Day 3 with Lily

First I would like to say thank you to all of you who have posted sweet words. I sit here in front of my computer across the world from you all and soak in each word. They provide comfort to me in a time when we are missing everyone at home. I just sat and cried as I read your comments.
Lily is napping now. She is a little fussy today and messing with her ears alot. We are going to have her checked out by the doctor in the hotel to see if she has an ear infection. She is otherwise extremely easy. She loves to walk/run around and wants to be doing that most of the time, so she will wear you out. Yesterday, just when I was wondering, oh my gosh what have I done....what were you thinking...a toddler again that you are going to have to watch every moment, plus I was extremely exhausted, Lily looks at me and says "mama" in the sweetest little voice. That made all those thoughts go away. Yes we are doing what we have been called to do and God will give us the strength to get through each day. The love that we have for her is no different than the love we have for our bio children. It was as if I birthed her myself.
Yesterday, we offically became Lily's parents. Wahoo!! Now, we wait until Friday for her passport and then we will fly to Guanzhou to finalize everything else. We will be there for 8 days and then we will come home. We have heard that there is much more to do there. One can get a little stir crazy in the hotel with a 1 year old in a city where there is not much going on besides a Walmart! Will post some pictures later once Fred downloads them.

Gotcha Day!!

What an amazing day! I can hardly believe that we have our beautiful daughter in our possesion. We arrived at the office where we would receive Lily at 10:00 am. The first group of children to arrive were not from Lily's orphanage, but to watch that moment for some of the others in the group was priceless. The nannies that had cared for these children had to come in the door hand the children over and immediately leave. The nannies were crying and trying to come back in the building. It ripped my heart out to see the pain they felt to have to hand over the children that they have loved since they arrived in their care. We were all a wreck. Lily's orphanage was the third of 5 orphages to arrive. She came right to us and never cried. We seemed to bond immediatley. We love her so much. She is a sweet, beautiful, interactive little girl. All the wait was worth every second today! We went back to the hotel and grabbed some lunch. After lunch we went back to the room and i layed Lily in her crib, covered her up and she feel asleep withing 5 minutes. Was alsmost too easy! She has been asleep for about 2.5 hours now. Enjoy some videoes below.....

We have arrived in Zhenghou

We arrived in Zhenghou, the capital of Henan Province, this morning at 11:50 am. We checked in our hotel, ate lunch, and then went and exchanged money for tomorrow and the rest of our trip for fees that will need to be paid. We received some additional information on Lily today from her caregivers. Here is some of that information:
She likes porridge, noodles, fish, meat bananas, watermelon, cookies and steamed eggs. She goes to bed at 7:00 pm and wakes up at 6:00 am. She takes two naps a day @ 9 - 10 and 12:30 - 2:30. She sleeps thru the night and has a bottle before bed. She likes her bath. She gets along well with others. When she is fussy she likes you to say nice things to her. She is staring to walk now. They call her "Xi-er"
We will be going to the "walmart" in a few minutes to pick up some stuff for her for tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning we will meet in the lobby at 9:30 and head over to the civil affairs office to meet our daugher. The little girl we have been looking at for several months through our computer will be in our arms tomorrow and forever!!

The Great Wall

We had another full day of touring today. We started at the Great Wall this morning. It was beautiful, but a very hard climb. The steps were uneven and very steep as well as some occasional vomit that you had to walk over. Oh the things you will see and hear in China! From there we toured the Jade Factory and had lunch and did a little shopping. Then we went to the Olympic Stadium and then to the acrobatic show. The show was in a small theater downtown. To our amazement people talk, answer there cell phones and whatever during the show.....very distracting to say the least. Especially the guy kicking the back of your chair the entire time!!! Another interesting thing is to see the little boys who are not potty trained yet in there split pants or no pants at all walking around with all their "business" haning out. We will leave in the morning to head out on a plane to the capital of Lily's province. This is where we will get Lily on Monday. Getting closer...

A day of touring Beijing

Today we met our guide in the lobby at 9 am and went to tour Tian'an men Square, the Forbidden City, ate lunch at the Royal Restaurant, went to the Silk Factory and ended with a tour on a rickshaw around Hutong. We did not arrive back at the hotel until around 5:30. It was a long, hot day but we had a good time. One day closer to meeting Lily. We have been skyping with the kids which has been nice to see their faces each day. We will get up early in the morning for our next day of tours...meeting in the lobby at a bright and early 8 am....

We have arrived in Beijing

After 18 hours of traveling, we have arrived in Beijing. It has been a long two days and we are both very tired. After arriving at the hotel and checking in we headed out with Dawn and Guy for some local dumplings and to the grocery store for water and soda. Tomorrow will be a day full of tours leaving the hotel at 9:00 am. So, hopefully we can get a good night sleep. We miss our kiddos at home. Morgan and Mason we love you and miss you very much! Will post some pictures tomorrow. Goodnight from China!

Finally....going to China! 15 hours and counting.....

In approximately 15 hours we will be boarding our plane to China. There are so many emotions going through me right now. Excitement, anxiousness, fear, overwhelming joy, and the list goes on. How can one person feel all these things at one time. Well it must be the anticipation of almost 4 years of waiting and now it is finally here. I have relied on the Lord's strength through it all and will continue to call on His name as my source of strength and peace. God places desires in our heart in order that we may fulfill our kingdom purpose. Lily is part of that plan. She has been destined to be ours, part of our family here on this earth. It is my honor and pleasure to nurture her and guide her as her mother. I promise to love her and always treat her as the beautiful child of God that she is. Lily was birthed in our hearts long before she was ever birthed on this earth. It is mind boggling when you sit and ponder that for a while. We had to wait because "our" child was not born yet. We must always wait on God's timing in everything. We must not get ahead of Him and lag behind. We must walk with Him, being sensitive to the leading of His voice. We are coming Lily, it won't be long!

Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My!

We took the kids to the zoo in Columbia, SC on Friday to have some family time before we leave on Wednesday. Trying to fit in as much quality time as we can before we leave for 18 days! On top of that Fred will leave to go to London on a business trip the day after we return from China. Needless to say, he is going to miss the kids tremendously and this is a huge sacrifice on his part. If he could get out of it he would. Timing is everything, huh.....it doesn't make sense to us but I trust that God will provide strength for us to get through this time. One more day until we leave for China and 5 more days until we are holding Lily in our arms.

Summer Fun!

OMG....it was a hot one today. We spent the day at our pool relaxing and having fun. With only 7 more days before we leave for China, I am trying to get some quality time in with the kids. Enjoy the pics!

More Pictures of Lily

Consulate Appointment Set!

We recieved our consulate appointment today!!! Yipee....
We will be leaving for China on Wednesday, June 23 and returning on Saturday, July 10. We will fly into Beijing, arriving on Thursday, June 24. On Sunday, June 27th we will fly to Zhengzhou, which is the capital of Henan Province. Henan is the province in which Lily's orphanage is in. I am expecting that we will meet Lily for the first time on Monday, June 28. Lily will leave her foster home in Shanghai 1-2 days before we meet her and go back to her orphanage in Pingdingshan City. I believe that her care givers will stay with her and bring her to us on the 28th. From the 28th on she will be in our care!!! I just can't wait.
Hold on Lily girl we are coming to get you!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!

We received our travel approval today!! I am so excited. Fred and I will be traveling with Dawn (my sister) and Guy to bring our daughters home. God is so good!! We are expecting to travel around June 16.