A Look Back: Orphanage Visit

This was a TOUGH day!  I wasn't sure how Emilyn was going to handle it, but realized how important it was.  Our kiddos love to talk about their orphanage and life in China and it is tough for the three that we didn't have the opportunity to visit.  

Emilyn really struggled and cried a lot.  I didn't have the chance to interact as much as I would have liked with the waiting kiddos, but that's okay.  Unfortunately, the two kiddos that I advocated for weren't there.  I was really hoping to meet them!  I did fall in love with the cutest, kindest little guy!  He was so sweet and kept trying to comfort Emilyn.  I will be watching for his file, so I can advocate!!

You could tell how much she was loved!

The beautiful part was how strong her attachment was.  Every time I would hand her over so that someone could say goodbye, she would reach for me to take her back!  That was a blessing!!

My heart broke for the older kiddos and all of those that wait.  I did have the chance to meet two sweet boys who had mamas coming for them (one is already home).  However, it is difficult after meeting child after child after child... hundreds of them, and realizing only a handful are paper ready and able to be adopted right now. :( Even all of those aren't finding families.

A Look Back: Our Days in Yinchuan

Emilyn was attached, but still in shock with so much change.  So, I did what any mama would do... I threw my OCD nature to the wind and we played ripping up Kleenexes and blowing the pieces all over the room like snow.  That did it!  She came out of her shell and we had smiles, laughing, and babbling.
 

We took a walk in a beautiful park.  I even found the building that I had used as a cover photo from Yinchuan. It was a gorgeous day!  We met some Chinese mamas out with their beautiful babies and talked for awhile.  And, an outing wasn't complete until Catherine was asked for a photo shoot!  Those sunglasses and that blonde hair made her a ROCK STAR! ;)

When we arrived at our hotel in Yinchuan, I was very discouraged.  They only had a shower, no tub!  It is not easy to hold onto a slippery baby in the shower. Auntie Catherine to the rescue... a cheap pink tote became the perfect bathtub!

We spent a morning with the amazing Staffords again.  Emilyn had her first playdate and we got lunch at their coffee shop, after picking up their son (adopted from Chongqing, just like Ryan).

A Look Back: Emilyn Day

The day was finally here!  We were ushered into a waiting room at the orphanage.  We met the director and some other workers, plus multiple nannies.  I was given all sorts of gifts and mementos, from statues to artwork from children living there to two beautiful picture/memory books!  But, I just wanted to hold my baby.  The anticipation was excruciating. Then, in she came. When she was handed to me, the crying started.  She was so very loved by her nanny.  But, the attachment came fast and furious.  Seriously, the easiest attachment ever! I was completely in love!! Through the amazing technology of WeChat, Mark got to "be there" before we left the orphanage.  He got to see his daughter and be a part of the excitement!

We had lots of paperwork to complete.  So, we did a quick diaper and clothes change at the hotel and off we went to get paperwork done and make her official!!

That night we celebrated with some KFC.

A Look Back: Landing in Yinchuan, Ningxia

Thankfully, the flight to Yinchuan was easy and our luggage made it! We settled into our hotel, found out where the grocery store was, and set up a meeting with an American couple that lives in the city!!
We did some shopping, as I didn't have space to bring all of the "necessities". So very ready for baby girl!!!! We can play, eat, drink, bathe, and change diapers!!

Who writes stories like this??? Only GOD!! Met up with an amazing couple who lives in this city this evening! We enjoyed fellowship, the most delicious food, and absolutely fell in love with their precious family! Then, we get back and they blessed our socks off more! We have a goody bag with treats and toys... and homemade chocolate chip cookies!!!!!! Seriously folks-God sighting!!
  














