Guangzhou - Sunday, 1/23

Local people burning incense for the buddhas.

Jenna and I tried tossing a coin into some "lucky well." I didn't make it...

Jenna did!

A woman praying to buddha inside the Seven Banyon Temple.

This was the monk that stopped to give the children candy and tangerines.

Tons of offerings were being made to the buddhas...pop, candy, fruit, flowers, peanut oil. It reminded us a lot of the worship we saw in Thailand.

These were the 3 HUGE buddhas where families can have their babies blessed, and where the monks came to worship.

This monk was calling the others to worship by banging on this drum. They used to use a huge gong, but since the temple grounds are now surrounded by residences, the gong was too loud, so now they use a quieter drum.

Cordelia is helping Jenna peel her tangerine.

Charlie is showing off his Star Wars t-shirt. He heard that his buddy, Luke, likes SW, too. Luke's new baby sister is next to Charlie.

Charlie and I were chatting about some of the differences between buddha and Jesus.

Here we are inside the temple grounds. It was very pretty inside, and of course, highly decorated with lanterns, flowers, and tangerine trees for the Chinese New Year.

Lots of decorations everywhere!

Charlie got a ride from Luke around the temple grounds.

This man was painting the inside of the tiny bottles. We bought one with pandas on it for Jenna, and while we waited, he painted her name on the inside.

Jenna uses chopsticks well. Here she is eating boiled peanuts. Note the flower clip in her hair. I won the battle today!! It looked so sweet in her hair, don't you think?

Lunch with other Faith families on Shamian Island. We had such a fun lunch!

Charlie used his chopsticks the whole time, too! (and some fingers) :)

Jenna with our friend's 13 year old daughter. I wish I knew how to spell her name correctly.

They are staying at a different hotel and we miss chatting with them each day like we did in Chongqing.

Jamie, Charlie, and Jenna watching the fish at the White Swan Hotel.

Yes! A full night sleep for us all without waking up at 3AM, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. Char was awake when I got up at 7AM, and quietly playing his Leapster “so he didn’t wake Jenna.” I wonder if it will take us a full week to get rid of jet lag once we return home?

Breakfast was great, and like normal, Jenna ate ½ the buffet. Charlie ate the other half. He hasn’t had a huge appetite since we arrived, but today marked a turning point!

After breakfast, Cordelia and the other families picked us up to tour GZ. We visited the Seven Banyon Temple first. It was very pretty and being heavily cleaned and decorated for the Chinese New Year which starts next week. We saw monks walking around, and one of them stopped to give the children candy and tangerines. Then a monk started walking around, beating on a drum. It was a call to the other monks to come and worship in front of these 3 HUGE Buddha statues. We families had a chance to have our children and families blessed by these monks. We knew we weren’t going to participate, and when the other families found out that part of it was bowing down and praying to the Buddha statues, they quickly changed their minds, too.

Next stop was a government store to buy souvenirs. We bought a small bottle that was hand-painted on the inside. We watched the artist at work and marveled at his skill and steady hand.

We were supposed to visit a museum next, but it was 12:30 and we were hungry. So our absolutely wonderful guide, Cordelia, took us to a restaurant on the island, got us a private room, and ordered our food. It was just delicious! We all used chopsticks, even Charlie! We had a great time chatting with the other families…they are so much fun!

Next, more shopping on the island. We went to Jordan’s store. He is hilarious, Karin! He talked and talked and talked and is so very vibrant. He is also a Christian and was happy to see that we were, too. He even had a book of Bible stories, in Chinese and English, that came with a CD that we bought for Jenna. She can’t read Chinese, but it will be a lovely keepsake for her, and she can at least listen to the stories at home. We also bought a new backpack as the straps on mine were almost shredded. Jamie drove a hard bargain and got it for a good price! We got a fun gift for Amarin, we already had something for Jacob (I’m writing this because I know they’ll be reading the blog), a gift for Laura, and a couple other things.

Exhausted from such shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a rest. As Charlie and Jenna started their rest time…it’s Jenna who’s leaning over poking at her brother and tugging on his stuffed animal! She thinks it’s funny when I correct her. Hmm…I wonder how this will work at home when they’re sharing a bedroom?

