Tuesday April 17- Day 5

Ivy has changed so much since yesterday. Her true personality is coming out. Yesterday she was quiet and somewhat reserved, with little smiles and humor appearing only occasionally. I took a nap with her, and after she woke I held her and cuddled on the couch. After a few minutes I heard a little sniffle. I realized she was starting to cry. I continued cuddling and comforting her and she let me hold her for about an hour while she sobbed. It was a cry that seemed to come from deep inside. It was so painful to watch and so hard to have no words that she could understand. But she seemed to comprehend my unspoken language. I wiped her face with a cool cloth several times and just let her continue until she was done. We were relieved that she did some grieving because we know this is a healthy sign. What a day for her. They told us she had never left the orphanage in her almost five years of life. And after the first time riding in a car and seeing the big world, she finds herself planted in a hotel room with these people who don't speak her language and look very different too. I'm so grateful she got some tears out. When she made her way off my lap, she proceeded to play with her new much-loved toys all evening. The bubbles were a big hit. She loves chasing and popping them. Then she picked up some chopsticks and started poking the bubbles that way. This confirmed our suspicion that she has quite a sense of humor! She also loved her bath. I rubbed lotion all over her and she seemed to like it, but acted like that was a totally new experience. Her skin is very dry. When I got her PJ's on her she proceeded to try and crawl in the little baby bed in the room! I led her to the big bed where she got to sleep in between Mama and Baba last night. She got a serious face and was quiet, and slept very well. But let me tell you, this girl grinds her teeth like none I've ever heard! And in our family I've heard it a lot. Do the jaw issues ever end at our house?? I think the stirring spoon in my much appreciated Via coffee woke her in the morning. I took my coffee cup over and left the light out and snuggled for a while. When she finally got out of bed she was a different kid. She started playing, laughing, talking and bouncing around. And as the day went on it only increased. I think she kinda likes the new life. The hotel has a wonderful big breakfast buffet. Can you even imagine this from her perspective? She eats anything and everything we put in front of her. 

This morning we competed our paperwork at the Civil Affairs Office. We came back and ate a light snack (still stuffed from the buffet) and we are going to venture out walking without our guide. There is a mall and restaurants there so it should be interesting. We hope to find a yummy dinner. Almost no one speaks English in  this city, so without our guide we are challenged! Our request to visit her orphanage was granted, so tomorrow we will take the long trip to Bengbu. It may be an emotional day, but an important one for piecing together her past. We will be able to see her 'finding spot'.  I'm happy we get to go, but not looking forward to the drive. Basically I just close my eyes and pray while we are on the roads. I really can't even put it into words. Here's some photos from today:

She found Macy's hat, put it on and started to put on a little show. We needed another comedian in the family!

One of her favorite things is to brush the doll's hair. She quickly got the bright idea of brushing her sister's instead! Notice the backpack..she doesn't want to take it off.

Leaving the Civil Affairs Office

Aww..so thankful for big sister photographer on this trip!

Monday April 16- Gotcha Day!

The first look...

 She had a scared face at first and then the little smiles appeared .

 She loved the little doll that was in her backpack.

 The orphanage did a good job preparing her for what was about to happen. 

 She was able to identify all of us and point to us and then our photo in the scrapbook we had sent.

 First impressions of Ivy...brave, sweet....

 smart...funny.

Oh Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Sunday April 15- Day 3

Today was a travel day, so we don't have many pictures to post except  our trip to Walmart. Our day started with a trip to the Beijing International Airport. Navigating that was truly an experience to remember. We have never seen so many people in one place. Fortunately an escort walked us through most of the process. After checking in our luggage, she mentioned that we should not bring so much stuff next time because they have plenty of stuff here in China!

We arrived in the capital city of Hefei which has 7 million people in just that city alone. It is a working city with a lot of factories. The pollution is really bad and started affecting us immediately. We can feel it in our throats, and my contact lenses quickly became coated with a film. The girls are coughing a lot. Our guide Christina met us at the airport with a cheerful welcome sign. We were hungry so she took us to the Noodle Bar in the hotel. I was thinking..yum..that should be easy. Not so. We were lost with the menu, and Christina guided us through the many noodle options as best she could. We ended up with very large bowls of noodles in broth and chopsticks to eat them. We were quite a sight!  They did find some forks for us. It was kind of like eating chicken noodle soup with a fork. After we got some food in our tummies we ventured out to Walmart to pick up a couple things...mainly a hair straightener ;) Christina walked with us there. Hefei is not a tourist city, so we really really stick out. People are yelling and waving at us from the city buses and gawking at us on the streets. They all seem very friendly and kind. The number of people on the streets is intimidating, but Christina says it's safe. Crossing the streets is not safe, however! Pretty scary. I wish we would have taken some pictures while we were walking. I was hanging on so tight to the girls it was the last thing on my mind!

Ivy's orphanage is about three hours away. She will have to wake up early and leave about 6:30am. We are meeting at the Civil Affairs Office at 9:30am. It hardly seems real that we are here and tomorrow is the day. We are so blessed.. We are going to settle down now and hope for some sleep.

This is our guide, Christina

Bins of rice at Walmart

The candy aisle

This little bed was in our room...too small for Ivy. So we put some of the things we brought for her in the crib. We also have more toys, but we hid them away in the closet to pull out as we need them.

Next post..."Ivy Day"

Not the flesh of my flesh

Nor the bone of my bone, 

But still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute,

You didn't grow under my heart,

But in it.   

Saturday April 14- Day 2

We had a great day today touring The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Silk Factory. 

Surprisingly, we weren't all that tired! The excitement is kicking in. We did a little shopping, and Dan is really enjoying being able to exercise his bartering talent. 

We loved this Chinese version of an Ergo! So cute.

We even had some traditional Beijing Duck for dinner.

 I asked the girls what they found most interesting today. They found it quite funny how people stared at us and wanted to take our pictures. They observed how few children you see in the crowds. And the drivers...well it's beyond crazy. The traffic lights are kind of like suggestions. Tomorrow we travel about 2 hours by plane to Ivy's province, Anhui. We can't wait.

Friday April 13 - Day 1

We arrived late Friday night Beijing time. We're off to bed for a short sleep. Tomorrow morning is orientation, we meet our travel group families, and we have a 1/2 day tour.

We're off!

 For we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage.

2 Corinthians 5:7-8

We're ready

We've been dreaming and preparing for a long time. We picked out her first doll and put her room in order. 

It's hard to believe that one week from today she will be with us.

Proverbs 16:9 A man makes a plan in his heart, but God directs his path.

A Touching Message

This sweet girl was adopted just prior to "aging out" at the tender age of 14....meaning she would have been unable to be adopted had she turned 14 before this family came forward for her.  She watched her mother putting together adoption info to share at their church, and she said she wanted to share a message as well. A friend came over with a camera and asked her ONE question....."what do you want to tell others?" They had no idea what she was going to say! (You'll have to mute my blog music at the bottom right)