Local Tour Day

Today is Gracie Lin's 13 month birthday! To celebrate, we went on a tour of local markets. That trip started with Walmart! It was quite an experience! The department store items on the second floor were very similar to home and wasn’t a huge deal. The food section on the first floor was so different. I have a few pictures of the grocery sections. The biggest thing is that people stopped us so frequently that we couldn’t get through the store! Everyone wants to touch the boys and then check out Gracie’s sweet little face. They loved the head band today. We have cards to show people that will tell them that we are from the US and are adopting this baby girl. I think that would be very fascinating to most people but with the boys here, they are not that interested in the baby but want to talk about the boys. I think part of it is the blond hair and part that we have two boys.

After Walmart, we had a terrific lunch with an opportunity to try some spicy food. Our host only ordered one real spicy meal for the table; she’s pretty conservative with us in general. We tried 10 different dishes and I don’t think there was one I didn’t like.

Lastly, we went to the local market. I was five stories of clothing, shoes, stores to get custom made items, household items, cosmetics, and accessories. There were times in that market that we would just stand in one spot and be surrounded by people. Particularly at one point, there was a large group of you people that I though might be high school age kids. They stopped to check us out and they all brought out their cell phones to take pictures of the boys. Parker in turn pulled out his camera and took pictures because one of them had a puppy. It was such a fun experience! I forgot to take pictures there because it was all kind of overwhelming.

When we got back to the room, it was around 3 and the little ones had already napped in the market and on the bus. So, it was a rough afternoon with Carter wanting attention and getting into continuous trouble. He is having his moments over not being the baby anymore! Our prayer request is to be able to give him enough attention and enough things to do that will use up his abundance of energy each day!

This trip is amazingly hard with two little ones but it is also equally incredible because of the interaction with all of the kids. Gracie is very attached to Parker which is a blessing. I can pass her off to him to get things done and he’s the only one who has been able to put her down and she doesn’t mind when he puts her on the floor. I’m caught a smile to share!

The pictures are all in backward from my story but I'm too tired to change them now! Good night!

Fabric photos for Nanannette

Random photos

Entering PR China from Hong Kong

Carter trying out Gracie's bed for her before she arrived.

View from breakfast - homes

View from breakfast - gardens, chickens

Looking down from our room

Doctor and Day of Rest

Today is doctor visit day. After breakfast we came back to the room to wait for our call to come down the hall to see the doctor. The doctor said that Gracie Lin had beautiful skin. Other than that, he didn't really have anything to say. He just asked if we had any concerns. We had thought we would go out to explore down town a little but after yesterday's experience, we decided to take a day of rest. We did go downstairs to swim a little before nap time. Don't the kiddo's look cute in their swim caps! :)

The Adoption is Final!

Crawling on the pizza box from last night.

Today was the lest fun day that I can remember is a long time but such an exciting day in many ways for this family because the adoption is final!! We had to meet at 8AM in the lobby but the kids were up by 5 anyway. We stayed out until noon, came back to the hotel for lunch and naps (which turned out to be minimal) and then had to be back to the bus at 2:30 to return at 5:30. Physically it was just a really hard day since John and I each basically had a child to hold all day. There weren’t a lot of places that Carter could get down without getting in trouble. J

Although it was very hard, we had some exciting moments! If I pass Gracie Lin to Parker, he can put her down but she won’t let me put her down. Parker took her this morning while I got dressed in about five minutes, he shouted, ‘She can crawl!’ We were once told that she could crawl but since she wouldn’t let us put her down, we didn’t know. Secondly, Parker got Gracie to laugh and after that she was laughing easily. We had a special moment on the bus where Carter joined Gracie Lin and me in our seats and he started sharing his sippy cup with her. They played and laughed and eventually she figured out how to drink from the cup. Lastly, at the end of the day, John was walking her and had Carter walking with him. When Carter ran into our neighbor’s room, he asked another friend to hold Gracie so he could chase. Gracie Lin cried until he returned and took her! We are taking this as a very good sign that she is getting familiar with us!

Fuzhou Babies and the Orphanage Director

It was a long, hard and joyous day! Good night kiddo’s!

Gotcha Day!!!

Getting to know one another (hope the video works!)

An invisible thread connects those destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never breaks.

