I got the hang of posting pictures!

So, I tried to post these from the day we got Lily forward, but they are backwards. But, finally there are a few pictures posted! YEAH! (Annie is not in this picture, but my niece Anne Hardin is with my girls.)

This is physical therapy Carley style!
Lily, stylin', beside a yummy, super-delicious plate of fried fish!

This was taken the day after we got home from China. Do you remember I mentioned that my mom had a gorgeous arrangement of lilies to welcome Lily? Here they are. (Check out the difference in Lily's tan from this picture and the previous one! She tans like her mother -HA!)

This is Lily the day we got her! My how a few months can bring rapid changes!

I'll try to post a few more later this week. We went to a family reunion today, and it along with my week exhausted me. I slept the hour and 15 minutes home, and then I came inside the house and slept another hour and a half. Praise the Lord. I think I'll pop a tylenol PM soon.

Out of the mouths of babes...

There have been a few funny sayings from Annie since we've been home with Lily, and I forget to post them in my last writing.

After we got home from our UAB appointment, we walked in the door, where Annie rushed to meet us and said, "Does she walk like us now?" Then, when she saw Lily still walking with her scissor-gait, she disdainly said, "How come she still doesn't walk like us?"

This same conversation occurred after I had taken Lily up to Oak Grove School for a quick evaluation by Special Services.

And yesterday, when we were getting ready for church, Lily and Annie were in the bathroom while I was putting on my make-up, etc. Lily began exploring my vanity drawer and was asking, "What's this?" about items in there. She asked about my lotion, chap stick...and she would say, "Schmells good." Then she smelled my fragrance free face lotion and said, "Schmells good." I told her it didn't smell. Annie, innocently said, "Maybe flat noses can smell it." (I hope this doesn't offend anyone - remember Annie is 4! At this house, that's funny.)

Lily Update

Today was an absolutely wonderful day! I say that because I got a(VERY much needed!) three-hour break from my role as "Mama." I absoluely love being a mom, and I love home-schooling my kids, and I wouldn't trade either, but those roles require a great deal of sacrifice. With five kids, the house is seldom quiet, and often it is noisy with a cacophony of kids calling, "MAMA!" When we began home-schooling, I gave up a lot of time that I could have been alone. Today, I took off for 3 hours and enjoyed a leisurely shopping trip to one of my favorite stores, TJ Maxx, swung by Marble Slab and indulged, and then went to my parents' house where it was really quiet and read my Bible. The afternoon was such a treat! (THANK YOU TIM!)

Enough about me right?!

Lily is doing great! She's learned the days of the week, working on the months of the year, the 7 continents, #'s 1-30 and counting by 10's, and trying to write her name. She's also learning phonograms (phonics cards) along with Molly Kate and Annie. She understands a good deal of English now, and we just wing it if there's something new. She still doesn't speak in sentences regularly, but she is putting more and more together as each week passes. Last night she said, "I can't see it," while trying to put her seat belt on in the dark. That might seem trivial, but 4 word sentences are a huge accomplishment in a foreign language!

Common phrases right now:

Mama, baf. (she LOVES the bath)
Mama, egg. (the child eats boiled eggs like they're M&M's- in a normal day, I limit her to 2-3)
Mama, schwimmin. (swimming:))
Mama, ANNIE (have I mentioned that Annie pesters Lily, and Lily is WAY too sensitive when it comes to Annie - However, this is getting better! YAY!)
What's that?
Mama, look.

I wish you could hear her say yes ma'am. It comes out, "Yesh mom." Too cute!

Lily usually wakes up around 7:15, and usually, I'm either just getting up, or just getting in from jogging about this time. Then, she often shadows me throughout the day - like a toddler would his/her mother - following her around the house no matter where she goes or what she's doing. I think this is probably a good thing, because it has to be good concerning the bonding thing. However, I'm thankful for the times she occupies herself playing with Annie and our next door neighbor, or even playing by herself too. She plays well, eats well, and sleeps well too! What a blessing!

Thankfully, Lily has taken to the American diet pretty well, and the ways I have adjusted our diet to satisfy her, have really been to our benefit. Lily would consume fruit from sun-up til sun-down if I let her. The reason I cannot let this happen all day is b/c it was causing wet beds at night, and I like my sleep too much to deal with wet beds when there is a solution. So, we are big fruit consumers until say 4-5 p.m., and then we switch to foods with less fluid content. On Wednesday I went to SAM'S and purchased 16 lbs of fruit, almost all of which is gone now. Today I purchased another 14 lbs. That's a lot of fruit! The other big item is eggs. I purchased 4 dozen today. Thank goodness they say it's the good cholesterol.

We took Lily to the University of Alabama International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham about 3 weeks after we arrived home. There we saw a pediatrician, a speech pathologist, a physical therapist, and a counselor. One of the things they told us to do, was to have Lily tested for parasites. We got a call Friday from the pediatrician that she tested positive for 2 parasites. Although this is pretty gross to me, I must admit I'm pleased to learn she has them for 2 reasons: 1. Parasites make the bathroom smell pretty wicked... 2. maybe Lily will put on some height and weight as she gets to keep all the nutrients she's eating for herself! (Lily is in the 3rd percentile in height and weight for her age. She hasn't gained any weight since being home, and she eats lots of food.

I'll try to get Tim to post a new picture or two tomorrow....

I think....my quiver is full??!

5 is a lot of kids.  Ok, so the Duggars wouldn't agree, but to this momma, it's a lot.  Not in a bad way, but I still sometimes find myself with 6 plates fixed, not 7.  You know when you have a baby, you ease into that extra plate.  It takes about a year before that child needs his/her own plate at the table.  Before that, it's just a bottle and an occasional jar of food.

 

Things are still going really well, and daily I think I see improvements.  God is so good.  Lily is adjusting amazingly well!  I know that I might be speaking early on in the game, but she seems happy, secure, playful, content, etc.  Are things perfect? No.  But they weren't perfect b/f we left for China either.  So, we work through those imperfections, and strive towards a goal of perfection.  Sounds easy, right?  HA!

 

Today two things that are on my mind - and they are related to one another.  First, parenting - the Biblical kind where you truly shepherd your children.  Two days ago, we were watching an old home movie, when Molly Kate was about 3.  For those of you who didn't spend much time around me when Molly Kate was age birth to about this age of 3, she was a TERROR!  She was cute as all get out, but the child made my skin crawl b/c of the way she could behave!!!  I have on film where she's throwing a tantrum, kicking the door of the bedroom she was in so hard it looks like it's about to break off the hinges, and screaming where the neighborhood could hear her!  So back to the video...I was filming MK outside at the end of our driveway playing in those cheap, plastic dress-up shoes.  She starts heading towards the road, and I precede to say the following, "Molly Kate, come back away from the road....Molly Kate!  Don't get in the road. ...Did you hear me?"  (DUH!! What was I thinking!)  "Molly Kate!  Do you need a spanking?  Molly Kate!  What did I say?!".....   UGH!  As we were watching this, I was in the kitchen cleaning, and I hollered out to Tim, "I'm thinking what you're thinking!" At times, I was such a terrible parent, and he would admit that he was too! 

 

Since that time, we have studied and learned the Biblical approach to parenting. (We've learned it, but we aren't always successful at applying it - we try..)  The book that helped us the most was a book by Reb Bradley titled, Child Training Tips.  (I know it should be underlined, but I haven't figured out how to underline on this laptop.)  Tim and I said if we ever teach a parenting class like Dr. Kent's at our church, we will have to show this video exert.  The incredible part is that as soon as we began implementing Biblical training and discipline into our home, we saw dramatic changes in ourselves and our children, and today, Molly Kate is probably our most consistent child at being obedient with a good attitude!  The goal of all training and discipline is not merely to have obedient children.  The goal is to train our children to love and obey us so that they will know how to love and obey God.  Even in those times when it is cross-cultural, hard, causes suffering, ...

