One Less Broken

3.15.2011

Our first days together

First of all we would like to thank everyone for your prayers and for the comments you have posted…we have treasured each one of them during our time here. They lift our spirits and outside of being with Lily, they are the highlight of our day!

As I write, I listen to the sweet sound of our sleeping child and the stillness of the early morning…well…famous last words…just as I wrote those words Lily woke up! Guess I should start a little earlier tomorrow morning.

We are on our second full day together as a family and she is slowly coming out of her shell. She has been attached to my hip since the first night thus the reason for the delay in my update! At this point she isn’t going to Michael without getting very upset which leaves momma’s arms feeling like they have been doing some serious Pilates planks! Let me just say, I was loving my ergo baby yesterday afternoon when we took a trip to the Lotus shopping mart (kind of like our Wal-mart but 3 stories and in the grocery section all the food is self-serve..lying out in containers unwrapped for you to bag up what you want…including the raw meat!)

We get a lot of curious looks from people until I show them our card that tells them we have come to adopt Lily into our family. The moms will hold up their babies and get them to try and make her smile and others will give us the thumbs up. Others still look a little confused as to what we are doing…

Yesterday we went to the registration office and received our paperwork that finalized our adoption so Lily is legally ours! She was fast asleep for the auspicious celebration. Then we went to the notary to complete some additional paperwork for her passport that we will receive on Friday before we leave for Guangzhou.

Our registration picture- before the final adoption paperwork was completed
(holding her racquetball that she loves)

Our legal adoption paperwork...she is ours!

We stopped for lunch on the way back and saw a little bit of her personality come out. She is little miss independent at times wanting to feed herself. Congee (kind of like thick soupy rice) and yogurt have been her favorite things to eat so far. This morning at breakfast I slipped in some meet and egg whites into the congee and she devoured 2 bowls full. Michael and I aren’t sure what we had to eat yesterday for lunch…it was supposed to be some spicy chicken but it was mostly just bones that had been fried…thank goodness for breakfast, power bars and M&M’s!

amazing what a little water can do to bring out a good smile!

Here are some highlights from our first days together…last night she only woke up once, she has gone to the bathroom on the big potty several times already, she walked to me with a little help from Dad, she took a bath by herself last night, and she loves to read books. We also got some smiles from her at breakfast this morning when she was trying to throw her cheerios on the floor and I told her no…she just looked at me and laughed…mischief is in our future no doubt!

bath time might be of my favorite parts of the day!

After breakfast by the fresh lilies in the front lobby

All in all we think she has made some big strides and we look forward to the days ahead. We are enjoying a free day today just getting to play with her and bond together. Maybe we will even find something yummy to eat for lunch today! I hear Guangzhou has some fabulous pizza so I am sure we will be getting that frequently. Can you tell I’m growing weary of noodles and rice? Michael asked me what I wanted for dinner last night and I told him... Mexican J

My sweet husband is doing our laundry in the bath right now...what a great guy I have! Spencer we loved seeing your sweet smile last night...hopefully you will get to see Lily soon when she is awake and happy! Hugs and kisses.

More to come...

3.14.2011

Gotcha day...one less broken heart!

Lily has stolen our hearts already and we have only been with her for about 8 hours. It was a beautiful day filled with joy and grieving for our little angel. We found out that she has spent the last year with a foster family so today her heart is broken for what she has left behind. She has shed some really big crocodile tears but we are thankful that she is letting it out and we will love her through this time of transition to her forever family.

Our day began by going with the other three families to meet their children…a 12 year old boy, a little boy about 2 years of age and another little girl who is about 2 ½. Watching these children meet their families for the first time is an experience I will never forget. On our way back to the hotel (about 11:15) our agency rep got a call that Lily had already arrived at our hotel. Yisha told us to go up to our room and she would bring Lily up to meet us. My stomach was filled with butterflies knowing the moment we have been waiting for was about to unfold.

I had always hoped that we would be able to meet her in a quiet, private moment and not in a large crowd of people we didn’t know…isn’t it just like our sweet Savior to orchestrate the moments in our lives that bring us peace. Thank you God for answering my heart’s desire.

