Day Two with Miss Olivia

It's been 48 hours since we met our little Livi and I can honestly say it's gone better than we could have even imagined. I realize this may be a bit of a honeymoon period, but I really think this wonderful disposition of hers is here to stay. She is the sweetest thing ever.

She fell asleep last night about 10pm and didn't wake up until 8am. She didn't wake up looking scared this morning like she did yesterday. I can't remember if I mentioned this, but she was shaking so much the first day we got her and yesterday morning that I actually became worried that there may be something wrong with her rather than just being afraid. She was visibly shaking to the point where she could barely hang on to anything. Last night and today though she hasn't done it at all....this makes me relieved and sad at the same time. Relieved because I know it was because she was afraid.....and sad because I know it was because she was afraid. Poor little thing.

Today, she has been so much fun. She has been playful and smiley. She's interacting with us more when we play with her.....like pointing to stuff she wants, copying us when we are doing something, and smiling when we play with her. It's all such great signs that she's starting to trust us.

After breakfast (which she didn't eat much of but did have some.....I was smarter and started her with buns and congee this time) we decided to brave the streets and go do some shopping. We asked a couple at breakfast (there are a lot of other American couples here for adoptions as well) where a good place to go was. We told the bellboy at the front of the hotel where we wanted to go so he could tell our taxi driver. After that, we just get in the cab and hope he takes us to the right place. He did, but it was on the other side of the road and we didn't realize that at first. So, we roamed around the streets and vendors for a while looking for the place the couple at breakfast had described....and after about an hour, we finally found what we were looking for. A huge mall about 5 stories high. What you can't even see in the picture is that there are hallways going deeper between the stores...this place was enormous and you can get lost in a heartbeat. I was thinking though that if I were someone who did bead work or made jewelry, I'd be in heaven. The amount of beads and gems and strings of God-knows-what were ENDLESS. I mean endless. It was utterly amazing how many stores there were that carried, basically, the same thing.....and tons of it.

At the far end of the mall we walked out to what looked like a Times Square of China. It was big and loud and busy, full of huge ads, and it was very cool. We had some lunch at McDonalds....why not....and then headed back to our hotel. We had to show the taxi driver our room key since it had the name of our hotel in Chinese and then, once again, got in and hoped he was taking us to the right place.

At 3pm we met Lucy, our guide, and went to the police station to apply for Livi's passport and get her photo taken for it. She's gonna have her own little passport......am I the only one who thinks that is just stinkin' cute?

Since getting back at about 4:30, we've just been hanging out in the room. We aren't walking around outside because it's been raining and cold all day. We decided to order in Papa John's......I know, Helen, we're in China.....haha.......but hey, there's comfort in pizza from home. Jason actually walked over to Lucy's (the restaurant, not the guide.....hehe) and got some chicken congee to-go. What can I say, she has very particular.....and narrow....taste. Hey, it works. He got 2 bowls and she ate 1 1/2. It's almost 8pm now and she's been playing sooooo great all evening. Just checking out all her new toys and learning what they all do. She and Jason had the cutest play time feeding the baby's their bottles. She was adorable and Jay was eating it up.

She's just been a total joy and we've so loved watching her get more relaxed with each passing hour. I can't wait to see how much she continues this way in the week to come.

Day One with Miss Olivia

It's our official first full day with our Miss Livi and she's been great. Last night we gave her a formula bottle all warmed up and that did the trick. She just didn't like that the water I was trying to give her earlier was room temp.

So she had a bath........

a nice bottle.........

and then fell asleep in my lap.

I wondered if that was the first time she'd ever been cuddled to sleep. It won't be the last, this I know. She slept from about 9:30pm to 6:30 this morning which was wonderful! I actually was wide awake at 5:30 (I know, soooo not like me, but it's been that way every day since we arrived) and read for a bit before she got up.