 

The other thing on my mind, that is also very much related to parenting is from the scriptures we have been reading lately.  Tim and I are reading through the Bible in a chronological order.  Right now we are reading through the many kings of Jerusalem and Israel.  This is when the nation of Israel was divided.  As we read through, the scripture tells of many kings who did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and dispersed throughout these evil kings, there is an occasional king who did what was good in the eyes of the Lord.  It is always refreshing to hear how these kings followed the Lord - tearing out the asheroh poles, destroying alters that were for pagan sacrifices, cleaning and restoring the temple, etc.  This morning I read this, 2 Kings 23:25, "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did - with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses."  What saddens me is that almost all of these kings that follow the Lord are followed by their own sons who did evil. 

 

I don't want my children or generations after me to suffer because of evil in my life.  Tim and I don't have an asheroh pole in the backyard, and we haven't sacrificed any sons to pagan gods, but sometimes

I'm aware that we let other things in our lives take precedence over Spiritual training and discipleship in our home.  Our pastor recently did a sermon series titled "Idol Factory."  We are all guilty of having idols at times.  Right now I'm very aware of my responsibility to train the 5 daughters that God has blessed us with. 

 

Now, on to the lighter side of life...

 

Lily is now singing "Jesus loves me" and it is SO sweet.  Sometimes, Tim will play the piano for her, and she'll sit next to him and sing.  I recorded it a few days ago, and maybe I can get Tim to post it later on to the blog. We're still working on colors and shapes, and she's learning more new words daily.  I'm hoping to start Kindergarten with Molly Kate and her in a few weeks.  I think the Carley homeschool is going to resume around the 23rd - but I do have to get all my curriculum ordered.  Have I already mentioned home schooling as a prayer request?  This year I'll go from home schooling just Carrie Mac and Meg to schooling all 5.  (In the past, the little ones have attended a church preschool program.)  So please pray for us.  

 

She's sleeping very well now - she was waking someone up in the house every night just to tell that person that she needed to go to the bathroom.  She didn't need any help, she was simply waking someone up to tell them she needed to go.  That was a habit I tried REALLY hard to eradicate!  I take my sleep pretty seriously!  Thank goodness, my crazy charades game of telling her "do not wake up Carrie Mac, do not wake up Meg, do not wake up Molly Kate or Annie, and do not wake up Mom or Dad...Just go to the bathroom and go back to bed"  has finally worked.   Oh, to sleep through the night is a wonderful thing!!

 

At the moment, our biggest problem is probably the way Lily and Annie sometimes treat each other.  Sometimes, they are just not nice.  Some of that is normal - they are sisters now, but some of it is just ugly!  However, sometimes, they are playing beautifully together.  I think language will also make this relationship better.  Lily, although 6, acts and looks much more like a four-year-old.  We were really hoping she would be a great playmate for Molly Kate - who ALWAYS seems to be our child w/o a playmate, but that doesn't seem to be working out. 

 

Life right now seems to be returning to the chaos I call normal.  Since school hasn't started, we're trying to play games (Memory, Candy Land, etc.), swim, play with friends, etc.  Washing sheets was a big undertaking!  I'll have to admit that although mine and Tim's sheets always get washed on a weekly basis, the kids' sheets sometimes make the 2 week mark.  That's gross.  But like I said...5 is a lot.  And although people have kindly and graciously signed up to bring us meals (which has been such a blessing!!) I haven't found the list of people signing up to come and clean my house.  Maybe if we ever adopt a 6th, somebody will get a house-cleaning volunteer list going....Right now, on my computer in the bedroom, I've got a chore list going so I can hopefully successfully divide household chores/responsibilities among this 7 person household. 

 

I'll leave you with a funny story.   A few nights ago I was reading one of our last history chapters (from last year) to Carrie Mac and Meg, and Molly Kate had walked into Carrie Mac's room to join us.  She began looking around in Carrie Mac's room studying her stuff on dressers  and in her closet.  After I finished reading, she said to Carrie, "Carrie, I think you're the best sister I got.  You've got lots of neat stuff."  I guess when you have 4 sisters, you have to have some way to decide who's highest on the totem pole... (That was also a great opportunity for Biblical training.)

 

 

 

 

lily's progress

For those of you who are still following, I thought I'd spend just a minute (yes, this one will be much shorter than most) sharing Lily's updates. The biggest update is that each day now, we are seeing improvements in how Lily is responding to both the animals and Tim - Meg's prayer (and ours) is being answered. She seems to be letting Tim fill the role of Daddy, and his heart is melting. Yesterday, Tim gave her a makeover, and she LOVED it!!!! Tim and I both think the child pageant thing is pretty grotesque, but he turned Lily into a child diva, and you would have thought he'd just purchased her a candy store by the look on her face! (One expert in adoption bonding suggests that if a child is not bonding, do things that require some physical interaction that is welcomed by the child - this worked.) Tim got several big hugs and a gigantic grin. Lily is also now allowing Tim to hold her, kiss her, tuck her in at night, etc. Sweet. And, she's also warming up to Maggie, our aging dog, and Batsy, our cat. (They would probably prefer that she didn't bond with them, but it seems to be important to the girls that this bonding take place too.)

This child is a fast learner. She knows all our names, the names of our parents (Nana, Daddo, MaMaw and PaPaw), how to count to 10, apple, banana, uh-oh, bath, brush teeth, ...and she knows a lot of words when I say them, like, "Which one is the circle?" She can point it out, but if I had said, "What is this shape?" she might not have remembered the word "circle."

We are all enjoying being home SO much. I have only left the house 4 times since getting home Sunday evening. I've had one quick run to Wal-Mart, a trip to the dentist office w/ the whole family - Lily has 6 cavities-, my parents' house for swimming, which Lily loves, and a visit to Tim's parents' house this evening.

I had told a few friends my next blog entry was going to be titled "5 is a lot" but I didn't have the energy for that blog entry tonight. Maybe it'll come later.

Home Sweet Home

Friends, I cannot begin to express to you how WONDERFUL it is to be home!!! Our flight from Detroit to Hattiesburg was just ok - I was feeling pretty puny by this time, and we had a mean stewardess (She loudly scolded Carrie Mac for getting up to use the restroom because the seatbelt light was still on - poor CM was humiliated and exhausted by this point in the trip!) However, landing in Jackson was fabulous. I practically ran through the airport with Lily in the stroller trying to get to Molly Kate, Annie, my parents and Tim's parents. I was elated to see them!!! Thankfully the feeling was mutual, and they were all just as excited to see all of us too. Lily recognized our parents from Skype and from pictures that I had sent to her about a month ago in a care package, and she seemed happy to meet more of her new family.

My parents were able to rent a 12-passenger van for the day, which was also a big blessing because we were all able to ride home together. When we arrived home, my sweet friend JJ had arranged for a "welcome home" gathering of some friends and family. It was perfect! My mom and I talked about how neat this was not only for Tim and me, but also for our girls to see the body of believers rejoicing with us! Everyone visited about 20-30 minutes, and then they all went home. When I walked inside, I got to enjoy my home decorated with these adorable Chinese lanterns and a beautiful boquet of lilies - compliments of my mom. Those of you who know her, know that this is SO like my mom. She really is blessed with the gift of giving/hospitality! I love my lilies. They smell good, look beautiful, and I've been wanting some beautiful flowers since Mother's Day - all of you who get to see Tim will have to ask him about the "flowers" he got me!!

Sunday night we ended up having cereal, some goods that my next door neighbor grilled for us - sausage and bacon wrapped chicken, etc., did some unpacking, laundry, baths, etc. (Molly Kate, Annie and Lily were cute in the tub. I wish I didn't think they were too old to take pictures of in the tub, cause it was cute. By the way, Lily LOVES the bathtub!) We got all the kids to bed around 9:00 p.m., and Tim and I followed a couple of hours later. I did get 2 suitcases unpacked that night and 3 loads of laundry done, which was also great. (I know I'm boring you with details here, but it's therapeutic to relive that accomplishment.)