When they handed her to me she was holding an apple in one hand, a lollipop in the other and she was dressed in about 4 layers of heavy clothing with bright red rosy cheeks. She took one look at me and began to cry and I just held her trying to comfort her as best I knew how.

Lily was sweating so bad we finally took off some of her layers to make her more comfortable. What a delight it was to see her wearing one of the fleece hoodies that we sent in one of our care packages along with a bag if other items that we sent her. We were also able to keep one of her “layers” as a reminder of her gotcha day.

I had a few fleeting “I’m a horrible mom” moments when the bottle I brought wasn’t working and I dropped the jar of puffs on the floor. My amazing husband stepped right in and helped me get my footing. I love him even more after today. I could not do this without him and I thank God for blessing me with a wonderful husband and friend…not to mention the best dad in the world for Lily and Spencer!

I could hardly wait to get her in a bath and change her clothes…at first she didn’t like it but by the end she was splashing with her feet and learning how to fill up the cup and empty it like we were doing…we even got a few smiles out of her. Lily is making some big steps in just the few hours we have had her and we know there is more to come.

Lily…you are beautiful, you are treasured, you are His. This day will be etched in our mind forever.

So now what you REALLY want to see…

Our first family picture when we met her

Feeding her some gerber puffs

still unsure...

grieving and sweating in all her layers

checking me out

Daddy's embrace

he has the touch!

finally resting

clean and ready for bed

3.13.2011

One more day!!

Needless to say, we are giddy with excitement about tomorrow! We leave our hotel at 9:30 am tomorrow morning (Monday) to go with the 3 other families in our group to be the video/picture crew for our new friends when they receive their children.  After that, we will come back to our hotel and meet Lily around noon (we are 13 hours ahead- central time).

Can you believe it??? It is really quite surreal for us as we sit in our hotel room and see an empty crib knowing that tomorrow night our daughter will be sleeping with us.  Tomorrow at noon Lily will be with her forever family...orphaned no more. God sets the lonely in families...HE is the creator of family and family trumps culture everytime.

While our excitment is bubbling over we also know that in the midst of joy there will also pain in the loss of what she has known the past 15 months of her life. Regardless of what that looked like...it was hers...it was her securtiy...and she will be leaving the only thing familiar to her. We just pray that in time, God will bridge that gap and that she will accept the love we are ready to pour into her life.

When we arrived in Zhengzhou today we received some new updates on our Lily...here is what we have learned:

She eats 3 times a day and likes steamed bun, noodles and meat (a carnivor lover just like her dad and brother!)
She is learning to walk
She is very active and lively!!!
She likes baths
She likes animals (yay!)
She sleeps with an adult and likes to sleep on her side without the lights on. We asked Yisha about this and she thinks that Lily may have been fostered out of the orphanage...we will find out more tomorrow
She wears diapers but is beginning toilet training during the day

Tonight we will almost breathe the same air as we sleep. Tonight sweet child is your last night without a family..may God prepare your heart as you make the journey to meet us. We will be waiting with open arms.

I have prayed this verse over Lily almost every night so I will end with this prayer from Proverbs which was my Mimi's favorite verse..."when you lie down may you not be afraid; when you lie down, may your sleep be sweet." Proverbs 3:24

Sweet dreams little angel...

our travel group (pre-adoption)

waiting for Lily

3.12.2011

More of the Culture

We had another full day today...I think they are trying to get us prepared for the energy we will will need to entertain a toddler 24-7 in the confines of our hotel!

We made a stop by the jade market on our way to the Great Wall of China. It is tradition for Chinese women to receive jade several times in thier lives. We picked out a round jade pendant for Lily that we will give her when she is older.

The highlight of the day was our expereince at the Great Wall of China. The wall spans over 5,000 miles and was built completely by hand over a period of 2,000 years... truly one of the seven wonders of the world. The steps vary in height which makes the trek up and down quite a challenge, especially if you are trying to take a video while walking!

