We are finally back up online, and in Guangzhou. I am unable to post pictures for some reason. I have posted them on facebook. Hopefully I will be able to fix the problem.
Day 7
It was strange leaving Lily's home province yesterday. I forgot how it felt to have driven that same road 5 days before with one child and now you have two. It almost feels surreal, and then you look down at this little girl in your arms and reality is right there in front of you. It is quite amazing at how bonded and attached you can feel to someone you have just met, especially when you never experienced 9 months of them growing inside of you. I guess that's why those of us in the adoption community like to refer to our children as being born in our hearts, a process that started the moment we saw her picture.
Lily did amazing on the plane. She played and smiled, drank her bottle, and even sat in the chair with Mia. In the last two days she has been sitting up on our laps, before she only wanted to lie down flat. This is great progress as it makes it much easier to travel. Thank you for all your prayers, we were very relieved and are feeling much better about our trip home.
We got to our knew hotel around 10pm we were so hungry and therefore very excited to see Mcdonalds next to the hotel. Even better there is a starbucks in the hotel :).
Day 8
Today we met 25 other families from our adoption agency. It is quite a site with all the children. The majority of the families are on their 2nd or more adoption - amazing to see so many children finding homes. A lot of the children have different medical needs, but some are also healthy. We have really enjoyed meeting the families and sharing experiences.
Lily had her medical exam this morning. It was crazy there, as there were families from other agencies also. Kids screaming, long lines and hot - not fun. The US requires all there shots to be updated so Lily had to get 3. This was actually good, some of the kids needed 6 :(. We were a little concerned about the shots with her weak heart, but nothing we could do about it. She also had to get a TB test, because she is over 2. We will go back on Monday to see if that is negative. The children here are vaccinated for TB so it can show a false positive. If this happens she will have to get a chest x-ray. She hated getting the shots and Lily and mommy shed a few tears. She did fine until around 6pm this evening when she woke up from her nap she was so upset and when I picked her up she was burning hot. Probably a fever from the shots. I gave tylenol and it eventually came down. Sweet baby I felt so bad for her.
We stayed in our room and ordered an Hawaiian pizza for dinner - everyone is already asleep it is 9pm :).
Benjamin and Ethan - Mia said today that she misses her boys. So does Mommy and Daddy. We will talk to you on skype later.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Day 6
Today was our last day in langzhou, and our last day in Lily's home province, Gansu. Tomorrow we leave for Guanghoz. We are ready to move on, but it is a strange feeling to be taking Lily from her home, not knowing if she will ever return - I hope she does.
This morning we went to a park and zoo. It was fun but very hot. It is 104F here today which is the hottest day they have had in 45 years. Lily is doing OK, but gets exhausted quickly. Once we left there we went to a famous noddle restaurant for lunch - yes I attempted to eat the local food again - so far so good. the noddles were yummy.
Lily has slept most of the afternoon. I am not sure how she is going to do flying tomorrow. It is 2 1/2 hour flight so it will be a good test.
Chris and Mia have gone to get us dinner - KFC again, we know it's safe :).
Next time I post it will be from Ghangzhou we will meet up with 24 other adoptive families from our agency there.
Before we went out today I attempted to get some pictures of Mia and Lily
There goes the arm
She won't look at me
Gotcha before that hand goes up
Distracted with a toy
At the zoo
Jessica our guide spoilt Mia and got her this costume :)
Lily resting in daddy's arms
Clever daddy - who said he couldn't multi-task:)
Way to go Mia with the chop sticks - this girl had noddles for breakfast and lunch
Who needs chop sticks :)
Exhausted after a busy morning
This morning we went to a park and zoo. It was fun but very hot. It is 104F here today which is the hottest day they have had in 45 years. Lily is doing OK, but gets exhausted quickly. Once we left there we went to a famous noddle restaurant for lunch - yes I attempted to eat the local food again - so far so good. the noddles were yummy.
Lily has slept most of the afternoon. I am not sure how she is going to do flying tomorrow. It is 2 1/2 hour flight so it will be a good test.
