Pearl River Cruise

Two nights ago we went on the Pearl River Cruise with our group...it was a beautiful evening with friends!! I will let the pictures tell the story:)

Chloe with her friend Luke bf the cruise

My friend Dawn and her two daughters

Dawn, Maureen, and I

Gross they served chicken head on the buffet...China is no America!!

Meadow and Chloe

Shao Lin Temple Tour

I am not a good one to write about this because history and tours aren't my thing, but while in ZZ we went to the Shao Lin Temple. Here are some pics (ps it was so incredibly hot and dirty so disregard the sweat))

Kung Fu show

Chloe loved the waterfall

Tired baby...we walked for miles in the miserable heat 

Carrie and I with our tired babies

Adoption Day

The Tuesday following GOTCHA day (7-2-13) we all headed back to the Civil Affairs office to receive our adoption certificates. This means Chloe became officially our daughter! We are so proud to call Chloe daughter and just can't get enough of her!! 

At our hotel as a new family (just missing two very important pieces) in Zhengzhou

Medical Exam

Today we left our hotel around 9:00 am for Chloe's medical exam...basically an approved US Consulate facility has to say she is well enough to enter the country. Chloe did so well...no tears shed! She weighs just over 20 lbs...she is seriously a chunk. My arm hasn't worked so hard since Ethan was her age. 

About to go in for her exam:)

Taking her visa picture

Trying out Jax's stroller...mommy plans to rent one for the rest of the trip

Height and weight

Checking her breathing

Seeing the ENT...no ear infection

And just in case you need it wine can be found in the lobby of the medical plaza!! Lol

The medical plaza is right across the street from where the new Consulate office will be (hence that awful 2 week closure)

A little more about Chloe

I think you all know by now that we are in love!! Our black eyed beauty is starting to come to life more each day. The day we got her she didn't smile...no crying either...but definitely no smiles. She was covered in bug bites and had severe diaper rash. Thankfully she loves the bath and we brought plenty of medicine so now she is not itching and her bottom is looking much, much better. She eats formula only and LOVES it. She still cries when she sees her bottle and sucks it down so fast like we might take it away. She is such a chunky monkey...everyone is baffled she is an "orphanage" baby vs. foster care because she is so big. She is wearing size 9 month clothing.  Precious girl picks at her clothes and bites her thumbs to self-soothe. She had a rough couple of nights sleep after the orphanage visit but is doing better these last two nights all snug between mama and baba. Today we some time in the hotel playroom with my friend Maureen and her daughter Vivian...Chloe was a wild woman...crawling everywhere...playing and mouthing everything she could find. She certainly is an active girl. AND, she is babbling like crazy which is music to this SLPs ears!!!! I think she is perfect in every way and without a doubt God designed her just for us. Today we were able to get more less worked for smiles and she is beginning to really show her personality. It is so fun to watch her come to life right before our eyes!!! All because of love:)

Chloe and Mommy-now mommy has pink eye:(

Highlight of this day-meeting my cyber BFF Maureen and new friend Dawn from Highlands County (my home county). Dawn is a new friend, but Maureen and I have become such good friends and we are just so thankful for the opportunity to meet in China! Chloe and Maureen's daughter Vivian got to play together....looking forward to several more fun days with our new friends!!! Have I said yet how thankful I am for friends to got through this crazy journey with?!!! LOVE THEM!!!!

Orphanage Visit and Passport Trip

What a LONG day!!! We left Wednesday morning at 9:00 am for the 3.5 hour van ride to Chloe's city for her passport. We arrived around 1:00 pm and waited for the orphanage officers to arrive. One of the officers took Chloe for her passport picture and she reached for me...can I just tell you how much that means to a newly adoptive mama? That is a huge milestone and such a good sign of what is to come. 

We completed all the passport photos and then had our guide ask if we could visit the orphanage (sometimes they say no). I told them I only cared to see the room Chloe was in so they agreed. It was about a 30 minute drive outside the city to her orphanage. One of the officers rode with us. I had to hold back my tears as we drove through one of the most poor areas I have ever seen. I have never been to a third world country, but I imagine it to be similar. Everything was so dirty...laundry hanging everywhere in the dust and pollution and filth. 

When we pulled up at the orphanage I was pleasantly surprised that it could possibly be so nice given the surrounding area. There was a fairly decent playground, but there were no children anywhere to be seen.

I have read that many of the O's have playgrounds and toys but the children are never allowed to play. We waited outside for them to prepare for us. The officer took our donations and never even said thank you or acted like they appreciated them. That would have been fine had I seen them being put to use. The children were in filthy, old clothes...nothing from our previous shipments. When we were finely allowed in Chloe's room at the LOCC it's like I was on overload...I wanted to take in every detail, check on babies for their mamas, get great pictures, and most of all love on some babies. Heart breaking really doesn't do it justice. I am pretty convinced the scene was set for us "foreigners". The babies were out of their cribs (except one with albinism who was in his crib so miserable covered in bug bites). Many babies were screaming (two looked newly abandoned) and most were rocking back and forth to self soothe. There were no toys. The nannies had turned on some rap music (odd I know) and when I put Chloe down she danced:) The nannies took her from us, but she didn't really react. I had so many questions, but the only one I could think to ask was what kind of bottle she was using. They brought out the same cleft bottles I had brought which made this mama happy that she had something she was used too. I tried to look at and talk to each baby...I got on the floor and danced with them. There just wasn't enough time. As we said good-bye and walked out of the those doors forever with our daughter the tears flowed freely. Chloe is no longer an orphan, but there are still so many...the newborns especially just broke my heart...I feel like they will scream until they realize no one will come to me and then cry no longer. Chloe is great a self-soothing which you would think would be good under normal circumstances, but not given the fact that it is how she survived for 13 months. We are forever changed because of that experience...we have so much...they have so little...parents are forced to make some unthinkable decisions and as a result so many babies suffer. 

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you had them in your arms.

 

But once you do everything changes." -David Platt