Day #5 - Lily Claire Day!!! 9/20/11

Hello Friends and Family,
I know that you have been eagerly awaiting news about how our meeting and first day with Lily Claire have been. I am so sorry for the delay - but yesterday was truly a whirlwind of a day and also emotions running high, not to mention being busy with 4 (!) kids, so this is the soonest I could write and feel like I could tell you what is going on.
Before I go on, I want to say thank you for all of your prayers. The meeting with Lily went great, and she is handling the transition well. There are things that we need prayer for - but I will get into that later. Right now she is sleeping peacefully while I type this out.
We were supposed to meet Lily at the Civil Affairs Office at 10:30am. Our guide came to pick us up at 10 am in the lobby of the hotel. Another family was going with us in a bus. Amazingly (or actually not so - I am just amazed continually by God's provision and kindness), the other family are believers who are here for their second adoption from China! Their other daughter, Grace, is with them, and she is 4. They also have 2 grown children in their 20's. It was a relief to be able to talk to someone else on the same journey (and who have done it before). Judy and John are staying at the same hotel as us and will go with us to Guangzhou, too! Isn't that great?
We did not meet Lily at the Civil Affairs Office. She was being driven over from her foster home in Changde which is 2 hours away, and they got stuck in traffic. So it was very anticlimactic - we had to go back to the hotel and wait for her there. It was crazy being in the waiting room at the Civil Affairs Office - so many families waiting for their new children. Matthew said, "The suspense is killing me!" I agreed with him.
At about 12:30pm, Lily was brought up to our room by the orphanage staff that drove her over. They immediately handed her to me and said, "She is not scared of strangers." She was taking it all in - watching the boys who were jumping from bed to bed, and letting me hold her. When the orphanage staff left, we hung out a little. She was mellow, but was playing with the stacking cups we brought for her and sitting on my lap.
We discovered that she had lice and scabies :-(. Thankfully I brought treatment from the States as I had read on the boards that this could be the case. I gave her a bath, and we rubbed her down with prescription cream and washed her hair with lice shampoo and combed out the nits :-(. When we undressed her (she was wearing 3 layers), I could tell how skinny she is - skin and bones. And she had scars on her bottom from severe diaper rash that indicates neglect. Also, her head is very flat on the back, which makes me think she was left in her crib a lot. I have to tell you that as all of this was happening - I was getting very very angry. It brings tears in my eyes to type this out. These are not the circumstances that we thought she came from.
After I dressed her in new clothes, I felt better. We all played together on the beds. She even laughed a few times when she would knock over the cups and I would say, "Uh oh!" Her eyes are bright and lively. I can tell that she is very smart. I can also tell that she has all this love inside her that is just waiting to come out. Do you know that she has been with us nearly a day, and she had not cried one tear? Yes, that seems like an easier transition - but for all of you mamas, you know that this is not normal for an 18 month old. We are starting from square 1 with attachment. She has not left my side literally. When we went shopping in the afternoon for some baby things, I wore her in the sling. She fell asleep for about an hour in there, which was sweet. The hotel staff had brought in a crib, but Dave and the boys put the two twin mattresses in my room onto the floor, so that Lily, Aaron and I could all sleep together. Dave had the other 2 in our adjoining room. I don't want to think about her sleeping alone :-(. She did not even cry when it was bedtime - she let out a whimper or two, and then I rubbed her hair and face until she fell asleep.
Right now sweet Nathan is sleeping next to her. He says he is watching over her :-).
We are so happy that she is here with us, and that we can begin our lives now as a family of 6.
Please pray for our attachment and our family. Honestly, she does not feel like my child right now. I had read that this could be the case. That it can take long l-o-n-g time to feel like she is really and truly mine. I am not worried, but could definitely use prayers for this. Love is a choice - and I know that the feelings will grow and come. This is a very different experience from my births. She doesn't know my body, and when I hold her, she is stiff - however, that has gotten better even in the last day. Lily spontaneously hugged me at lunch yesterday. When I disappeared out of the room last night to get a snack, she whimpered and was looking for me. I immediately came back and took her with me. These are all positive things. She has even started saying, "Ma ma ma ma." I don't think she means me, but I am going to take it like it does :-).
The boys are doing fabulously. They are such lovebugs and are doing all kinds of antics to entertain their sister.
Please pray for Lily. She is tall - but thin as I mentioned. She cannot walk, or stand without support. She is probably developmentally around 9-12 months. She can crawl and get around by scooting. She has great fine motor control though. She can pick things up easily and plays with everything. She knows how to feed herself - she pushes the food way back past the cleft in her palate so that she can chew and swallow it. She has eaten voraciously. We have let her have anything she wants. French fries, cookies, rice crackers, chicken, corn - she needs more meat on her bones. She does not know any language (that I can tell so far). I had been wondering whether to speak Mandarin or English to her, but it seems like both are just as foreign to her. I am hoping that means that someone spoke Hunan dialect to her, instead of contemplating the possibility that no one really interacted with her. No matter, we will start from square one.
We will be beginning our day soon. We are off to the Civil Affairs office again for some appointments and an interview. I know that today could be harder. May we rest in our Father. Through all of this, I am just so thankful that my heavenly Father adopted ME. He had loved me with an everlasting love. So thankful!
Yikes this was a lot. Some of you wrote to me and told me not to worry about being long-winded. I am thankful to have all of you standing with us, and along with us for this journey.
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
and one more that my in-laws shared with us - "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." Jeremiah 31:3

