Thursday, October 13, 2011

Day 8

Wow! There is SO much to blog about I just don't even know where to start and I really need some sleep, so I'll just have to do my best to get you caught up on the day.

First we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize our adoption in the eyes of China...it was a very simple, yet big moment for this little girl.


And an emotional and proud moment for us as her family.


Then we headed over to visit the orphanage she spent her 1st few months and last couple of weeks in. As we pulled up and she saw out the window where we were she melted down instantly, and we weren't sure if we would make it off the bus. Then she settled down and was fine from that point on. She didn't even seem to have any connection to the place.



This building is only about 3 years old and is considered to be one of China's model orphanages...and it really was...for an orphanage. Complete with Mickey Mouse greeting everyone as we drove up.








Then they presented each family with a care package where we got her health records, developed photos from the camera we sent her, CD of other pictures they took, copy of note given from birth parents, and a few other things...SO glad they did this for her!





Then Mark found a picture of Hannah hanging on the wall with pictures of some of the other children who are still there, and it was a happy moment to hold her in my arms knowing she is not an orphan in this place any more.


Then we began our tour...while wearing blue shoe covers (It's a very well kept place).


First stop....a classroom.








Then on to the bedroom where all the children were sleeping. Charlie and I spent most of our time walking around talking to and touching the children. This part was not easy. Charlie had a hard time with this part, but the good news is that most of these kids already have families coming for them. This was Hannah's old bed.


Then on to the playroom that is used when the weather is bad and the children cannot go outside.


Where we met her nanny.


Then is was time to go, and oh how great it felt to walk away from here holding her in my arms listening to her say, "Bye Bye" and wave her hand. This was the only time I started to tear up. I just didn't feel any connection to this place, I guess because of how little time she spent there. Now if this had of been her foster parent's home it would have been a whole other story...they probably would have had to build a dam to hold back the flood.

Next stop of the day was the silk museum here in her province.


We had a little tour of how silk is made, then were taken into a room for a real fashion show...with a real runway and loud music. :)



It was really fun for us girls, and Hannah was mesmerized!


The most beautiful model was this sweet little asian girl dressed in a cute dress...just a real beauty who really knew how to work the crowd, and the crowd loved her!!!


Funny, she looks like someone I know???


Oh wait a minute, that's MY daughter! :)


After lunch we were finally back in our rooms for naps. :) Busy day!!!

Hannah is starting to loosen back up and let the 3 boys in a bit more...baby steps right??? I've been letting the 3 of them be the ones to feed her, and that seems to be helping. Mark was so excited tonight when she let him feed her the whole banana. Y'all, I cannot tell you how much this kid loves his new sister!!!!!! So the banana thing was HUGE to him.


We all really enjoyed our last dinner here at our favorite Pizza Inn.


Then because of the rain we let Kevin hail his 1st taxi (yeah Kevin), and we all piled in like a bunch of clowns at a rodeo to head back to our hotel for more packing. Good times!


I cannot tell you just how happy we are to be leaving Hangzhou... EVERYTHING about this place has been SO HARD (except getting Hannah of course). However, I can't believe we will soon be in the last leg of our trip. Tomorrow we hop on yet another plane to Guangzhou...where every child adopted from China has to go through to finalize the adoption with the US Consulate.

It is a little sad to think that Hannah will be leaving her home here, and all the things that are familiar to her. The next province will be very different from here, and they even speak a different language. Please pray for her as she makes more changes, and flies on her 1st airplane.

We are all just praying she does not have one of her melt downs while on the plane...poor girl still has several uncontrollable crying spells every day (these are so hard on all of us). All I have to say is, "Hannah, lets go bye-bye" and the poor girl instantly starts screaming with a panicking fear...SO SAD!!!! She really has a great fear of being left, and understandably so. :(

P.S. I did not wake up sick today. Just sore throat and heavy chest from all the smog and cigarette smoke here...way worse than in Beijing! So nasty!!!
Everyone else seems to be on the mend. :) Thanks for the prayers.

P.P.S. Our video camera fell out of our bag today and no longer works...this makes me SO SAD!!!! Praying for a miracle on that one too.

Good night!




12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like y'all had such a full day! I sure hope you and everyone else are sleeping peacefully right now:) We all LoVe checking to see if you have updated and LoVe looking through all the pictures:) The kids as to see them over and over and over and...
Looks like Hannah was full of smiles today! I am sure she had her moments (don't we all??) but the pics of her smiling so much are adorable! Love her runway debut! ;) We are on the countdown to the big return. Already praying for the plane rides...especially the extra long one! God is faithful, we can trust Him!! He will carry each one of you through this journey...and it is a joy and an honor to pray for you all along the way. Sleep well and we look forward to your next update!
Love,
Keri

Kim Smith said...