Jenna is doing beautifully. No more tears or screaming, and she is just full of smiles, hugs, and kisses. Her smile captivates everyone…our guide, the cleaning ladies, strangers on the street. They all say how happy and sweet she is, and they’re right! She continues to sing loudly, especially in the hallway at the White Swan where it echoes. She loves to run down the hallway at our hotel with Charlie and just giggles. We laugh that she runs like a girl…not dynamo speed like her brothers! She sleeps great through the night, and has not wet the bed once. I’m a little concerned about her choice of toys…she seems to gravitate toward cars and planes at the toy stores, and often uses her stuffed puppy to whack Charlie. She does play with her little Mulan doll, but often pops her head off. Oh, my. Her brothers may have another little rough and tumble playmate after all!

Tomorrow, we head back to the medical office to have her TB test checked. Her arm looks just fine…no raised bump. Then I think we’re off to do some more sightseeing and shopping.

So, goodnight once more from Guangzhou!

*Some of you have asked about the kids back home. I think they won’t want to come home! The boys are staying with friends from church who also homeschool and have 3 little ones. So, they are keeping up on their studies, and did a really cool science experiment with the dad which involved dissecting owl regurgitation to see what he ate. Ewwww! But the boys loved it! They’re also making a home movie (this family does awesome movies based on books, Bible stories, etc.) as the dad is really good at videography. They’ve been playing in the snow, building with knex, having sword fights, etc. As for Laura, she’s being spoiled by grandma and papa. They are spending a few days at their house, and then return to ours so Laura can still go to school a few days each week. Laura loves playing by the fireplace in their livingroom, and I’m sure there’s lots of snuggle time goin’ on! We’re so blessed to have friends and family taking such good care of our kids at home. We don’t have to worry for a minute!

Medical Check & Shopping

US visa photo taken...check! Standing outside the room where the photos were taken with another family from our agency. Their little girl is from a Tianjin orphanage that one of you mentioned yesterday! Maybe it's the same one? Apparently there are about 600 special needs orphans there.

Charlie and his new buddy, Luke, playing peek-a-boo with the doctors at Jenna's medical check.

Look at this line up for medical checks! Saturdays are extremely busy as most families arrive Friday night and to Sat. morning for the medical. This time...all kids with special needs from what I could tell. Some older, some tiny, but all special in their own sweet way. Some were complaining about how busy and congested it was here. Praise God that it is busy, and there are so many children that have families now. Bring on the congestion!

How many nurses does it take to weigh a child? Jenna did great with all of her exams, and barely flinched at the TB shot. Praying we have the all-clear on Monday in terms of her TB test!

Family photo outside the medical office.

There's a great kids' park near the White Swan hotel. The kids FINALLY had a chance to run around as much as they wanted. Charlie ran circles around the park...so much energy to burn! Jenna loved the slide, but definitely took things a little slower than her brother. There were a lot of kids at the park since it's a winter holiday for them for the next few weeks. We had to be sure she didn't get plowed over!

Char tried lots of different equipment. So much fun to just run and climb.

Wahoo! A twisty slide!

She enjoyed the car, too.

Pure joy in her face!

Ready to tackle that twisty slide again.

Riding the teeter-totter with Charlie. He made sure she was on the side with the tire-cushion below her so she wouldn't hit the ground too hard. Thanks, Char!

Lunch at Lucy's.

Our noodle-slurping expert at it again!

Still hungry...let's have another type of noodle! I'm tellin' ya...this girl eats!

New statues around Guangzhou. I think Jenna's wondering if this lady slurped too many noodles!

My littlest cuties.

The streets of Guangzhou are decorated for the Chinese New Year, too.

Seafood for dinner, anyone? Ewwww...

Welcome to Guangzhou and Shamian Island. It is fun to be back and recall the memories from when we adopted Laura. We walked by the Victory Hotel where we stayed then, visited the White Swan Hotel, saw Jordan (who runs a store on the island) 3 different times and he invited us to shop each time! We ate lunch at Lucy’s which caters to the Americans, walked a bit along the canal, and did a little shopping in the stores. The storekeepers are still willing to bargain, but they keep saying that business is slow and they can’t bargain so much anymore. And it’s very clean, without a lot of the sewer odors that we noticed last time. Perhaps it’s because it’s winter and the brisk air carries the smells away.

