Pictures that go with the last post...

I think little sister is wearing out big sister.:)

Local tire repair shop.

Pedestrian obstacle course otherwise known as a sidewalk.

Princess "tea party" with noodles.

Anna likes to hitch a ride every once in a while. 

Cosmetic dentistry shop, you can buy your porcelain veneers  and have them put on right there in  the park. There was another stand to have your ears cleaned. Anyone?

Our relaxing walk.

A few of the thousands of shops everywhere.

Quiet Day...

Today was very quiet for us, we were on our own all day. There was a small problem with our paperwork, the orphanage wrote something incorrect. It took our guide all day to straighten it out but eventually it was corrected. We spent the day playing and getting to know each other. We did go for a long walk initially we were in search of McDonald's but we never did find it. I can't begin to tell you how much construction is going on, not one or two buildings but hundreds. There doesn't seem to be too many safety requirements, pedestrians just walk through the construction zones and under and around the scaffolding. It is always entertaining to go out and about the locals like to try out their English and laugh at/with us when we use our Chinese. Lila of course has full conversations with people hopefully she is complimentary when they ask about us, she does like to tease a lot. We got ourselves turned around but were able to show people our cards with the hotel address and they would point us in the right direction.
We only had one meltdown today, again it had to do with Ultraman but we were again able to work through it and soon she was back to her old self. She really likes playing with Anna and doing Mommy's hair. She is doing very well letting us know her needs and wants and is picking up new words.... later, tomorrow, no Anna, potty Mommy, you're welcome, color.  Words she isn't so fond of ...please and sorry but I'm sure they will come. We had lots of fun Skyping with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt KK, Uncle Paki, Sarah, Noah, Amelia and Ben.

First breakfast, these pictures are actually from yesterday.

Having Fun.

A cute little one who wanted a piece of the girls candy, Anna was more than willing to share.

We were trying to learn from the locals how to cross a street ,this is a very small quiet one.

Fireworks store, they are everywhere. Anna is happy here but other people like to stop and watch us take pictures.

Mommy telling her it was time to be all done looking at the fish in the lobby.

Her latest funny face, she has wavy wild hair, which reminds us of her big sister Amelia's.

Overall a restful day we are more than ready to move on to Guangzhou which is more step closer to home. Kim

And then.....

Our first day together was just incredible, I kept waiting for reality to sink in for her but she did so well and was able to sleep well our first night together. On day two we had a very slow start but finally made it down to the always interesting breakfast buffet. Little miss Lila can eat, she has a great appetite and ate a large variety of foods. She really likes tea soaked eggs, greens, and dumplings. She loves yogurt and juice also, I finally told her we had enough breakfast and then the ever helpful wait staff would bring her more food. :) At last we went to watch the fish in the lobby, I am sure one of us is going to end up in the pond by the end of the week with our exuberant girls.
Next it was time to go to the local Walmart  for supplies, here Walmart is several stories high and there is a combination of stairs, escalators and these escalator type things that you can take your cart on also. Well we survived the trip there and were even managing the store OK with two girls and wheelchair when reality hit for our sweet girl. She was already overwhelmed by all of the people and the traffic and people talking about her and our family in the store. It must be very difficult for her processing everything going on. We had made it to the shoe department in hopes of finding some shoes that fit OK, some for with her braces and some for without. She was drawn to the adult shoes like I have seen the nannies and visitors wear at Shepherds Field, we weren't sure at first if she just wanted that kind or wanted to buy big ones for someone else. Well that was enough, the flood gates opened and she was in tears, luckily she let me pick her up and we just sat down right there in the middle of the shoe department in Walmart and let her have a good cry, I assured her I would cry too if I were her and it was definitely OK to be sad. I told her that Mommy and Daddy and the whole family loved her very much and at last she was able to find some "house shoes"in her own size. We were able to buy some towels to use to prop her up a little better in the adaptive stroller we brought and she seemed happy about that.

Then we were looking for some more coloring books when she saw "Ultraman" videos, unfortunately they are VCD and not DVD so we tried to explain and at first she was OK with that and she chose a couple of different videos and then soon she wanted everything. Mommy of course had to say no, and I started offering her choices, it went OK until we once again came to the "Ultraman" videos. Meltdown number two, I can't imagine what it's like for her and we want to say "yes" as often as possible but of course there are times we just have to say "no". (we did end up buying one "Ultraman" video) A short while later we had another meltdown when she saw school supplies like she had at SF, we purchased a couple and then had to leave the store when Anna had finally had enough and started crying because her sister was sad. It was a very long taxi drive back, once back in our room we all spent some time cuddling and everyone felt much better after that.
She has quite the personality and loves to tease, especially Daddy, she loves to call him Ye- Ye which means grandpa. She thinks he is very old because he as a goatee and only old men have facial hair in China. She just points at him and says Ye-Ye and then she justs busts up  to the point of rolling on the floor. She most definitely prefers Mommy and says "No Daddy, Mommy", we are working on that, she loves to wrestle and tease with Chris but mostly she wants me. However right now they are across the hall watching you guessed it "Ultraman" (kind of like old Godzilla movies) together in the hotel playroom. Daddy is also good for hand washing and tooth brushing.:)

We finished the night off all snuggling in bed watching a short video, Lila is only thirty-five pounds but because she can't really hold on she feels much heavier. I'm sure everything will become much easier as we go along.

