We Made it Home

"I can see widows and orphans through my tears: I know my call despite my faults; And despite my growing fears."Mumford & Sons "The Cave"

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Well, we made it home right on time at 8:49 Wednesday night. We had very easy and uneventful flights on the journey home. We were able to get bulkhead seats and a bassinet on the long flight from Hong Kong to Chicago, which was awesome, except for the fact that Collins preferred standing in the bassinet to laying down. She was so happy for most of the trip and laughed and played and then conked out for the last four hours or so. I couldn't ask for a better traveler.

Of all the flights we took on this trip, every single one of them was right on time. I think that's almost unheard of these days. When we landed in Chicago, we were all exhausted, and the girls napped a bit in our 7-hour layover. That was the hardest part of the trip ... waiting for 7 l-o-n-g hours in the Chicago airport.

We got off the plane at our final destination and some awesome friends of ours were waiting to welcome us home. It was an overwhelming site after such a long, unexpected and emotional two weeks.

Exhausted, happy and relieved

Friends from our Red Thread Coffee group. These girls are all adoptive mamas or adoptive mamas-to-be. They have helped make the journey to Collins so much more fun and bearable. Love these ladies!

My friend, Kelley, with Lia Kate and me with Collins. Kelley and I brought home daughters 

from China together three years ago.

We came home to find a lit Christmas tree in our front window, a cooler of food on our front porch, and a bag of breakfast goodies for the next morning. My aunt Ali and my friend Kelley helped us unpack our clothes, wash them and repack so we could head to Texas the next day. We showed Collins around the house and introduced her to her new crib in our room. She loved it and just had the biggest smile on her face.

I got the girls into bed and finally crashed myself with the help of an Ambien at 1 a.m. At some point in the night, Collins woke up crying. I was so helpless due to a combo of exhaustion and Ambien that I told Kate to go find my mom. She came back in with my aunt Ali, who was still awake at 3 a.m. washing clothes for us! Apparently I said to Ali, "I need .... I need ... I need help." She and my mom helped get Collins a bottle and got her back to sleep. I remember very little of that. Ali woke me up the next morning at 9:30, and then we had to wake the girls up at noon! We had a flight to catch to Dallas at 2 p.m.

 Cousins meeting for the first time at GiGi and Daddy Doug's house in Dallas .... 

Ezekiel, Eli and Collins are first cousins and are all the same age! 

They will all turn 1 between December 23 and January 31.

Saying goodbye to Daddy Doug. Danny and our sister-in-law Yvi read scripture, 

and a bagpipist played Amazing Grace. It was beautiful.

Once again, I chose the above quotes at the beginning of this journey before we lost my father-in-law. I could never have imagined then how closely intertwined and how personal my feelings of widows and orphans would be by the end of this trip. For whatever reason, this is the journey we are on now, and we will trust the Lord for strength and endurance in the weeks, months and years to come. 

Thank you for following our journey and for praying for us. I can't tell you how much your comments, 

texts, emails and phone calls have meant. We are so grateful.

Goodbye, China

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
My beautiful daughters of China...

Goodbye, China!

Consulate Appointment, CHECK

"I ... feed her, clothe her, care for her, and love her unconditionally as I tell her that I love her. Once she can understand and see my love, I can begin to tell her about a savior who loves her even more. That is the truth for these children- that they are loved, that they are valuable, that they will not be left as orphans, but that they have a plan and a hope for the future. What a beautiful truth." Katie Davis, "Kisses From Katie"

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah 1:17
Today was our appointment at the U.S. Consulate General's office so that CC's U.S. visa could begin being processed. It is the last official step in the adoption process here. Tomorrow afternoon, our guide will pick up CC's passport with the visa in it and we will be officially done here! Paperwork-wise, everything has been very smooth and I am thankful for that. I did the appointment by myself while my mom stayed at the hotel with Kate. I wouldn't have been able to do it solo last adoption. That was more of a "all hands on deck" experience. This girl is pretty easy though. I am thankful for that!

