On to Guangzhou

We are spending our last night here in Nanchang...the birth place of our daughter. While I am glad to be moving on, closer to going home, it's a little bitter sweet knowing we are leaving the only place Lily has ever known. Walking through that village the other day really made me think of how her life could have been; but God has big plans for this little girl. It's still so miraculous to me that He has chosen us to be her parents. I feel so blessed and honored that He feels we are the right ones for this challenge. I pray we will be the parents God wants us to be for this precious life.

Now I am packing up the last of our things, checking every nook and cranny to make sure nothing gets left behind. And you can bet I will be carrying Lily's things on the plane with me! My suitcase will be the only one checked on this leg of the trip...we've seemed to have good luck with it so far!

Here are some final pictures of our last couple of days in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.


Thursday we went to this Pavilion...very famous in Jinagxi. Apparently lots of others like this one are just copies of this original. I also thought it was called a Pagoda, but because this is big on the inside, it's a Pavilion.

Robert, Me, sleepy Lily, Lao Lao (maternal grandmother) and Nai Nai (paternal grandmother)

Artwork inside the Pavilion

They put on a 15 minute show on the top floor of the Pavilion every hour. The costumes were gorgeous and the hand movements were just beautiful...so graceful.

Robert showed me this "painting". I thought it was beautiful at first, then he told me it was made out of butterfly wings. Poor butterflies.

Lily's favorite snack!

Friday: Mommy and Lily on the bus going to the park.

"I'm not too sure about this hat, mom!" (I was surprised...she actually left it on for quite a while. It only ended up on the ground once!)

This little girl was so cute on her scooter! So many people here either ride bikes or scooters. This one was getting trained early! (Her mom came chasing right behind her.)

Beautiful rock in the middle of the park.

Another gorgeuos picture taken by Robert. This one may get framed and hung on the wall.

Mommy and Lily at the park...stopping for a diaper change!

Fish tank at the restaurant where we went for lunch today.

Looking For You

Looking For You....by Amy Grant

I've waited so long now

I've wanted forever to hold you

Now you're in my arms

And I'll never let you go

Whatever you do, you know

I'll be standing here beside you, baby

Just like a bird that's found its way back home

I finally found a place where I belong

I've been looking for you

Since I took my first breath

And I'll be loving you, baby

'Til I take my last

I'd like to know

What would I do without you in my life?

From the moment I saw you, I knew

I was looking for you

Can I wake up now?

Can I believe what I'm feeling?

Can I be sure I wasn't dreaming it all?

Baby, it's true you do

Something supernatural to me

Each night I pray to God that you'll be blessed

I need you so much, baby, I confess

I've been looking for you

Since I took my first breath

And I'll be loving you, baby

'Til I take my last

I'd like to know

What would I do without you in my life?

All along, I was waiting for you

From the moment I saw you, I knew

It had to be you

So the story goes

Together ever after

Another dream came true

And maybe when you least expect it

Love will come to you

I'd like to know

What would I do without you in my life?

All along, I was waiting for you

From the moment I saw you, I knew

It had to be you

Our FedEx Package Came!

Woooohoooo! I haven't been this excited to get a package since we received Lily's referral packet from our agency! Robert is so excited to have his own clothes and another pair of shoes. It's amazing how much you appreciate your own things when you've gone without them for so long...especially in a foreign country. Lily now has her own clothes to wear, toys to play with and blankets to sleep with. We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends who would go to the trouble to do this for us. We just finished filling out our claim forms for the airline. It's difficult trying to remember everything we packed, but we did the best we could and we'll see what happens. I haven't given up hope completely, but I'll be pretty surprised if we see those bags again. Since we got Lily, the frustration of that whole situation pretty much dissipated and we have been able to enjoy our daughter...every single minute of her. Here are a couple more pictures of her sleeping. I can't help it...she just looks so cute!

Lily with grandma...or "Lao Lao" in chinese. She doesn't much like going to other people, but we got this picture before the waterworks came!

We Have Poopies!

I never thought I'd be so excited to see poopies! We got her on Monday and by this morning (Thursday) there had been nothing. We were getting worried and finally asked Mary (our guide) this morning if we should do anything. She said not to worry and told us to give her a bottle at lunch and then hold her over the toilet and she will go. Well, I didn't want to hold her over the toilet. We want to get her used to using her diaper. So after we got home from the Pavilion (I'll post pictures later), I gave her her lunch, went to change her diaper and SURPRISE! We all started clapping! I'm sure that's the only time we will clap for that. I sure feel relieved, and I'm sure Lily does too. (I didn't take any pictures of it though...I'm not THAT sentimental!)

