Medical Exam and Big Improvements

We went to the Shamian Island this morning for Mia's medical examination. All Chinese children must have a complete physical before they are eligible to apply for a Visa to leave China and travel to their new home country. Mia weighed 17.5 pounds and was generally healthy. The doctor who did her exam called two different doctors to come in and look at Mia. They were speaking Chinese so I didn't know what they were saying, but our guide said that she was astonished that Mia's "special need" was a light birthmark on her temple. Mia has to get six vaccinations, so they suggested we let her take three today and three more on Monday to lessen the side effects to the vaccines. We agreed and she took her shots like a champ. She hardly cried... that is no lie. She has cried much, much worse when I sit her down on the floor beside me. This goes to show you that psychological pain is much more powerful at times than physical pain. That just spoke volumes to me. Mia sat in a highchair at breakfast, ate well, did great at the clinic, and actually rode in a stroller today on Shamian Island after her exam. See, your prayers, my prayers are being heard, they are being answered, and I am so thankful. We stopped by Starbuck's after the exam, and I had an iced tea. Can I just tell you it was so wonderful? It tasted like tea from home. Oh, so good. Ice... such a luxury. I will not ever take it for granted again. Why no ice here? Well, we can't drink the water here... we are brushing teeth with bottled water, not drinking ANYTHING that is iced. The water has parasites that are harmful to our systems and can result in a bad intestinal sickness. The local people here are immune, but not us. However, the ice at Starbucks is imported, so we can enjoy!!!! Yay!!!! Tomorrow, we will do pearl and jade shopping which I've been very excited about. Can't wait to show you all my purchases!!! Until then...

Much love,
Ashley

Friday in Guangzhou

Man, I'm on a roll here... I finally have enough internet connectivity to upload, so I'm going to get caught up!!! It is afternoon here on Friday and Griff and Mia are napping. We visited Five Rams Statue today and Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall today. It is unbelievably hot here. Alabama heat is very similar, but I do think it is hotter here. Your clothes just become soaked with sweat. Mia gets very irritable with the heat, so I think that may be part of her problems when we sight-see. Five Rams Statue was really pretty. It was much like a park, lots of it shady and many people gather there to enjoy it. They play a game much like what we call Hacky-Sack and others go there to do their "exercises". Several older women came up to us and patted Mia, smiling at us and giving us the thumbs up. M, our guide today, said that they are happy for the babies because they are getting adopted. They are appreciative to us for giving them families. The women were just lovely and you could sense their genuine admiration for us. I felt so good after meeting them. Hot, but good. :) After the park, we headed over to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. This is a very old, beautiful building that is used for congregations, concerts, meetings, etc. It is lovely, but not air-conditioned, so this is where Mia began to totally unravel, and so did I. Again, our guide discouraged us from forcing Mia to ride in the stroller as her crying is very upsetting to the Chinese. So, again I carried her. The sling works well for a while,but then she begins to overheat and so do I. You know how fiery-tempered I am, and how much I despise to be hot, so you can imagine that this is the recipe for disaster. We went back to the bus and sat and waited on everyone in our group to come back. We came back to the hotel and gave Mia a quick, cool bath and I gave her a bottle and she was out like a light. Oh, I almost forgot... this morning, very early, she was sleeping between Griff and me... she sat straight up and began to speak words... Chinese. Griff poked me hard in the back to wake me, not knowing that I was awake and had heard her too. We giggled because we figure she was calling for help... "Come rescue me from these Americans!" Ha, ha. I can't wait to hear her talk again. Griff is in love with her and is working very hard to earn her favor. She is letting him hold her some, as I am giving out and can't physically keep it up. She is definitely coming around. We still think she is basically throwing temper tantrums, many induced by overheating and frustration that I won't hold her constantly. Our guide, M, talked to her for a little while today and told her that I was her mama and that I loved her very much and she laid her little head down on me so sweetly. M, said... "She knows you love her. She understands." It is so lovely watching M talk to her. I wish I could speak Chinese! I have learned one word... sounds like "My-Cow" which means "Stop crying." LOL... Tomorrow, we go for her Medical Examination. We have been warned that she may have to get as many as eight vaccinations... so many that they are allowing us to split them up, 4 tomorrow and 4 more on Monday. As part of the Hague Convention rules for international adoption, children being adopted to the US must be current on all vaccinations. The orphanages are unable to give as many as the US because it is so expensive here. This is why she must get so many. Please pray for Mia. This will be a very hard day for her. Again, your comments are wonderful and I love reading them. I am sorry that my posts are so sporadic. Internet connection is a nightmare. All in all, we are doing well. I can't wait to see Cole, Garrett, and Nolan. I miss them so, so much. I'm also looking forward to a home-cooked meal at my Grandmother's... LOL... Until tomorrow.