We had a great breakfast and found Jenna loves French toast…shocker. After breakfast, we drove to the White Swan hotel to meet the other 2 families in our group, along with our guide, Cordelia. We did some paperwork, handed it over to Cordelia so she can be our go-fer person, and then walked to get the visa photo taken and medical check done. While walking, we noticed some really nice parks and statues that were not here in 2005. Apparently, there was a lot of work done on the island to prepare for the Asia Games last November. We also walked past our friend with her 13 year old daughter who had to have 5 vaccinations. Poor girl was not happy. Apparently, over the age of 10, there is no waiver. You just have to get the shots. Nonsense!

The visa photo took seconds, and then off to the medical check. It was definitely busy with lots of families waiting with their new children. And it was so different this time as not everyone was sitting there with a healthy baby girl. There were boys and girls, older and younger, some with obvious special needs while others may just have been an older child. But adoption has definitely changed here. I think we were on the tail-end of the “typical” adoption with Laura.

Jenna did great. The height and weight that we had been sent was accurate, but something tells me that she may be putting on some weight soon with the way she eats! Goodness, I’m used to adjusting those size 4 slim pants on Laura as tight as they will go to fit her tiny waist. Umm…no adjusting needed for Miss Jenna. Her eyes, ears, throat, lungs, and heart were just fine. The doctor did spend some time writing notes about her hands and feet. Then she got poked for her TB test, but she was such a brave girl. We go back Monday for them to give her the all clear…meaning no TB.

When all was done, we headed to the park to let the kids run around. They’ve both been very patient during all of these meetings and appointments. They had so much fun and Jenna loved the slides. She giggled and smiled so much, but was not very happy when it was time to go. Lunch at Lucy’s was next and she was happy to get her noodles. Char ate pizza and had a Sunkist pop. He was satisfied. We shopped afterward, buying a few souvenirs, and then went back to our hotel for a rest.

It was really fun today to meet up with some bloggy friends. I find myself watching for them, and if I see someone I recognize, I have to say “hi” to them and tell them that I’ve visited their blog. Sometimes they recognize me, too, and we chat…and usually mention how much we miss keeping up with one another’s blogs while we’re over here. ‘Cause, ya know…it’s important that we keep up on what’s happening in everyone else’s lives. We don’t want to miss any details! Thanks to all of you for keeping up with ours!

Good night from Guangzhou!

Friday Photos- 1/21

*Bathing buddies...so much fun!

*Bubbles are so much fun in the tub! Jenna laughed at Charlie's bubbles and tried to blow her own.

*Look at that smile!

*Waiting to go to the airport...last look at Chongqing.

*Playing her leapster with Daddy. She wants to do it all by herself...hands off, Daddy.

*Listening to Daddy's "ipie"

*The lobby at the JW in Chongqing. The Chinese New Year begins on Feb. 3 and decorations are going up everywhere!

*More decorations going up!

*Stickmen. These men, and sometimes women, come in from the countryside when harvest season is finished. They walk around with their bamboo poles looking to carry heavy loads for people. There is special housing (called slums) for them during this work season. It's not uncommon to see senior men carrying large, heavy loads. They work hard!

*Walking/shopping area around the corner from our hotel. From what we saw in Chonqing, and what we're seeing here...there's some money here. We've seen a lot of high-brow automobiles, and the prices in the stores are not cheap.

*The place of the "clothing police" incident. Ahem.

*Charlie checking out his new DVDs, drinking his Chinese tea at Starbucks.

*Jenna slurping (loudly) her tea at Starbucks.

*Waiting to go to the airport...one last look onto Chongqing. (Note to Angie - I believe this is a repeat. I've received this photo three times! *strange*CLO)

*Such a patient girl at the airport...delay and all!

*Jenna's first flight. She's not smiling here, but she did enjoy it and was very good the entire flight...aside from repeatedly pushing the call button for the stewardess!

Farewell Chongqing, Hello Guangzhou

No tears at breakfast today! Wahoo!! She slept in later, so Charlie and I headed to breakfast first, and then met Jamie & Jenna as they were coming to join us. The best part for the kids at breakfast? Yogurt drinks! They love them. Not sure it’s the best thing for Jenna’s congestion right now…but hey…no tears! We put Jenna on an antibiotic last night to try to clear up her congestion and coughing, just in case it works itself into something more. We obviously don’t want her sick, and would rather not have any complications at the health check Saturday.

You all have been asking questions, so I’ll try to answer them.