Of course, I am attaching a couple of photos. The first is of our first meeting (sorry the quality is awful, we try to get better ones today), and the second one is of Lily all cleaned up. The third is of her crazy hair right after washing (she and I can bond over this).

Love,
Chenning

Day #3 and #4 - Tianjin and Travel to Changsha 9/17/11-9/18/11

Hi Friends and Family,
Yesterday, for our last day in Tianjin, we went to a park that is loosely translated Piled Mountain Park. It actually used to be a landfill - which they covered over with soil and planted a lot of greenery on. The locals nicknamed it "Garbage Mountain." Actually, it is the greenest place in Tianjin that I have seen. Most of the city is concrete. It was great weather, and we got to go on motorboats around the lake that surrounds the park. We had a lot of fun with the Changs. After that we went directly to this dunpling restaurant that was nearby. Joining us was another family that are good friends and neighbors of the Changs, the Kuos. The Kuos have 3 children. So between our three families, we had 11 children! I think that the restaurant workers were not used to seeing so many children :-). They had about 100 different kinds of stuffings for the dumplings and you could watch through a window into the prep room where there were about 15 people sitting around a table wrapping them (they are made to order). The food was good! Unfortunately, my kids are still getting tired early (like 6 pm) because of the time difference, so the dinner ended with the kids kind of melting down, Nathan getting squished by a revolving door (poor lamb, he was trying to stop it so that he could wait for Matthew), and then Nathan throwing up outside from crying too hard. He is ok, though, no permanent damage done.
When the kids went to bed, I stayed up (all the way to 10pm!) to finish up some laundry and hang with Sophia. It was wonderful to be able to catch up some more, share together, and pry together for our families. The morning, we left to go to the airport at 6:30am. We miss the Changs already! They are really such dear dear friends of ours, and such an encouragement to be around. I am so grateful that we decided to spend a few days with them before getting down to business in Changsha and so forth.
The flight to Changsha was smooth - thank the Lord - and everyone was very nice. Our guide, Jian, was there to pick us up - and she is really competent and friendly. She speaks English, and she is a young lady who seems very put together. The driver drove us to our hotel - the Hua Tian Hotel in Changsha. We are in connecting rooms, and it is comfortable and modern. We had to go into a temporary room first because our adjoining rooms were not done being cleaned. We took that time to go grab some lunch from the buffet downstairs and go to the convenience store nearby. The English name for the convenience store is "Whacko Market." I am not kidding. For dinner we walked about 20 minutes to Pizza Hut. Aaron fell asleep on the way and it started sprinkling. Everyone told us it would be HOT in Changsha - well it is raining and 60 degrees here today, and it will be tomorrow as well! I only brought one pair of pants for each person (including Lily). We may have to stop at a store tomorrow if this weather keeps up. I am not complaining though, it kind of reminds me of Bay Area fall weather - windy and refreshing.
Anyway, we are now resting in the room. The boys are watching Kung Fu Panda 2 on the iPad. We have been dreaming of Lily and thinking about how she will be here with us tomorrow at this time - squeeee! Crazy, huh? So exciting, and also a bit nerve wracking. I can't wait to see her and hold her. I hope that she will be ok with us. and that we can all bond together as a family. I know that the Lord has brought us to this point and has led us every step of the way. I trust that He will be there in all that happens tomorrow. Please pray for us, specifically for Lily as she is separated from her caregivers and her world is turned upside down. Pray for her little heart that may feel like it is breaking. Pray that we can bond together and she will be able to grow in love and trust even in the next days. Also, please pray for Aaron. He is my "baby," still, in so many ways. I know that this will be difficult for him. He will need lots of comfort and reassurance in the coming days and weeks.
All right - that is it!
Much love,
Chenning