Chris and Mia have gone to get us dinner - KFC again, we know it's safe :).
Next time I post it will be from Ghangzhou we will meet up with 24 other adoptive families from our agency there.
Before we went out today I attempted to get some pictures of Mia and Lily
There goes the arm
She won't look at me
Gotcha before that hand goes up
Distracted with a toy
At the zoo
Jessica our guide spoilt Mia and got her this costume :)
Lily resting in daddy's arms
Clever daddy - who said he couldn't multi-task:)
Way to go Mia with the chop sticks - this girl had noddles for breakfast and lunch
Who needs chop sticks :)
Exhausted after a busy morning
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 5
Day 5 in China and day 3 with Lily. Today we did nathing. I spent the day in bed, I think our adventure out yesturday eating at the restaurant did not sit well in my stomach. I am feelling better now though and should up to getting out tomorrow.
Mia and Chris ventured out this morning, found KFC for lunch :). A little safer. Chris said they were quite the spectacle, everyone just starred at them and the security guard sat next to them while they ate. No one spoke English so he ordered from a picture menu. He ended up with 2 kids meals, I'm sure they were amused by this 6 foot 4 white guy eating a kids meal.
We watched movies in the hotel, my ingenious husband went out and bought a cable so we can hook up our lap top to the TV, and then we can watch movies and shoes from hulu and netflix etc. It has been great especially as we are spending a lot of time in the hotel and there are only 2 English channels.
Tomorrow we are going to the zoo in the morning it is going to be 104 in the afternoon.
Here are some shots of Lily today, both her and I hung out in our PJ's all day. She is getting more and more used to us. She is so curious, she skoots around the floor exploring everything, I don't think she ever had much more freedom than her crib.
It was really hard to catch a smile on the camera
Oh no the camera
Yes the camera is still there.......
This is her normal reaction to the camera coming out - she knows exactly what she is doing :)
Mia and Chris ventured out this morning, found KFC for lunch :). A little safer. Chris said they were quite the spectacle, everyone just starred at them and the security guard sat next to them while they ate. No one spoke English so he ordered from a picture menu. He ended up with 2 kids meals, I'm sure they were amused by this 6 foot 4 white guy eating a kids meal.
We watched movies in the hotel, my ingenious husband went out and bought a cable so we can hook up our lap top to the TV, and then we can watch movies and shoes from hulu and netflix etc. It has been great especially as we are spending a lot of time in the hotel and there are only 2 English channels.
Tomorrow we are going to the zoo in the morning it is going to be 104 in the afternoon.
Here are some shots of Lily today, both her and I hung out in our PJ's all day. She is getting more and more used to us. She is so curious, she skoots around the floor exploring everything, I don't think she ever had much more freedom than her crib.
It was really hard to catch a smile on the camera
Oh no the camera
Yes the camera is still there.......
This is her normal reaction to the camera coming out - she knows exactly what she is doing :)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Day 4 in China
Today has been a lovely day. Lily slept great last night. We are all feeling a lot more rested. After breakfast Jessica (our guide) took us out for a few hours to have a little look at some of the city. We went to a park by the water. It was great to see and learn more about where lily came from. Although we are six hours from the town lily lived in, this is the capital of her province, Gansu.
I have been carrying Lily in the baby carry (the kangaroo pouch Andrea :) ), which once we get her in she falls asleep as does really well - plus it provides great bonding time for momma. Today we have discovered Lily likes to be tiggled - each day we learn more about our daughter :). She has been so much more relaxed today, she hasn't cried when we picked her up and when she was upset she was actually comforted by us holding her. These things may seem so simple but they are huge to us.
We went out to a restaurant for lunch by ourselves - it had pictures of the food so we didn't end up with anything to strange. Mia ordered spaghetti and it came with a fried egg on the side!!! Mia was very proud of herself because she ate all her rice with chop sticks :).
You can tell after a few hours of being out Lily is warn out, so back to the hotel to hang out for the afternoon. Chris's project - working out how to post some video -hope you enjoy a glimpse of Lily.