Praise God we all slept well. Lily is a great little sleeper. From what I have read, often times, sleep can be one of the biggest issues with adopted kids, and we are very thankful this doesn't seem to be a problem with her. I haven't had to get up with her at all yet.

Yesterday, we all seemed to wake up around 7:00 a.m., and we had a lazy morning. Tim ran up to Corner Market for eggs, bacon, and blueberry muffins, and we had a great family b'fast. It was so nice to have my whole family around one table. Lily didn't eat much, but maybe that's because we didn't to pull out the noodles and seaweed! Most of yesterday, Lily was entertained by her sisters and our neighbors. We have lots of little girls in the neighborhood, and she was a big hit! We also watched a good bit of TV - America's Funnies Home Videos (you don't have to understand English to think that stuff is funny) and Kit Kitteridge. I finished unpacking us and doing the laundry, and Tim took care of the yard (I know our neighbors are thankful). The day ended with a delicious meal (care of Stephanie Weathers and Nancy Shows) and one more episode of AFV - Lily fell asleep in my arms.

The great news is that Lily seems to really like home and really like Annie and Molly Kate. The not as great news is that she still is doing 180's with Tim - liking him one moment and then pushing him away the next, and she's not so sure about our cat and dog. With the pets, it's like she likes them from a distance, but we've even seen improvement over the last 24 hours. Meg prayed yesterday at lunch, and it was too cute. She prayed, "please help Lily to bond with our animals and Dad." Tim and I got a laugh out of that one.

Jet lag hit us last night. Tim, Carrie Mac, and I were awake at 2:00 a.m., and Meg did some sleep walking last night. Thankfully, we all went back to sleep, but the sleep was kind of restless for Tim and me. I think we'll probably enjoy a Tylenol PM tonight.

Tim's done some research online this morning, and the "doctor" has diagnosed Lily with scissor-gait CP. Sometime today we're calling UAB International Adoption Clinic to schedule an appointment there for Lily. They'll access her physically, mentally, emotionally, etc., and they'll provide recommendations for treatments, etc.

One of Lily's favorite things in our house is our piano. I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that her fine motor skills are fabulous, so maybe we have a piano prodigy in the making. I'm sure she will take lessons - after we've mastered English.

Our biggest prayer request is for bonding for Lily and Tim. We have so many praises - we had safe travel, Lily is healthy, she has bonded with me, we're home!!! we got to sit together on the plane, we have wonderful family and friends!!!, all our girls seem to be adjusting well with this change...and I know I'm neglecting to mention some.

Thanks for praying!

Arriving Home

the flight

Love, joy, peace, PATIENCE....

Getting to the airport went smoothly.  After we went through all the check in, security, and finally made it to the gate, Tim went to purchase breakfast for us.  He comes back with a drink for everyone.  Lily is not the most graceful child when it comes to drinking.  Quite a few times, we have experienced little spills, so I brought along an empty water bottle so we could pour her just a little.  She wanted the whole bottle of fanta, and Tim said to give it to her.  After about 3 sips, I stand dumb-struck as I watch her holding the bottle sideways totally ignorant of the fact that Fanta is literally pouring out of her bottle onto our carry-on suitcase, two chairs, and the floor.  That was the end of the Fanta.  Then, over the loudspeaker, they announce that you cannot carry on liquids that have been purchased since going through the security.  So, Tim has just come back with 6 drinks for the five of us, Lily spills half of hers, and now we are supposed to throw away the remaining ones.  Not good!  (mind you these weren't 50 cent cokes and waters - you know the mark-up in the airport!)  Oh well, right?  If that's as bad as it gets......

 

Right before we get on the airplane, I'm a good mom, and I remind all the girls it's time to go to the bathroom.  Successful trip.  Everyone goes.  I'm feeling good.  It's gonna be a good day.

About 15 minutes after sitting on the plane, Lily says, "Show pee in."  If you remember from an earlier blog I told you that's what Lily says when she needs to go to the restroom.  I told her we have to wait until the seatbelt sign went off.  As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, I took Lily.  And then, I took her again.  And then, I took her again.  Then it was time for the snack lunch and drink.  This drink also got spilled.  Rice was all over her, the floor, etc.  And then, we also had to go back to the bathroom.  At this point, PATIENCE was being prayed for.  And, drugs were coming out.  I gave Tim a Benadryl with instructions to pour some of the contents into her little bit of sprite leftover.  Unfortunately, she could taste the med., so she wasn't to keen on drinking it, but we got a little down the sweet angel, and about 30 -45 minutes later, she slept.  Not long, but it was sleep all the same.  Can you guess what she wanted to do when she woke up?  You guessed it.  Thankfully the planes have western potties and not squatties, available toilet paper, and soap.  (things you don't find in China)

 

After that, thankfully potty visits slowed down, and overall, the flight was ok.  It did get VERY turbulent at one point, and that was a little unnerving to me, but Lily was boasting her ear to ear grin.  I guess she didn't mind the trays sliding back and forth and the sloshing cups, etc.  After 14 long hours, we finally made it.  None of us slept much on the flight, and I think the fatigue wore hard on Carrie Mac and Meg.  Meg started to get sick but was able to ward it off while we waited in the customs line, and then Carrie Mac did get sick right after that, but she was able to make it to a restroom.  Now we are able to take off in Detroit headed to Jackson.

 

 

 

almost home

We're in Hong Kong!  In less than 24 hours, we'll be in the air headed home, and we can't wait.  However, we slept well last night in nice accommodations, and we're looking forward to our day here.  Our plans right now are to go to the Victoria Peak.  We'll take a cable car up this mountain, and then hopefully we'll go to the Ripley's Believe it or Not auditorium.  There are also several restaurants up there, so that's probably where we'll have lunch too.  Then maybe back to the hotel for packing/swimming, and then sleep and fly home.

 

Thursday we spent a little time shopping for our souvenirs, and then we spent the afternoon getting to and from the U.S. Consulate office for the swearing of an oath.  This was kind of neat.  There were 2 shuttle buses full of families adopting that were taken to this office.  We each waited for our child's name to be called, and after about 40 families had received their paperwork, a lady at that office led us in a group oath.  She shared that there are approx. 9000 international adoptions each year, and about 3000 of those are China children.  Almost everyone we met here was adopting a special needs child.  It's really kind of neat to see all the families with all the different children and their needs.  That night we had dinner with one of the other Faith families.  Tim and Katie are similar to us in that they have 4 biological children, and they were doing their first adoption, and they are believers.  It was so nice to have dinner with them.

 

The hardest thing I have seen here with the adoption process is how many of these families are not Christians.  I guess I had on my rose colored glasses and thought that most of the families that would spend the time, money, etc to travel across the country for a special needs orphan would be Christians.  Not so.  We did meet quite a few that were, but there were also plenty that were not.  There is a man that owns a shop in the area, and he is a Christian.  As a free gift, he'll right your adopted child's name in Chinese and tell the meaning - it's really pretty.  While we were in there a lady asked him if he would be willing to do her other son's name -Jacob.  He smiled and said "good name, Biblical."  She kind of laughed and said that actually she was Buddhist.  Broke my heart.  I was near her little adopted girl at one point in the store, so I placed my hand on her and silently prayed that God would put her places with Christian influence.  Later this same woman tried to haggle on prices with the owner and then we think she lied to him saying she had run out of money, and asked if he would come down on his prices any more.  (He had already come off some for her.)  Tim offered to pay the difference, but she wouldn't take the money.  Then she walked out of the store and returned quickly with a 100 RMB bill.  We think she had the money, and she was just trying her hardest to get a lower price.  We also spent a good bit of time with a lady who prayed to her deceased mother.  The crazy part is that this woman was very likeable.  She had a big heart for orphans.  She and her husband have 3 biological children and 3 adopted, special needs children.  We need to be praying for orphans and for Christian families for these orphans.

