Here's another clump of times from our journal in china. Enjoy!
Feb 15, 2006: Went to bed at 11:45pm after packing for our trip. Woke up at 2:45 am, left home at 4 am, flew out at 6 am from Colorado Springs Airport. Lisa to take Sudafed and Motrin due to the constant head cold. Yuck!!!
Feb 17, 2006: 26 hours traveling on a plane. The Victory Hotel in Guangzhou has a little crib and stroller...soon Hope will by laying in that crib. We will soon meet our child...it feels so unreal.
We flew to Hunan at 11:50am today, met our travel guide, Samuel who speaks good English but we end up just speaking in Chinese instead. Settled into the Dolton Hotel which also has a little crib. At night, we found a little hole in the wall and ate the famous Hunan glass noodles and some tasty eel. Spicy but good! Afterwards, went to the Dolton gym to work out, knowing that this would be the last workout for a long time!!!
Feb 18, 2006: Left for Yuanling at 8am, driving 8 hours over treacherous roads. Prayed "Help us, Lord through this transitioning period for Hope. Help us to help her. Let us both be patient and loving, giving her time to cry and grieve so that she can move on. Hope, our child, we come today."
van that took us to Yuanling
We were afraid that the van we were in would not make it to Yuanling, so we kept praying that the engine would continue. The driver kept shaking his head, wondering why we would want to go visit a child's orphanage that's so far away anyway... We'd occasionally wondered as well when the roads got really bad and Lisa had to keep finding bathrooms along the way...(and these bathrooms were not the cleanest holes in the ground). Ahh the misfortunes of having a microbladder!!!
We finally got to the town at 5pm, met Mrs. Zhao, the orphanage director. She was very much like Lisa's mom, full of love and joy. We were all preparing to eat dinner when in walked a family with a huge pink bundle.
our first picture of Hope
Mrs. Zhao looked over at us and said, "This is your child, Hong Qi!!!" We were both in so much shock that we didn't have the video or camera up when Mrs. Zhao said this.....
We were speechless, not believing that the huge bundle could actually be ours. All we could think about was she's so healthy and beautiful and curious. She kept looking around and showed us her four teeth. Mrs. Zhao told us that Hope was exceptionally healthy. Yes, the Lord has given us the best.
The family put the pink bundle into Lisa's arms, and we just stared at this little wondrous girl who had just woken up from a nap. We were looking at her and touching her for the first time...it was a true miracle. She was in a daze as well. Mrs. Zhao gave Hope a banana, and Hope clung onto that fruit for dear life. I'm sure she was wondering, "who are these funny looking people?".
The 8 hour bump after bump road was definitely worth it after we saw and held our child, Hope.
Feb 19, 2006: "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children" -Psalm 103:12
second day with Hope, bundled up so she couldn't move
In the morning, we toured the "Yuanling Social Welfare Institute" and saw how very clean and kept up it was. About 100 orphans belong to this SWI and live with foster families. Also, about 20 retired adults live at this place. Mrs. Zhao takes good care of them, as they have no family to take care of them in their houses. At 9 am, we get back onto the bumpy road for another 8 hours back to the capital. Hope sat in our laps the entire time without uttering a single cry. I think she must have been in shock, since the roads were really bad, but she just sat there and stared outside at all of the people walking by.
Before we left Yuanling, we were able to go to Hope's place of abandonment. We saw the bench in the market square where she was found. We looked around and were filled with so much emotion. We prayed to the Lord and told Him that we would never leave her and that we'd take care of her from now on. I couldn't stop the pain...Hope's birth mother had to leave this beautiful child. Why would anyone leave her own healthy and beautiful child unless the pressures of family and others forced her to leave her child.
the bench where Hope's birthmother put Hope, along with a blanket, a bottle, and all of her love
At night, we gave Hope a bath, and I think that was the last thing that she could handle. She started to cry and cried for hours before falling asleep exhausted from the cry. All we could do was hold her and reassure her and each other that it's going to be all right, that we'd stay by her side.
Feb 20, 2006: We ate a quick breakfast, stuffed Hope in a special new yellow outfit and rode to the Provincial office for "Gotcha Day".
The official looked at our passports and at Hope's picture and said, "Yep, this is the right child. Congratulations! She's yours officially." They took our picture as a family, stamped Hope's foot to prove that she's who she is, and off we went into the world with a new baby.
first "official" picture as a family
As new parents, we didn't bring any diapers or food when we went to Carrefour (French Wal-Mart) and bought a lot of books for Hope. We were out for a few hours when Hope started crying and wouldn't stop. Our only hope was take-out KFC and a quick taxi ride back to the hotel. New Parent lesson: Never leave home without a diaper bag.
