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A Rainy Wed. in China

Another low key day today.  We were able to sleep in for the first time and after breakfast we went on an outing.  We took a cab (that cost less then 2$ for a 15 min. ride) to the Chen Family Home, which is a fully restored ancestral home with a relic museum inside of it.  It was pretty cool and a perfect thing to do in the rain.  We met back up with our guide and the other AW family to go a different government building so we could apply for Joni's Chinese passport.  That is the last of the adoption paperwork tasks we have until Friday.  We ordered Papa John's pizza tonight along with the other AW family and ate together in their hotel room.  It was Joni's first play date! She is doing well though I felt it was a one step forward, two steps back kind of day.  I was really able to get some laughs out of her and discovered she can (and likes to) walk holding one hand.  But I felt for most of the day that she was pretty sad and still scared.  I just wish I knew what was going on in that head of hers.  My mommy's heart aches for her to feel secure and loved by us both and to be able to take away any anxiety.  I know that it will come with time. 

Tomorrow we take a trip to visit her orphanage.  I have no idea what to expect but I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Thank you all for your comments here on the blog, on Facebook, texts, and e-mails...it really encourages Scott and I so much to feel all your support.  A quick shout out to a few people...Happy Birthday to Aunt Stacey, can't wait to see you at the airport...thanks Uncle Keify for posting all the pics!.....Meg, I hope to give your daughter a big HUG and KISS from you, I'll be sure to whisper in her ear that her family loves her very much and will come to get her soon!.....Maureen, thanks for your advice, I did cut the hole bigger and it helped. 

Blessings to you all!

Newest member of the family :)

Feb. 15th Post

Today was a chill day.  We got up, Skyped with the family back home (it was SO good to see my two babies at home) and introduced them to the newest member, and went to breakfast.  Joni is not so adventurous when it comes to eating.  I can tell her diet was limited to formula, rice cereal (which they mix into the formula and put into a bottle) and congee (a rice soup).  She has decided that Cheerios are yummy and yogurt puffs, but didn't really go for the fruit.  I'm going to keep trying though because we need to fatten her up, she's more like a six month old then an almost 14 months old.  After breakfast we went back to the Civil Affairs office to finish up some paperwork and conduct our interviews with the provincial adoption officials and the notary.  The questions were easy and the atmosphere laid back, nothing to worry about for all of you who are adopting soon.  Our guide here in Guangzhou is named Lee.  She is nice and very competent.  After we got back we had nothing else planned on the schedule.  Since the weather is yucky out (40s and raining) and Joni has some congestion, we decided to just stay in and take it easy.  She is so good at just playing by herself with a few toys.  She sits up and does a type of crawling to get around (on her feet not her knees) but no walking or standing on her own yet.  She's VERY quiet so far, hardly makes a noise.  I gave her a bath today but she wasn't very keen on it.  She allowed Scott to hold and touch her today as long as I was close, but then later got upset when he sat beside her on the bed.  Still, I think we are making progress.  We also got a few more smiles and giggles out of her, our Joni is ticklish!

Praise and Prayer:  She is taking her bottle although it doesn't exactly look like she's enjoying it much, she pooped today!, she's warming slowly up to Scott / pray for her congestion, she seems to have an itchy rash on her upper back and side of her face, she still wakes up upset like it hits her again what has happened to her 