 

Yesterday we spent our morning getting ready.  The two big girls and I ran out for 2 more things we wanted to purchase, and to pick up some food for our journey to Hong Kong.  When we got back, Lily was red-faced with tears.  Tim said she had cried big for about 20 minutes, and then she just hid herself in the bathroom.  She wasn't treating him very nicely, and it was killing him.  As long as I'm around though, she seems to be fine with him.  We all know that having Molly Kate and Annie around will help her bond with Tim too.  Plus, Chinese men have little if any facial hair, and several people have said his beard is probably a little frightening to her.  Who knows? 

 

I wish I had a little more time to blog this morning, but it's 10:30 a.m. here, and we still haven't had b'fast, so I'll blog later.  Pray for safe travel, seats together on the plane, and keep praying for bonding. 

 

 

Time in Guanzhou

I'll start with something funny.  Lily had diarrhea the night before last, and when Tim talked to our guide here, Cordelia, she asked if Lily was tucked in well.  She said it might be that Lily got cold air in through her belly button!  I'm being serious!!  So, last night we made sure to tuck that child in really well.  Tim said he might try to patent the belly-button warmer.  Do you think Patagonia or North Face would be interested?  They are really funny about staying warm here.  They think it is healthy to be warm-hot. 

 

Cordelia is great.  She's really sweet and very organized which is highly appreciated by me.  Tim's pretty good with the go with the flow, but I really like to know times, details, etc, and Cordelia has provided that very well.  When she met us at the airport, she gave us a sheet with our weekly plans, times, and all that we would need at each meeting.  She's also just sweet.  It's a pleasant change from Hangzhou. 

She is not a believer, but she says that she respects all religions.  We have not had much time with her one on one.  There are four Faith International families here now, so we have been in a larger group, usually with 2 of these families.

 

I know I've already told you that I like our room, but I just have to say, when you're living out of suitcases, space and cleanliness can make a HUGE difference, and the Japanese suite is the way to go at the Victory Hotel in Hangzhou!  Before coming to China, I tried to do some hotel research online, and that's how I picked this hotel out of my choice b/t this one and the White Swan.  I did remember seeing that one of the hotels I researched had a sketchy salon - that really it was more of a brothel, and I think this hotel might be the one.  Needless to say, we're not getting massages, although Tim said the other night when he crossed the street to the 7-11 he had several offers of "massage by pretty girl."  (There is an exterior entrance and an interior entrance to the hotel salon/spa.)  I'm telling you it is a different world.  I know it happens in the states, but not openly and actively quite like it does here.

 

Our past couple of days have been really nice.  The family we spent time with in Hangzhou met up with us Monday.  We went to the antique market which wasn't great, but the rest of the day was great.  They can speak Mandarin, so they were able to take us to a great Chinese restaurant here and order.  Luca asked for a private dining room which required that you spend at least $100 US dollars.  We had 9 people b/t the 2 families, so this wasn't asking too much.  We had this great private room, and the kids could run around a little, and we had way too much food and a huge variety...  Meg tried pigeon head - you don't really eat the head, but the head is still attached, and you eat the meat that is around the neck.  That is probably the craziest food eaten here.  (I hope!)  We had broccoli, scallops, fried noodles and rice, pork, spare ribs (they didn't look like ours),  sticky rice and meat wrapped in lotus leaves, wontons, spring rolls, dim sum, etc.  I probably only named 1/2 of what was served.  It was lots of fun.  Then we went back to their hotel and let the kids swim together.  They are staying at a really swanky hotel called the Garden Hotel.  The spa there was SO nice, but they are paying about twice as much as we are, and they are a cab drive away from all the stuff around here, and, we got to see their room and it's really not much nicer than what we are in.  After our swim, we took a cab back here and met the Nashville family for dinner at the Thai restaurant, Cow and Bridge.  The food was not my favorite, but the conversation was a blessing!  That made it sound like we had theological conversation, when really we talked about bluegrass music, Allison Krauss, Franklin, TN, Ole Miss and State...and it was so much fun!  I needed some southern talk!  Lots of people here are from NY, Chicago, Oregon, Washington, etc.  I got some ya'll talk!

 

Tuesday we met our guide and 2 of the other Faith Families and went to Safari Park.  IT WAS INCREDIBLE!  The only thing that kept is from being a perfect day was the heat.  Probably around 95 degrees, humid, and very little was air conditioned.  In spite of the heat, it was great!  We rode about a 20-30 minute safari and saw elephants, tigers, emus, bears, lions, all sorts of deer, peacocks, swans, and other animals.  They weren't separated from us by any barrier, and while we're watching, trainers are out feeding them, so the animals were up and active.  Really, it was fascinating.  Then you walk through other areas like a zoo.  The girls got to feed giraffes and elephants.  We all touched an elephant and had our picture taken with it.  They held a baby white tiger.  There was an animal nursery where we saw baby monkeys, tigers, bears, goats, etc.  We saw baby tigers being fed with a bottle.  We saw Koala bears, Panda bears, etc.  And, I bet we only did about 1/2 or less.  If we hadn't been with the group, I know we could have spent more time here.  There was a little amusement area with a carousel and other rides. And you could ride on an elephant.  I know our girls would have loved all of that, but I guess our guide didn't want to include that.  That was probably our favorite day in China!

 

Wednesday was our first day to get to sleep in.  We do have to get up by about 8:30 to make it to breakfast though.  Yesterday we had to stay in our room from 10:15-12:15 (morning) while Cordelia met with the consulate.  Then we got out, had lunch and shopped around here.  We had group pictures last night and a group dinner.  I was cranky yesterday b/c we had agreed that the group dinner would be at Lucy's, but Cordelia said she had to do at it the Thai place due to seating.  We ended up at this long table.  I was at the very end and only spoke to my family b/c I was too far to visit w/ anyone else.  I was not a happy camper.  I tried to remind myself that the Bible says to do everything without grumbling or complaining.  It's getting hard.  I'm really ready to go home, and I'm really missing MK and Annie.  Soon.  Soon.  Soon.  (And I won't have to do Thai anymore.  Did I mention that at the Thai restaurant you have to buy your napkins and they aren't even really napkins?  you get tissues!  All of you who know how I am frugal will enjoy this - I took my roll of toilet paper with us last night!  Radical.)

 

Today we have a consulate meeting at 2:15 p.m.  We're about to get out and do a little more shopping.  It's really more of looking.  We've made a few purchases, but not many.  Even though things are pretty cheap here, a lot of it is made cheaply, and a lot of it is stuff I would throw out in another 6 months to a year.  I just did major cleaning/nesting b/f we left, and I don't want to bring home a bunch of unnecessary stuff.  Trying to live "Radical."

 

Right now, Lily is beside the couch (her bed here) playing with her American girl doll.  It's so cute!  She just caught me staring at her and burst into her mile-wide grin!  It's so cute!!  I can't wait to see Annie, Molly Kate and her together!  I think we are going to have lots of tea parties, dress-up, etc.  Poor Tim in a few years!!  Maybe you should all just keep him on a permanent prayer list.  Do you think Temple would add him to the prayer list for living with 5 girls, his wife, a female dog and cat?

 

Oh, I have to tell you that she is calling me "mama" now.  Did I already blog that?  It's so hard to remember.

 

Thanks for your prayers.  We love you.  MM

Hello From China

The Ramblings of a Mississippi Girl in Guangzhou

Time to blog and Skype here are scarce, and it seems when we do have some time, we are usually exhausted or in a hurry b/c we are supposed to be somewhere in 5 minutes...

I thought I should take some time this morning though to describe Lily to you.

