China - Day Twelve - Venturing out and about Guangzhou on our own...

Overlooking beautiful Guangzhou

Today, the only thing listed on our itinerary was to wait in our hotel room for a phone call from our facilitator, Lily.  She would be calling to get the results of Lucy's Tuberculosis test that was done on Saturday and let us know if we needed any further medical testing.  We wouldn't need to wait for the phone call until 3:30 so the day was ours to do as we wished.
After chatting with some other adoptive families at breakfast, we learned about a toy and gift market that was about 20 minutes from our hotel (Onelink Plaza).  We decided to hail a taxi and check it out.  Our kind taxi driver put on music with English lyrics for us to enjoy on the ride.  The taxi trip to "Onelink Plaza" cost us all of $4.00.
We were dropped off at this 8 story plaza.  Each floor held dozens of  "stores", or perhaps better described as cubicles.  I would guess the size of each cubicle was about 8' x 8'.  Narrow aisles between stores made it interesting to maneuver a stroller.  (thinking about you often Carol Scheuerman ;0)
By now, Merle has this bartering game down.  This is how we roll........ I choose what I'd like to purchase - hand it to Merle and tell him "how interested I am in buying" (if I tell him I REALLY would like to have it he'll see how low they seem to be willing to barter  - and he starts the dickering, ahem bartering back and forth.  (I very much DISLIKE the barter game)

Eating cookies with Kimmy while Mama shops

Browsing

What do you think about this Daddy?

It was nice to shop in an air conditioned building and after visiting several floors of the plaza, we decided to head back to the hotel to await our call.

This is the look I give when I have to get in a vehicle and I don't know where I'm headed!

The phone rang early and Lily gave us the good news we were expecting to hear - the results for TB were negative and no further testing needed!  Thanking God for each hurdle passed in this journey.

After letting Lucy "unwind" a bit in the room, it was time to head back out for our supper.  (typically we eat a big breakfast at the buffet in the hotel each morning that comes with our plan and then grab supper out locally).

At the fountain in front of our hotel

Different view at hotel front

Enjoying stroller rides in Guangzhou

Tonight's supper was Chinese!  Imagine that....Chinese food in China :)  Actually we have eaten "Mexican" and "Italian" while here in China too!  Our "noodle and dumpling girl" seemed to like the supper Daddy chose for her....

My Daddy has gotten good with the chopsticks!

I'm one of the best noodle slurpers around!

Although we ate a later than typical dinner, it was still a bit too early to spend the rest of the evening in our hotel room.  So, we decided to check out the "Gardens".  (as I wrote in an early post, our hotel name is "The Garden Hotel")  What a gorgeous place!!

On the bridge with Daddy at the "Garden"

Strolling the paths at the "Garden" with Mommy

FISH - those are FISH Lucy!

Although we're missing our family at home, we know this time of special bonding and one on one time with our newest little one is ever so important for all of us and indeed a gift!

China - Day Eleven- Visiting the Zoo and the Pool

Time for a family picture at the zoo!

We are enjoying a much more laid back schedule in Guangzhou.  Getting time for naps and "doing what we want when we want!"  Today "TOUR" was written on our itinerary.  I asked our guide, Lily what that meant and she said we could chose to tour the temples, parks or zoo.  We chose the zoo!  Riding  by van it took about 10 minutes from our hotel to get there.

It's extremely hot and humid outdoors today and sweat was rolling down Merle's face and my back.  But despite the intense heat, it was fun to experience Lucy's first visit to the zoo.  There were MANY children and parents and grandparents visiting the animals today.

Lily bought Lucy an animal balloon upon entering the zoo.  Lucy girl wasn't overly thrilled but held onto it.

The animal exhibits were intertwined among beautiful tree lined walkways.  

Lucy rode in her little red stroller and we would pick her up out of the stroller to see some of the animals.

Daddy showing Lucy the animals!

