Thursday, May 24,2012 Zoo Trip

Today several families from our group took at trip to the zoo. It was a nice, cool day and the zoo was well shaded, so most of the kids seemed to stay in a good mood. L seemed scared of the first couple of animals because she whined and wanted to stay in her stroller (which is rare) but then began talking to them and pointing. She was very interested. The highlight for me was the panda house even though it was crowded and extremely noisy. Jillian as always preferred the monkeys. I reminded her of when she was little and liked to climb, she would say, "you're the monkey mommy and I'm the monkey baby."

After the zoo, the driver took us to McDonald's to get take out. Jillian and I decided to just get ice cream and we think it must have been Laikyn's first taste, because she had a very shocked expression and squinted her face up. She tried it two or three times and then shook her head no. Thats the first food she wouldn't eat. She even liked the steamed bamboo shoots on the breakfast buffet. She had rice ceral with banana in the room and took a long nap. We had our regular beef noodles at the Holiday Inn next door and then spent the rest of the evening playing in the playroom with The Salmons family( Brian, Tracey, Emily and baby Jayden.

Free at last May 23, 2012

Today was our first free day and we spent the morning at a local park. We took our lives in our hands by walking. I'm not sure what is worse.. crossing a street with all of the traffic or waking down the Sidewalk with hundreds of bikes and mopeds. We sat at picnic tables in the park and let the kiddos roam a little. The locals are very interested in our families and I was able to try a few Chinese phrases on a couple of families. Amazingly they understood! Jillian gets a little dismayed when ladies try to speak to her in Chinese. She just shrugs and smiles! as we were sitting, Laikyn decided to dig through one woman's purse and then strongly persuade another little girl to share her snacks. She got very tired and wanted me to carry her on the walk to McDonald's which was about fifteen minutes away. She is so heavy that I couldn't go that far with her, so she kicked and screamed,"Mama" most of the way. I felt bad for her, but it also did my heart good. After we got our food, we went back to the park to eat, so she perked up again. After eating, dad took her to feed pigeons and she stomped her foot and threw her milk bottle at them, causing them to fly everywhere! Never a dull moment with that girl! We finally got back for her nap and she slept an hour before having a night terror. At least that's what I think it is. She's been having them in the night too, but today was the worst yet. When she finally opened her eyes, she was fine. Tonight we went to the mall by taxi, which again felt like taking our life into our hands. It's kind of like Mr Toads Wild tide at Disney! We were able to pick up some food, diapers and a toy cell phone for her. I had a good laugh watching Rob try to pantomime diapers, peanut butter and bread to the worker. When we got back, Laikyn Hope got on her phone and said , "hi", which I guess is her third English word after Go and Mama.
She has been sick with a cold since getting her, but it hasn't slowed her much. Very runny nose, deep cough and sneezing. One of the dads in our group is a dr. So brought his scope and listened to her. He said she is clear and feels its all head congestion. we are giving her pedia care and hoping it doesn't go to an ear infection like with Jillian. It was kind of neat that we have a dr with this group and we had a pediatric nurse with Jillian's group.

Happy Adoption Day May 22,12

today's finalization of our adoption began at the registration office where we had our gotcha day.On the bus ride over, she was happily eating snacks and watching the traffic, pointing at things that interested her. When we pulled up to the office, she froze, gripped the handrail and began rocking and crying. I had to pull her away and go in. I was able to comfort her quickly before we got off of the bus, but I believe she was either remembering the trauma of the previous day or afraid that it was happening again. I never expected that and it broke my heart. She happily played throughout the meeting and it was rather quick with just paying fees and receiving our certificate. After that we had to go to the notary office and our day was finished before lunch. Other families have to travel by train several hours back to their child's city for the passport application, but we were blessed that our orphanage already took care of that. I wanted to visit her orphanage, but after her reaction at the office, I think God was watching out for her by not allowing us to go. Now that it's over, I look forward to getting to know her and learning her personality. The other families have already decided that she is the social butterfly of the group and I am already noticing that she is a little stubborn and strong willed. When she doesnt like something, she crosses her arms and gives her meanest frown. It is usually when her dad wants her. We have laughed so much that now I think she is doing it for a show. She is also very, very funny!

