In LOVE!!!!!

He has the sweetest little voice, a little raspy, and a charming smile. Look out ladies!

(He and the driver were a little late, due to the snow. And, the poor fellow was car sick and threw up two times on the way from the orphanage. He wasn't happy when he found out he would have to ride in a car again when we left.)

He quietly entered the room where we were sitting and followed the director, barely looking our way.

When we spoke to him, he came over. He let each of us hold him--well, he tried to hold Ellie. And, he let us kiss him. He didn't say a word.





Stan gave him cars and he opened them. Instead of playing with them, though, he put them in his pockets. He had to be coaxed to play with them. While the others in the room worked on papers, we just played, kissed, hugged. Qing Zhuang said almost nothing.


He was asked by one of the civil affairs officers, "Mama, Baba, hao bu hao?" (Are Mama and Daddy good or not good.) He said, "Hao," one of the first words we heard. The word was, "Good," and we are glad.

We are back in the hotel room, and he is beginning to talk and play. His voice is raspy. I think he and daddy are going to be best buddies!!! I love it. Everything daddy says, Qing Zhuang says. Everywhere Baba goes, Qing Zhuang follows.


He is beginning to talk a lot, just 3 hours after we met him. We have no clue what he is saying, and for now, he is okay with that. He occasionally shouts, "Mama!" to get my attention. I love it.

Josie-Tatum keeps saying things like, "I can't believe we have a brother." And, "Zeke is so adorable."

Ellie was having a good time until we asked her to let Zeke hold her camera. She is now sadly lying on the bed. I think she is overly tired. I asked her if I could lie down with her and she shook her head no. I must seek God's wisdom to make her feel special this week, too.

I leave you with this one video clip. He was practicing everybody's name, not very good at saying Ellie or Josie-Tatum (JT) but he has decided he likes calling Baba...Mama instead. He loves his own joke.

We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto

So, Bobbie, all we have to do is listen to know we're not in Beijing anymore. This is Taiyuan....horns and sirens all around.

The streets are filled with more scooters and bicycles.

The people are filled with curiosity about the Caucasian couple walking down the street with two Chinese children. (Imagine the more stares when we add one more---a son).

We awoke this morning, though, to a blanket of white covering the city of Beijing.



I began to watch the snow fall around 2:00 a.m., but when we were really stirring this morning, some of the snow was already beginning to melt away. Not all of it had melted, though, when we made our way out of The Comfort Suites. The girls were each able to make a snowball.

Our driver and Charlotte took us past a few tourist sites on our way to the train station. We passed The Bird's Nest and The Water Cube.





Can I say again how wonderful Charlotte is? And, can I say again...if anyone needs a guide in Beijing, I am happy to recommend her?

Not only did she meet us at the airport, and help us make our way to Amazing Hands yesterday, she purchased our train tickets for us. She did more than take us to the train station. She stayed with us until we were on the train. She helped us find a porter who took our luggage and guided us to the the train at the right time. We were even allowed on the platform a little earlier than other passengers. (All of that special treatment can be arranged for anyone for the extra price of 50 yuan....less than $10.)

The train station would certainly be more than a little overwhelming without assistance....maybe a little like Elf in New York City. You might have wondered if we wearing an Elf suit the way people looked at us. Wait, nah, if Stan had been wearing those green tights...No...don't picture that.

The train saved us a good bit of money over airfare to Taiyuan. The ride was 4 hours and we had much more room than on an airline. Security was faster and exiting the train station was faster.

It was much like a drive to Atlanta from our house. Only I didn't have to close my eyes for fear Stan was going to get us killed. And, all of the other people were Chinese.

I thought we might see some interesting sites that would keep the girls entertained along the way. As we lef the city, though, we mainly passed one industrial site after another. Then, we go through a city and repeat.




The most difficult task to manage when riding the train is carrying all of your luggage with you. And, when we arrived in Taiyuan, we were alone without a guide or porter. We had to manhandle our luggage and allow Josie-Tatum to push Ellie in a stroller. Then.....

We saw escalators.

We find that most people in China are intrigued by Ellie. Yes, she turns heads in America, but in China it is different. Most children and adults with any form of disability are not part of mainstream society. She is stared at as often by adults as she is be children. Very few faces show any sign of compassion.

When we saw the escalators, we were certainly on display. Two Americans. Two Chinese girls. One with a disability. I don't know what they were thinking, but they continued to push and shove their way to the escalators all around us....it's not rude. It's their culture.

We managed to stop. I grabbed Ellie from the stroller, and with JT's help, go her on the escalator. But, as were nearing the end, I was growing worried. Until....