 

First of all, she is absolutely beautiful!  I mean it.  I know we are all like crows, and we all think our babies are the blackest, but our Lily is beautiful.  She's like a Chinese cherub.  I say that because she is tiny, (about the same height and size of Annie) but her cheeks are magnificently round.  When she smiles, her whole face smiles.  It's heart-warming.  I feel corny using these terms, but that's really how I feel when I look at her.  She is usually pretty easy to entertain, and she's been a real trooper on this trip.  There's a lot of moving about, long waits - especially for kids, etc.  She is beginning to repeat words like our names, one, two, three, baby, but her favorite English phrase that she repeats on her own and often is "uh-oh."  Whenever she would drop something accidently or trip, etc., I would say it, and she picked it up fast.  She's also had lots of opportunities to hear it, because it is not uncommon for her to drop something or trip.  Her hand coordination is spectacular.  When she drops things, it is only because she is 5 and we have been in some kind of moving transportation.  The tripping on the other hand is directly due to CP.  Tim and I are very confident that physical therapy will do her a tremendous amount of good.  And really, if she never had physical therapy, she would be fine.  She functions very well - walks, runs, does stairs, etc.  Personality wise, she is sweet, but she also has a mind of her own.  I wish I could show you how she tells us no.  She quickly closes her eyes and gives a short, quick nod no with a very serious face.  It's funny to see her do it.  (Unless she is saying "No, I won't obey you.")  Usually the no is in response to "Do you want some water?"  etc.   She loves playing.  All of you who know Tim know he really wants Lily to be another daddy's girl, so he's worked really hard to win her over.  It hasn't happened yet, but she's warming up.  We both agree that at this point, it's more of an "I really like to play with you, but I'm not sure about you being my Dad" kind of warming up.  But, there is progress.

 

Now I'll try to catch you up on us.  We took the train back to Hangzhou.  The train this time was just ok.  There were many more stops, we were on some of the older rails, and the kids were more hyper, which all adds up to a trip that took longer and certainly felt longer.  The train ride was again with Claire and Luca, Alessia (their 9-year old daughter who my girls really like), and their new son ToTo - who Lily really likes.  Then we returned to our hotels pretty late and crashed.  The next morning, we met Leo at 9:30 a.m. and went to WuZhen.  This town was about an hour and a half away, but it came highly recommended.  It turned out to be a really good day.  The town is like an old Chinese village caught in time.  Kind of like Williamsburg meets Venice meets China.  The architecture is fascinating and the people are too.  I should point out why I said Williamsburg and Venice.  It is like the old life here, but it's only half re-enacting.  My understanding is, the people who live here are paid a percentage of the profits (you have to purchase a ticket to go in), but they really do live in the homes, and live the old way (unlike the employees of Williamsburg), and the town is built on canals.  There are several museums in the town as well.  The hardest parts of this day were the heat and the getting around with Lily.  The place was definitely not wheelchair, or in our case, stroller accessible.  So we went from strolling to carrying, to her walking...Thankfully, she never complained.  (you can see this place online- just Google wuzhen).  We got to see how they made ale, calico fabrics that they had made, antique beds with incredible carvings, clothes from of old, and more.  Our day there ended with a boat ride back to the entrance, and it was a pleasant way to end our time there.

We got back to our hotel around 4 and did an early dinner.  We ate at a restaurant called "The Grandmas."  It's a chain here, and it was recommended by our guide.  In niceness and cleanliness, think P. F. Changs.  (However, it is way more Chinese here - you can order all sorts of animal insides or get the whole animal served on a plate - like fish.)  We ordered an eggplant dish, two bowls of noodles, a dish with asparagus and bamboo shoots, fried pork wontons, cauliflower with peppers and pork, and we each ordered a beverage.  (Over here it's served family style, so each dish fed several servings.)  Our meal was 83 RMB - about $11-12 U.S. dollars.  Not everything has been that inexpensive.  Our dinner in the hotel was quite pricey.  I guess it all balances out here.

 

I'm going to change the subject here and share our ailments.  On Monday, at the CAB, I had to take Lily to the restrooms - which I think I mentioned in my latest post:  mostly squatties, some real potties, take your own paper, soap is rarely available, and usually very dirty.  Lots and lots and lots of floors here, including sidewalks even, are tile or granite like materials.  As we walked out of the restroom, which was not clean, so my flip flops had wet bottoms, and I'm carrying Lily, I slipped on the floor, and I landed hard on my rear.  Maybe my tail bone is broken.  It's still hurting.  Lily thought the fall was funny.  Tim on the other hand began taking antibiotics yesterday.  The day before (our wuzhen trip) he took 2 Lomotil and 2 Imodium at one time.  You can figure out his ailment.  I know I'm sharing too much, but you all who know Tim know that he would be sharing it with you also in a very animated story with WAY too many details!  Lily and Tim can mess up a bathroom right now.  The odor from that child is not as sweet as her smile.  Thankfully, she smiles more than poops right now.

 

Yesterday we met Leo at 9:30 a.m. for our tour of West Lake.  It's beautiful.  This is also something you can Google and see.  We had a boat ride here, and thankfully it was overcast and sprinkling some, because this cut down on the heat a lot.  It was still hot and packed with people, but not miserably hot.  At our hotel, the view at breakfast of West Lake was great.  One day, we purposely planned to have 1 hour at breakfast just so we could relax, enjoy the food and the view.  I wish the weather had been less rainy the week we were there, because I think we might have spent a little more time at West Lake.  Two of the evenings/afternoons when we had a little free time, it was raining pretty hard.  After our West Lake tour/boat ride, we went back to the hotel, packed up, took a quick taxi to Papa John's and enjoyed REALLY good pizza.  Just like home.  We've had a good little mixture of Chinese and pseudo-American food.  Some mornings I'm even choosing the fried rice at breakfast, along with my American choices.

 

We left the hotel at 2 p.m., picked up Claire and Luca at their hotel at 3 p.m., picked up Lily and Toto's passports, and then straight to the airport - 3 hours early.  We boarded our very turbulent flight at around 7 and landed around 9 p.m.  Not a good flight, worst seats on the plane, we didn't get to all sit together, but Lily flew like a champion.  She wasn't as easily entertained at first, but I was armed with play-dough, pipe cleaners, crayons, stickers, ...  (Just a tidbit for you.  I very thoroughly checked TSA -travel security something- before our flights to make sure nothing would be confiscated/thrown out.  I learned that you can now travel with a tool as long as it is 7 inches or shorter - screwdriver, hammer, whatever  BUT on this past domestic flight, I forgot to take Lily's 5 inch SAFETY scissors out of her backpack, and I had to throw them away!  So, next time you fly - take your screwdrivers and hammers for your kids to hit the fold out table top.  They can't take those away.  We also didn't make it to China with my aerosol can of Lysol.  I didn't remember seeing anything about not being able to check aerosol cans, so maybe someone in customs just wanted my Lysol.  I sure do wish I had it though.)

 

We checked into the Victory Hotel last night and finally got to bed around 11:30.  Too late a night for us.  Our room was ok.  It felt kind of dirty to me, and the shower didn't work right.  It kept cycling perfect, scalding, cold, cool, warm, again and again.  And our bed felt like a piece of plywood with a sheet on top.  Thankfully, we were tired enough to sleep in spite of this, and this morning we met another adoptive family that said they had a great room.  They are also in a suite like us, but they chose a Japanese suite - we had a western one.  We changed rooms this afternoon, and now I am a MUCH happier camper!  The mattress might be on the floor in here, but it's soft!  I know you don't care about our room, but it's the little things that bring such joy here!!

 

Today was Lily's medical check up.  She had ear, nose and throat checked, eyes, mobility, and then had 3 vaccinations and her tb test.  The child didn't flinch.  I was the one turning my head!  While in the examination office, we met a family from Nashville.  She heard me say something (or maybe it was Lily's smocked outfit and oversized hair bow that gave us away!), and in exaggerated southern draw, she said, "you must be from the south."  I responded in exaggeration, and we both had a good laugh.  As we were leaving, she was lying down sweating b/c she had just about passed out watching her new daughter get her shots.  I so sympathized!  When I got my tb test for our dossier, I turned white as a ghost and the nurse and Tim had to carry me to a room where I could lie down b/c it made me so sick.  I'm really hoping to meet up with them some time this week.  She's an Ole Miss grad, but she said her dad is a bulldog, so I guess we'll accept her.  She goes by Jukie - Judy Kate.  AND I LOVE IT!  I've been missing some south!