Here are a few pictures from today
A couple getting there wedding pictures taken - they do them before the day of the wedding
This is suppose to massage your feet :)
Taking a break
This is a famous symbol of the city - we had about 5 strangers taking our picture :) - we are quite the spectacle.
Chilling after a busy morning - got to get some hair girl - you're not supposed to match daddy :)
I have been carrying Lily in the baby carry (the kangaroo pouch Andrea :) ), which once we get her in she falls asleep as does really well - plus it provides great bonding time for momma. Today we have discovered Lily likes to be tiggled - each day we learn more about our daughter :). She has been so much more relaxed today, she hasn't cried when we picked her up and when she was upset she was actually comforted by us holding her. These things may seem so simple but they are huge to us.
We went out to a restaurant for lunch by ourselves - it had pictures of the food so we didn't end up with anything to strange. Mia ordered spaghetti and it came with a fried egg on the side!!! Mia was very proud of herself because she ate all her rice with chop sticks :).
You can tell after a few hours of being out Lily is warn out, so back to the hotel to hang out for the afternoon. Chris's project - working out how to post some video -hope you enjoy a glimpse of Lily.
Here are a few pictures from today
A couple getting there wedding pictures taken - they do them before the day of the wedding
This is suppose to massage your feet :)
Taking a break
This is a famous symbol of the city - we had about 5 strangers taking our picture :) - we are quite the spectacle.
Chilling after a busy morning - got to get some hair girl - you're not supposed to match daddy :)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
She is officially ours :) !!!!!! - Day 3 in China
Chris and Lily are napping and Mia is watching a movie so I finally have some time to gather my thoughts and post some more details of the last couple of days.
We arrived at the hotel yesterday afternoon and two hours later Lily was bought to our room. I have to tell you that my first impression when I saw her was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not because I had any feelings of regret, or that we had made the wrong decision, it was actually the opposite. For both Chris and I the minute we laid eyes on her it was only confirmed in our hearts that she was ours. It was just a feeling of concern - she looked so frail and her color so grey, it doesn't help that her hair is shaved to her head :(. We were prepared for her condition but she looked worse than her pictures. I know for Chris his daddy heart just wanted to scoop her up and make her all better. How we wished we could be back home that minute and in the doctors office.
After talking to the orphanage director they explained that she was very exhausted as they had, had an eight hour drive to get to us. They presented us with a book as a gift and it had pictures of her just taken a few days ago where she looked a lot better. This was very encouraging to see. This all being said I would be lying if I didn't say I have concern about how the twenty hour trip home will effect her little body - please pray for this.
After the director and nanny left our guide Jessica (who is amazing) took us for a walk to get baby supplies, it seems nothing I have fits her. Then we had to go get her passport picture taken. She hated it, so it took forever to get a shot with her eyes open. We have discovered she does not like her picture taken (unlike her sister). Every time the camera comes out her arm goes over her face. We are having to sneak shots of her when she is not looking. We settled into the hotel for the evening so we could skype family and some friends back home - it was wonderful to see and talk to everyone. Lily played on the bed and began to look a little better. We even saw a smile, she held her own bottle(much to Mia's disappointment), she rolls around and grabs for her toys. Her color gets worse when she crys. She is long but very skinny, her arms and legs are tiny. We are taking things slow with her, giving her space. Except for going to the doctors she has never been out of the orphanage, not even outside to play, they were very concerned about her condition so she was very protected.
We fell in bed last night exhausted. So many emotions. This has been very different from our experience with Mia. We are taking our ques from Lily I want to hold and hug her but I can see how it stresses her. Our hearts are overjoyed to have her and we have a lifetime to smother her with hugs and kisses.
Mia is being an amazing big sister. Lays on the bed with her, plays with her and trys to feed her :).
So that was yesterday.
Today Lily officially became ours :). We went to the civil affairs office, and signed all the papers, were fingerprinted, and she became ours.
That took all morning and now we are relaxing in the hotel for the rest of the day. Because of Lily's physical condition we won't do lots of sightseeing. We will take things at a slower pace, and do some short trips out.