They have two pandas at this zoo which I was excited to see but they are in a "panda house" which is a glass exhibit and we could only see one and even he was hard to see  - I was a little disappointed.

Have you noticed that "Kimmy" the doll Linsey made for Lucy goes EVERYWHERE
with us!!

After our zoo fun, we happily climbed into the air conditioned van and headed back to the hotel to check out the outdoor pool.  Lucy looked adorable in her little pink bathing suit.  We had "checked out" the pool on our evening stroll last night and you can see the pool from our hotel room window.  She understood where we were going but I'm sure not what we were going to do.

Lucy Kim was a bit nervous and not sure of this whole pool thing.  Based on her expressions, I'm guessing she'd rate it a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.  We only stayed at the pool about 30 minutes and she was getting so sleepy.  We headed back to the room where we ended up waking her from an almost 3 hour nap.

Just imagine how much sensory overload this little one must be having!  All these firsts - every day multiple times a day.  From living behind orphanage walls to all of this!  Her world has soooo changed in the last week!  She's such a brave little girl!

Is she not the cutest little thing in her little pink swimsuit!!

A few funnies while in China.....

Several comical things have happened while here in China (ok maybe I should say funny to us)........

The second day that Qu Yan was with us, we met our facilitator in the lobby and she looked at Lucy dressed in a cute little dress with a white bow in her hair and said - "you might want to take out the white bow".   I think I just kinda stared at her.  "White bows/flowers mean you're attending a funeral"!!  Okie Dokie -- let's get rid of the bow!
She also said that men shouldn't wear green hats.  It means his wife has another lover.  Merle was still up in our room and I'm thinking..... I just know he's going to come down wearing his green Eagles hat!  Sure enough the elevator door opens and Merle comes out with his Eagles hat on!  We all started laughing saying - great our daughter is headed to a funeral and my husband is advertising that I have another lover!  LOL!
(As we were laughing Sherry told us that Merle's Eagle hat was fine as it was teal and not green!  Good times!)

While eating dinner the one night, Emily says to Qu Yan - "Chew, chew, chew"  (because she had stuffed her mouth very full).  I said - "Um Emily her name is Qu!  (remember - Qu is pronounced "chew!")  The three of us got a good laugh over this one!  Qu Yan just looked at us like we lost our marbles!

Our friends Dave and Kathi needed to go to a bank to exchange U.S. currency for Chinese currency.  Apparently none of us are very observant, and we weren't sure where the closest bank was so I asked the attendant in the hotel "Where is the closest bank?", to which she replied "uhh.. right next door" (adjoining the hotel out the door to the left was a bank!) - DUH!  She must have been thinking "smart Americans!"

The first several times the five of us would get into the hotel elevator we would be standing and chatting for several moments before we realized we weren't moving.  Ummm..... someone needs to press the numerical button for the floor you want to go to!  DUH!

Oh it's so good to be able to laugh at ourselves and our stupidity!!

China - Day Ten - Medical Exam, Grocery Shopping, Paperwork and Playroom Time

Today was the day that Lucy girl was scheduled to have her mandatory medical exam and TB test.  We met our guide in our hotel lobby at 10:00 and headed to the medical facility where ALL adoptive families go to have this "exam."   The building was much like the civil affair office building in Xi'an and poor Lucy girl began getting worried.  (this makes me so incredibly sad for her)  Lily did a great job of telling her what was going to happen.   When we got off the elevator and headed into the medical office, there were many, many Caucasian parents with Chinese children!  It appeared to be first come, first serve type of thing.  Since Merle delegates all paperwork completion to me (insert grin), I completed it before we entered room one of four rooms we would need to go in and out of.  Room One - was a quick visit with the doctor.  He quickly scanned the Chinese copy of the medical report that was given to us in Lucy's file (back in January, 2013).  He then did a very quick "assessment" of Lucy and wrote notes (in Chinese).  We left Room One then waited in the hallway outside of Room Two until it was our turn.  In Room Two , Lily told us "in here you can take pictures".  Here, Lucy would have her ears and mouth/throat checked.  Of course our girl was nervous with each room we entered (can anyone blame her!) and Lily told her exactly what was going to happen.  In room two was such a kind nurse who first checked baby doll "Kimmy" (doll that Linsey made and named for Lucy and she LOVES her!) and then proceeded to check the same on Lucy.