One Chinese lady turned around and helped Ellie.

She continued to help for just a minute to we had all regained control of our belongings and Ellie was back in the stroller. Just like Jesus.

We are settled in for the evening at our hotel, after another traditional Chinese meal of pizza, this time Pizza Hut. Josie-Tatum and I ventured from American fare, though. We ordered stuffed shrimp crown pizza. It was delicious. It had shrimp, pineapple, Italian sausage, and green peppers. The shrimp was enclosed in the edges of the crust along with Mozarella. I'll close with photos from our hotel window.

Smitten!

The weather is cold, but my heart is warm.

The sky was dreary today with clouds and smog, heavily polluted, but my soul has been singing.

Amidst all of the chaos of Beijing, I have been at peace throughout this day. As we drove in a taxi this morning, walked the streets of Beijing, were being picked up by our driver to go to the foster home, I felt peace like I've not known for weeks, even months.

This morning before we left for the Temple of Heaven, I read again one of my favorite chapters of the Bible, Isaiah 43. Oh, how I love to be reminded of God's promises to be with us, through the water and through the fire, in the desert and in the wilderness.


I'm sure most of you are ready to read about our visit with Drew at Amazing Hands, but I'll make you wait a minute with details of our morning. If you read all of this post you are one of 3 things...

1--an adoptive parent looking forward to your own travel soon.

2--a member of our family.

3--really bored....

God really has shown us how small our world is. At this very hotel is a group of teachers from GA! Following breakfast, we spent nearly an hour talking with them---how sweet to hear a southern drawl.

Charlotte met us at 11:00 to begin our tour of the Temple of Heaven. My honey ventured out of his comfort zone, taking a cab with Ellie, leaving Josie-Tatum and me to take the second cab with Charlotte.

We were freezing, but enjoyed our visit.




My decision to at least visit one historic site was affirmed when Josie-Tatum, totally unprompted said, "I love Chinese architecture."


Stan was a brave boy and agreed to let us have some authentic Chinese cuisine for lunch. He was more polite than Ellie, as you can see by her face, but he didn't each much more than she did. Stan and Josie-Tatum ate with spoons. Ellie and I ate with chopsticks, and I must say I impressed myself with my mean stick skills.




Sitting beside us at lunch today were two high school students who are taking art lessons at school. We watched them sketching random people who came in the restaurant, so we asked them so sketch the girls, and they did.





After lunch, we began the drive to Amazing Hands. We experienced a little dejavu--you can look up the spelling for me--as the driver and Charlotte had a difficult time finding it. This part of the city is old, with streets that barely have room for cars, few street signs, and even fewer numbers on building.

After a few u-turns, stopping to ask for directions, following another set of directions, and making a couple of phone calls, we stopped at yet another home. While Charlotte talked to the lady behind the door, a young man walked up to us and said, "Follow me. I will take you there. I am from the church and I'm going there."

In a city of 19 million people, we began to follow a young man just because he told us he knew where we were going. Good thing....he really did.

He found the home for us....and we went through the first door--sort of like a gate.

When we walked through the courtyard, Zhuang Zhuang was standing just behind the door waiting on us!!!!



We were cautious about overwhelming him with affection, but our anxieties were soon gone. When we walked through the door, I extended my hand to him, and he took my hand. He let me give him a kiss,


and then he held out both arms for me to pick him up!




He enjoyed hugs from Mama while she kissed him under his chin, and wrestling with Daddy. He enjoyed hitting daddy on the head with a bowling pin --albeit a plastic one--and driving a car on his bald head. He asked, "Why does Baba have no hair on his head, but he has lots of hair on his arm?"





After he warmed up to all of us well, he began playing with Ellie. He would chase and chase, then get up close and pinch her cheeks, while looking eyeball to eyeball. He really began playing too rough with her.


Tina Ayi talked to him and told him he couldn't play so rough with Ellie. She explained that he was a boy and she was a girl...so

He decided it was time to tackle Ellie.....

So I can kiss her.....


Oh, my how he enjoyed chasing her around and around and around to get kisses, not one or two or three, but many. Then, he gave Baba a kiss and Mama a kiss and Da Jie Jie (Big Older sister) a kiss.


Our baby boy has a bit of a cold. His ayis said he had a fever yesterday. When our visit was getting close to an end, he seemed to be very tired. He just came over and sat in my lap. Heaven.....only I wished he felt better.



When we left, do you want to know who had the hardest time saying "Goodbye?" I'll let you guess.

Snow Chaser

Those of you who know me well...know that I have been known to chase snow. It almost NEVER snows in our small town in south Georgia. Like about once every 7 years....something like that.