1. What is Jenna’s special need? She has cleft hands and feet. You’d never know by the way she runs around and uses her little hands. She’s determined. We’ll check with doctors when we return home to see if anything needs to be done or not.
2. What’s the weather? In Chongqing, it’s cold, damp, and sometimes drizzling. The first day here we actually had some snow flurries. Guangzhou, according to AOL weather, looks pretty sunny and in the 60s. We can’t wait to spend some time outside.
3. The pee-pee boy. No, we didn’t buy a pee-pee boy at the tea shop. It was cute…Charlie didn’t know whether he should laugh, or wait for someone to get into trouble for making a mess all over the chairs in the tea room! Somehow, I think if I bought one, it wouldn’t just be used for tea!
4. Did we go to the orphanage? No, we did not. We did ask on Gotcha Day if we could visit. The office director said we could, but that they were in a temporary building, and Jenna hadn’t been there very long. Then, after seeing how she grieved after seeing them again on Tuesday, we decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. We thought would be a bit cruel to take her back to visit, only to pull her away again. And since it wasn’t even the building where she spent most of her time, it wasn’t something we thought was necessary. I wish it would have worked out to visit as I would have loved to have photos of her orphanage, as well as share with her little friend who’s already home!
5. Hotels: Now I can share that we stayed at the JW Marriott in Chongqing. Beautiful hotel, and if you can get upgraded to one of the executive floors, you have access to the lounge. We ate breakfast and dinner every day for free. And, you can get bottled water, coffee, etc. all day long. It’s great, and they have a great spread of western and eastern foods. In GZ…yes, Jenny…we’re staying where you asked. Another family will be there, too, and it sounds great! We’re hoping we get on the same floor so their daughter and Charlie, both 5 years old, can run up and down the hall and have fun together.
6. Chandra: If you send me a message with your email or blog address (I can’t access blogger to get it right now), I will pass it on to my friend here who is adopting the 13 year old girl.

Keep the questions coming, and I’ll answer them for you!

(time lapse of…a whole bunch of hours)

OK…now it’s Saturday morning in Guangzhou, and we’re excited to be here for the 2^nd week of our trip. Yesterday, we walked around Chongqing a little before heading to the airport. We bought a Tom & Jerry DVD set in English & Chinese…Charlie laughs so hard at these movies! And Jenna got an English/Chinese DVD set of children’s songs like “Wheels on the Bus.”

Then we headed to Starbucks for a coffee…and I had my run-in with the merciless “clothes police” which made Jamie’s look like a piece of cake. Jenna had to go potty, and the one at Starbucks was broken. So I took her next door to KFC, without a coat, because it was only 2 seconds walking outside in a covered corridor and I was also afraid that the coat might end up in the squatty potty. When we got there, (note: the bathroom was warm), there were several young women in front of us, and did I get the evil eye. Before I knew it, one of them lifted Jenna’s shirt to see if she had another layer on underneath…she didn’t. Then she started chatting with the other women, looking at me and pointing to her coat. I did my best charades to tell them her coat was “just over there.” They would not give it up! They were trying to talk to her, probably asking if she was cold, and then got another woman involved that walked in behind me. I was sandwiched and they were persistent! Then the same woman who lifted her shirt reached for her pant leg, probably to check to see if she had the Michelin-man long underwear on…she didn’t. Umm…I slapped her hand and told her “no, it’s enough.” I pointed to myself and said, “Mama.” Her eyes looked a bit surprised, but no more was said. Not my proudest moment, but back off and don’t touch my child again! I have 5 kids…none of whom have ever been frozen solid! We walked back and I told Jamie what happened and he said, “Great. Now they’ll have the real police out lookin’ for you!” Not really. J

The flight to Guangzhou was delayed 2 hours (no chicken feet, Lisa!), but there were 2 other families that we knew from earlier in the week, so we chatted with them and the time flew. The flight was great, and even though it was only 1.5 hours, they gave us a full meal and drinks. The kids both did great. Charlie slept for the whole flight, and I don’t think Jenna even knew we were on the air. Short little thing couldn’t see out the window! I napped, and Jamie said Jenna kept staring at me.

Our guide, Cordelia, met us and two other families from our agency at the airport. What a bubbly gal she is! She had our itinerary all printed out...very organized, too. I like this! Our hotel here is great. We were upgraded to a suite, and it has a ton of room. There was only one big bed, and a sofa where Char wanted to sleep, so we had to call for a cot. Charlie patted Jenna’s head and said, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll find a place for you to sleep.” I laughed…sweet big brother, but I guess he wasn’t about to give up his sleeping place, either!