Ancient Chinese Proverb

The babies are sleeping – well one is sleeping and the other is trying hard not too. He keeps popping his head up and saying, ‘I see Gwacie!’ The big boys have gone exploring. I know I should be sleeping too but that’s not possible right now – way too much excitement for me to settle down!

What an amazing time – GOTCHA as it’s called! We were scheduled to be downstairs at 11:00 and most of us were much earlier. The babies came in by orphanage so the first two were brought in from Shang Guan around 10 before 11. Second the twins arrived! They are so beautiful and they were so calm about their transition! Then we were told that our babies were stuck in traffic and wouldn’t be there until noon. Fortunately, six more babies arrived from Shangrao about 20 minutes later to keep everyone occupied. The three families with babies from Fuzhou were pacing the floor – including us! Our babies finally arrived about 11:45 and we were the very last family to have our sweet Gracie brought in to us. We were able to get great shots of everyone in our entire group though as each baby arrived. J

The brought Gracie in to us and she immediately started to cry but she didn’t fight being handed to me. Parker was clinging to my hip and reaching for her immediately!! He just loved and loved on her! I didn’t realize that John had turned around and gone back for Carter who was busy watching Mickey Mouse. When he saw me with Gracie Lin, he immediately wanted me. John took Gracie Lin and then Carter reached over to touch her face, hands, arms, and rubbed her back. Sweet, sweet boy! I didn’t realize either that there were major tears streaming down my face the entire time until later when I had a soaked face and a damp top.

Gracie Lin didn’t take long to settle down from crying and take a big interest in the boys! Since everyone else had their babies for a while by then, the whole party immediately began to disperse to their rooms so we gathered our things and as I tried to pick up a few items, Parker walked up and took Gracie from me. He didn’t let go – carried her all the way back to the room. I think he’s in love!! We played in the room a little. Gracie Lin was very interested in the toys and her brothers. We were all hungry so we gave her a bottle and then went down the hotel restaurant for some lunch. Carter struggled through most of lunch because he wanted both Mama and Daddy and was very uptight. He did cheer up for a big bowl of ice cream though! Gracie Lin ate a huge helping of yams and some spicy tofu. She also fell in love with ice cream. Something I’m not sure she would have tried before. Once I gave her a bite, she kept reaching for Carter’s bowl. By half way through lunch and lots of attention from her big, big brother, she started to babble and bounce. Parker started to talk to her and she gave him her first smile!

I am blown away by how smoothly the initial meeting has gone. I’m still ready for some tough times if they come, but am so very thankful that this joining together of our family has been so sweet. Thank you all for your prayers for her transition! Keep them coming! Our first night time is still ahead of us! J

One last note – since we have been in China, Carter is a rock star! People want to touch him and hold him and get hugs! It has been very sweet how much people are interested in him. Once we ventured out for lunch with both of them, there were even more people taking in this duo of the blonde crazy haired boy and his 'China girl' sister!

Thank you again to our friends and family for all of your prayers, love and support!! We are over the moon!!!

Snoring!

We just arrived in Nanchang and are staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It is brand new and beautiful! I am thrilled with our accommodations! We walked in to a room with a crib and baby bathtub. Wow! We are really going to bring Gracie into our family tomorrow morning! We have an informational meeting at 9AM and then we will meet Gracie at 11AM. More tomorrow on Gotcha Day!!

I sat down here five minutes ago to post this and all three of my guys are snoring in unison in the short time I've been at this computer! Time to say goodnight!

Missing Glass Pieces

The more about the breakfast story from a few days ago is that at breakfast on the first morning, Carter decided he would munch on his milk glass. I looked over and a piece of the glass was missing from the rim and it was cracked all down the side. Immediately I tried to sweep his mouth and of course, he bit down on my finger so hard and wouldn't let go. Once I finally retrieved my finger, he bit down and I heard a crunch. He then reached in to pull out the tiniest piece of glass. We searched the table, Carter's uneaten food, inside the remaining milk, his clothing and on the floor. No more glass to be found. We can only assume that he swallowed the rest. After some internet research and a chat with the doctor in our group, we decided to skip the emergency room and go on the tour. We are praying for the best!!

Update at the end of 10/9. Carter has not had any issues as a result of glass and the Dr. on our trip was kind enough to get up from his breakfast this morning to walk over and tell me that we were out of the woods by then! Praise God! I have been stressing so much!