The Most Beautiful Face...

More Pictures!

Today we went to an old Chinese village about an hour and a half outside of Nanchang. It was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on. Robert comented that it reminded him of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland! It was so interesting walking through these streets (if you could call them that) made of stone, and homes that were hundreds of years old. And even funnier was walking by one families home who had their door open, and they were in there watching TV! Most of the families that live there are rice farmers. They are extremely poor and I'm quite sure Lily was born in a place just like that. The people were very friendly and came outside to watch us all. They were all smiling and waved to us as we passed by. As we passed each home, most people were inside playing cards and we saw a few people basket weaving. We were there for about an hour and saw lots of little boys playing around...but only 1 little girl.


This home is over 400 years old. It was huge...there were many rooms before we got to this one and many more on either side. It belonged to a very prosperous family back then...until China's new government took over and reclaimed all of the land.



Me and Lily on the day she was officially ours.
Our first "official" family photo.
Mommy and Lily walking in the rain.
A family at home in the village we visited.
One happy baby. She is always happiest when she is eating!

Sleeping angel. She looks so tall in this picture.

Lily-Day 1

Well, we have had Lily for about 24 hours now and I still can't believe it! She has been pretty easy going so far. She has attached mostly to me. She doesn't like being handed off. When I give her to Robert she immediately starts crying and follows me everywhere with her eyes. Usually she'll calm down after a little bit. She is very good at entertaining herself. She'll lay or sit there and just make the cutest little baby noises. I love it! She can sit up by herself but needs a little work on her neck muscles. She can hold her head up, but she ends up looking down a lot. She's not crawling yet and HATES being put on her stomach. We'll have to work on that! She is also very alert and observant which is very good. But we are doing well and keeping busy. We had three appointments today. The first one at the same office where we got Lily yesterday to finalize the adoption. She is now officialy ours according to China! After that we had to go to a notary office for another interview. Then to the police station because they want to video the babies. Don't ask me why. I just do what they tell me! After that we went to Wal-Mart to get stuff for the babies. We got some smaller diapers. We brought size 3's with us, but she is really a size 2. The clothes we had packed were all 12 months and up. But since the airline lost her suitcase I borrowed a couple of 12 month size outfits from one of the families here and she is practically swimming in them. She is much skinnier than she looks in her referral pictures! Anyway, we got a few outfits to hold us over until our FedEx package arrives on Thursday. We also bought some cold medicine as she has a terrible runny nose and is coughing quite a bit. We also had to get some medicine for heat rash. Several of the babies in our group have that. So that's the latest from China. We'll have more pictures to post soon. We're going on a sightseeing tour tomorrow to an old part of Nanchang. The village is over 400 years old and has no modern amenities. We are going to get to meet one of the families that live there as well. After that we will have lunch at a restaurant there to experience the "local flavor". (!?!?!?!?) I'll be bringing some extra power bars with me tomorrow!

UPDATE: The "local flavor" today ended up being the best food we've had so far! I was very relieved!

Gotcha!

SHE'S HERE! I can't believe it! I was so nervous when we were on that bus going to the Civil Affairs Office. I had no idea what to expect...so many questions running through my mind. Will I be a good mom? Will I know what to do when she cries? What will I feed her? Will I know what to do when she's sick? Then I saw that face...in a hot, muggy room filled with anxious and nervous parents. Some babies were crying, some were quiet. They called her name and our number...we were next. They checked our passports and a man handed her to me...my daughter. She is real...not a dream! All of my fear, nervousness and anxiety were all gone...I was lost in the beautiful eyes of my child and nothing else mattered anymore. We are a family...created by the miracle of adoption. I never would have dreamed this was the plan God had in store for us. We are so grateful to Him for blessing us this way and giving us dreams we never knew we had.

Here are our first pictures as a family. Now I am going to go watch my daughter sleep...


Mommy and Lily


Daddy and Lily


Our first family photo!


Lily's first bottle from mommy.


The beautiful smile we've been waiting so long to see.

One Hour to Lily!

It's now 3:00 in he afternoon in Nanchang. In 45 minutes all of the families will meet in the lobby and head to the Civil Affairs office to meet our babies. I've got unbelievable butterflies! It's kind of like that feeling you get when you get on a roller coaster, start going up and hear the clink, clink, clink of the tracks and start to think, "What am I doing?" only 10 times worse. It's so hard to describe the excitement, fear, nervousness, anticipation we are feeling. So many emotions going on at the same time. Well, we've got a few things to do so this will be my last post before Lily. Please pray for us and for Lily as we begin this new chapter of our lives together!!