P.S. Our photos! Sorry I am a bit photo heavy - I could not resist. The first one is of the back row of Lorden's van on the way to dinner. Yes, no seatbelts and lots of fun to be had. Second photo is of Dave and I in front of a street vendor who makes special breakfast crepes that Tianjin is famous for. Goodness we look like such tourists. The third and fourth just show our kids having a blast with the Chang kids - playing settlers of Catan and fighting with lightsabers. We miss them already!

Day #2 - Tianjin 9/16/11

Dear Friends and Family,
Well, our trip to the Great Wall was rained out :-(. The Great Wall (even the Tianjin portion) is about a 2 hour drive from Sophia's house. Shortly after I wrote my e-mail yesterday, it started to look cloudy. We checked the weather report that said showers. Sophia thought it would not be worth it to drive so far (and the roads here are not as up to date, can be even trickier to drive in the rain) and not be able to hike the wall. So we stayed closer to home. We went to the Tianjin Zoo instead. We had a few sprinkles, but nothing to ruin our outing. It is a big zoo, and pretty typical - but attached you will see a photo of Dave feeding the alligators! Not something you get to do in the U.S., right? For 15 yuan (which is roughly $2.50), you get a fishline with a chicken carcass on the end of it. Dave had the fun of dangling that thing and watching the alligators jump and fight for fresh meat. Very entertaining for all of us - especially the kids. You can see them on the right side of the photo watching intently. The second photo is of Matthew reading the nook a friend lent to us and petting Captain (Sophia's family dog). He looks right at home doesn't he? And the last photo is of our three boys and Sophia's 2 girls at the zoo.
We brought a picnic to eat at the zoo - unfortunately because of the humid weather we were a picnic for the mosquitoes. Dave currently has 20 bites on him. These were nearly all from the zoo yesterday. Suffice it to say, he has already greased himself with repellent this morning! After a rest in the afternoon, I went with Sophia to pick up Noah from school and then we had yummy noodles at home. Dave and Lorden took a bike ride to Lorden's work (he wanted to show him around there). After dinner, Dave and Lorden went to a university student gathering at a neighbor's house. The kids and I did not go, but I heard that it was really fun. They played games, hung out, and read a Philip Yancey story. This is Lorden and Sophia's service over here, and it has been wonderful to get a sneak peak into their life over here.
The kids and I passed out again at 8pm and slept until nearly 6am today. Not sure what the plan is today, but we fly out to Changsha tomorrow morning. We meet Lily on Monday morning. I am getting excited and nervous to be "on our own" and also to be meeting our new daughter in just a couple of days! I have butterflies thinking about it.
Thank you for your continued pryers. We appreciate them so much. We have been blessed so far with good health and rest - so we thank Father for that!
Love,
Chenning

Day 1 - Tianjin 9/15/11

Dear Friends and Family,
Hope that it is ok that I am keeping you updated even though there is not much adoption related as of yet. :-)
Our first full day in Tianjin (yesterday) was spent hanging with the Changs (our dear dear friends here) around their city. We got to go with Sophia and the girls to their open market to go grocery shopping. It is kind of like a farmer's market, but they also sell live chickens that they will slaughter and defeather for you. The veggies and fruits were so beautiful and colorful. Sophia says that she goes practically every day to just buy what is needed for that day. Pretty cool, huh? Attached is a photo of our family in the ride that we took to the market (it's only 2 blocks away). Sophia took that photo - that is the electric bike she takes every morning to send 2 of her children to and from school and for local errands. Of course there are no helmets or seatbelts :-P. Yes, we all fit in there, and after the photo, Dave came into the wagon, and also Sophia's two little girls, and then Sophia "drove" us to the market. It was really fun!