I have packed the kids up with a picnic and driven to a state park two hours north of us for an afternoon following a brief snowfall.

I have decided on a Friday afternoon to chase snow for the weekend in West Viriginia.

That's the kind of snow chaser I am.

Well, I have succeeded in my grandest snow chase ever.

I have flown to the other side of the world in search of snow...;)

It is predicted to snow here while we are sleeping tonight. (Saturday night) Let's see if I wake up to watch it!

And...snow is forecast for Taiyuan on Monday night and Tuesday morning. I think I'll catch a train tomorrow and head over to Taiyuan to see it.

Time to wake the family for our exciting day today! Please leave comments. We love to hear from you back home.

On the Other Side of the World

On the other side of the world, God smiles. People are beautiful. The sun shines--albeit a little less brightly through the smug. It beams in my heart.

Our day has been blessed. Well, you could say our days have been blessed. By the time my head hits the pillow, it will have been nearly 36 hours since I woke up at home in Georgia.

Our flights were basically uneventful, if you don't consider the minor little detail that I forgot to put pull ups for Ellie in our carry on. Only finding small diapers in the Chicago airport, I became the master...or apprentice...of ingenuity. I bought maxi pads to place on the top front and back of the diaper, extending the far enough they would wrap around Ellie. If that is the most inconvenient thing that happens on this trip, we will be blessed!!!

We had about 5 hours from the arrival of our flight in Chicago before we left for Beijing. Following breakfast, we found the Children's Museum. If you're ever in the Chicago airport with children, this is the place to be. Our girls had a great time and were able to expend some energy before the long flight.




The flight was long, but ambien is wonderful. After our meal, I remember very little. ;)

I will admit being slightly apprehensive about our arrival. With each of our first two adoptions, our agency scheduled all travel. For this trip, we were responsible for travel until our arrival in province, and our travel after our consulate appointment before our flight home.

Not only did I book the hotel, I also "found" our guide to help us in Beijing. Thank you for Rumor Queen and the discussion forums where I found Charlotte's name. I cannot say enough about how wonderful she has been. If anyone you know needs a guide in Beijing, tell them to email me. I asked Charlotte to meet us at the airport and arrange a driver to our hotel. She did that, AND she took us to the grocery store before she left so we would have some snacks.


All of this for about $5----


We are staying at the Comfort Suites, and I was more than pleased when we checked it. I was looking for a hotel that was less expensive than those normally booked for adoption travel. I chose this one for 2 reasons:

1---It was one of the few hotels in China that would allow the four of us to stay in one room, so I saved by not booking two rooms. The price was much less than a suite in other hotels.

2--There is a McDonald's in the same building. Stan, the ever non-adventurous eater had peace of mind knowing he could McD's anytime.

Unless there is a drastic change before we leave, I would highly recommend this hotel to American families. We arrived and found the hotel to be more than we expected. The lobby is beautiful. We've had to open our own doors and press our own elevator buttons, but, um....we're sort of accustomed to doing those things ourselves.

Most of the staff speaks very little English, but they work hard to accomodate, and with enough sign language, you can tell them you need extra towels or sheets.

The grocery store, Papa John's, and McDonald's are all part of the huge building complex. We have stepped onto the sidewalk and walked less than 20 yards for everything we need. And, my favorite Chinese past time--people watching---is easily done from our 6th floor window.

Views from the windows.





Bobbie, I have the window cracked, so I can be lulled to sleep by the beeping of car horns, but I think we are on the outer edges of the city. The street noises are not NEARLY as busy as our hotel in Taiyuan.

This room is huge, much unlike any other hotel I've found in China. I expect there are many Chinese citizens whose apartments are much smaller.

So, we will spread out for the next 36 hours, stretch our legs, and enjoy the room.

Tomorrow, we will do our only sightseeing. We will visit the Temple of Heaven. But, then we will begin the most amazing part of our journey. We will meet Drew! We will visit Amazing Hands foster home tomorrow afternoon. Drew is there, and Ellie lived there before she joined our family. So, it will be a reunion for her with her nannies.

Thank you for all the prayers and support. We would NOT be here, if not for countless numbers of you who have prayed, and done more for us than I ever could have imagined.

I leave you know with this. Stan said he had hoped to get a massage by a cute young Chinese girl. Hmm, I don't think this is what he had in mind, but Ellie wanted to fulfill his dream.

We're Here!!!

Off to eat at Papa John's. Authentic Chinese food for Stan, right?

I hope to post a few photos before we go to bed.

God is in the details!!!!!!!!

Robbie