Blessings, Kim

I will try to download more pictures tonight.

She's Ours....

After a harrowing taxi drive through the streets of Nanchang we finally arrived at the Civil Affairs office where we were to meet Lila. There were several other families who had just met their new babies after an excruciating five year wait, we enjoyed chatting for a few minutes and spent some time reminiscing meeting Anna seven years ago in a very similar room  also here in Nanchang. The Civil Affairs office has moved to a new building but the furniture all looks the same. Our guide told us that Lila should arrive any minute so we pulled out our cameras and placed our selves right across from the door so we could see her come in.
She came in looking a little unsure but excited and nervous. She definately recognized us right away. I was able to go over to her and kneel down next to her and put my hand out which she held right away.We just look into each others eyes, I promised I would go slow but I just couldn't stand it, I put my arms out and asked her if I could lift her out and she said yes. I scooped her up and sat down right there in the middle of the floor and Lila snuggled into me and I wrapped my arms around her and I got my first smile. I couldn't of asked for a better first  meeting. I'm not sure how long we sat there snuggled in each others arms but I do know that soon Daddy and Anna were  there also. We spent time looking at her photo album, and going through a little bag of goodies. She wanted to do bubbles right away and had so much fun with Anna, they just laughed and laughed. At some point we completed the essential paperwork, got photos taken for her passport and adoption papers, sealed the paperwork with her red hand-print and our thumb-prints and then we went to the Notaries office.
We were astounded by how much English she understands, and she can use. She and Anna were having fun poking each other and giggling when I said it was time to be all done with the poking game she looked at me and said "No, all done". We were shocked to the say the least but that is definitely a phrase she has learned and she says it often when she disagrees with me.:) She enjoyed singing many songs with us in both English and Chinese during yet another intense taxi ride.
She continued to be just delightful throughout the evening and had fun wrestling and tickling with Anna and Dad. She ate a big dinner here in our room and enjoyed exploring everything and hiding away all of her goodies in her bag. She really enjoys coloring and drawing and she drew just adorable pictures of Chris and I, she even knows how to print her letters and was quickly writing Lila, Mom and Dad. We  asked if she wanted us to call her Chaxi and she said "No, Lila", she does however answer to both. We were able to visit with Sara from Shepherds Field and learn more about their organization. We are so grateful that Lila was so well taken care of there for the last four and a half years. We also were able to Skype with the kids and grandma back home. Lila kept looking on the other side of the computer and couldn't quite figure out how it worked, she was a little unsure of how her brothers and sisters were talking to her. We are more than a little homesick this trip and are eagerly awaiting being all together as a family again.
We are so thankful for all of the prayers.... Kim

Almost there....

We only have about one hour until we leave from the hotel here in Nanchang to meet Lila. In less than two hours  we will finally get to hold our sweet girl. I don't think Chris or I slept at all last night, we are both running all of the "what if" scenarios through our minds. Of course we know that we are just going to have to "wing it" once we meet her. She is coming straight from the airport, gratefully our agency was able to work with her orphanage so she didn't have to be moved. Again our prayers have been answered.
We were able to be part of a phenomenal group of families who are also adopting while we were in Beijing, it is amazing how quickly you can feel like family to people with similar passions. There were 12 other families in our group many adopting older children, some multiple. There were also several 1st time adopters some with other children some first time parents. One single woman has waited for five years today, I can't even imagine. We were very sad to leave the group to travel on by ourselves but we are so excited to meet up with them again on Friday in Guangzhou. I can't wait to meet all of the new family members.
Anna is doing  just amazing, she has been such a trooper, she has far surpassed our expectations and has made several new friends. A couple of families are adopting children with developmental delays and they were hopeful their children would do as well as Anna. The group, has been so kind and accepting, if only it was like this everywhere.
We will try to write more about our Beijing adventures later, hopefully the pictures will help us remember what we have done but our jet lagged brains are feeling a bit foggy right now.

Blessings to you all, Kim

Lila Grace

How do you love someone so much you have never met? I am consumed by thoughts of Lila, I am constantly daydreaming about the day I will finally get to hold her in my arms. I wonder how it will feel to meet her for the first time, how long it will take before we see her beautiful smile, how long it will take for her to fall in love with her Mama who already loves her so much. The wait is hard, I mean really hard, I've done this twice before you would think I would be better prepared, but I'm not I want my daughter home now!  I know she is being well cared for, I know that there are many, many people praying for her, yes this means more to me than I could ever express but I'm ready to get on with it. Rarely an hour goes by without thoughts of her, we have had months to prepare our hearts to bring her home, I wonder what  she's going to think of us, her new family. I pray that God is working in her heart preparing her for a Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters.  Adoption is such a beautiful wonderful thing but it is rooted in loss. One day soon we will take our dear daughter away from everything she knows and ask her to trust us, complete strangers. I know it's for the best, she will have the love of a family everyday for the rest of her life, she will have so many more opportunities here compared to her life in China as an orphan. But, not a day goes by that I don't think about what I am going to put her through so she can have a better life. I know this is God's plan for Lila, I know that He is ultimately in control and I believe that Lila's life will bring Him glory but no Mama likes to see her child hurt and sad and no Mama likes to be the cause.