June 9, 2007

Last year:

I said an emotional goodbye to Nanning today. I'm not really sure that I can explain how I was feeling, but I couldn't hold back tears. We were leaving Hope's home and I guess I felt some kind of obligation to feel sad on her behalf. I know it is odd. Our little girl has been so sad and scared, maybe some of it transferred to her Mom. I remember Betsy trying to comfort me as we got on the bus to head to the airport. Thanks for nurturing this new Mom and helping me to know that it was OK to feel excited about getting closer one step closer to home. And, for helping me remember that we can convey to Hope the beauty of this place and the people here. She will know China.
Bye Hannah

Hope and Anna Waiting for Our Flight

We've made it to Guangzhou. We all survivied our first airplane adventure together. Thank God it was only an hour. I don't know how we're going to make it home. Take-off and landing were no big deal. Keeping Hope entertained while confined is another story.
Hope was so happy to be put down when we got there!



We arrived at the White Swan at about 3:30 this afternoon. This is when Hope really opened up and played with Ron. Her laugh is amazing!
Here is the view from our room.



We went to dinner at Lucy's and had American food that was delicious. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a grilled cheese sandwich on the menu. Maybe I'll overcome this Cipro weight loss program I've been on.

After dinner we strolled a bit and shopped (FINALLY). :) Hope now has two pair of squeaky shoes, and we picked up some paintings for our house. We'll be very comfortable here this week.
Here is Hope sporting her new shoes and bag of chips the shop owner gave her (I don't think we ever opened them).


It is bedtime now, but I need to write the most important news...TODAY Hope got to know her Daddy! Over the past couple of days we've been blessed to see Hope's emerging personality. Each day brings amazing strides for our little girl.

2 days ago - high chair
yesterday - stroller
today - DADDY!!!

Here is proud Daddy with his little girl.
Ready to go to Lucy's - "Not sure if I should scream or...

...just give in."

WS Lobby

This is the group whose babies had a preference for their other parent. On the way to Lucy's all of them were holding their daughters! Couldn't pass up this opportunity for a photo!
Betsy & Anna - Ron & Hope - Debbie & Tayah

June 8, 2007

I don't have a lot to report from this day a year ago. I don't even have a written journal entry. I've been trying very hard to remember details. If any of our group members are reading this, maybe you can help me. The only notes I have are:






This afternoon Ron went to a market area with a few others from our group. Hope and I stayed back. Though I was sad to miss out on the excursion, I just needed to have a low-key day and stay close to the bathroom. :(

Here you see:
The Narrow Streets
Hannah sSmelling the Flowers
Bonsai Trees
Traditional Wedding Balls
Lychee Fruit

Hope agreed to ride in a stroller today for the first time giving Mama's arms a bit of a break. It was a bit short lived, but after a little "Pringle" coaxing, she abliged. Yesterday she finally sat in a high chair for the first time and today the stroller. Yes, I realize the importance of holding Hope and keeping her close for bonding purposes, but with not feeling well, it was also a blessing for me to be able to put Hope down without tears for short periods of time.







Extra Info: Embroidery Balls Xiu Qiu. Guangxi well known for embroidery balls. They are made by hand, three colours of red, yellow and green. The patterns include plant petals, plants, animals and lucky words. The 'Xiu Qiu' symbolises love. As such, Girls make the balls and gives it to a boy showing him she has given her heart to him. There is a set in the museum showing the event of tossing the ball through a hoop the waiting boys, the boy that catches the Xiu Qiu is then, the husband to be. (Found this here)

June 7, 2007

By this day (Thursday) last year I was very disoriented. I had no idea what day it was. It was a combination of exhaustion, trying to figure out the whole Mommy thing, and being sick. I just followed the crowd and let everyone else worry about the schedule. Here is what I had to say in my journal as I wrote that afternoon:

Hope is taking a later nap today. It is now 3:30 so she is about an hour later than the past two days. She slept great last night (about 11 hrs.). The last couple mornings, Hope has been waking up around 5:00 for a bottle and then sleeping for a couple more hours. Not today. She slept until 7:00 so we all just got up and went right to breakfast. We also have a fun new after breakfast activity - POOPING. :) It is so funny! We take her into the bathroom and she just sits right on the floor and takes care of business. ***This was a very big deal. :) ***

Yesterday was so HOT! Liz said it was only about 91 degrees, but with the humidity it felt like 113! Everything is so sticky! Today was also hot, but it was cloudy so it didn't feel as blistering. Also, it seems to rain every afternoon. You might think that would cool things off, but most of the time when it stops you can see the steam in the air.