At the appointment we got a lot of time to hold her and love on her, she did well and responded to us comforting her when she started to stress. We are learning her coping mechanisms, and can see some typical behaviours that institutionalized children have in order to comfort themselves. She rocks herself to sleep - breaks my heart to think she didn't have anyone to rock her to sleep. We know the nannies loved her, they just have a lot of children to take care of.
Here are some pictures of the last two days. I will post all our pictures on facebook.
Our first moments with Lily
Mia could not wait to feed her
Exhausted
Playing
She is ours - we had to put our fingerprint on about 8 documents
Lily's footprint (I know her color looks awful in this picture) whenever she is stressed she covers her face.
Mia's fingerprint :)
There was one other family adopting plus the orphanage dircetor and nanny
Proud daddy
Playing back at the hotel
We arrived at the hotel yesterday afternoon and two hours later Lily was bought to our room. I have to tell you that my first impression when I saw her was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not because I had any feelings of regret, or that we had made the wrong decision, it was actually the opposite. For both Chris and I the minute we laid eyes on her it was only confirmed in our hearts that she was ours. It was just a feeling of concern - she looked so frail and her color so grey, it doesn't help that her hair is shaved to her head :(. We were prepared for her condition but she looked worse than her pictures. I know for Chris his daddy heart just wanted to scoop her up and make her all better. How we wished we could be back home that minute and in the doctors office.
After talking to the orphanage director they explained that she was very exhausted as they had, had an eight hour drive to get to us. They presented us with a book as a gift and it had pictures of her just taken a few days ago where she looked a lot better. This was very encouraging to see. This all being said I would be lying if I didn't say I have concern about how the twenty hour trip home will effect her little body - please pray for this.
After the director and nanny left our guide Jessica (who is amazing) took us for a walk to get baby supplies, it seems nothing I have fits her. Then we had to go get her passport picture taken. She hated it, so it took forever to get a shot with her eyes open. We have discovered she does not like her picture taken (unlike her sister). Every time the camera comes out her arm goes over her face. We are having to sneak shots of her when she is not looking. We settled into the hotel for the evening so we could skype family and some friends back home - it was wonderful to see and talk to everyone. Lily played on the bed and began to look a little better. We even saw a smile, she held her own bottle(much to Mia's disappointment), she rolls around and grabs for her toys. Her color gets worse when she crys. She is long but very skinny, her arms and legs are tiny. We are taking things slow with her, giving her space. Except for going to the doctors she has never been out of the orphanage, not even outside to play, they were very concerned about her condition so she was very protected.
We fell in bed last night exhausted. So many emotions. This has been very different from our experience with Mia. We are taking our ques from Lily I want to hold and hug her but I can see how it stresses her. Our hearts are overjoyed to have her and we have a lifetime to smother her with hugs and kisses.
Mia is being an amazing big sister. Lays on the bed with her, plays with her and trys to feed her :).
So that was yesterday.
Today Lily officially became ours :). We went to the civil affairs office, and signed all the papers, were fingerprinted, and she became ours.
That took all morning and now we are relaxing in the hotel for the rest of the day. Because of Lily's physical condition we won't do lots of sightseeing. We will take things at a slower pace, and do some short trips out.
At the appointment we got a lot of time to hold her and love on her, she did well and responded to us comforting her when she started to stress. We are learning her coping mechanisms, and can see some typical behaviours that institutionalized children have in order to comfort themselves. She rocks herself to sleep - breaks my heart to think she didn't have anyone to rock her to sleep. We know the nannies loved her, they just have a lot of children to take care of.
Here are some pictures of the last two days. I will post all our pictures on facebook.
Our first moments with Lily
Mia could not wait to feed her
Exhausted
Playing
She is ours - we had to put our fingerprint on about 8 documents
Lily's footprint (I know her color looks awful in this picture) whenever she is stressed she covers her face.
Mia's fingerprint :)
There was one other family adopting plus the orphanage dircetor and nanny
Proud daddy
Playing back at the hotel
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