Day 5 - Recap

Nanchang is SOOOOO hot.  It is suffocating.  We are doing a tour of her province today.  It is known for its porcelain.

It was the absolute cutest thing you could ever lay your eyes upon yesterday.....Troy got out the laptop to play a movie for the girls.  He put the laptop on the bed and Sadie jumped up on the bed and started shrieking in excitement.  She got in between the two girls and by her own free will THREW her arms around the girls with the hugest smile on her face.  We took a picture and will attach.  She definitely has her times of grieving as well.  She will cry for periods of time that deep grieving cry.  So sad but so necessary.  You can tell that she spent a large amount of time in those exercausers with wheels.  She doesn't have a lot of muscle tone and falls quite a bit.  She's been eating A LOT!  She uses a spoon perfectly.  To get her to sleep at bed or a nap, I will lay her in the crib and she'll cry for a few minutes then I pat her chest for about 5 minutes and she's out.  Little sweet pea.

Our guide in Beijing talked quite a bit about the Family Plan in China.  We've heard such conflicting things in the past.  They are asked to have only one child.  If they have more than one, they must pay a fine.  Many times the fine is up to more than 10 times their annual salary (obviously impossible to pay).  In many of these cases they will not register the child therefore the child does not receive citizenship.  Without citizenship, you have no access to doctors.  This is why a lot of times kids with special needs are given up.  Apparently they are doing a census this year to try to figure out just how many people live in CHina....they really have no idea because of so many hidden kids.  CRAZY.   We were reading the China Daily newspaper and a teeny tiny article talked about a family who brought their seriously ill child to the hospital, they depleted their savings then had to abandon the child in hopes that the hospital would take care of him.  They returned some time period later to find out the hospital let the child die.  They then got arrested for child abandonment.  Heart wrenching.  So much to pray for. 

One funny thing....Marissa used a squatter toilet!  Most bathrooms have 2 or so normal toilets and the rest squatter toilets (a toilet level with the ground).  At one point, Marissa had to go to the bathroom really bad and the bathroom had no real toilets.  So funny!  I'm a little upset with Joani that she didn't warn me that China is a byotp (bring your own toilet paper) country.  I felt very clueless the first time we went to a bathroom and there was NO toilet paper!  We learned quickly to carry a role with us.

Nanchang is worse than Beijing as far as the roads.  There appears to be no system whatsoever on the roads....massive chaos and confusion.  They don't even drive on a particular side of the street.  The open road is yours to be maneuvered however you like.  SOOOOOOO scary!  We came head on with a bus and had to violently slam on the breaks with a near miss all while not wearing seat belts. 

The girls are refusing to go in the pool in China because you have to wear swim caps.  We went to a Walmart yesterday (wow, what an experience!) but they still didn't want me to get them a swim cap! 

Sadie can't wait to meet you all:)

Day 4 - Continued (From Heather)

Monday

Wow, we are feeling like the luckiest family in China!  Sadie is doing awesome!!!  She cried a little bit yesterday when we got her yesterday and had a deer in the headlights look about her the rest of the day.  Since she woke up this morning, the girls have her laughing, saying words, playing ball.  Her outgoing personality is coming out for sure!  The two other little two year old girls who were adopted are not fairing as well.  They want to borrow Marissa and Chloe:)  She still wants to be held by Mama.  She is an absolute princess!  She is very tall and very skinny.  She just fits in the 2T footed pajamas.  All the shoes we brought are too big (you were right Joani and Cindy!)  We'll definitely be buying some squeaker shoes!  She ate a TON this morning.  She pooped and peed on the potty twice!  If she doesn't want to do something, she violently shakes her head.  She LOVES the stroller and asks to go in that.  She has very dry skin (thank you for the Cetaphil tip Joani!)  Her hair is very fine and thin.  She slept all night but very fitfully (thrashing and moaning).  It's so cute, she's telling people Ni How (hello in Mandarin).  Did I mention she is precious?  We have Skyped our whole family and she loves to watch them on the computer screen. 

I think Troy talked about the Silk Market the other day but it is definitely worth repeating from my perspective.  This place was the most amazing garage sale on steroids you have EVER seen!  We bought North Face coats for the entire family.....and Troy bought suits.  Our suitcases were absolutely busting at the seems!  I have never laughed so hard watching Troy bargain with the people....they all spoke English.  At one point they grabbed Marissa and began trying jeans on her.  Marissa is laughing the whole time telling them "I don't need jeans"  they kept telling her that didn't matter, you buy.  Chloe would have kicked them if they pulled that on her!  They were all beyond fascinated with the girls.  They couldn't stop stroking Marissa's pony tails asking her if they 'natural'?  They wanted to see pictures of our family so we were showing them then we were surrounded with a bunch of them looking at the pics.  They kept insisting all those kids were not ours.  Then we told them we were in China to adopt a little girl.  They nearly hit the ground in astonishment.  They kept saying, "Why you want baby from China?"  I had a chance to share my faith so we told them that we were Christians and felt led by God to adopt.  Then they said they knew we had good heart.  It was fascinating to see their level of shock of a large family.  I will write what we have learned about the China Family Plan in another blog.  I hope the first day of school went well for all!  I was so happy to hear it went well for Bryce, Luke and Cameron!  Whew.   We are off to a Chinese Wall Mart!