Gotcha Day May 21, 2012

I was unbelievably calm as our group gathered to eat breakfast and then check and double check our documents and baby items with the other nine families. We left the hotel at 9:30 being told that the closest orphanage people would arrive first to the civil affairs office. That would be us . Sure enough, as soon as we sat down and turned on our camera, someone said that a baby was coming. I knew it was her but I waited for the name until I sprang to meet them at the door. An orphanage worker brought her in ( not Laikyns nanny but a general worker
) and she was already screaming. I tried to soothe her and calm her down but it made it worse so I just figured it would be better to rip the band aid quickly, so I scooped her up and turned and went off by myself to rock her. As her crying slowed I sat down on the couch and began to offer her toys and she promptly knocked them away. Finally Jilli and I started eating suckers and she followed. Over the next few minutes she began to warm up and rub my hand as I began to rub hers. MElted my heart! soon we were able to take her into the play area and put her down. Bowling with sissy got her first smile and then she loved balloons and bubbles.She wasn't ready
to go to Dad just yet, but will play with him. After playing a while, all of the Children had arrived and it was time to head back to the bus for our 24 hour guardianship. She did go to sleep on the bus and stay asleep for about an hour and a half in the room. Since then, she has been playing nonstop like playing ball and laughing/ clapping for herself. She's funny, active, and very inquisitive. She even gave us kisses at dinner. She is talking quite a bit, but we have no clue what she is saying...She is now asleep in her room crib since about 9:30. She is just perfect, with a round cherub face, inquisitive eyes and a contagious laugh! Very smart too as she is trying to mock everything we do when we play! We are so grateful this day has finally come that has been in our hearts for a year. She is more wonderful than we had dreamed! Tomorrow is a long day as its our adoption day. She will be officially ours after that!

So close

We said goodbye to Beijing and our new buddy George. We will always remember the great care he took of us and how he nicknamed us his "sticky rice" to remind us to stay close to him at all times. Also he shared his life story with us and it was deeply touching in showing how Gods protection shows up in miraculous ways. I will have to share that later.

We safely arrived in Zhengzhou in the Henan province,which is about an hour flight to the south of Beijing. Laikyn lives about an hour from here and will be brought by van to the office where we will meet her. We were met at the airport by our new guide Yishi and her assistant Vivienne. On the bus to the hotel we were given new information on our girl. She is still in diapers, and on formula at night as she wakes often during the night. Hmmmm I think we have another Korbin/Jillian combination. She is active and gets along with other children. She likes toys that make noise and doesn't like it when people talk loud. It makes her cry. Not sure she is going to like our family then...
Lol!
We checked into our hotel and just walking into the room reduced me to tears as I thought of how this will be her first home with real family. While Rob went to the bank to change US dollars to RMB, Jilli and I unpacked and I started packing her diaper bag and orphanage gifts. While I worked on that, my sweet girl set up a makeshift play area for Laikyn in the corner of the room. Love her heart!! I paced nervously the rest of the night and alternated between excitement and weepiness. I finally thought about my fears in comparison to hers. however difficult this is for us, it must be compounded greatly for her. I fell asleep with the thought that God loved her long before I did and He has met all of her needs this far, why worry that He will stop now! This morning we have been to breakfast and are waiting now for our 9:30 am appt to go meet her along with the nine other families meeting their kids. I am unusually calm right now! I hope I stay that way after getting it all out last night! I know that she needs me to be strong. Please pray for us all today as this huge life changing event unfolds.

Day 2 Beijing

It feels more like I lived a week in a day with all of the things we experienced today. We started with a trip to the Jade factory and watched the process of carving jade into beautiful works of art. Next was the Great Wall where I did no better this time than ten years ago. I made it up two sections, but they were very steep in my defense.Rob and Jillian made it to the top while I sat and enjoyed the view. We've had beautiful weather but the smog was so thick this time, that we could barely view the wall from the higher altitude. As I sat and took in the scenery, I thought how the climb is much like the adoption process. Slow, uneven, rocky and never knowing how much farther it is to the top. We are almost there though! After the wall, we had another Chinese meal of various unknown foods...mostly good though. Then we drove to the Olympic village, which was the site of the 2008 games. The architecture was amazing, especially the birds nest. I warned Jillian not to drink after lunch as it was an hour orso drive across the city. She didn't listen and therefore had to experience the dreaded squat pot that is so famous in Asia. She said that the smell of Chiba is the hardest thing to deal with! We ended the night with an amazing Chinese acrobat show.We are now packing up for our flight to Laikyns province in the morning. It is about an hour and a half flight South of here.
The schedule is to get her on Monday as of right now. Please keep her in your prayers!

Day One in China

Today we went on our first tour of Beijing! Our guide George wanted us to experience how the locals live, so we went to the Hutong district which is on the outskirts of the Forbidden city and is about 200years older than the city. This was a first as a we rode around the area in a rickshaw. One of the locals invited us into his home and explained how it had been in his family for 150 years. We then went to the silk factory and watched the harvest of silkworms to the production of blankets, clothing, etc. After a lunch at a local restaurant, we toured Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. We fell in bed at 7:30 trying to force ourselves to stay awake. It was neat to see China from the eyes of my first Chinese princess, but she was quick to say KY is much better. Beijing has changed so much in ten years! The population has grown from 13 to 20 million with many more cars now, although people are regulated on which days they can drive. Gas is 5.50 per gallon in US dollars and everything is much more expensive!!!
I know all of this busy running has two purposes,to introduce us to the culture of our child and to distract us while we wait two more days, but every child I pass on the streets reminds me of why Im really here and it's enough to catch my breath! Two more days!