After our quick stop in Room Two we proceeded to wait a short time in the hallway to enter Room Three.  Here Lucy got weighed and had her head circumference measured.  She only teared up a bit when I had to place her on the scale for a moment.

Room Four was the dreaded room!  We knew that Lucy would be taken from us and have her blood drawn for her TB test.  (they recently switched from the "prick" style to a blood draw)  Merle and I sat in the hall crying ourselves as we felt so bad for her!  HOWEVER, she came out NOT CRYING.  It appeared she had cried while in there but must have stopped and was enamored with her sticker (a.k.a. bandaid!!).  I LOVE that two and three year olds love bandaids!

Whew - we were now done with the dreaded medical exam!  This was the last thing I was feeling a little uptight about FOR Lucy while in China.

A drinkable yogurt makes everything better!

Now it was onto the grocery store to pick up some drinks and snacks.  I find the grocery stores here in China sooo interesting!  Lily asked what we'd like and guided us around.  Of course getting some more drinkable yogurts was a "must have" along with a bag of oreos and a Dove chocolate bar!

Deciding which kind to buy

Waiting for Mommy while she gets me yogurt

Looking for snacks in Guangzhou grocery store

After our grocery store adventure we headed back to the hotel.  After a nap and relaxation time, we headed to check out the hotel's "playroom."  We had the small room to ourselves - it's a sweet little room to take little ones.

Enjoying the playroom

The "China Daily" is delivered to our room each day.  Written in English, it's nice to catch some current news.  We thought today's newspaper was interesting to see!

China - Days Eight and Nine

Thursday, September 5th was Emily and Dave & Kathi 's last day in Xi'an.  At 9:15 a.m. a driver took them to the airport to fly back to Beijing where Emily would stay with our friends, Dave & Ev McCulloch and serve at Roundabout.

Strolling around the streets of Xi'an

Merle, Lucy and I were "on our own" in the busy city of Xi'an.  Sooo many things to see and check out all within walking distance of our hotel.  Lucy LOVES the stroller!  On yet another beautiful day, we trekked out and about.  Finding "bargains" (a.k.a. cheap souvenirs!) and enjoying feeling adventurous.  We'd often laugh as many, many people would all but trip over themselves staring.  Seriously!  Stares aren't a quick flash of a second look it's more like a 45 second long look over from head to toe- look at the caucasian parents and is that a Chinese baby?  Some people would ask us "is she Chinese?"  Merle and I would smile and banter to each other about what we speculated they might be saying!  Funny but also by days end we are always ready to be alone and away from constant stares.

Lucy also LOVES bath time!  To try and keep things fun and "happy" for our girl, we make sure we fit in a long bath session with her stacking cups!  She giggles and laughs and even dumps the water over her head.

Bath time = one happy little girl!

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Friday was our last day in Lucy's home province - Shaanxi.  After packing up the suitcases (and Merle getting on the scale with each suitcase lifted over his head to make sure we fit within the 44 lb. in country flight weight) we met our facilitator in the hotel lobby at 2:00 p.m. and headed to the civil affairs office one last time where Sherry our facilitator would run in and pick up Lucy's passport.  (thus the reason we stay in province from Sunday to Friday to allow for time to process her passport).  From there we went to the Xi'an airport to board a plane to Guangzhou (where the U.S. consulate is located).  Distance probably would be similar from flying from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Our lovely facilitator, Shery!!