After the Consulate appointment, Mom and I decided somewhat on a whim, to take a taxi out to the Xiangjiang Safari Zoo. It is a place we visited last time and is about 40 minutes away from our hotel. There are SO many amazing animals at this place, and I really wanted to go back. 

The most impressive animals there are the many great pandas...

Tonight, we went out to dinner at Paddy Fields for our last night in Guangzhou. It is an Irish pub right near our hotel, and it is like a little haven here in the middle of the busy city. It is quiet and peaceful and dark, and we enjoyed our last dinner there. It was very relaxing until CC spit up all of her bottle on her clothes, my clothes, in my shoes, etc. It was fun times cleaning that up. We came straight home and gave the girl a much-needed bath.

And, this is how our night ended...

...with CC attempting to climb out of her crib. She already mastered getting out of it with the side down (not hard), but when I raised the side, she did this over and over. Methinks she will not be a crib-sleeper for very long. I have my work cut out for me when we get home. ;o)

Shopping/Sick Day

I love Jin Yu because she confronts her fears. And because I know there was a time when she didn’t have a choice. Jeff Gammage (adoptive father) "China Ghosts"
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

We had a busy, interesting day shopping this morning and then paying a visit to an after-hours doctor tonight. 

This morning we met the famous "Ann from Red Thread" at our hotel, and she took us out shopping and helped us navigate the wholesale jade market. She also helped us pick out some beautiful pearls to give to CC one day. It was a fun time and I am so glad we had Ann to show us around and help us get some pretty pieces for the girls.

Jade is very popular in China. Jade jewelry is a traditional wedding gift, and most Chinese women that I have seen wear a jade pendant necklace or a jade bangle bracelet. The jade bangles never come off their wrists. I had been interested in getting a jade bangle but not for the prices we saw when we were here 3 years ago. Ann took us to some wholesale jade vendors and we looked at the bangles. I found a pretty color and tried to slip it on my wrist. WAY too small. I started looking for bigger ones but they were all the same size. Ann reassured, "Oh, no worry. We make it fit." And with that, a lady took out a slick baggie, stuck it over my hand, counted to three and rammed the bracelet over my hand. My first thought was, "Guess I'm buying this one!" At least I picked a pretty color to "try on." Mom found one she liked but getting hers on was a little trickier. The slick bag didn't work. So a guy brought out a bottle of lotion, then, for extra measure, a bucket of water. That combo with some elbow grease slid it right on. We are both the proud owners of jade bracelets now. I am trying to get used to wearing it all the time, SINCE I CAN'T TAKE IT OFF.

Boys playing a game in the streets where we were shopping.

CC was a trooper on the shopping excursion. She usually does great in the carrier every day but she does reach her limit, and just wants down.

Watching the ladies string pearls for CC's necklace.

After shopping, Ann took us to a great dumpling/noodle restaurant. This picture of her her dishing out noodles reminded us of a foreigner faux pas we made the other night. 

We were eating at one of the hotel restaurants and mom ordered a dumpling noodle bowl. The only problem was that the noodles were endlessly long. As in, it could have been one long noodle in the whole bowl. Mom was fighting with the noodles (and losing) and was just about to give up when a waitress walks by our table and speaks into her shoulder walkie talkie. She said the same word twice and I joked that she said, "Mayday. Mayday". About 10 seconds later another waitress appeared with scissors in her hand and chopped up all the noodles in mom's bowl. We could not stop laughing. 

                                       

"Snakeskin wine". Yes, people drink this.

CC this morning at breakfast. The bib kind of swallows her.

CC's favorite place to be is her crib. She loves to play in it and cruise around the rails, and when we haven't been in the hotel room for awhile, she gets so excited to see her crib again. 

Tonight, we decided we needed to get Kate to a doctor for a fever and cough she has had for 5 days. We had not been worried because she has been acting like her normal little self and has said nothing hurts. But the fever has been persistent and we had almost been through an entire bottle of tylenol and motrin on her. There is a western medical clinic in our hotel, so we went there. The doctor diagnosed her with mild pneumonia and gave us the meds we need to help her get well. Whew. I was starting to get really worried going into our 6th day of fever. The girls had fun playing in the clinic playroom as we waited for the doctor. 

                                                      

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!