Glad to get the sweet pictures today. I looked earlier before I left the house and they were not there and I thought she is busy packing and probably just exhausted. So, I was so happy to see the update. Praying for good rest as I write this it is almost over for you all and a new day begins. Praying the flight goes well for everyone and especially Hannah as you say yet another very new experience. We will continue to pray all stay on the mends and you get nothing more. Mark and Charles look so sweet with Hannah and just when they are looking at her. So, glad you got all her information and the answered prayer of a letter from her birth parents. Praying for your travels. I will have to say when Stephen read Hannah Banana he liked that. So, I will try to restrain him, but he thought that was too cute. Never give him any ideas!! :) We can't wait to see you all. Everyone I have shared this with thinks Hannah is just soo cute!!I know she is going to bring so much joy to you all and you all are bringing so much joy to her. GOD IS SO GOOD!!!Can't wait for your next post and pictures. Pray that your video revives itself, but if not tell Charlie that it will just add alittle to his budget if he needs to buy another! :)

Anonymous said...

Thank You for the update! I love checking your blog everyday!!!

Sending lots of prayers your way.

Claire

granny sims said...

Awwwww she is just too cute ;-) I love the cute little dress, she looked like a little doll. I was wondering if you could get up in the middle of the night and post more pictures we just can't get enough......lol I know it is hard but boy howdy we love it when it finally shows up each day!! I am so happy to see all the happy smiles. Mark looked just a little bit proud feeding Hannah the banana. ( I did not call her Hannah Banana, Charlie, it just almost sounded like it)
Hey you are in China can't you get a new camera pretty cheap ? We have to have videos!!! (love ya Charlie)
I am so happy to hear all went well today and everyone is feeling better. Enjoy this last part of your trip. We have 8 long days to be patient. ( boy is it hard )
Hugs and kisses to you all !!!!!
Mom

Donna Hill said...

Wow!!!! What a day!!!! Looks like it was very interesting, but at the same time, I could see how it was bittersweet!!! It looked like Hannah was holding hands with 2 guys in one of the pics you posted!!! Was one of them Charlie...I was kinda thinking so, because it looked like his shoes!!! Lol!!! Leave it to me to notice the shoes....hey, I'm a girl!!! What can I say!!! Anyway, I am hoping I am right about the shoes, because that means she was holding her Daddy's hand with a huge smile on her face (love that pic)!!! By the looks of that pic, she is going to have her Daddy so wrapped around her finger...LOL... (how could he resist that smile)!!!! It seems like everyday you post, she seems to be warming up more & more to Mark & Charles!!!! That's AWESOME!!!!!! They are going to be the "BEST" big brother's ever!!!! I am also glad to hear you all are feeling better!!!! You must a have got some green tea!!! : ) I'm just kidding, we really know that is an answer to pray!!!! I am so thankful for that answered prayer for all of you!!!
About your video camera being broke, do you want to borrow mine? I could bring it to you!!!! If I leave now, I'll be there in...what? About 15/18 hours or so??? Lol!!! I guess I would be a day late & a dollar short....maybe I'll just eat Chick-fil-A for ya!!! Would that make ya feel any better??? It's okay, you don't have to thank me...I mean, what are sisters for anyway??? : ) Okay, I'll stop now, but I just want to tell you I hope this next part of your trip goes smoothly...I will be praying for all of you!!!!
Love ya bunches,
Donna

Donna Hill said...

Emily wanted me to tell you, " Hannah looks like a cutie-pie on the runway"!!! She also wanted me to tell you she loves her dress!!!! Okay, she is going to bed now, so she says, "Good night, sleep tight...don't let the bed bugs bite"!!! Of course she is reminding me that it's morning for all of you, so she wants to also say, "Have a GREAT DAY & I LOVE YOU"!!!!

granny sims said...

Dad just came in from the board meeting and said they had a special prayer for all of you tonight. Everyone was very excited to hear little Miss Hannah. Rick DeSpain was very excited and they have been keeping up with your blog. I'm sure it is very exciting to them since they have a little China Doll themselves. Just wanted ya to know y'all are getting lots of prayer ;-)
Amber Franco wanted me to tell you she is very happy for all of you and that Hannah is beautiful.
Mom

Anonymous said...

Missed having an update today:( I pray the day was full, but in a joyful kind of way:) Love you all and praying for each one of you!
Love,
Keri

The Meyers said...

Love reading all the updates! Praying for the rest of your journey!

The Meyers

Kim Smith said...

Praying all went well with travels and you all are getting good sleep now. Pray that Hannah is handling the new change as well as all of you since you all are in a new place. Hope we hear from you soon. Praying no news is good news. But, asking God to take care of all your needs.

Love ya all!

granny sims said...

I was going to post on day 9 but I couldn't find it so I was going to go ahead and post on day 8. and got very confused since I couldn't post on day 9 and posted on day 7. Wow am I confused ;-() I sure hope I don' t get confused on day 10 because I don't wat to be depressed two days in a row. I guess that is what happens if we don't see new pictures EVERYDAY......;-(

Donna Hill said...

OMG....your mother is acting like some kind of wild crazy caged animal...you need to hurry up & post something before she she goes completely crazy!!!! : )
Hope everything is going okay!!!
Donna