't believe that we have only one more whole day left without out little girl and that we will be in the same town as her tomorrow.Wow, it still doesn't seem real - I wonder when it will?