Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Zhengzhou Fun

Zhengzhou fun

We had a great time visiting a park down the street from the hotel.  It had a nice walking path around a small pond where residents were fishing.  Many like to exercise here or practice Chinese Opera.

In the back of the park they have a few small carnival rides.  AG was happy to ride.

We also enjoyed ping pong with friends from our group and then a bit of swimming later.  We are trying to fill the time as we wait for paperwork to complete.

The food and service at restaurants has been very good and cheap!:))

Thank you so very much for the continued prayers.

Love
Traci 


Daddy feeding AG
Sleeping on Daddy
Swimming withDaddy
Fun in Zhengzhou park

Family Day

Family Day-

At 9:30a today we went to the civil affairs to pick up our children.  There were a total of 6 families waiting to meet their children.  4 from the same agency and 2 from a different agency.

When we arrived 2 of the children were already there.  Shortly after more children started to come in.  Brian peaked out the window and thought he saw our girl.  He did! Brennan went running out to meet her but she ignored him.  They brought her over to me.  She was not happy.  Her foster care officer told her in Chinese that this was mama and daddy.  They had been preparing her because she carried with her our family pictures.and she pointed to the pictures and knew who we were.

Of course it was hard and lots of crying - fussing.  It is hard because she understands and knows what is going on.

Our Guide told us the ones that cry the hardest intially turn out to be the happiest.

But within a few minutes she settled down and showed us her memory book that the orphanage had made. What a great thing for her to keep.

As the day went on, she went through spurts of crying but at the same time became more and more interactive and playful with us.

Boy does she like to eat.  She has a snack of some sort in her hands.

We ate at the Holiday Inn express with all the other families for dinner after a long day.  We all enjoyed sitting down to chat.  Our girl ate well.  It will be interesting to see how her tastes change.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Misc and preparing for Family Day

I forgot to mention we have a celebrity in the family.  The Chinese people love carson in particular.  Both boys get lots of attention and are ask for a photo shoot - however Carson they want to touch him - smile at him- want a picture.  The blonde hair is the attraction we think.

Today we left Beijing and arrived in Zhengzhou.  All the families were given an update on their child or children that they would be adopting.

We checked into our rooms.  The fathers went to go exchange money at the bank while the moms started to settle in the room.

Next, we all took a trip to Walmart with the guide.  This was an experience.  The Chinese Walmart is different from that of the US because the are in High Rise buildings.  First floor is electronics, second floor produces and food, third floor has clothing and baby items.

We find the snack type items that they offer different.  Chips and goodies come in different or unusual flavors compared to the US.  Oreos come in variety of flavors - chips may come in tomato, cucumber or seaweed flavor.

After our trip to Walmart we headed back to the hotel to have some dinner.  We are at a little Italian restaurant as many of the families were getting tired of the Chinese food already.  It was a very nice change of pace and the food was good.

We then headed back to the room to prepare items for Family Day with our girl.  We were to prepare a diaper bag with some toys and snacks  to have ready and available for when we meet our child.

I am feeling pretty good about everything.  One really never knows until they are in the situation how they might act.  Right now we are feeling prepared as one could be.  Mentally we prepare ourselves for her to like one parent more than the other or more medical conditions than maybe we thought or for her to cry a lot and grieve for her foster family ........

Well - I need to sign off now as Family Day is in just a few short hours!:)

Keep those prayers coming for all of our adjustment -

Love
Traci

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Beijing Day 2

Again I want to apologize for the lack of pictures.  Some will be coming soon.  I will figure out how to update and add pictures.

Today we took about a 1.5 hour ride to see the Great Wall.  It was great!  It was so great that the steps were so steep and tall that it was frightening.  We took the optional root/path and headed up another way.  It was much easier as the steps were very doable (at least for us shorter legged folk).

Next, we had lunch at an enamel factory.  We enjoyed lunch then shopping.  Everything was hand painted/hand made such as Christmas ornaments, vases, bowls, tea sets etc.....

Next we saw the Olympics stadiums, the Cube, and the Birds nest.

We had a quick break then headed out to an Acrobatic Show.

This show was amazing!

Hat juggling. Umbrella twirling (with feet), motorcycles in the ball, a girl who climbed up on about 10 chairs stacked and did various balancing acts etc.  So much fun!  Very exciting!  Kept me on the edge of my seat.

After the show we were all tuckered out and decided to call it a night to back up to the next city.

We will head to The Henan Province to pick up our girl on Sunday and actually pick her up on Monday morning.  So excited!  I have to keep pinching myself that this is real.

Next Post Zhengzhou!

Prayers needed for safe travels to the next city and for all of our health and adjustment as we grow our family.

Love,
Traci Xoxo

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Made it

We made it through our flights, customs and baggage no problem. Our guide was waiting for us once we left baggage claim.

I did not sleep much on the flights but feel pretty good at this point.

We were the first family to arrive of 3 others meeting at this point, so we had to wait a bit until the other families arrived.

I have to say, we have the best traveling boys ever!:)). They both slept a bit on the plane and ate well.

Our guide gave our plans and list of tours while we are in Beijing.  More details later.

Anyway,  we are all checked into our hotel.  It is very interesting.  The rooms are very small and what would be 2 double beds in US is two twin beds in China.  It will be interesting but we will work it out.  We have vowed to roll with it.

Next, we decided to settle in a bit. Let's get out the international electric converter so we can charge phones etc...  Well, Boom!  Power outage.  We had to call the front desk.  We were very surprised.  They understood English well.  And up to the room came a crew checking over everything speaking Manderian.  The front desk staff speak English but not those who service the rooms so we had to point and show them what went wrong in a big charades type act.  I found it quit comical.

Anyway, we are taking all in stride.
Until tomorrow-
Love -
Traci XOXO

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

And we are off......

Uneventful early morning, packing up the van for our ride to the airport.  Very excited, nervous .........
A bundle of emotions.

My sister Diane was the best to come pick us up and deliever us to the airport at 4am.  What a sis!

Boys are super excited.  Yesterday they kept telling me that they wanted to go to bed at 5:30 or 6p.  I thought no way.  They did shower early - however actually falling asleep took time 8:30-9p.  They were wound up and excited.  :)))

Please continue to pray through this journey.

Love and thank you-
Traci

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Shower for Our Girl

Today I was blown away by the wonderful shower friends and family had orchestrated.  I knew I was getting together with a couple of friends today to catch up.  Well, let's just say my hubby mentioned something about a possible party as he was in on inviting some ladies apparently.  I really thought it might be a very small get together with a few ladies from Bible Study.  Much to my surprise a dear friend that I had not seen arrived and I was in shock.  Then  in comes my Mom and My Sister.  I had no clue that they were in on this too.  My !   I had no clue that my mom was driving down ................  I think my mouth was on the ground in shock!


Anyway we had a lovely lunch and chatting time at Panera with some Fab. ladies that I love and admire very much! :)


Alivia Grace received some lovely gifts - Clothes, Purse, Bathtub toy (this is no ordinary bathtub toy I must say.  It is a doll that's head blows bubbles out.  Um do you think I am ever going to get the child out of the tub with an amazing toy like that, Yah Right!), Nightlight Stuffed animal, gift cards, books, activity books, light up back pack ......  All I have to say is this chic is going to be one fashioneista fashionable gal ;). 


We are so grateful and appreciative of the Wonderful people God has placed in our lives and forever thankful for their generosity and love. 


Now off to keep packing.  Sweet Girl will be in our Arms in 9 days. 


Love,
Traci xoxo