Our heads finally hit the pillow a few minutes before midnight, and we were up at 6AM. It’s 7:15 now, and the kids are not budging, even with the tv going and the lights on. We have Jenna’s medical check this AM, and we have to meet our guide and the other families at the White Swan first to do some paperwork.

So, I’ll leave for now, and fill you all in later about our first day in GZ.

PS. There were no tears from Jenna all day Friday! Yeah!! And…this girl can slurp noodles like there’s no tomorrow. And the more we laughed at her doing this at lunch, the more she grinned and slurped away!

A Quiet Day, 1/20/11

Today has been a quiet day…no appointments or tours scheduled. We hung out this AM, waiting for our guide to arrive with some notarized documents. When he arrived around noon, we went to a department store to buy shoes for Jenna, Pizza Hut for lunch, and back for a nap. Dinner held some tears and crying for her nanny. She wanted to go home again…Sigh…we’ll get there. It seems like every time we go to eat in the lounge, she makes it through part of her meal, and then starts sobbing. Not sure why.

We’re ready to head to Guangzhou tomorrow for a change of scenery and I’m hoping it will help with the tears, too. It’s really been too cold and damp to be outside much, and though this has been a great hotel for us, there’s not much to do inside. There is a gorgeous indoor pool, but the air temperature is too chilly to enjoy it. So, we hang out in the room, or walk around the hotel. Time to move on.

Jenna did well as a whole today. At breakfast, she demonstrated that she could spit watermelon seeds. Thankfully, they all went onto her plate. There were some tears, also, as breakfast ended, but very quickly gone this time. She and Char played with their toys and are sharing well so far.

She did get mad at me today…oh, let the testing begin! She was playing with some documents belonging to a lady we met (with the 13 year old daughter), and I told her “no.” She grabbed them anyway and held them away from me, staring right at me. So I took them and put them back on the table and she proceeded to whine at me and give me a not-so-nice look. She’s a smart little one, and hopefully it won’t take too long to realize that when mama says “no,” it means just that.

We found some very cute tennies for her at a department store…purple with sequins and very girly. She said she liked them and wanted to wear them right away. She told Jamie “thank you, baba” in her cute little voice that would probably convince daddy to buy her just about anything right now! I was going to take them off so she could nap, but she insisted she was wearing them to bed. Later, we found out that they light up when she walks. She was very excited about that!

Jenna’s day ended on a fun note. She enjoyed playing in the bath with Charlie. They were blowing bubbles and splashing each other. And…for those who are familiar with Charlie’s funny laugh…the one that sounds like a jack-hammer or woodpecker…Jenna does this, too, just in shorter version!! Oh, my. You should have heard the two of them in the tub. It was the first time we heard a big laugh out of Jenna vs. a little giggle. And…she can be just as loud! Apologies going out to those in the rooms on either side of us!

Interesting fact about Chongqing: Per our guide, horn honking is illegal because it contributes to noise pollution. Ummm…I think someone forgot to tell the drivers outside our hotel.

Our schedule tomorrow looks pretty simple. We leave the hotel around 2:30 for the airport with Jenna’s passport in hand. We’ll arrive in Guangzhou sometime after dinner, and settle into our hotel for our final week. We’re looking forward to meeting up with some of the other families we met in “blog world” before we left for China. Blogger is still blocked here, (a friend is posting for me), so I haven’t been able to check in to see how they’re all adjusting with their new children.

A final goodnight from Chongqing!

Hotel - January 20th

*Charlie loved his McDonalds hamburger

*Mommy teaching Jenna to jump on the bed. Why did I do this?

*Running around with Charlie in the workout area of the hotel...burning some energy

*Charlie holding Jenna's hand like a little gentleman. Look at how he had his hand behind his back! What's that?
*Aren't they they cutest?

*Peace!

*This girl loves her bread. Roll #1...

*Roll #2...and she enjoyed some bread off daddy's plate, too.

*Char fell asleep after eating his dinner...

*...and Jenna thought it was amusing that he fell asleep!

*Snuggle time with daddy after nap...in her new shoes!

*The new shoes!
Look who was geeked when we found out her shoes lit up??

