Moving on to Guangzhou

We said goodbye to Wuhan this morning and made our way to Guangzhou.  We will be here for the next 5 days before making our way home!!!  Sweet little girl was sweaty with all the layers she had to wear. The Chinese people believe in bundling up their babies, and several people made comments through our guide that I didn't have enough clothes on her. So, we went full out snow gear for the airport today. Emma couldn't even move and the temperature when we landed was in the 60s. At least we made it with minimal stares (you know except all the ones from people because we are Americans with a Chinese child) and zero negative comments. She looks mighty cute though.

In true American fashion, Emma has become a fan of taking selfies....or are these us-ies?

This was like a little test run to see how Emma would do on the plane. Every time we get in a car, she goes to sleep. Since our flight today was during naptime, I was sure she would sleep. Nope. Not a wink.  She did drink a whole bottle of milk and eat 2/3 of a container of puffs. She did really well but if I'm being honest, the thought of our LONG flight home makes me really nervous.

We have her medical appointment in the morning that is necessary to get her visa. Hopefully it will all go smoothly and we will be able to mark one more thing off the list of documents needed to bring Emma home! Thanks for coming on this journey with us!  Can't wait for you to meet this precious little girl!

Our Last Day in Wuhan

Life is good in Wuhan! Here is a little bit of what we have been up to with our littlest love.  Bath time is a huge hit!!

Sleeping is serious business too. Love, love, love the precious blanket that our pastor's wife and the crochet ladies at our church made. These sweet ladies make and pray over each blanket to send to orphanages in China so each child will have a personal possession of their own.  Love the way our church is caring for the orphan in such a special way.

Happy little girl.

I love that she crosses her feet when she sits just like her big brother and sister. Can't wait to watch them all together!

We went to the Hubei Provincial Museum today.  It was very interesting to see the exhibit that included 2000+ year old relics that were found in a tomb in this province.

They seemed to have felt it was necessary to have a large selection of cowbells in the afterlife!  Pretty amazing stuff and it was super interesting to learn a little more Chinese history and culture.

This is our official family picture that is in Emma's red book.  She was NOT happy because our guide took away her lovie for this picture but it was our first picture together with her, so I still love it.

Goodnight Wuhan. We fly out around lunchtime (midnight in MS) for Guangzhou. We will have medical appointments and do whatever is needed for the US Embassy so we can finalize the American side of our adoption. We are excited to begin the second week of this adventure so we can get closer to going home.  So ready to hug my babies and celebrate Christmas as a family of 5!!

No Words

There are truly no words to describe our day with Emma yesterday but I will do my best to try.  Emma slept like an angel her first night with us.  Her day was quite busy and scary so I know she was exhausted. Once everyone woke up, we went downstairs for breakfast. She has eaten everything that is not nailed down since joining us and when we fed her a pastry like thing, we got our first smile. I would like to think it was because she was warming up to us, but I feel like it had more to do with the chocolate.

She let J hold her for the first time that morning as well.

We met our guide and went back to the adoption center. We completed all the official documents to make our adoption legal in the eyes of China. She was the 82nd baby adopted from the Hubei Province this  year and she was the very last one that they processed. We had to put our fingerprint on all of our signatures. Emma had to put her handprint too. She was not a fan. Her nannies were there too. She cried when she saw them but was quickly comforted with puffs and juice.  It was hard to see her sad but I'm thankful that the time passed quickly and we were able to leave the office without any more tears.

We came back to the hotel and J went to grab us some lunch. Emma is a fan of Burger King (side note, I don't think I have ever eaten a whooper in my whole life and in the last 2 days, I have had 2.  Familiarity is nice.) We spent the rest of the day playing and everything changed when we pulled out this flashlight. She stared at it for a minute and then smiled!!! A legit smile!!! Then she laughed....and laughed.....and laughed and she hasn't stopped since!!!!  It was seriously like her guard came down and she became comfortable with us.  It was truly beautiful and we are so thankful!!! She tilts her head to the side for pictures just like her brother and sister!! I just love it!!

We so appreciate all the prayers you are pouring over us.  We feel them and we are forever grateful. We can't wait to see what is in store for us today!!

More Gotcha Day Pictures

Here are just a few more pictures from yesterday. We had a great night and she is actually still asleep. This morning (evening in MS), we will be going back to the adoption office to finalize all the legal documents to officially and legally make her ours in the eyes of China.  Please pray for her little heart this morning.  I believe the nannies will be there as well and I can imagine it will be heartbreaking for her to see them.

Emma's Gotcha Day!

Today was incredible. Our guide picked us up around lunch time to take us to the adoption center. We had a few papers to fill out and then it was finally time!

In walked two nannies with a precious little girl that looked like a giant pink marshmallow and she was OURS!!