After dinner, we had this sweet mama drop us off at the end of walking street.  It was AMAZING!  There was so much shopping and activity and interesting sights. It was a mile walk back to our hotel and we were in search of the "only opened for a couple of weeks, illusive Starbucks".  No one could tell us exactly where it was.  What occurred next was one for the storybooks.  We asked everyone, we retraced our steps, and Catherine... only Catherine... involved the Chinese swat team in the search.  All of the locals stopped what they were doing to observe these crazy American women who dared to approach the Swat team (heavily armed and up on a stage) to ask for directions to Starbucks!!  They ended up not having any idea, but were all smiles and helped make sure we knew how to get back to our hotel.  Then, Catherine had the brainstorm to check at the KFC, if anyone should be able to help us, it would be another American franchise... right?? At first, he had no idea what we were asking.  Then, I remembered I had a gift card in my purse.  As soon as I showed him the logo, he set out down the street to direct us!! SUCCESS!!!  We ended up there MULTIPLE times that week!!

Sweet baby girl is sleeping as an orphan for her last night!!!! She is Chosen and Dearly Loved and will be in my arms on your Sunday night!!

A Look Back: Our Travel and Beijing Experiences

What an adventure our trip was!  It started off so well... then Shanghai happened.  Our flight was already delayed due to a woman having to be convinced to leave the plane.  After an hour of encouragement, she decided it was best due to her health, but then they needed to find her suitcase among the hundreds already loaded.  This set us back in an already tight schedule.  The advice was to abandon our suitcases and run.  I never realized how out of shape I was, until I ran back and forth through the Shanghai airport for an hour straight.  We missed our flight, lost our baggage, and I had tears streaming down my face.  Catherine supported and encouraged me as she ran with her hand on my back and quoting scripture the whole way.  God sent an amazing guardian angel as an airport worker went ABOVE and beyond, in full suit and dress shoes, running with us, holding my carry-ons, and finding us another flight to Beijing within the hour. When we finally landed in Beijing, the realization that recovering our luggage was not going to be as easy as explained set in.  Hours of calling and communicating ensued amidst sight seeing in travel clothes. Mark, my true knight in shining armor, ended up having success and got us our suitcases delivered to the hotel from the US!  We were never so excited for clean clothes and deodorant!

Beijing was amazing as always to tour.  Although the first day was tough.  Not only were we running on empty in dirty clothes, but everyone seemed stressed and short tempered, not the feeling I usually get from China.  Despite the luggage fiasco... We had lots of fun (excuse my, I've traveled in the same clothes for 48 hours and hair brush and makeup are in suitcase look... Catherine looks amazing of course, though in the same suitcase-less boat). We saw Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, Hutong in a rickshaw, ate at a Chinese chain in the mall and shopped at a mall with a grocery store. (I bought lots of fun treats!)

In a rickshaw

In a courtyard of the Hutong

Tienanmen Square

 Our luggage showed up at the hotel that night! A huge celebration ensued!!  The outlook for the Great Wall the next day was MUCH BETTER as clean clothes and deodorant (especially with all of the climbing) make all the difference!!

I hiked more of the Great Wall than ever before! Catherine is an amazing encourager! We walked from one lift to the far end of another lift and then kept going! Climbed for over 2 hours and then came back down. Then...

Clean clothes AND a minion shirt :)

Catherine is so crazy!

We took a ski lift up (twice)... but I'll explain in a minute. We climbed lots of the wall and then it was time to go down. We took the toboggans!!!! I wasn't allowed to take pics, so I have some shots on our way up. It is LONG and goes on and on with curves and dips. The first time the lady in front of Catherine had a kid and she was so slow we had to keep stopping. So, Catherine said let's do it again. We got two more tickets and somehow convinced the admission lady to let us in since we didn't have the entrance ticket (it was with our guide). We got to the run and the operator recognized us. He asked if we were doing it again? We explained the slow lady. He felt bad, so he held the line for 5 minutes to clear the track ( lots of people waiting behind us). Then we got to fly down without any blocks! Catherine was faster than me, but so very fun!!!

It was the longest ride... even the SECOND time :)

Got to take this ride TWICE

My favorite part was the group of school kids that wanted to talk and take pics with us. They were so cute and full of giggles!! 

I caved for dinner, had to have my Spicy Chicken from McDs. Catherine insisted on authentic, so we found a dumpling place. Little tricky ordering, but finally got it... the breakdown was realizing they were giving us 12 dumplings for less than $2.50!!!!