I could tell when she woke that she had forgotten where she was. She looked frightened and unsure. I picked her up and held her for a while trying to reassure her and remind her of yesterday's events. I gave her a bottle and we got ready to go eat. At breakfast, she was not liking what I picked out for her. The congee was gone for the moment, so I got some warm oatmeal with a little syrup....she didn't like that. I tried some scrambled eggs....the face she made was priceless. I gave her some cut up banana.....she couldn't spit it out quick enough. So, by the time the congee had been refilled and I got her some, along with some steamed buns (two things we know she likes), she did not trust anything I was trying to put in her mouth anymore. She just turned her head and refused to even try. Okay, mom....lesson learned. Fill her with the things she knows and likes first.....then try the new things. Got it.

We met our guide, Lucy, in the lobby at 9:30 to go back to the Civil Affairs Office and do some paperwork. That only took about an hour and then we were back at the hotel by 11:00.

When we got back to the room, I gave her a bottle again with some rice cereal in it. I'd love to give her more food stuff, but at this point, I'm going with what works so she can get her nutrition. She fell asleep and I put her down for a nap.

About an hour later, she woke up and seemed upset. I picked her up and noticed she had a messy diaper. Then I realized she had a VERY messy diaper. It also occurred to me that she had quite a fever. Her cheeks were pitch red and she was steaming. I got her cleaned up and changed and tried to give her some Tylenol. She took it okay, but she wasn't crazy about it. I just held her and she fell back to sleep again.....this was at about 1:30....and she slept until 4:30. I was glad she slept so long, even if it does mean we might be up late tonight, because of her not feeling well....she needed the rest. Well, she woke up like a different girl. She has been totally fine. No fever, no diarrhea and more smiley than we've seen her yet. She's really being playful too......she loves the musical doll from Aunt Mindy. Talk about a difference from just a few hours ago. I'm so glad. I would have hated to have her stay sick for a long time. I really think it's just a response to everything that has happened to her in the last 24 hours. It's been some pretty heavy duty adjusting for this little one. And with so much still to go, I just hope we can make her feel safe and loved. She's just precious.

GOTCHA DAY!

Finally, we have her! She's sitting right here in the hotel room as I write this. Jason is playing with her on the floor and she is doing beautifully!

Let me start from the beginning......we met our guide at 2:15pm and arrived at the Civil Affairs Office about 20 minutes late. We knew that she was already there so we wouldn't have to wait long to see her. We entered the room where all the child meetings take place. It is surrounded by a red couch and there were about 5 or 6 other couples there with their new children. We had a small, but scary, glitch right away. When our guide came up to us with the paperwork and told us to check that everything was correct....it wasn't. The only thing on it that was right were our 2 names. Our passport numbers weren't ours, our address was listed in Scottsdale, AR, and the worst part.....the child's name was a completely different name. For a minute, all we could think was that they had brought the wrong child to us. Our guide panicked for about 10 seconds and then double checked other papers. "you're adopting Sui MingJuan?" We said we were and she said it was all okay. The paperwork was wrong, but we had the right child. Good lord, talk about a crazy thing to worry about for that couple minutes.

At that point, she said it's time to go see her. She's coming. We got up from the couch just in time to turn the corner in the room and see her coming in the door. Walking at first, then picked up by her caregiver when she wouldn't come any further. It was so surreal to see her in person. I really expected her to look more different.....after all it has been about 8 mos. since her referral photo was taken...but she didn't. She looked like our Livi. The one who's face we've memorized for the past 6 mos. and she was precious.

I didn't cry like I thought I would. I got choked up, but mostly all I could do was smile and hold her. Actually, I had done my crying earlier that day....a couple times. Just the anticipation was worse than the actual moment. Jay and I just stood there holding her and talking to her for a long time.

Finally we had to go sit down and do some paperwork. Jay did it mostly while I held her and showed her some of the toys we had brought. Her favorite thing was the small Magna Doodle. She just kept drawing and looking around. She didn't cry, ever. Mostly, she just looked confused and a little scared, like she didn't understand what was going on.