Lucy fell asleep shortly after getting into the van.  When we arrived at the airport, you could tell she was scared.  Wondering where on earth she's now going.  Of course Sherry was constantly telling Lucy girl where we were going and what was about to happen.  She cried a little when we first entered the airport as I think the building was intimidating.  I was concerned about going through security.  But they were kind and allowed me to hold her and only needed her to stand a short time while she was "wanded".  It went well.  After we went through security we had about a 2 hour wait for our plane.

Lucy sat on Daddy's lap and I think felt very secure with his big arms wrapped around her.  Big eyes but no crying until it was almost time to land.  We're not sure if she was scared, her ears hurt or she needed to use the bathroom or a combination of the three.  She cried and I rocked her and sang "Jesus Loves Me" in her ears which quieted her until we finally landed.

I feel so secure in Daddy's arms!

Because our flight was late and luggage took long to collect, we didn't leave baggage claim until about 9:45 p.m.  We met our new facilitator, Lily right outside of baggage claim area.  She greeted us with a smile and took us to our waiting van.

It was about a 45 minute drive from the airport to the Garden Hotel.  It's a BEAUTIFUL five star hotel!  We have a living room connected to our bedroom and a gorgeous large bathroom.  It's good to be able to "spread out" a bit!  We were exhausted - even though we didn't do much but "wait around" all day.  I collapsed into bed about 11:15 p.m.

In the lobby area of Garden Hotel, Guangzhou China

China - Day Seven - part three - An, QuYan's Finding Place

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda - Xi'an China

While adoption is beauty from ashes, adoption is also result of a loss!  Our little girl was left behind at a beautiful public "park area" in Xi'an.  Her records state that she was found on the west side of the "Big Wild Goose Pagoda."  Today we visited this area.  Merle and I talked about the mix of feelings we had while there.  I thought mostly about Lucy's birth mother and what that particular day may have looked like three years ago.  The "park" is a walking park.  It's absolutely beautiful with large trees, different pathways and statues.  

 Our facilitator, said it was very possible that Lucy's birth mom chose this area because she knew there were many people there.  She may have even "hung back" making sure her baby was "found" and reported to police?  (this made me think about the Bible story of Moses!)  IF Lucy's birth parents are poor, they most likely did not have the resources to get their baby the health care that she will need.   We don't know and most likely never will, BUT I believe in my heart that she was loved and her parents wanted her to have the help they couldn't provide.   Obviously there are many more emotions and thoughts that I have ......

The name given to her at the social welfare institute  - "An" (her surname is from the Xi' "AN" orphanage) -- all the children at that particular orphanage  are given that surname (last name).  "Qu" (pronounced phonetically "chew") is because she was was found in the "Qujiang" district and "Yan"(pronounced phonetically yen)  means goose (left behind at the wild "goose" pagoda).

China - Day Seven - part two - Advocating for "Emily"

This is sweet "Emily" - wearing a "Gettysburg" shirt

As I wrote about in part 1 of this 3 part post - today was a day filled with many emotions!  While at the social welfare institute (a.k.a.= orphanage), Miss R wanted Dave (our friend/producer) to do another "Find Me" trailer to advocate for a very sweet girl.

Miss R told us that every time a family comes through to visit the orphanage she asks if she has a family yet?  She desperately, desperately wants a family of her own.  She is a beautiful twelve year old with soo much potential.  Her teachers report that she a constantly happy and so very helpful with the little ones there.

Dave was able to do a "quick interview" (with dear Miss R translating).  As she told a little about herself and wanting a family, Merle and I had to literally walk away because of sobbing.  Miss R was crying and trying to translate at the same time.  We have given her the English name of "Emily" to refer to her.

Dave captured her singing with the little children and doing a little dance to show the pre-schoolers how it's done.  Like the other 799 children, she deserves a family.  They are currently trying to get all of her paperwork together.  If you know of someone or know someone who might know someone who is interested in adopting a precious older child, please contact me!!  She will "age out" in only a year or year and a half then it will be too late for her to be adopted!   Please, please let's not let that happen.  Emily is so precious.