Much love,
Ashley

Two Steps Forward... Three Steps Back...

That is the name of the game right now. Mia woke up in a bad mood and it really didn't get any better all day. She is cutting four more teeth right now and she is cranky. She wants me to hold her 100% of the time. Today we visited Chen Lineage Hall and we had to put her in a stroller. Let's just say she screamed for 2 hours. It was terribly hot... almost unbearable so I know that compounded the problem. I asked the guides what they thought and then I began to understand what we are dealing with. R said, "You're baby is very beautiful and she probably dah favorite. The aunties at your daughter's orphanage hold babies all dah time..." She is special... very strong-willed." No kidding... two straight hours of crying. This explains a lot. I think back to the last picture we received of her in early June... sitting in the lap of a nanny. She always wants to hold things in both hands, but doesn't really know how to play with toys on the floor. She cannot walk well at all... because she probably was never given the chance or never needed to. She has been held in someone's arms for eighteen months. She is held to eat, held to get to sleep, held to entertain her. She has probably never sat in a high chair or a stroller for that matter, so this explains why she isn't liking it. Wow... she has had another sad, lifeless afternoon. She has just laid in my arms or on the bed... no smiles at all. Just stares. I am hoping tomorrow will be better. As for Chen's Lineage Hall, we enjoyed visiting it. We went to the Tea Room and learned about tea. We got to sample several kinds. We bought some called Oolong Tea, which is supposed to help you "lose your gain", according to R. LOL... Translation: helps you lose weight. I asked her... "So when I start losing all my gain, where can I get more?" Oh... that may be problem... maybe Atlanta... Funny. I bought Mia a beautiful tea set to give her for a special occasion. I love it and I hope she will someday. I wanted to thank all of you who are leaving comments... they make my day, honestly they do. Several of you mentioned getting a carrier for Mia... I have one... just entirely too hot for her and for me to strap her to me. Summer in South China is ridiculous! Please keep leaving me comments. I enjoy them so much. We thank you for all your prayers. We so appreciate them. Until tomorrow...

Much Love,
Ashley

The propeller bow

Mia seemed a little bit more at ease today. She is holding on to me for dear life and I am exhausted. I am sore all over from holding her... even though she is little, she still gets heavy. She slept until nearly 8 am today and we woke her, gave her a warm bath, dressed her, and went to breakfast. She sat in her high chair some of the time and ate some congee, bread, and egg. She began to smile more and would allow Griff to feed her. She will sit in the floor if I am right beside her or behind her and she will let me go into the bathroom while she lays on the bed. This too is improvement. She is allowing my mom to kiss her, but no holding. She still will not allow Griff to hold her either. She is still not accepting to the stroller, so we are hoping she will take to this tomorrow as I don't know how much longer I'm going to hold out at this rate. We napped a little today, not nearly as long as yesterday. Afterwards, we all met and went to the police station to complete her passport application and make her passport photo. It's funny that we saw all the same families at the popo as we saw on Gotcha Day... everyone is on the same schedule. Our guide , R, is absolutely wonderful. Very helpful and speaks great English. I feel much more at ease whenever she is near. After we returned to the hotel, we decided to venture out to Shamian Island, which is about a 25 minute cab ride. We are getting cabin fever pretty bad! We ate at a place called Lucy's where we had heard you could get a pretty good cheeseburger. It was decent...the fries were good. After dinner, we walked down the street and bought Mia some more shoes. The little shoes that you buy in children's boutiques at home that cost around $30-$40, were 25 yuen here... translated to $3 US. Awesome!!!! The lady who owned the store was very sweet and beautiful. As we were leaving, she waved goodbye to Mia and Mia waved back. Then a few steps later, Mia began to cry and reach and try to get out of my arms. We know that she was trying to get back to the lady at the shoe store. We are still not her family in her little mind. That was sad... but it is what we will work through over the course of days, weeks, months, possibly years. We will be going back there this weekend and I'm going to stock up. Lucky I brought an extra suitcase... LOL. Today Mia wore a red dress that my mom had monogrammed and I put a huge propeller bow in her hair. She looked like an angel and was the cutest baby in this entire hotel! Everyone stared and I know some made fun of her huge bow... but do you think I care? Nope... not one bit. We are doing some sightseeing tomorrow as a group... got an early day so I must go to bed now that my little Chinese princess is finally asleep. Until tomorrow...

Much love,
Ashley

It's Official!

