Day 7

Day 7

Today we were able to Skype with Oma and Opa Haas and introduce them to Lily. 

We met the rest of our group at 915 for a group photo and it was off to a tourist spot. It is the Chan's family house for many generations.  The house is now set up with many artists from the region.  After the forty minute stop we were taken to the Jade and Pearl district.  As it is Chinese custom, to give your daughter a pearl, we bought her a necklace and earrings for her wedding day. After these expos we journeyed back to receive our final paperwork for our U.S. consulate 'hearing', which will enable us to give Lily citizenship!  

We celebrated with a cake that was accidentally delivered to our front door at ten PM last night, then read the paperwork.  Our daughter was abandoned the day she was born, at a supermarket near the border of Vietnam, and China.  An unknown person alerted the police and they took her to the orphanage. Who? We know the police officers name but this all we know.  The important part is our daughter was placed in a cardboard box, with a sign that stated her birthdate only.  The orphanage gave her the name 'Fang Hi'.  Why important? One we have her! Two she could have been thrown into the river instead! 

When we squared away all the paperwork, we headed out to the kiddie pool.  Lily stayed in the shallow end and tried to splash mom, who was snapping away with her camera. We made some progress with the pool as before is she would not go near the pool!

After dinner with our friends, the Knotts, we are back in our room unwinding. 

We have a slower day tomorrow which includes waiting for the TB results and then a river cruise in the evening. 

For now, enjoy our beauty!

Day 6

Well, today started out rough for our little one. Today was the medical checkup and we went to four stations. Lily broke down waiting in line for the first one. She was so upset all throughout the process and all we could do was reassure her we were there and it was ok. The worst and best moment was in the general doctors office where she had to remove her pants and shoes. She started thrashing her legs this was the worst for us to see, however she was sweet when she cried out for Mama. That was the first cry for mama by name. It was so so hard to see her go thru this, but we had to reassure her it was ok. The last station was a TB Shot area where we had to give her over to the nurses and we could not go in. All we could do was listen and pray from the outside. Argh was so hard. However we were the heroes when she came out as she reached out to us. We decided to get her urine tested too since she's been peeing about every 30 minutes but then again she drinks a lot of water. At the orphanage they were allowed to go twice per day. We wanted to check for any infection just to be safe. 

After several attempts and even stage fright when Baba came in the bathroom with us, the second time we managed to get enough and with that all of us left the medical building.  

Lily and I headed back to the room as Dan and others went shopping. We took a lazy afternoon and decompressed. She was back to her bubbly self on the bus back. 

Mama and Lily did manage to take a trip to a coffeehouse.  Don't tell Dan it was at Starbucks!  As dad was filling out more paperwork for Lily's American Visa we sat and drank our drinks.  Lily was cute as she came and welcomed Baba as he came back into the room.  

This evening we took a walk and Baba even got to hold her (she prefers me).  We are working on Baba and Lily time as he has bath duty as this juncture and she loves it. 

Tonight we went for dim sum and oh boy was it yummy. He wait staff fell to Lily's charm one by one and when we left she said bye bye to all of them and they all were smiling ear to ear. See photo below,with momma and Lily having a Kodak moment with chopsticks. She's picking up how to use them really well. She also is grasping the fork too as both really were foreign concepts to her. In her orphanage she was fed with everyone sitting on bouncy balls around a table and the nanny would feed a scoop of Congie  ( think seafood porridge) one by one. This breaks my heart. We are learning foods she likes and doesn't like. 

After dinner we strolled in the garden at the hotel and got some great photos of crossing a path on rocks with mom, and looking at fishes with baba. Now we return back to the room where bath time has begun. She got lollipop sugar in her hair and in mamas hair from this morning. 

One other fun thing today she has been naming colors in English ( slurred English) but English much the same. She have an app for preschoolers on the iPad and she repeating colors too as well as repeating from momma too. 

Her little voice is simply amazing. Her laugh will melt the strongest of hearts. 