Chongqing City Tour - 1/19/11

Our mornings are going so smoothly with Miss Jenna. She probably thought we were nuts, waking up at 5:30 AM, but that’s jet lag for ya! She snuggled in bed for a few with her puppy, and then watched a DVD with Charlie. Did I mention she’s potty trained at night? Wahoo! She’s wearing pull-ups just in case…we don’t want to buy a mattress for our hotel. I dressed her this morning with no problem and got a headband and flower in her hair. She smiled, and promptly pulled it out…I put it back in and then gave up the battle at the breakfast table.

She ate like a trooper at breakfast again, and is using a fork quite well. By the way, Amarin…she’s a lefty just like you and Daddy!

David, our guide, picked us up at 10AM to go on a city tour. We visited the outside of an old opera house, the Three Gorge Museum, and a beautiful park. The Opera House was built by Deng Zhou Peng (spelling?). Mao thought he was plotting against him, so Peng was arrested and brought to Beijing until Mao died. Beautiful opera house, though!

The Three Gorge Museum was next and it was inside the beautiful park. We walked through the park first, and saw coy ponds, bamboo, banyan trees, palms, and older people doing tai chi. In the museum, we learned about the 3 gorges, the massive dam that was built, and how it changed the landscape. This museum was open air, and we had already spent most of our time outside, and it was damp and misty.

So, by this time, we were pretty chilly and wanting to get warm, thinking the tea house would be just the place. Except it, too, was not heated. But the tea was hot, and we all enjoyed the demonstration and warming up with the different flavors of tea. We sampled jasmine, oolong/ginseng, and lychee. We also learned how to circle the tea twice in front of our face to observe the color, smell it, slurp it, and then make noise with our tongue to prove we’re really tasting it, and not just drinking it. I actually just wanted to drink it to get warm! You should have heard Jenna slurp her tea. Even the server was laughing...the girl can slurp! And since that's polite, she was the most polite guest they've probably had! Charlie was great at trying the teas, and liked pouring it for himself.

We left there to come back to the hotel, stopping on the way at a pharmacy to get something to help Jenna’s runny nose and cough. I knew it would happen…and it happened to Jamie. He got in trouble with the “clothes police!!” As he was passing by a little shop with several older women inside, they yelled at him because Jenna’s legs were not covered by her ankles. What neglect! But they were serious, and I was glad it wasn’t me on the receiving end!

For lunch, it was McDonalds, and then we all took a nap. Jenna was cute eating her burger. She held the whole thing, but ate only the top bun first, then part of the bottom, and handed the rest to Daddy. Bu Yaou, she says…don’t want.

Other funny moments…the word for daddy is baba. The word for poop is also baba…just with a different inflection. So, I’m never sure what I’m calling Jamie, or what I’m asking her to do in the potty. Sorry, Jamie!

Jenna is starting to have fun chasing Charlie around the room, and since it’s not that big, we took them to the fitness center where there is a stretching room. They ran around and we spun them in circles. Then off to dinner where Char fell asleep in his chair, and Jenna wolfed down more bread than all of us put together. Jamie was playing with her and asked for a piece of her bread. She gave him a piece, he ate it, and she got mad! Best not to mess with her cuisine!

Three different times we’ve seen her countenance change. The first time was in the van on our way to tour. All of sudden she got very solemn. She thought we were going back to the Civil Affairs building. The guide explained that we were going to a park, then she nodded and smiled again. The next time was right before dinner. She again got a solemn look, but did better when we gave her dinner. Finally, after a very happy dinner (minus the daddy/bread incident), she started rubbing her eye. Jamie picked her up, she layed her head on his shoulder and started sobbing…big tears. We let her cry for about ½ hour, just holding her. Then we got her jammies on knowing she’s tired, gave her a snack, and she settled down in her bed. Poor thing. I have to wonder what’s going through her little mind. We’ve never had a child grieve like this, and although I know it’s perfectly normal and a good thing in some ways, it’s so hard to watch. And Charlie will usually get all teary with her. He doesn't understand why we're not taking her back to her mama and baba at the orphanage if that's what she wants. How do you explain that one to a little guy who sees his sister so sad? And how must we look to him right now, being the ones taking her away when she's saying she doesn't want to go?

But right now she’s cuddled with her puppy in bed, cozy in her jammies, and watching Charlie laugh at a Tom & Jerry cartoon. She’ll just need time…

I have to say, though, our days are great, she's very content and happy most of the time, and her little personality is coming through beautifully. She's such a blessing!

Good night from Chongqing.