One of the nannies held her while we asked a few questions and tried to not appear too scary. You could see the fear in her eyes and I don't blame her!  She spent the last 19 months in the same room and today, she traveled 3 hours and was handed off to some strangers. Her world was rocked but she was amazing. I gave her the Baby Be Blessed doll we had made forever ago. She held it so tight and would not let go. The Nannie finally pretty much forced Emma off of her and handed her to me.  She cried for just a minute and then calmed down. I can only imagine how confused she must have felt. Her nannies brought a scrapbook for her with pictures of the city she was born in and the orphanage where she spent the first 19 months of her life.  They also brought her a jade snake necklace since she was born in the year of the snake.  It was so special to see how much these ladies loved her and we will treasure those precious gifts forever.

Just a few minutes after they put her in my arms, it was time to go get her passport picture taken. (Yes, I realize I am holding her in a moving vehicle. They don't have car seats. And trust me, after being here a few days, the lack of car seats is the least of their transportation worries. I have to shut my eyes every time we get on the road. It is insane.) Sister girl was worn out from her busy day and fell asleep in my arms on the way to the office.

We finally made it back to the hotel and things really went very well.  She ate great for supper and played with some toys.  She really loves the doll and the lady bug lovie we got her. We were excited to see that she did receive our care package. She was carrying the photo book we sent when we first saw her today and she was wearing the outfit we sent (underneath 4 other layers of clothing Bc that is how the Chinese roll). The nannies told us that she would kiss our pictures.  So sweet.

Emma has been an angel baby and such a trooper. We are praying that she will begin to trust us and the walls of fear and hurt will come down.  We love her so much already and feel honored to be her parents. The journey to adopt Emma may have come to an end, but the best adventure is yet to come as we get to watch her grow up into the person the Lord desires for her to be.

On To Wuhan

We left early this morning to fly to Emma's province of Hubei.  We will complete the first round of adoption paperwork in the provincial capital city of Wuhan.  Our guide for this city told us on the way to our hotel that this was a smallish city with only 10 million people.  Yeah, that's what I consider to be a smallish town.  Anyway, we got settled in our hotel and grabbed some lunch at the nearby Burger King.  We were not sure if we would get Emma today (Sunday) or if we would have to wait until tomorrow. Her orphanage is over 3 hours away, so we were told that she would be leaving in the morning (6pm on Sunday in Mississippi ) which would put her here around lunch time (9-10pm MS time) and then we would get to see her.  If I'm being honest, it is such a surreal feeling to be here. After talking and praying about something for so long, it is so bizarre and exciting to actually be living it out. There have been several times that J and I have looked at each other and been like "we are in China. CHINA?!?!?!!!"  We are hoping for a good nights rest tonight since we know tomorrow could be a difficult day.  Please say a pray for Emma. We love her deeply but she does not know us and for a child who has never been outside of her orphanage walls, there will be an overwhelming amount of experiences to take in for her all of which will seem so scary. We pray that she will learn to trust us and feel more and more comfortable with us as we pour out love on her. The next few days are uncharted territory for us. With our biological children, they are born with an attachment to us.  Adoption is different. Attachment is a process that takes time and it is honestly scary as we attempt to get things "right."  We know that The Lord has a heart for adoption and He will carry us as we bring Emma officially in to our family. 

Day 2 In Beijing

Today we did some more exploring in Beijing.  We started our morning at Tiananmen Square before heading into the Forbidden City.

Here we are outside the gates with a little photo bomb by Chairman Mao. He is everywhere...including watches and fans and any other souvenir item you can imagine.

This is our travel group right before we went in the first of several gates.

The Forbidden City was enormous. We got a brief history lesson from our guide as we moved through each section. It was really interesting and I learned a lot....but I couldn't get the Mulan soundtrack out of my head as we came to these steps leading up to the emperors throne room.

Once our tour was complete, we jumped in to these bad boys.

I had to close my eyes because our driver had that rickshaw weaving in and out of traffic like crazy.  I'm thankful we survived!

Our driver dropped us off at this little alley way so we could go have a traditional meal in the home of a family who lives "under the shadow of the emperor" because it is located so close to the palace.  These homes may not look like much but they have been around for 600 years and would cost $10 million to purchase!  Only 10% of the people living in this area own their homes.  The rest are owned by the government.

They had a man painting with the traditional calligraphy so we had him paint Emma's name. Beautiful.

After lunch and another thrilling rickshaw ride, we went to a tea room for a Chinese tea ceremony.  We are not tea drinkers but we enjoyed tasting and learning about different teas.

This was my favorite tea because it didn't have any tea leaves and was just hot water and dried fruit.  It would have been super yummy cold!

We learned the proper way to drink our tea.  I'm so fancy.

After our tea ceremony, we got to watch an acrobatic show.  It was amazing! The performers were 10-18 years old and it was unbelievable to see the things they could do.  We were not allowed to take pictures which was a bummer but it was awesome!!! We are off to bed now because we have a flight to catch at 8:30 am (6:30 pm in Mississippi) as we head to Emma's province.  We are not sure if we will get her tomorrow afternoon or the next morning, but we are so excited to be this close to her! It is almost (FINALLY) time to meet our girl!!!