Thank you to those of you praying and sending kind words. Tomorrow we go on a trip in the morning to a nearby village with sightseeing and shopping. Tomorrow afternoon we will take an easy night. 

Day 5

Today we gathered in the lobby at 930 and headed to the airport. We also received from our guide the note that was left with Lily when she was born by her birth mother. We found out more information about her birthplace while here. 

We took a group photo with our guide as we said goodbye to him today. 

She does great in the car and at the airport as well but terror breaks out when she encountered a seatbelt on the plane. China does not use seatbelts so this is a foreign concept to her. She screamed, I sat her on my lap and she didn't like having the belt around us both. So we put her back into her seat. Needless to say dans hand felt the brunt as he was holding the belt buckle and she was pinching him to get it off. Finally I brought her again to my lap in hysterics and she calmed down and didn't mind the belt. I think I will have a seat buddy on the long trips to the states. I love the snuggles so it's ok! She is a snuggle bug too. 

We made it to the hotel and it's amazing. It's a 5 star hotel where dignitaries come( why are we here) and we are in a suite! Each room has a separate central air controller. Ah the only bad thing when we went for dinner the difference in temps were drastic. It's 102 here and really really hot. Yeah for AC. 

Below are some photos of our group. 

Tomorrow we are going to the doctors in the morning, please pray as she will be getting a TB shot and neither one of us are allowed to go in. My understanding is that's how it's done here. She's terrified of strangers so she will be really really upset. 

She's starting to warm up to dan a little more. She loves bath time so we are letting Dan do that. They have a great time and then they both take their cold medicine together! 

She is such a delight and is chatting up a storm and dances around the room singing and laughing. Truly the joy of the Lord shines thru. 

Day 4

Today was a down day. Other families went to see the orphanages but we decided with our guides advice to not go. So we enjoyed time together having giggles and laughed as a little family. After breakfast we walked out to a park close by the hotel and we fed some fish and strolled for about 45 minutes. We headed back to the mall where we introduced Lily to her first coffee house. NO SHE DID NOT HAVE COFFEE, just in case you were wondering. She had water and a fruit snack while Baba and I enjoyed a iced coffee. It's funny her first place was Starbucks because Dan really dislikes Starbucks. 

We went to a Thai place for lunch and were followed by this German lady who was recruiting for her German school here. This lady followed us into the place and Lily looked at her like saying " lady, you are disrupting our lunch leave us be". 

We went back to the indoor play place again and did some great building. We had a new little friend helping build our towers. see photos below. 

Also today Dan ran to the lobby to check in with his seminary and leaned to me and gave me a kiss which he then turned to Lily. Much to his surprise he was received with a kist face right back. We both looked at each other and cried 

She is such a joy and really is concerned for those that are feeling something around her. I think, this has to do with her helping in the orphanage but when I was changing my insulin pump site she came over and would not leave my side until I was done. She even took the pump as it was beeping and handed it back to me. She also comes over when I am checking my sugar and makes sure things are ok and then zips my case back up for me. What a sweetheart! 

We fly tomorrow to the next province so please be in prayer as this is her first flight and we are praying she enjoys it as we have long flights later in the week back to the states. 

I will surely document this experience of hers as I have been doing. 

Thank you all for so many prayers and kind wishes. We really could not even have met her or done this without the community that brought her to us. We are overwhelmingly grateful for all of you. 

Day 3

Today was a sight seeing tour day.  We went to a huge park and walked around in the rainforest  like weather. All of us were sweating buckets. We walked around for about 2 hours and then went to a open air market that we were able to find a few gifts at. 

One thing Lily is doing a lot is going to the potty. You can tell she didn't get enough water because she loves water. With drinking water it brings lots of potty breaks and our girl is a master squatter on the squat potty. This is our biggest bonding time. 

She lets Dan in with some snuggles and lets him do things conditionally at this point. This is mainly due to all her nannies being females and she is just not use to males. 

We are so so enjoying her and all the joy she brings to us in just one glance. She has started talking a bit more and has said a few English words.  She says "I need to use the bathroom, and Mama". 