 

If I'm not mistaken, all Chinese adoptions by westerners end in Guangzhou.  So, there are lots of Caucasian families with precious Chinese children here.  It's a lot of fun to find out other families' stories. 

 

This afternoon, we walked around a little, ate lunch at Lucy's - the Western restaurant here, and went into a few shops.  Now we're back in the room resting.  Good day.  A few of the shop owners are Christians, and we are looking forward to going back to their shops.  One shop owner had a Chinese Bible and an NIV sitting out on his counter.  Tim enjoyed visiting with him for a few minutes. 

 

Lily is definitely warming up to us all more and more each day.  I don't know that this means it's all going to be roses from here, but for now I'll take it and be happy.  She called me "mama" today for the first time on her own.  She's letting Tim carry her some on his shoulders and smiles the whole time.  She's getting on Carrie and Meg's nerves sometimes, so I guess it's just like it should be.  (grin)

 

Tim just tried to tell her some music was beautiful - a word that sounds like pee-ow-yay (or something like that), but mistakenly, he was saying show(rhymes w/cow)-pee-in.  She was shaking her head no and he couldn't figure out why.  I had to remind him that that phrase means (excuse my crude, but this is what we've been told it translates to) "I need to pee."  We all just had a good laugh. 

 

I'm really missing my little ones, and I'm really ready to be home, but we're over half-way now.  If you've endured this whole blog, I should say thanks.  Really my life isn't that interesting, but I think it's a little therapeutic for me to sit here and type this, it's kind of my journal, and some of you might like some of my ramblings.  Thanks for your prayers.  Our family appreciates them.  This might seem like a puny request in the big scheme of life, but I would appreciate you all praying that we all get to sit together on the flights home.  Keep praying for bonding and wisdom as issues arise. 

Wenzhou

Here's something for you to have a  good laugh:  we don't know why, but it seems to be quite popular for the Chinese to wear eyeglass frames with no lenses!  It's hilarious.  Thankfully, the people are all staring at us, so I guess it's ok for us to stare back at them.  Tim commented, "for the Chinese to be so smart...."  really- it's peculiar  (grin)

 

So, I'll try to catch you up on everything.  We left our hotel yesterday around 8:30 headed back to the CAB (Chinese Affairs Bureau).  Leo, our guide, told us we would be going back to this office to do more paperwork.  We were prepared for this - a backpack of activities for the kids, and our back pack of documents, etc.  Leo failed to mention that we would have the official adoption ceremony, and guess what?  We had no cameras.  That's right.  Several of you know we purchased a fabulous new hd video camera for all these special moments in China, and yes, we have now missed the opportunity to have this monumental moment captured! 

 

Read on...It keeps getting better!

 

So next we go to the notary public office where we have to pay approx. $550 U.S. dollars - that's right - $550 for a stamp.  While waiting, our precious new daughter opens her little mouth and precedes to vomit all over herself.  (We should have gone less Western on the buffet.)  The people around us just look around as though nothing has happened.  Leo asks for something to help us clean her and the floor with.  I can see a lady in a hallway reach into a nasty sink and pull out a rag so trashy looking we probably wouldn't keep it as a rag in the states, and she's going to give that to me.  I'm like no way here.  Leo tells us we can go to the c-store next door and purchase something.  REALLY?  Come on.  For $550, I want a stamp and some paper towels.  Thankfully, someone got it.  We finally get the paper towels and I get Lily cleaned up a little bit.  I rolled her dress up and we finally got to leave there headed back to the hotel. 

The day before, Leo also told me that we would have time to pack for our overnight trip to Wenzhou.  Well, he underestimated.  We basically had about 45 minutes back at the hotel.  This might seem like plenty of time, but I had clean up my daughter, clean her clothes and shoes, pack the 5 of us in bags small enough that we could carry them on the train, and on top of that, Lily had her first emotional breakdown.  Her breakdown included a big cry.  I call my cries like this, the big, ugly cries.  You know the ones where you can't really quit, catch your breath, or make it look like you haven't been crying.  It was so sweet though too.  I know it had to be good for her.  When Molly Kate asked me on skype why Lily had cried, I tried to explain to her, that just like I had cried everyday for the three days before we left for China because I was going to miss her and Annie, our home, family and friends, Lily was probably crying for her own similar reasons.  I held her and sang "Jesus Loves Me"j over and over and over again. I'm sure it was good for her and it was sweet for me too.

After getting her calmed down, we got her changed, got us packed, and rushed out to meet Leo for our ride to the train station.  He told us we would be able to purchase KFC there for lunch.  We get there, and yes, as he said there is a KFC, but...the pictures don't look like ours, and the menu is in CHINESE!  So, we tell Leo we will need him to order for us, and he's like, "Don't you eat KFC at home?"  We don't order in a foreign language!  Thankfully, we got a bucket of chicken and a few sides which at this point we must carry it with us b/c we're running late to catch the train.  We snake our way through thousands of people (imagine nyc, new year's eve, multiplied to the nth degree) for a decent little hike - all the while I'm carrying Lily b/c although she does walk, her cp would slow us too much.  Finally, we make it to the train.  It pulled out about 3 minutes after we were seated.  Too close for my liking.  But, we made it. 

Now, the train was actually a real pleasure.  We were in first class, and the train was fast and relaxing (155 mph).  The kids watched movies, Tim and I visited and enjoyed the view.  The countryside was beautiful.  There were many farms along the way.  Rice farms, vineyards, etc.  I enjoyed seeing the people who live outside the large cities we have visited.  After our train ride we had about a one mile walk carrying all our luggage and our daughter (who still hasn't warmed up enough to Tim to let him carry her) to the waiting car.  We drive along this terrible, pot-hole filled "road"  for a while and then down other roads with some CRAZY driving for about 40 minutes.  The poverty we saw was remarkable.  It was very unlike the poverty I've seen before in Belize, and other pictures like Honduras, etc, b/c this poverty was in the city.  After this drive, we pull up to our hotel.  Amazing contradictions in China.  We were in a hotel last night, the Dynasty of Wenzhou, and it was certainly among the swankiest hotels I've ever stayed at.  The chandelier in the foyer cost more than most wealthy American homes.  A guy Tim met last night at dinner said it cost $400,000.  For a light!!!

Our stay last night was great.  We ate dinner in the hotel and it was very good food.  Tim tried shark-fin soup, eel, and a mystery shellfish.  We girls stuck to spaghetti, hamburger (which was served with an over-easy egg on top of the patty), and fried rice.  Have I mentioned the beds here in China?  Most rooms have either one king or two "twins."  Their twins are a little wider than ours, so we've been re-arranging the furniture by pushing these beds together.  In Hangzhou, we have a 3 bed bedroom.  We've pushed all three together and we sleep all 5, oldest to youngest in this make-shift super-king bed.  Lily probably thinks we're crazy!  Last night we had two twins and one roll away bed.  Tylenol PM is a blessing here.

 

Today has been nice.  We had breakfast at the hotel and it was good.  Cheerios aren't the same in China, but the ones I had this morning were exceptional.  Honestly we haven't had tons of Chinese food, but it has all been good.  We went to some official government building here in Wenzhou and applied for Lily's passport.  When we come home, she will come with a Chinese passport and an American visa.  We will be able to pick up her passport in Hangzhou on Friday.  After that, we had the option of travelling to the orphanage or back to the hotel to rest.  This was a very difficult decision.  I really badly wanted to go and see the orphanage, and I was told on a yahoo group b/f leaving the states that I would be told at the CAB back in Hangzhou that we would be  able to see the orphanage but not go in, and then when we get to Wenzhou, they would actually let us in to see a few rooms.  However, today in Wenzhou, one of the orphanage ladies told our translator twice we would only be able to see the office.  Something to do with Lily's age.  I don't know what to believe.  It wasn't an easy decision, but we decided not to go.  Leo, our translator seems to scare Lily a little bit too, and I just didn't have anyone to explain to her that we would not be leaving her there.  I don't know what her reaction would be, but the day was going so well, and I didn't want to upset her, especially if I was only going to be able to see the office.  I will have to go by the pictures of the orphanage I have seen posted on the yahoo group.  If we had had someone that Lily could have trusted to explain to her exactly what was going on, I think my decision would have been different.  Most of you know I received new pictures and some videos from a lady I met on the yahoo group when she travelled to Wenzhou in November, and I was going to try to do this for another family, and I'm saddened that I wasn't able to do this either. 

