Today

“Do not forget in the darkness what you have been promised in the light.” Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5

If there is any earthly joy right now in the otherwise very dark place that our family is in ... in a year that has been so very difficult ... it is this girl. I went into this adoption expecting it to be really hard, expecting a grieving baby and long sleepless nights in China. And here we are with this joyful little girl who is nothing like what I expected. She is happy ... eats well ... sleeps well ... plays well ... she loves to be held ... she loves to laugh. I am sure hard times are to come with her (we are barely a week in!), but I'm thankful that God has given her to us at this exact point in time to be exactly what we need. She is the hands and face of God's grace, as one of my friends put it on Facebook. I am thankful.

Today ... 

... was another grey, rainy day in Guangzhou. I don't think we've seen the sun since Nov. 24. This is a view from our hotel room. We are on the 15th floor. You can see the waterfall that this hotel is famous for in the bottom left corner of the pic.

 ...we welcomed 8 more families into our travel group. They have all been in other provinces getting their children last week and now we are all together completing the U.S. side of this adoption in Guangzhou, where the U.S. Consulate is. Today, we had a paperwork meeting with everyone. I am so glad we have awesome guides to walk us through this because it is so very complicated.

...we had CC's adoption medical, which is required before we can get her U.S. visa issued. She passed with flying colors and the doctors and nurses thought she was adorable! She weighed 14 lbs, 12 oz and is 26.2 inches long.

...we took CC's visa picture. She was fast asleep about 30 seconds before this photo was taken. I took her out of the Ergo and plopped her on a chair. Then, the camera light was flashing in her face and they were squeaking loud toys to get her attention. Bless her heart. She's a champ.

...our guides took us to an amazing Cantonese dumpling restaurant. It was the best meal we have had this entire trip. I would have never known to order these dishes. Our guides ordered everything and the waiters brought course after course of food to our tables. We had things like spicy, crunchy sprouts (that looked like noodles), marinated cucumber and cilantro salad (yum!), caramelized turnips and sweet potatoes (amazing!), sweet and spicy fried vegetable (that tasted like chicken), flat vegetable pancake that looked like a quesadilla, and finally, lots and lots of dumplings. Seriously, the food was so good! Everyone in our group was raving over it. This is not the best picture but it's the only one I had. Collins slept through the entire meal and Kate was not feeling well. Here are some pics of the food...

                                     

                             

...we met another little baby only 12 days younger than CC! We got to talk when we were getting the medicals done. Emma is a little cutie! 

 ...CC wore the little jacket I monogrammed with her initials. And it made me remember that Danny's dad was the first person to call Collins "CC". It was before I even knew the pronunciation of her Chinese name, XiXi. We were Facetiming with them when we told them about our referral back in September, and he said, "I'm going to call her CC". 

And, finally, today...

...Sweet CC turned 10 months old!