We all slept well last night. Mia slept in her crib and we learned that she is a thumb-sucker. She went to sleep rather easily, but I feel sure it was mostly due to a reaction to shock. She slept through the night and we got up and gave her a bath. We dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. She ate nothing, but watched everything. She will look at everything, without moving her head. She just cuts her eyes from side to side. Funny... We left the hotel after breakfast and went back to the Civil Affairs building where we had an adoption interview and took our adoption oath. We were asked... "Are you satisfied with the girl?" Do you still wish to adopt her? Do you promise to help her get an education? Do you promise not to abuse or abandon her"" Very satisfied, Absolutely, We promise, We promise. Afterwards, we went to another office and answered a few questions about why we wanted to adopt her. Griff responded, "Because we wanted a daughter." Well said, Daddy... Then, we got back on the bus and R, our guide, informed us that it was official... she is our daughter now. Mia has begun to attach to me, but will not allow Griff to hold her, nor my mom. She cries if I set her down and she pretty much wants me to hold her all the time. She took a good nap in the bed with Griff and me though. She is very sad, sad eyes, no happiness at all. Every once in a while, we see a glimpse of a smile, but no real joy at all. She is trying to process what has happened to her in the last 24 hours. I am told that the babies start doing better after the first three-four days. Right now, is a hard time. I am so sad for her, as I know she doesn't understand and I can't communicate with her. I am doing all that I intuitively know a mother should do right now, even though to her I am not her mother. I am praying that God will continue to nurture this relationship and help her to bond with us. She is beautiful baby and the orphanage told us that she is very smart and outgoing. We are really looking forward to seeing this side of her. Until tomorrow.

Much love,
Ashley

An Orphan No More

Well, we have had an unbelievable day. The kind of day you cannot describe in words. We are sitting in our hotel room with our baby daughter and she is drinking a bottle. What a difference a day makes. We were united with Mia this afternoon at the Civil Affairs building here in Guangzhou. It was a hectic scene, with lots of other babies and children meeting their new families. Very loud, lots of crying, loud talking, and it was very, very hot. Mia cried for a little while, but was comforted when I took her and stood by a fan. I think she was just really hot. She is very quiet and has only grunted a few times, but we have had a few glimpses of smiles. When we left the Civil Affairs Building we went grocery shopping for diapers and formula. She liked the grocery store and was taking everything in. We bought her a new pair of shoes too. (The first of many I'm sure...:) ) She fell asleep shortly after getting back to the hotel. I woke her up a little while ago to feed her. She ate a good helping of pork congee and she now just finished a bottle. She is extremely tired and appears to be going back to sleep soon. We are all exhausted too. We were able to Skype with the boys, Nana, and Gigi just a little while ago and it was wonderful to see my boys. I am so missing them right now. We have to be ready early in the morning to go back to the Civil Affairs building for more paperwork and adoption interview. I will tell you more tomorrow after I've had a little sleep. Mia is beautiful and we are so thrilled to finally have her with us. Thank you for all of your prayers and I hope that you will continue to pray for her adjustment to her new family. Until tomorrow...

Ashley

Day One... Getting to Know Guangzhou

We all slept well last night in our new hotel. We got up and phoned home, tried to Skype with my sister, and then went downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast buffet was good and the scenery was even better. The dining area overlooks a private garden complete with waterfall and fishpond, so we took a walk outside afterwards. Mom and I ventured out to Starbucks and Trustmart, which is similar to a grocery store. We just relaxed all afternoon and then went to a Lifeline meeting tonight to prepare for the big day tomorrow. There are four other families that will be meeting their children tomorrow with us. It is so very hard to believe that the waiting journey ends tomorrow and then the family one begins. I am terrified of what lies ahead of us, but I know that God has a plan and He will provide. Mom and I packed Mia's backpack for Gotcha Day tomorrow and we ate dinner at a Cantonese restaurant here in the hotel. It was good, but using chopsticks is difficult for country folks like us. Griff and I were the source of much entertainment for the local Chinese who watched us struggle to get food to our mouths... My mom went straight to the fork...:) So, today was a good day all in all. This is the last day Mia will spend in an orphanage and when she wakes up in the morning she will be placed in a car with her nanny to take a six-hour ride to meet her new parents. She will not understand what is happening and we have been prepared by all that she will cry, for how long we have no idea. But I am reassuring myself that while this will be very traumatic for Mia and is very sad to think of all she has ever known being taken away from her tomorrow, I can see what is ahead and I KNOW that what ahead is better than what she is leaving behind. Tomorrow is a very big day. I can think of only one song right now and that is the Casting Crowns song... "If We've Ever Needed You, Lord it's now..." and that really does sum up how I feel tonight. We leave our hotel tomorrow at 2 pm to take a fifteen minute ride to the Civil Affairs office to meet Mia. We will not stay there long, and then we will be taken to a store to buy diapers and formula before returning to the hotel. I'm posting some photos from the garden at the hotel as well as Mia's crib that is ready and waiting for her to sleep in. Please say prayers for us tomorrow as we so need them. Until then...

Much love,
Ashley