 

After that we went back to the hotel and skyped, rested, packed and ate a McD's picnic.  McD's is the same in China as it is in the states - if you don't check your carry out order, you might not have it all.  We were missing one cheeseburger and one coke.  Thankfully we believe in sharing.  Now we are on the train back to Hangzhou.  See what you get when I have too much down time? 

 

One more thing.  The potties.  Are you familiar with squatties?  Well, that is what the Chinese prefer.  Thankfully, most of the places we have been have both, but not all.  (All the hotels have a western potty, and it is listed as an amenity when you check out the hotels online.)  What if the Ritz Carlton began listing their porcelain thrones as an amenity?  Hah!  To go along with this interesting tidbit about China, I should also tell you that toilet paper is not provided.  I am embarrassed to admit that I am now stooping to stealing the toilet paper from the hotels we stay in. 

 

The best news of the day is that Lily is slowly warming up to Tim.  Thanks for prayers.  Continue praying for us b/c each day could and probably will present it's own new challenges.  

 

I am aware that this entry makes it pretty clear that Leo is not on top of everything, but that isn't completely his fault.  Our guide was supposed to be a lady named Sara.  However, we think Sara took the money that our agency paid her to guide us and probably paid Leo a portion of that, and she is just giving him directions.  Needless to say, Tim and I aren't really pleased with Sara, but Leo is trying.

He shared with us that he is an atheist and his wife is a Christian.   Earlier Tim and Leo had a brief discussion.  Leo is very intelligent and is an atheist because it seems most logical to him.  Tim put on his Christian apologist hat and answered Leo's questions but tried to steer the conversation toward the Gospel .   He seemed to be listening just to appease Tim, but you never know how God is working the little things in life together.  You can continue to pray for Charlotte and now Leo, too. 

 

Love you guys!  MM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

almost 24 hours later

Did you know blogger is censored in China? Along with facebook, twitter, itunes, and who knows what else... Thankful to be an American. I am emailing this to blogger, and then it gets posted. We cannot see our blog from here, and not being on facebook is so disappointing to Tim. The friends that you see using facebook from China have gotten around the censorship by using a Private Virtual Network. Interesting huh?

Yesterday at the Civil Affairs Bureau went well. Lily was happy to see us and was smiles throughout the morning. We had sent a care package about a month ago with pictures of us, our extended family, and our home and pets. She kept opening the album and pointing to us in the pictures and then pointing to each of us in the room. I am very pleased that she recognized us so well - it's probably kind of easy since we are white, red-headed, bearded, etc. Not something you see everyday in China. Everyone says Tim looks strong.

There were 4 children being adopted yesterday at this CAB office. We will ride the train to Wenzhou today w/ one of those families. They have an unfair advantage in that they are Americans born to Chinese parents, so they speak Mandarin. This doesn't mean that they can understand their son, Toto, but probably, he can understand them. The people of Wenzhou speak their own Chinese dialect, but everyone in China understands Mandarin (so we are told).

Today we go to the CAB for more paperwork I think, and then to Wenzhou to see Lily's orphanage. I am told one parent will be allowed inside, and we will be shown a few rooms. This train ride is 4 hours, and then tomorrow we will return to our hotel here in Hangzhou. I am glad we will be travelling with this other family. They seemed nice, and it will be enjoyable to have some American conversation on the trip.

Yesterday, after getting back to the hotel, we braved the rain and walked to McD's. It was great to have something that really tasted like home. Lily ate fries and sipped on a coke. It will be interesting to see what she chooses on the buffet this morning which offers "western" and chinese. After lunch we got back here and literally crashed! We were in the beds from around 3 -6:00p.m. Then we made ourselves get up and ended up having a picnic on the floor in our room. Too tired to get out. Lily is probably thinking crazy Americans.

Lily absolutely loves her dolls that we brought. She has a baby and a bottle, and she is very motherly with her. We also pulled out her American girl doll that my mom gave her at Christmas. Tim pulled that out to get her to play with it and him. Which leads me to the major prayer request of the day. She is not accepting Tim right now. We both know this could take time, but it is frustrating. She jerks away from his touch, hides under the covers if he passes by, etc. We both know that eventually this will change, but we both will be praying sooner rather than later. We are grateful to have Carrie and Meg with us since they are able to help entertain. They were invaluable yesterday at the CAB office when we were busy doing paperwork, etc. (I forgot to mention that when we asked if she had been around men the director shook her head yes and told our translator the doctor.) I asked a page full of questions, and then our translator told Tim we shouldn't believe too many of the answers. - not that the director was lying, but that she probably didn't give the primary care, so she probably didn't know some of the answers and just told me what I wanted to hear.

Lily's hand coordination is much better than we suspected, but her walking is worse than we suspected. (Even after seeing videos of her walking.) We are a little concerned about our stairs. We are also very grateful that we brought the umbrella stroller from home. It is definitely going to be needed.

Thank you all for your prayers. I really cannot express to you how much we covet these right now! As of today, we have 12 days left, and we are all very ready to be home.

I should mention that skype is wonderful and amazing, and I'm so thankful to be able to see and hear Molly Kate and Annie.

Here are some pictures!

this is the moment

It's 8:20 a.m. here, and we are supposed to meet our guide downstairs in about 10 minutes.  My stomach is kind of queasy feeling.  Tim asked me how I felt this morning, and the best way I can think to describe it is that I feel like it's Christmas morning and I have a huge final to take!  Nerves...

 

Please be praying for us and Lily. 

 

I'm so excited and so nervous. 

 

Hope the fireworks were fun at home.  I miss it.

Tomorrow's the big day!

Yesterday did prove to be a most exhausting but enjoyable day.  We began with  a tour of a government run jade factory.  It was most interesting to see how these skilled laborers carve the jade into amazing masterpieces.  Jade is considered very valuable here - something similar to diamonds in the U.S.  After our tour their, we continued on to the Great Wall of China!  Amazing!  It was about an hour and half drive from our hotel, but I'm so glad we did it.  The girls studied about it's construction last year in history, and it was so neat for us all to see this remarkable structure in person.  It was a very hot, very long walk up many, many, many, steep and uneven steps, but the girls and I quite satisfied with ourselves that we did it.  Tim quit about half-way up due to his uneasiness with heights.  After this trek, we went Friendship Market for lunch and shopping.  We got to see how the Chinese do Cloisonne. This is an intricate copper detail work.  Then we headed back to Beijing and we saw Olympic Park.  Do you remember the bird's nest where track and field competitions were held?  The architecture here is really something.  We ended the day with an acrobatics show (very much like Cirque du Solei) and dinner with some friends.  Get this...we ate at Peter's Tex Mex!  Burritos and soft shell tacos! 

 

Yesterday at lunch we had another really good sharing opportunity with our guide, Charlotte.  We were able to share with her the gospel and encourage her to read John.  She does own a Bible, but she said it was hard for her to understand.  Her English is really great, but she said reading comprehension in English was more difficult for her.  Today we left Charlotte because we have travelled to Hangzhou, Zheijiang, but I wrote her note once again encouraging her to read John and letting her know we will be praying for her.  

 

My eyes are drooping, but I must write that in less than 24 hours, we will have Lily!  At 8:30 a.m., we are being picked up to head to the Civil Affairs Bureau where we will meet.  I hope to update soon, but no promises.  We seem to be always busy or exhausted, but I'll do my best!