My Valentine

Joni is finally with us!  In fact she's asleep right here next to me.  I am in awe of how smoothly yesterday went.  After getting off the plane into Guangzhou we had only like 15min. to quick check-in and get all our stuff ready (gifts, money, documents, baby stuff , cameras, emotional fortitude) and head to the Civil Affairs Office where we knew our daughters were waiting for us.  We are here with another family who is also adopting a daughter from this province.  Our nerves and excitement were through the roof as we drove there and when we finally got upstairs we were ushered into this bright room with about 10 other couples who had already received their children.  Babies were crying everywhere and parents looked happy, some overwhelmed, but mostly happy.  The other AW family went first and I was caught up in the magic of their reunion when they brought out Joni (Yayan for now).  She was SO adorable bundled up in SIX  (yes six, and mind you it's 50 degrees here) layers of clothing.  She came right to me and didn't cry, though you could see she was very scared and wondering what was going on. I just held her and kissed her and starred at her and felt such a wave of gratitude.   Although there was chaos around me I felt like I was in my own little world with my new baby girl.  She was so brave!  I brought a few things to play with but she wasn't really interested.  When she was passed to me she was clutching these foil wrapped snacks and I got a half smile out of her when I pretended to take them away.  We had to fill out and sign some paperwork, it was all very easy.  Then we drove to a store to get some baby supplies.  When we got to the hotel she just sat and played on my bed but as the night wore on I think the gravity of the situation was setting in and she started to feel more insecure.  She is afraid of Scott and keeps her eye on him.  If he comes close her eyebrow furrows and the most pathetic expression comes to her face.  He is being so patient though and admires her from afar.  She is VERY cute, a real peanut.  There is a scale in our room so I will try to weight her later.  After unsuccessfully trying to get her to take a bottle or a late nap, I just played and cuddled with her on the bed until she fell asleep around 8pm.  I am so pleased that it seems like she receives comfort from her mommy and the few (as in two) times she started to cry I was able to calm her right down.  I eventually transferred her to her crib (not that I wanted to but I figured she might sleep better that way) and she woke up in the middle of the night.  I pulled her back out to snuggle with her though I bet she would have gone back to sleep on her own (she does this self comfort thing where she puts her hand in front of her mouth and makes a sucking noise, it's both sad and cute).  Basically, I am totally in love and can't wait to spend more time with her today, discovering her personality and who she is. 

Prayer requests:  That she takes a bottle and food from me today (she seemed excited to get one but after tasting it gave me a, "what the heck is this?" look), that she poops, that the weather warms up, that she starts to let Scott in and that he doesn't get discouraged.  Thank you, I just feel God blessing us each step of this journey so please keep the praying up!

More pictures!

Day 3 Summary and Pre-baby Thoughts

It's 5:30am here in Beijing. I woke up at 3:45am and couldn't go back to sleep once my brain remembered that today is the day we get Joni. Yesterday was another packed but wonderful day. We attended a Sunday morning church service at Beijing International Christian Fellowship. You had to show your passport at the door because only ex-pats/visitors allowed, no Chinese nationals. It was conducted in English but there were peoples of all nationalities present. I recognized most of the songs and Pastor Davis preached on recognizing and being a part of ushering in the kingdom. I have a feeling I am going to feel that presence of God and His kingdom very acutely today. Afterwards we drove out to a Jade factory, enjoyed a traditional lunch (complete with a shot of the local liquior, a version of rice wine that was 56% proof...burned my mouth and throat and I think I grew a chest hair). Then on to the Great Wall. It was my second time being on it and yet I was still amazed at this man-made wonder. Again we had a cold day. The government apparently seeded the clouds and caused it to snow the night before. They think the moisture helps to prevent illnesses or maybe it is for agricultural purposes, or maybe that's just a bunch of made up talk. Who knows? We didn't climb very high (Denise I only made it far as last time but I wanted to get to where you had...I guess I should start working out for next time). The air was so cold it made you cough to breath deep. We had an early dumpling dinner and then attended an acrobatic show. WOW, that was the only thing that could have possibly kept me awake until 8:30pm. Truly amazing stuff and you can tell they've trained hard for their entire lives.

I have to go now. We leave in five minutes to go downstairs and catch a plane to Guangzhou. We could receive Joni anytime upon arriving at our next hotel. We're about to step in to a whole new phase of our life and completely change the dynamic of our family. I don't feel too nervous yet. Just very excited and jittery. It's all in His hands. I will try to post and put up pictures ASAP but I'm not sure when that opportunity will come.

Here we GO!!!!!