Why I Lost Weight in China

Normally I can throw back food with the best of 'em, but while in China food has become a major issue. For me there's just nothin' I can really say I've gone hmmmmm, that's good. I didn't like Chinese cuisine before I got here and I certainly am not going to eat it now, especially after today's little foray into the open Cantonese market. Can you all say ewwwww?? The odds of ever being stranded on a deserted island where we would ever have to eat any these yummies are about nil to zero, so in my way of thinking WHY WOULD YOU EAT THIS STUFF WHEN THERE'S OTHER THINGS AVAILABLE????? I mean, come on. There's a gazillion dogs and cats running around here, they would taste better than this stuff! Oh, and I was told by Zhou, our agency's China Program Coordinator, who is Chinese that the Cantonese eat anything and everything, and now I believe him, lol. And the so called American restaurants just don't get it right either, nothing really tastes the same as it does in the good ole USA. McDonald's does not taste like McDonald's, Papa John's does not taste like Papa John's and Subway does not taste like Subway. I know, I tried them all, it ain't the same thing! Anyhow...I hope you enjoy this little peek into the open market. Oh, yeah, to really appreciate it, you not only have to see it, but you have to smell it, and on that you'll just have to take my word for it, it smells exactly like it looks...YUCKY!

Off to Guangzhou

We left Hefei Friday and are now in Guangzhou and what a big difference. Hefei was hectic, crowded and noisy. Guangzhou is not, lol. It's peaceful and green, really laid back (big sigh). And we are going to have a great time shopping here! I can say that outloud because I know Roger isn't going to be reading these posts, lol. Yesterday morning the girls had their medical appointments. There were a few tears, but all in all it went well. The doctor heard a slight murmur when she listened to Ciara's heart but that is normal with a VSD and they didn't seem too concerned about it. When we have her examined back home we'll know more, but she seems very healthy and I hadn't actually thought about her heart until the exam yesterday, lol. This morning we all went to the Guangzhou Zoo and I finally got Ciara to ride in a stroller. Up to this point she either wanted to walk herself, which was perfectly fine, OR she wanted to be carried, which is okay for a little bit, but exhausting and it is really hot here. But the ole girl finally relented after multiple tests runs in our hotel room with her and her new doll, lol. She loves the zoo and every animal she saw she'd yell out a big "WOW!" The rest of the time she was just singing away while her new maid pushed her around the park and gave her a drink every once in a while, lol. This is NOT a quiet child. The first picture is of Ciara and Zhou waiting in the airport for our flight to Guangzhou. I'm thinking she's really going to miss him when we go back home. Oh, well, more trips to Cleveland I guess, lol. The rest are of where we got the medical exams, a photo from last night's walk in Guangzhou and then a few from the zoo.

Orphanage Visit

This morning we visited the orphanage where Ciara has lived from the time she was 2 months old. I knew it would be difficult for her...and it was. She got to see her Foster Mama again and practically pole vaulted out of my arms into hers. She was so happy to see her and her Foster Mama was equally as happy to see her. It was very emotional for the both of them when we had to leave, both were crying. I absolutely could not do what this woman has done. I love her so much already and I wouldn't be able to give her up now let alone after I've had her for over two years. She was taken extremely good care of, was taught very well, and loved very much. On a brighter note, since her visit Ciara has been more talkative, more playful and all around just a happy little girl. I think maybe she knows now that this is for good, it's final. And this time I brought her out of that orphanage and not someone else. I've said it before, but kids just know stuff. We think sometimes they don't understand what's going on, but they do. Is she going to remember any of this? I don't think so, but something clicked with her today and for now she gets it :). I can't wait for her to get home to meet her Daddy, her older sister Leyna and for now, lol, her little older sister Logan. This second picture is of Ciara and her Foster Mama, and then the rest are right before bedtime eating some Goldfish.

A Day at the Zoo!

