Mother's Day (#2 entry for the day!)

Happy Mother's Day from a now more frequently smiling little girl!Yippee-Yo ~ today we received Hannah's Chinese passport. This is crucial for us because we cannot leave the country without this. Now we must go to our scheduled appointment at the U.S. Consulate and get her a VISA....she's going to her new home in a few days!!!!
To say that Brent is a proud daddy would the the understatement of the year. Notice that Hannah always sucks those two fingers. ha! Someone asked today if Ian was going to Harvard....I answered, "Sure, if someone else pays for it. ha" Brent said I should have said that we anticipated he'd get a scholarship there......ha-ha!
Hannah trying on a coat for the fall!!! Hey, I've always wanted to shop for a girl, can you blame me?
I am so drawn to their designs here...not only w/ the clothes but the furniture & architecture as well.

Happy Mother's Day!!!! How Blessed I am!!! WOW

WOW, can you imagine how thrilled I was to wake up to not just 1 but 3 Mother's Day cards? I'm sitting opening them w/ Ian and Hannah at my side. I can't explain it but I finally feel complete. I am so happy.....now, I realize that this is all new & exciting but there is something so deeply satisfying about being a family of 4. Hannah is so amazing...that's the only word I can find to capture it. She's giggling and jabbering---as in NON-STOP. Her appetite is up----she's still hoarding food in her cheeks. Others have said in time she will stop this. I love giving her the in the middle of the night bottles and watch her be so content. She calls out and when I literally go running to that crib and she sees me she actually smiles--showing those very crooked front bottom teeth and NOW JUST YESTERDAY SHE IS PUTTING HER ARMS OUT SO I CAN PICK HER UP. WOW!
The cards are now being chewed up by You KNOW WHO! ha! I think I will carry this day in my heart forever. I am so blessed---beyond what I even deserve or could have wanted. To think that I almost backed out of this for fear that she would not connect w/ me or fears that she would some how not be well suited for Ian. Oh, MY! Ian is adjusting---yesterday not as good as the previous day...so we had a mother-son date...went to buy snacks and went to Starbucks....yes, STARBUCKS in China. ha! Please pray that he will be really tender with her. He's never--EVER been the hitting kind of kid--or even not a kid who shares but suddently he's obsessed w/ HIS things, HIS mommy, HIS daddy. I spoke w/ Joey's mom and dad today. Their family is below. You remember that Joey is Ian's little friend from the Beijing portion of the trip. I asked how Joey was holding up having a little sister. They said that he has NEVER wet his pants and now in China it is happening...so, I know these little guys are processing the changes. Pray for us as parents that we would appropriately respond....it's challenging but also someday (I hope) he'll be grateful that she is in our world. Here are Joey's parents and two older sister...PLUS The Chinese beauty in the center. Joey and Ian are playing in the background so you can't see them. Joey's parents and older sisters are incredible...this little gal is so fortunate. We all joke that they have a built in babysitter in the older high school aged girls. They couldn't be happier. In many ways it is a blessing to have older siblings because they understand how awesome the addition is. They are really 'digging' China...the fascinating culture and differences.

This is the family I spoke of earlier who are from Tampa, Florida and retired. All I can say is that this little 4 year old is THRILLED and so very fortunate. They are stellar parents....and he hangs on his dad like there is no one else in the room. Apparently two weeks before the adoption his orphanage had a little class for the kids his age who were going to get forever families. He had been getting care packages and pictures from them. His nanny told them that he was really excited to move to the beach and have a daddy and mommy. God is so good. They said that they were at a point where they could really just build into this little guy enormous love, education......sense of belonging. They said that they are amazed also at how well he fits into their family He is already learning English and he can already say Ian's name!!! Pretty cool Ian, Joey, and Caleb are headed to the park this afternoon. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Trip to the Country (entry #3 for today)

200 year old rice threshing stone
Even older rice threshing stones no longer in use
Chinese family and travel companions

Fresco paintings and stone carving above temple door Close up of stone carving and a fresco panel

Pictures from Trip to the Country. (entry #2 for today)

Water buffalo in rice paddy
Plucking small wild bird for dinner
Working the fields Typical door on mud brick home
Weighing chickens

Trip to the Countryside!

All is still well. Hannah is more sure of our family every day. We could not be more pleased. Judy has done such a nice job of dressing Hannah in the cutest clothes, and picking out a nice Chinese wardrobe for us to bring home for her. When we were shopping on Shamian Island yesterday, Judy met a man who was from Suixi County where Hannah is from. He said that he could take us to a place about 2 hours from here that looks like Suixi County. It was more or less what I expected: mud brick homes, wood fire stoves, water pulled from a well or pump, rice paddies planted using water buffalo and a hand plow, and probably for the most part subsistence from the little food they grew on their lots (no one owns land in China, it all belongs to the government). The most common agricultural product, at least by the area needed to grow it, was lychee trees. I also saw a few Asian persimmon and peach trees. The reception of the people varied tremendously, from the Asian death stare, to inviting us into their home for tea. Unfortunately the 81 year old lady (pictured above) who invited us in for tea was drawing her water from a well at least 100 years old that had a dead toad and fish floating in it, so we politely as possible declined the tea. But trust me, her hospitality was genuine. I'd guess that the antique Asian style bed shown in the photo above was probably worth about as much on the US market as this lady has made in 81 years of life (her husband was 84, the secret to their longevity was to keep a dead toad in their well). What impressed me the most about the village was the old age of what we were seeing. The family showed us a stone and wood tool that was used to separate rice grains from the glumes. The stone was estimated to be 200 years old and there was and older, out of use one, on the other side of the room. The temple where the family conducts ancestor worship had a stone door frame with Chinese characters carved on the top stone, which must have weighed nearly a ton. The fresco like, three panel painting above the frame depicted birds and other images of farm life. We were told that these carvings and paintings were so old that the 81 year old lady did not know when they were set in place. Our guide showed us some faint red Chinese characters painted on mud bricks that he said were special characters used only during Chairman Mao's era. He said the characters were likely painted by upper class Chinese sent to the country during Mao's rein. We ended the trip by playing 15 minutes of basketball with some of the town children. Then we had a great country style lunch of rice, swan boiled in huge clay pots (I've progressed from eating duck, to goose, to swan over the last three days), five small bony catfish served with heads on of course, and a plate of delicious greens and Asian green beans. More photos of this trip to the country and some of the antiques we saw are posted on today's other blog entry.

Tea with Susie's husband (entry #3 for today)

Susie and her husband were so gracious. Unfortunely my camera seems to have deleted her photo & some of the shop.

Photos from Park & Tea on Shamian Island! (entry #2 for today.)

This is the traditional bracelet Susie gave to Hannah. Each of the 4 girls from her orphanage were given one by her!