One little tidbit our guide shared with us as we were walking today: China is made up of 56 different nationalities. 91% of the people are Han, and the other 9% consist of the remaining ethnic minorities. Interesting. Tu thinks that Hope looks Han.

We had a very special activity today. We went to a beautiful park (Green Mountain Park, I think) where we also visited a Buddhist temple. Hope was given a blessing by one of the monks. She seemed very curious about the whole thing and even let the monk hold her for a bit. It was a really neat place to visit.
Entrance - Tu (with Hannah in the background), Negotiating Our Admission

She studies us, but smiles are hard to come by.

Blessing





Mommy and Daughter



Family

After the temple, we went to a different area of the park to see the fish pond FULL of yellow carp on their usual feeding frenzy. We spent some time walking around the pavilion here. Down the road a bit was a zip line and a chance for some of our group members to walk on water (in a huge inflated ball).


Here we are again! ~ FAMILY ~


On the way down the hill we were accosted/swarmed by this group of ladies full of questions. They wanted to know why our little girl looks like one of them. Interesting. I got the feeling that all of these women weren't entirely happy with the whole idea of adoption. Either way, Hope had had enough.

When we left the park we were taken to another wonderful lunch. Tu and Hannah have chosen some fantastic restaurants for us these past couple of days. The food has so much flavor!


Daddy Time


Now we're back and Hope is asleep. We played for about an hour before nap time this afternoon because Hope had a late morning nap on the bus and during a good portion of the lunch today.

Finally, on the Daddy front...Hope is like a different baby today. She still doesn't want me to leave her sight, but she'll play with Ron and will sometimes even touch him. Maybe tomorrow is a day for holding. I'll keep fingers crossed.

June 6, 2007

Hope was awake on this morning at about 4:45 for a bottle. She was sleeping again in 45 minutes and I was SICK. Who knows if it was the weather, something I ate, an accidental rinse of my toothbrush, but I was not well at all. So...yea for Cipro. I was so thankful that we had the medicine along.

By 7:30 we were up for the day and getting ready for the breakfast buffet. Big news of the morning? We have POOPIE! We were so proud. Who knew that when you become parents you'd be excited about poop? All the families were talking about it. :) It was nice to have one of us with a tummy feeling better.
Ready to Go



We were on the bus at 9:15 for our trip to the countryside.
One Stop on Our Way


Yiling Village


















It was incredible to see how the people live there. They were gracious hosts to let us stroll through their village. They even offered our cameras a few smiles.

Did I mention that it was HOT? So, add the heat, some motion sickness from the bus ride, and quite a walk to the village, I wasn't well. Ron wasn't excited about it, but Hope and I decided to lag behind the group a bit in the village. We just stayed in the shade and sipped on our water. We were just fine with some down time together. There were lots of dogs and cats wandering (not wild, but also not pets) to watch. The scenery was breathtaking with spectacular mountains, lush green trees, and bright striking tropical flowers.






























































Our lunch today was very good. We had a LARGE assortment of foods to choose from and all (that I tasted anyway) were delicious. Hope at well, too. All the girls were served congee and steamed egg. We weren't sure about the egg for Hope. Her paperwork suggested a possible allergy, but also with her heat rash we just weren't sure what all was causing her itching.

At the end of our meal we had the meltdown of the century. All of a sudden Hope was again afraid of both of us. What could we do? We were scared too.

We eventually made it back to the hotel where Hope and I napped while Ron went with some other group members to Wal-Mart (shhh - don't tell Uncle Brian).

Overall today was a bit happier for Hope. She was still pretty clingy with me but was tolerating more attention from Ron. Yesterday was so hard for us! She was very sad all day. It broke my heart to listen to her cries for "mama" knowing they weren't for me.