Ciara woke up today and was a little weepy for most of the morning. She didn't eat much for breakfast or lunch and I thought maybe she was getting sick, but then I realized that she was just homesick for the only home she's know since she was two months old. She wanted to be held practically all day and her thumb was in her mouth a lot more than usual. I thought we were going to end up just staying in our hotel room the entire day, which she really doesn't like either, but she snapped out of it after her afternoon nap. It is amazing what these kids have to process and then deal with and learn to accept in a very short time, things that would take adults months to unravel I think if they were going through the same thing. But snap out of it she did and then the four of us (Zhou, Mom, Ciara and I) took a taxi and headed out to the Hefei Zoo. It was very nice and quite big, it took us two hours to walk the whole way around it. Ciara saw maybe for the first time giraffes, deer, zebras, leopards, two hippopotamus, and peacocks, and many more. She has a thing about birds, she's afraid of them and yells at them I'm assuming to stay away. She had to warm up to the deer that followed us for a bit, but finally stood still long enough for it to come right up to us and start chewing on my mom's pant leg, lol. She wanted to be held most of the time, but these arms can't hold a child very long that hasn't learned how to use their thigh muscles to hold onto you. The Chinese just don't carry their kids on their hips, they carry them in front of them, at least the ones that I've seen, so it's like carrying dead weight. So Zhou carried her a lot of the time, and she just loves him. He talks and sings to her in Chinese, and she just lights up when she sees him every day. It was nice to see that she still kept an eye out for where I was most of the day, and she's now calling me Mama :)

Random Pictures From Our First Day Together

It's Tuesday, 1:30 PM here in China and Ciara is napping. She is a great sleeper, all night last night and two hours in the afternoon, I can handle that. Here are some pictures from the first few minutes of meeting each other and then some shopping later on in the day yesterday. She was not a happy camper at first, but get her inside a Walmart and she did just fine, lol.

Ciara's First Day!

Well, we did it! We got Ciara at around 9:45 AM! And let me tell you this girl has a set of lungs, lol, she screamed and pushed and if she could have I'm sure she would have kicked, too, but in the end she calmed down using some comfort food, lol, that's my girl, and then rather peacefully took a two hour nap. It kinda started all over again when she woke up, but was over much quicker and less dramatic, and now it's like she's known us all along with hardly any tears. She ate what I consider to be an enormous amount of food at supper tonight and once again went to sleep tonight without any fuss at all.

She is definitely used to doing things on her own and is not quick to accept any kind of assitance doing anything so far. When she needs you to help her, you can tell by the look on her face that she doesn't like it one bit, lol. Even in the short amount of time I've had her, 12 hours, she has improved quite a bit and hopefully tomorrow will see even more acceptance for her, too!

On a side note, we had to go buy her some clothes this afternoon, because it's a lot cooler here than I anticipated and I never thought in a million years she would be this small. You'll never guess where we went........WALMART! Pretty much the same as ours, but, well, everything was in Chinese!!! lol

My family has been given an unbelievable gift this morning, and we intend to thank Our Father daily for her! We hope you'll continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers while Ciara adjusts to her new life and her new family.

Last Day in Beijing

I didn't get many pictures today because my battery died, but we visited the Temple of Heaven as it's called, then we also went to a pearl factory and learned a little about pearls. After that we were taken to a local marketplace where only the strong survive. What a zoo! Vendors everywhere with no room to spare except the gauntlet style aisle we unsuspecting customers had to walk through. And when I say guantlet, I mean making it outta there without at least ten people grabbing your arm and trying to drag you to their particular "shop." It was crazy to say the least and a bit unnerving. All I kept thinking was, man, if you'd just stop touching me and following me, I just might actually buy something. Now to the important stuff! We flew outta Beijing at what was supposed to be 5:05 PM, which became 5:50 PM, and landed in Hefei at 7:10 PM. Our hotel here is very nice. Okay, enough of that. I have to be at the Hefei SWI tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM to meet my daughter for the first time. Fantastic!!! There are four other couples in our group; three of them get their little girls in the morning also and the other two after 3 PM tomorrow, so please pray for me and them also. We all are going to have an emotional and stressful day tomorrow. Enjoy the photos!!!