When we came home, Lorden took us to a place in downtown for local shopping. I think it is called Cultural Street (loose translation). Not very enjoyable because we are not used to bargaining. And as soon as you look interested in something, someone will accost you and start making a hard sell. When you walk away, they immediately start lowering the price. We did buy some wooden swords for the boys (with sheaths - pretty awesome) and some Chinese outfits for the kids. Way cheaper than China town. We had KFC for lunch. We are still nervous about adventuresome eating, so we thought that KFC would be a bit safer. The kids played on the indoor playground in there and then we went home. In the later afternoon, Lorden and Dave went to play basketball with some university students who believe and come to the book study. The boys and I tagged along, along with Caleb and Megan (the oldest and youngest of Lorden's kids). They played at the international school in town. There was a playground there and mini basketball hoops for the kids. We came home for dinner, and passed out almost immediately afterwards. We are feeling much better - the sunshine is helping with the jetlag.

Today we are off to the Tianjin portion of the Great Wall of China! Should be an adventure. Not sure if Aaron will be able to hike it, but we shall see. Fortunately, it is beautiful weather right now in Tianjin - somewhere between 75 and 80 I think. Not bad at all.

Forgive me if this is too much information and I am boring you with details. I will try to be more concise (not my strong suit, as you all know!).

I do read each and every e-mail from you. They are so appreciated and treasured as we really feel like strangers in a strange land :-). We also thank you for your continued pryers.

Love,
Chenning

We are in China! 9/14/11

Hello friends and family,
We are in Tianjin, China :-). Thank you for all the prayers and love. After a 24 hour travel day we are resting at a dear friend's home here. We are quite jetlagged, but seeing all our friend's faces was so refreshing and a sight for sore eyes. The boys did great on the flight. I thank the Lord for that :-).
We will be here, enjoying the company of our friends Lorden and Sophia and their 5 children and perhaps doing some easy sightseeing until Sunday early morning when we will fly to Changsha, the capitol of Lily's province, Hunan.
Love and hugs to all,
Xoxox
Chenning
A pic of the boys playing at hong kong international airport during our 6 hour layover.

2 Sleeps Left

Until we leave for CHINA!!!
I am about 90% packed. I have got all of Lily's stuff in a bag, and the boys' stuff packed as well. Still have to pack carry ons, charge up our electronics, and finish packing up Dave's and my suitcase (he is the weakest link).
I have really felt the love of God through His body. We had dinner with some friends tonight, and at the end they spent some time (with all the kids as well - we have 10 boys between our 3 families - Lily will be the first girl!) praying for our journey to Lily. I felt so encouraged! One of the moms at the boys' Chinese school also spent time a morning this past week to take my hands in hers and pray for our family. I praise the Lord for this family of believers. There is just NO WAY I could do this on my own. I am so grateful I don't have to!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am so excited and nervous that I don't have time to do something like download and upload photos!!!

The Baby Blanket

We bought our tickets and pretty much everything is set as far as our itinerary.
We leave here on Wednesday 9/14, but really it is Tuesday because it is a red-eye flight. We fly via Hong Kong to Tianjin, CHINA. We are going to have the privilege of spending a couple of days with our dear dear friends there before going to Changsha to meet Lily. I have to tell you about our friends. This is a wonderful family - the Changs. Lorden and Sophia have 5 children. We met them when Dave was doing his residency at UCSD. I only had Matthew at that time, and Sophia only had her two oldest children then - Caleb and Jeremy.

We had just moved into an apartment complex near campus called Whispering Pines. We had an upstairs unit that was the farthest from the parking lot and laundry machines. Not very convenient with a baby! Anyway, one day after unloading Matthew and other stuff from the car, we had returned to our apartment. I heard a knock at the door. It was a lovely woman with a baby blanket in her hand, asking us, "Is this yours? I think it fell on the ground in the parking lot." It was Matthew's baby blanket (he was 4 months old at the time), and that woman was Sophia. From that day a deep friendship began. We had only been in San Diego for a few weeks - and I remember when I moved there that I asked the Lord for a friend. This was His answer to my prayer. It is a reminder to me of the Lord's faithfulness, and how kind He is to me.

Sophia and Lorden and their family have been such a blessing to our family. They are Chinese-American, but live in China. They have an adopted daughter. They are such a loving and faith-filled family. We love them dearly, and look forward to spending a little time with them in their home and seeing their life there.

From Tianjin, we will fly on the 18th to Changsha, Hunan. We meet Lily on the 19th!!!!! On the 23rd, we fly to Guangzhou where the American consulate is.

We fly home on the 27th.

It will be a big trip.

I am packing and getting ready!

Many things left to do =).

Thank you for praying for us. We truly need your prayers and depend on them. We wait upon the Lord, and are excited to see how He will bring us through this journey to Lily!