 

Happy 4th of July!  Being in China has made me very thankful to live in America! 

 

Next time I post, I'll be mom to 5!   love you guys!  MM 

Good Morning America

So it's 9:15 p.m. here, and we are about to crash.  Thankfully, today we did not suffer much jet lag, and we were able to sleep last night.  That is a praise.  Our travel was safe, but we are most thankful that it is over too!  Our seats on the long flight, Detroit to Shanghai, were considered the worst seats on the airplane according to the website "seat guru."  Nothing like sitting directly beside the lavoratories on a 16 hour flight.  And, we only had 3 seats together.  Tim sat alone about 2/3 of the trip, and then we switched.  We finally made it to Beijing and arrived at our hotel at 2:00 a.m., July 2nd. 

 

Our guide here in Beijing is named Charlotte.  Charlotte has been great.  She met us at the airport, got us settled, changed our tour time from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. so we could sleep, and guided us knowledgeably around the Forbidden City, a government run silk factory, and Tian'An Men Square today.  (And she ordered us lunch - so we knew what we were eating!)  It was a fascinating day. 

 

I'm pretty tired, so I know I'm leaving out many details.  One thing I really wanted to share with you though is that today we had the opportunity to share with Charlotte the gospel.  She asked about why we were adopting since we already have kids, which opened up how we are Christians and the Bible has a lot to say on caring for orphans.  Then we asked if she knew about the Bible.  She does know some about the Bible, but very little.  We are hoping and praying that our next day and half with her will bring more opportunity to share.  

 

Tomorrow is another very busy and exhausting day (the Great Wall, a jade factory, some park, an acrobatics show), but I think Sunday will be a little more restful.  I will try to update again soon. 

 

For those of you who would consider sacrificing time in prayer, I am including some specific prayer requests.

 

1. Pray that God would protect our travels in China, and home.

2. Pray that Chinese authorities that oversee our adoption will be kind and gracious toward us.

3. Pray that our interactions with Chinese guides will be God honoring as they watch our family for the next weeks. Specifically, ask God to tune them to the Gospel that we will have opportunity to share.

4. Pray that our new daughter's fear of our family is short-lived. We are taking our two oldest daughters, Carrie Mac and Meg. Lily has been in an orphanage for 3.5 years, since she was 18 months old. She will have never been in contact with, much less played with people that look like us. I can't imagine her initial fear when we "take" her.

5. Pray that I will bond very quickly with Lily, and that Lily will quickly begin to trust and look to me for comfort and having her needs met.

6. Pray that we learn quickly to communicate to Lily at a level sufficient to get her safely and comfortably home.

7. Pray that God would open the eyes of my two older daughters who are with us, to the needs, poverty, and desperation of the poor of this world. This will be their first look at the real world, outside the completely unrealistic and materialistic nation that we live in. Remember that if you can scrounge up $100 by the end of the week that you are wealthy, wealthy compared to 98% of the worlds population.

8. Pray for our two younger girls and the family caring for our home while we are gone to find that the time we are gone passes quickly.

Thank you,

 

zaijian=Goodbye, MM 

Where in the world are tim and mm?

Tell me you all had parents or teachers that encouraged you to play the game, "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?" I know I might have just misspelled that name, but in spite of that, some of you are smiling right now b/c you used to play that game too.

Here's where we will be. We will fly into Beijing, arriving on the 2nd. We'll stay there until the 4th when we fly to the Zhejiang provincial city of Hangzhou. The 5th will be our "gotcha day" - the day we adopt Lily! On the sixth, we'll travel by train (about 4 hours) to Lily's city of Wenzhou (also in Zhejiang Province), see the orphanage, hopefully go to lunch with the director, and I guess see a little of her city. Then we go back to Hangzhou until the 10th. On the 10th we fly to Guangzhou, Guandong for one week. This is where we will have her medical evaluation and wait on her passport among other things. I believe we will have some down time here too. It's interesting to note that ALL Chinese adoptions end in Guangzhou, so parts of this city are catered to adopting families. We are told to eat at Lucy's - a western style diner. On the 16th we'll travel to Hong Kong and then on the 18th, It's home sweet home.

the quiver

Does your quiver look like this?

Or this??

Psalm 127:3-4 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.



Carrie Mac and Meg both looked at the blog title and were like, "What?" So, we've just had a good, brief, home-school, Bible talk.

Yes, I know we don't have sons, but usually when the Bible talks about the human race, the term men/sons refers to all people. And where would these sons be if it weren't for the females? And Tim might not be youthful, but the college kids think he's pretty cool!

Over a decade ago, a neighbor and I were visiting and she mentioned her brother's desire to have many children based on this verse. (Many meant 5 for them I think.) I don't know why I remember that conversation, but it has always stuck with me. And now, I am about to read a recommended book titled, One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children to Change the World by Julie Ferwerda. I'm so excited about reading this - good literature for an upcoming LONG flight! The book's introduction says, "Through role modeling, training, and encouragement, they (our children) can become part of a vision to deliver a more profound and eternal impact on this world than we ever thought possible." I share this with you to let you know where I am coming from with our blog title. Right now in our lives, God is increasing our quiver. And it is our prayer that each of our "arrows" will grow strong and serve the Lord by fulfilling the Great Commission. I hope this blog will be about God's glory. May He be glorified by what I write and share. May He be glorified when this blog reminds those of you reading it to pray. May He be glorified when this blog shares His Word. To God be the glory.


Today, we are 11 days away from our 5th daughter, Lily. Lily was abandoned at age 18 months in Wenzhou, Zhejiang in China. She was left with a birthnote, which probably indicates that she was left there by her biological mother. I am sure most of you are familiar with the one child policy that exits in China, and the desired child is a male offspring. In their culture, it is the male child who takes care of his parents later in life. Lily has mild cerebral palsy, and so we are guessing, that at around 18 months, her CP was noticeable, or a healthy child was born. My heart aches for Lily's mother! I'm sure many of you reading this are parents. Try imagining lying your child down in a populated place and hiding somewhere near by to see who will come by and pick her up - the child that you birthed, cradled, nursed, calmed, and love. Please pray for salvation for Lily's mother. How I hope for a reunion in Heaven for this mother and our daughter.

We began our adoption process July 8, 2009. I love a website: Rainbow Kids International. It is a site that focuses on international adoption. The site shows different countries and their requirements, has adoption articles, etc., and it has a waiting child list. This list is compiled of children around the world that are waiting to be adopted. Many of these kids have special needs - physical or mental, and some are waiting due to their ages or b/c they are part of a sibling group. For some time, I had been looking at these children's pictures/bios, and towards the end of last June, I found Lily - known on the website as Prema. She was listed by Faith International out of Tacoma, WA. At this point, Tim still wasn't sure about us adopting. I was very submissive, and instead of pressing the issue, I simply put Lily's picture as our screen saver :)! It worked! Tim was out mowing the lawn a few days later. He came in and said he'd been praying about it, and that he felt it was God's will for us to go forward. Woohoo! I cried and laughed and rejoiced! It was a sweet moment for us. On July 8, 2009, I contacted Faith International. On July 5, 2010, we will adopt Hu Ji Chang, Lily.

am i blogging?

For all of you who follow this, know from the beginning that if something crazy is posted on this site, it means that Tim has hacked into my blog and taken over! Today is my set-up day, and so far I have done it completely on my own. I started setting it up about an hour ago, it was all going smoothly, and then they had to give me all these choices: template, background, color schemes, layout, etc. As someone who has very little to none at all in the creativity dept., this can be a bit overwhelming. But, when I had so many choices, I couldn't just go for the khaki background with black ink that was first presented. I tried out the Ute background with beautiful flower and bird designs, then the leaf pattern in a soothing sage green, ...both were quite pretty, but then I couldn't figure out how to lighten my text box so you guys could actually see my posts. So, for today, it's blue:) Maybe when Tim gets home from work he'll help me liven it up.

I promise my next post will actually be about our family's adoption!