Feb 21, 2006: Rested, ate lunch at another hole in the wall for 80 cents. This included yummy soup, steamed buns with meat...enough to fill all of us.
Feb 22, 2006: Toured the Hunan Provincial Museum and saw a 2000 year old lady, preserved in some unknown liquid substance. Researchers are still trying to figure out how she was preserved so well. It was interesting to view all of her organs, but we won't divulge into this detail.
Hope has bonded well to Paxton. Only he can hold her before she falls asleep at night.
Feb 23, 2006: Hope has been quite the lively character when we are out, shopping. She's loud, boisterous, waving at everyone. What a cutie.
Feb 24, 2006: Went out to buy some famous Hunan embroidery and came back with shoes, a dress, and a coat and sweater for Hope. Guess we kind of got a bit sidetracked. We never did buy that embroidery. We ended up finding some street vendors that would agree to bargain with us so that we could by some good quality clothes for Hope. It was fun, and we made some friends while bargaining.
Hope started getting some bloody diarrhea and a fever, so we started her on some Tylenol.
Feb 25, 2006: We celebrate our 11th Anniversary by flying from Hunan back to Guangzhou with a sick little baby. As soon as the plane ascended in the air, Hope decided to leave a warm mess on mommy's lap. Her first blow out! And it had to be on the smallest plane on earth and right when the drink cart was blocking the bathroom!! I wanted to change the diaper in our lap, but Paxton was more civilized and waited for the cart to go by before take a drippy baby to the bathroom. He had to change the baby bent over - that's how small the bathroom was.
We didn't bring an extra pair of pants for her or mommy. New parent lesson: Always bring an extra pair of pants for baby.
Feb 26, 2006: Strolled around Guangzhou's Shamian island in a daze, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with a diarrhea baby. But we did manage to find a great Dim Sum place!
enjoying a restful moment at the Victory Hotel in Guangzhou China
Feb 27, 2006: Hope's diarrhea is much better. This afternoon, Hope was checked out by 3 different Chinese doctors. We waited in line with dozens of other little Chinese babies who were crying or in shock. She passed with flying colors. One of the doctors who sees thousands of babies commented that Hope was a definite beauty. We just nodded humbly, but inside, we knew that she was a beauty because she was ours! Afterwards, we headed for the fabric district and ordered the tailors to make some Qi Paos or Chinese dresses.
Feb 28, 2006: Rained all day, but we still managed to visit the Chen Family Temple where in the past, the Chen males came to make family decisions, worship ancestors, and study for the national exams. Females were not allowed in because of Confucian sayings that females are inferior and need not get an education. Lisa was mad but glad that in this century, females could go in and tour the temple.
March 1, 2006: Freezing cold with rain....miserable. Hope was sleepy all day, so she made us miserable with her crying and screaming. We tried to keep her awake as long as possible, but we finally put her in her crib at 8:30pm, and she fell immediately to sleep.
We are ready to go home, but we have to wait for Hope's passport and visa so that she can enter the US legally.
March 2, 2006: Last day in China. Ate dim sum one more time...yum!!! Bought some more diapers for just in case, exchanged charity stuff (cups/formula).
Went to the US consulate and stood up with hundreds of other parents saying that what we had ascribed to was true and correct to the best of our knowledge. After we said the oath, we were given Hope's visa and passport. A huge sigh of relief was heard across the room as each parent knew that it was now time to go home with the newest member of their family.
picture in front of the US consulate with Hope's visa, her ticket to the states
In the evening, we packed up our goodies into two large suitcases and took the stroller out for one more stroll around the island. It was the first warm evening while we were there. As we stood by the Pearl River, Paxton told Hope that we were going to take her to America and give her the best care we possibly could. He just had to make Lisa cry...on the Pearl River.
March 3, 2006: Woke up at 5 am, checked out of the Victory Hotel, flew out of China at 8:40am. Hope decided to squirm on our laps for four hours between Guangzhou and Tokyo. It would not have been so bad if the family in front of us would have controlled their two boys who kept "peek-a-booing" Hope every 3 seconds for the entire FOUR hours!!! The parents just sat there like the kids didn't belong to them. I just about bonked the two boys over the head, but I didn't. When they said they had another connection...to another city in the US, I praised the Lord under by voice. I couldn't stand 18 hours of Peekabooing!!!!