I Saw Her Face 1 Year Ago

I’m a day early, but a snow day is the perfect time to reflect on the beginning of our journey to Emilyn!  It was a year ago tomorrow night that I saw that sweet little face on my computer. I was checking out all of the agencies for the kiddos I advocate for, since we had agreed to wait until the Spring to start the process again. I saw her need (brain damage) and realized that she was not a baby I could convince Mark to take a “risk” on.

 

The next day, I arrived at school early. All of the kiddos had a snow day, but I had to report. I set out extra early, just in case the roads made my trek slow. With the extra time, I decided to take a peek at her precious face again. That did it. I emailed Mark and said I really thought we should TRY and get her file. We had already been “too late” on a couple of files that had LONG waiting lists. He said, go ahead and request it (I think he was still sleeping). It would be 3 hours until our agency opened, so it felt like FOREVER until I got a response. They had sent me the file!! I glanced over it with lightning speed and told Mark we should try and hold her file. I think he figured she would have a long wait list, as the others did, so said go ahead. I can only imagine his surprise when I forwarded him the response that this sweet girl was on HOLD for OUR FAMILY!

It took us 3 weeks of attempting to get an update and deciding how to proceed with the pediatrician’s warning that her needs and measurements may likely indicate severe brain damage.  The needs listed in her file were: a little subependymal hemorrhage of right side, broadened bilateral ventricles; diagnosis:

premature, VLBW, neonatal intracranial hemorrhage, premature brain damage. But, once I had video (and obviously before that) this princess was MINE!  It would take another month for us to be able to submit a Letter of Intent.

Now, she’s been in my arms for 3 months already, I can’t fathom that we might have missed this!  Fear could have kept us from an unbelievable gift! Emilyn is funny and loving and so very smart!  We might have missed this puzzle loving, investigative, silly, hugging girl! Please don’t miss the gift due to fear!!

Leaving Soon!

We have been spending our days preparing for my departure.  There have been lessons to plan, subs to secure, suitcases to pack, meals to plan, groceries to buy, and technology to update.

Catherine will be flying out tomorrow and will be in Lansing on Tuesday.  We will leave from Lansing on Wednesday afternoon.  It will be a long day with 2 layovers (Detroit and Shanghai).  We should arrive in Beijing on Thursday at 11:40pm (11:40am your time).  Please pray that we make the connecting flight in Shanghai.  We will have 2 hours to get through customs and cross to the domestic side and find our flight.  We are hoping our bags go straight through.

We will spend Friday and Saturday sight seeing in Beijing.  Then, fly out Sunday to Emilyn's province.  We will shop for everything that I don't have room for in my luggage to make Emilyn comfortable. I will finally be able to hold her at about 9:30am Monday morning (9:30pm Sunday night your time). We will tour her province and wait for her passport to be prepared.  Friday, we will fly to Guangzhou to finish the process.  She will have her medical and we will do more touring.  On Tuesday, we will have her Consulate appointment.  We need to wait 48 hours and then her visa will be ready and we can fly home!

We thank you so much for your prayers!!  Here are a few specific requests:

• Health - Our family (including me) seems to be battling colds
• Mark - He will be single parenting for 2 weeks.  This includes homework, lunches, dinners, managing kiddos at Half Time at church while preparing for the Worship Service, and coming to my rescue as I communicate with him at all times of the night.
• Catherine - She has a LONG trip here and then to China.  She has to do the same thing on the way home.  She has a foster daughter that is in the care of a nanny, please pray for her while Catherine is with me.
• Emilyn - She is about to have her entire world turned upside down.  She will be leaving a nanny that has loved and cared for her since she was just a few months old. Please pray that she will allow me to comfort her and will begin the attachment process.
• April - Patience and love for Emilyn.  Comfort in missing my family and best friend (who selflessly agreed to stay home and hold down the fort)!
• Most of all, Catherine and I would ask that you pray for our testimony.  We pray that we would have the opportunity to pour Christ's love into everyone we meet: nannies, guides, other adoptive parents, locals, hotel workers, and the sweet kiddos we will meet when we tour the orphanage.