On the way back to our hotel we stopped by to see the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube where the Olympics were held in 2008. As you can see from the pictures, the air is filled with smog, not hard to believe with 15 million people living in Beijing. I have been pleasently surprised that I haven't felt like a sardine while I was here...don't get me wrong...there are people everywhere but it doesn't invade your space like I thought it might.

Our last stop was an acrobatic show which was amazing to see how they can move their bodies into shapes thought humanly impossible.  I was so tired though, I actually fell asleep during part of it...the first of many more tired nights to come no doubt. My sister says she has been sleep deprived since the day her first daughter was born...hummmm....guess my day is just around the corner!

One day closer to seeing our daughter...we wait with anticipation for Monday at noon when we will meet her. We fly out tomorrow afternoon to Zhengzhou- the capital of her province.

Thank you all for your prayers and comments you have posted on our blog..it gives us a taste of home while we are away and we are so grateful for your love and support.  Wakedog...we miss your smiling face and can't wait to skype with you tomorrow!

At the base of the Great Wall before the climb

a view from the top

a quick video before I almost lost my footing!

The "Bird's Nest" in Beijing

3.11.2011

Highlights from Beijing

Today we met the three other families who are traveling with our group. Three of us are adopting from Henan, Lily's home province.   George, our agency rep,  led us around Beijing and he has been wonderful. One of the things that led us to this agency is their amazing in-country support and so far it has been extremely smooth.

Highlights include...finding something to eat for breakfast that didn't have eyes, beautiful sunny weather, going to the silk market, meeting Mr. Ho...a calligraphy artisian in Hutong, our first taste of REAL Chinese food for lunch, touring Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City and finding some Coldstone for a yummy treat after dinner! George told us we may receive some "free massages" in the Frobidden City (a.k.a. pick-pocketing) and he warned us to stay away from the "mosquitos"...people trying to sell us local gifts!   Apparently it is a Chinese custom to sleep on "earth beds" so our beds are quite hard but last night the floor would have been a delight after being on the plane.

While I am loving the opportunity to expereince the homeland of our daughter, my favorite part of the day was watching the children we passed throughout the day and seeing the look of wonder and hope in their eyes. Our hotel has an ice skating rink in the basement floor and both nights we paused to listen to the laughter of the children and see the smiles on their faces.

It makes me think about our sweet Lily and wonder what her life has been like up until now...does she have a caregiver who is loving on her?...has she seen the sunlight and played outsite?...has she experienced the power of an embrace?...has anyone told her "wo a ni" (I love you)?...does she laugh and giggle like these children we saw today..?

These are questions that most likely will go unanswered and we will probably never know the extent of her life experience these past 15 months but what I do know is that we will meet her where she is and wherever that may be, it will be perfect and we walk hand in hand with her in the journey that lies ahead. Thank you God for entrusting us with Lily.

Outside the Forbidden City

fun shopping for Lily at the silk factory!

3.10.2011

In Beijing!

Just a quick update to let everyone know we arrived safely! Last night we walked around in a bit of a daze but this morning we feel rested and are enjoying some Starbucks Via in our room (thanks to the suggestion of my new friend Keri!)

We are going to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and doing the Hutong Tour today. 3 days and counting until we get our little Lily!

Love to all!

3.08.2011

The faithful hand of God

Wednesday, January 23rd...(thoughts from my journal)

"Equip us Lord for whatever challenges we will face on our trip to China while we are there and as we come home. We release all of our fears and anxieties to you...we lay them down at the foot of your throne for there is power in the cross.

You are Sovereign King, Holy God, prince of peace, our redeemer and faithful friend. Thank you for choosing us to parent Lily and raise her to know of your all consuming love. We rejoice over Lily today with great joy and anticipation for the life we have ahead with her.

I know it's early but Lord, we would love to receive our travel approval soon...that is our heart's desire to go sooner than later to begin our life with Lily. You know our longing but we rest and trust in your sovereign plan and timing. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear you sweet Savior.

Monday, January 28th ...we received our TA (travel approval)!