After some paperwork was done, we were able to meet the orphanage director and caregiver. We gave them each a gift and were allowed to ask some questions about Livi. They told us what she ate and how much. We asked them what they called her and they said something a little different than we've heard so far. It was pronounced like Ming-king with the king part having a raised fluctuation. Hard to explain and actually a little hard to say too, but it was interesting to hear since that was news to us. The caregivers told our guide that she is a very easy going child. She has definitely shown that so far this evening. We told them thank you for taking such good care of her. They seemed genuinely sad to say goodbye to her and you could tell they cared about her. That made us feel good.

One of the best things we received was a total surprise. We were given a piece of paper with a small piece of cardboard taped to it. It is from her birth mom. It was left with her when she was abandoned. It has her birth weight, date, and time. Just to have that is such a treasure. It just tells us that she cared about her and maybe just didn't feel like she had any other choice.

We got her back to the hotel, changed her, played with her for a bit, and went to get some dinner. The best thing happened at dinner when I started to play with her and she smiled real big......I even got her to laugh a bit. It was the cutest thing ever! We ordered her some chicken congee (which is basically rice cooked to mush with lots of water and some small pieces of chicken). She liked it okay, but didn't eat much. Not what we were told, as they said she has such a big appetite, but today has been a long and hard day for her so I'm sure it's because of that. I had tried to give her some water earlier in the hotel.....in a sippy cup, a regular soft cup, and a special bottle with no luck from any. I'm not sure what to do about that yet, I'm going to try again here before bed. I hope I can help her better this time, she just doesn't seem to know how to drink from anything. We'll figure it out I know.

I'm gonna sign off for now. I'm giving her a bath, trying a bottle again, and then it's bedtime. She's had a very long, emotionally trying day so I'm sure she's tired. I'm hoping she is able to sleep well tonight as I'm sure she needs it and I know I do.
Thanks for all the continued prayers, we really appreciate it.

Day 5 - Part one

So, part one of day 5 is about the hotel since the best part of Day 5 is yet to come. I thought I'd do this part now. We checked in yesterday and got up to our room and it is so nice. We have an amazing view! It was pretty foggy when we arrived, but this morning was much clearer. We're right on the Pearl River on the 18th floor. It won't be hard to call this home for the next week and a half.

This morning we got up early....again....got ready and went down to breakfast. The buffet was huge and soooo good. Much better than the hotel in Beijing. Omelets made to order, french toast, fruits, hash browns, sausage and bacon, and anything else you can imagine. This comes free with the hotel cost every day, so we'll be starting our days out with a good meal.

The inside of the hotel is beautiful. There's a waterfall and pond with tons of fish.........the boys would love this place.

When you leave out the back of the hotel, the outside street is very quaint. It's lined with little shops and a park. There's a couple places to eat along the way, some more different and authentic Chinese than others.

This morning we saw a group of women exercising in the park. We were told that since not many people have a car and it's far to go to the nearest workout place, this is the way they improvise. This is probably part of the reason that I haven't seen one overweight Chinese person yet since we arrived. I'll take some more pictures at night sometime because there are lights in the trees and a lot to see that's not open right now.

One funny thing, while we were walking down the street we were stopped by a Chinese man who asked us where we are from and if we are here for an adoption. We said we were and he asked us about her and told us congratulations. Then he introduced himself as Jordon, a local shop owner. This is so funny because my friend, Sue, told us about him. She said to look for Jordon, then she said...no, actually, Jordon will find you. Haha.....guess she was right. He told us to bring her down to see him and he will do her name in Chinese for free. Very cool.

Well, it's about 10:15am and we are meeting Lucy, our guide, in the lobby in 4 hours. My stomach is in knots, I could hardly eat breakfast. I am considering taking a nap just to make the time go by faster, but then I'd have to redo my hair and makeup. We'll see. For now, I just want to go and get her. I'm so ready.