We have a down day tomorrow as the others are visiting the orphanages but we decided along with our guides input that we didn't think it would be best to go. We did find out she was born in a different city and brought to a supermarket which then transferred her to a police station which then they transferred her to the nearest orphanage. So our guide said he could get us some photos of the city when he goes at some point. it's way to far for this trip to go. 

One of the most amazing things that I realized on the first day is her left foot has two toes fused together and it makes a heart on the tips. This is special for a few reasons. First, God did a work in my heart with letting Him show me His love by hearts each day in random places. Second it's a symbol and physical symbol from the Lord to remind her she is made with love from the Lord. What a beautiful thing to be able to share with her soon. 

Please continue to pray for bonding and rest. She is sleeping 10 hours each night but we get up to make sure she's good. Both baba and Lily have colds so they both take a herbal tea (from local herbalists) a few times a day. Please pray as we travel Friday to another part of China for the U.S. Consulate and her doctors checkups. The doctors will give a TB shot which will hurt bad so please pray for that as we can't go with her in the doc office for the shot.

Chinese official day

We made if official in China. now we waited papers to take with us Frida to the next hotel and province. Lily is doing well, she had a full 10 hours of sleep last night and even managed to pee on mama. (Welcome to motherhood). She is a delight and is super snugly with Mama. While she let Baba hold her and feed her for breakfast today while going to the offices all she preferred was mama to hold her. I was sweating buckets but  was so worth the snuggles Our hearts are full of so much joy as wow, she is amazing! Those eyes are captivating! 

We had some art fun today as well as pool time. We made it only to the edge of the pool but that was progress as we had to wait 20 minutes to do that. We had progress!!  

Tonight we are heading to dinner to celebrate! 

Day 1

We meet Lily in 2 hours and 15 minutes. We came back from breakfast and had a little gift on our bed.
See photo below.

We just boarded our first plane headed to Shanghai. it's a little unreal that we are going. We got to the airport and got in the wrong airline check in counter. we had to go over to Korean Air  which had a huge line and we were a little concerned we might not get in in time. Praise God we made it with 10 minutes to spear to the gate so we got breakfast and coffee. neither of us slept last night really well waking up throughout the night.

On the plane we met some new friends who are adopting a 8 year old girl and we will meet up with them at the garden hotel. They adopted a little girl about a year ago and had such a great experience and decided to do it again.

Woo Whoo, it's really getting real. our new friends Chuck and Beth are adopting a 8 year old girl.. We have been able to share stories of the journey so far and things we hope for with our daughters. Wow even that sounds really strange to say.

As we were leaving we thought about when we step back into this airport we will have a daughter. Oh what will life be like.

We have an 1.30 hours flight to Shanghai and then We will change airports and fly to an nanning.

We got a metro train ticket from the first airport and figured out where to go. While on the train (if we have learned anything in Asia its when everyone does something and you don't chances are you are wrong) a kind lady was leaving with everyone and and told us if we were going to this airport we needed to change trains. Thank you Lord for sending her. We are now on another train and its glorious as the train moves it's a wind tunnel of breezes and ah it feels good. there is even a little girl singing let it go super loud in English!! Woot woot, this metro feels just like Korea except the language. Thankfully the destination names are in English.

We are headed to hongqio airport. We got to the airport, and had a gate change and are finally on our plane.
We just boarded  and we are sitting in an exit row. The funny thing is there's a spot outside the plane that says cut plane here. I laughed, but realized I wouldn't be laughing during it.

I am getting super excited. I found myself as we are checking in at this airport looking at the ladies behind the counter and my mind and heart wondered about Lily's mom. what is she doing now? We do know that Lil y was loved because her mother wrapped her and put her at the police station. So we know she loved her or she would have just put her anywhere and not wrapped up. 

There is no turning back. It reminds me of that song I HAVE  DECIDED TO FOLLOW Jesus.  We are all in with Jesus, not during back. Thinking about how when we are adopted into Gods family we are in. That's it. Nothing an separate us