Day 4 - Nanchung - Hello Sadie! - GOTCHA DAY!

Well, today was an amazing day.  It started with an early morning flight to Nanchung from Beijing (about a 2 hour flight).  After landing in Nanchung, our adoption agency picked us up and took us to the Galactic Hotel in downtown Nanchung (about a 1 hour drive).  Sadie (and other adopted kids in our group) was already at the hotel waiting for us.  We put our bags in our room and within 5 minutes we met her for the first time.   What an amazing day that cannot be put into words.  She is more precious than we could have ever imagined.  She cried for the first two minutes of our initial meeting and then the confusion of what was happening sunk in.   She is still a little unsure of mom and dad, however.   After processing some paperwork with the China officials, we headed off to dinner at the hotel (Chinese buffet of course).  Just before dinner, Chloe & Marissa had her laughing, giving "hi-fives", and speaking several words (her first English word was "mama"... utterly amazing.  The girls push her around in her stroller endlessly and she does not want to get out.  Heather put her down to sleep with out much fussing.  I will quote Marissa:  "This is the most amazing day of my life."   Enough from me... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

The Beijing "silk shop"

We had to make one more post of the rent "purchases" from the Beijing Silk shop (the ultimate Chinese bargain Betty's).   This place is several story's of hundreds and hundreds of vendors selling everything we buy in the US for a fraction of the price.  Heather put her negotiating skills to the limit.  But I think the Chinese have mastered negotiation. 

We are off to Nanchang early in the AM to meet Sadie. 

Days 1, 2 and 3

This is Heather's first post....not sure what Troy has written!  We showed up at the airport at 2:00 since our flight was leaving at 4pm and went to our airline (Hainan) only to find out there was NO ONE in line!  We found out the flight was LEAVING at 2pm...we freaked.  God was in control however and the flight was delayed by 45 minutes....just enough time for us to RUN and make the flight.  Poor Chloe was crying (actually, I was too).  We are staying in a nice hotel in Beijing in kind of a funky part of town.  The traffic here is OUT OF THIS WORLD.  The number of people living in one city is mind boggling henceforth it is a very dirty city.  Marissa's favorite part so far is the big breakfast buffet we have gotten each morning:)  She is sad we are leaving tomorrow for Sadie's province and therefore leaving our breakfast buffet.  The girls have been GREAT!  Real troopers.  We went to the Great Wall yesterday....it was very hot but we climbed up a huge amount of steps and they did great!  These steps were so weird because one step would be a few inches tall and the next would be over 3 feet tall!  It really tripped you up!  It was an amazing experience.  The girls and I checked out a Beijing supermarket....the stench was overwhelming and once again the number of people in one location was over the top.  We had NO idea what we were buying but tried to buy a few snacks.  We went to a fun acrobatic show the girls really liked.  Troy's MAC power cord busted so he decided we would locate a Beijing MAC store so he could buy a new one....he was on a definite mission.  Marissa took her first taxi ride and thought that was 'a hoot'.  She told me Mimi taught her that word.  We went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City today.  I was wishing they would have forbidden me to go to the Forbidden City.  It was SOOOOOOOOOO hot!  The girls and I were dying!  I have never seen so many people in one location in my life.  The girls have been like rock stars wherever we go.  People keep asking if they can get their picture taken with them.  Chloe FREAKED out the first time but is now getting used to it.  Marissa just keeps smiling for the pictures:)  The Chinese guide today told me....your daughters so lovely.  It's hilarious.  In our group there are 2 other little girls the same ages as our girls....very fun for them since we are with these people most of the trip.  The girls are trying to squeeze homework in when they can.  We get Sadie tomorrow at noon!!!  Which would be 9pm Sunday night your time!  We have a 2 and a half our flight to her province and will be traveling with 2 other families from our group.  One last funny thing, we were buying a couple of souvenir books outside of the Forbidden City and later when we looked at the change the woman gave us back, it was Russian money!  She totally scammed us!  At least it was only for about $8 US!

The Great Wall

We have arrived in China and made it to the Great Wall!

Shopping in Beijing

The girls are loving the "shopping" in Beijing.  Somehow, I think the venders have gotten the best of us!

Beijing

After almost missing our flight (Heather will tell the full story
later) we are in Beijing!

Adoption Round 2 - Sadie Zhi Xia