Update #6

Last night was a rough one for our little one.  She woke up once every half an hour crying for "Mama"...I'd put my hand on her head or hold her hand and say, "I'm here." Then she'd fall back asleep for another 30 minutes.  She woke up having had her first accident (with us) and a pretty good bloody nose to boot.  We had our last breakfast in Nanjing and then packed our bags.  Emmy helped put the items in bags and also "helped" take them out and put them back in drawers.  At one point, Steve was going to take her on a walk in the hall but she burst into tears. After lunch, she took a nap then we went on a walk. She was a bit more apprehensive than usual. Last night Anna told her that she would go on an airplane to Guangzhou.  She did not look thrilled.  When our guide came to pick us up to go to the airport, she got very quiet.  Then our guide told her we were going to the airport to go to Guangzhou.  Lu Xin yelled, "Bu Yao!" And burst into tears. She cried quietly all the way to the airport and when it was time to get out she started getting frantic...kicking and screaming. Our guide quickly started talking to her. It turns out Emmy somehow got the idea that she was going to Guangzhou with just Baba but she wanted Mama to go, too.  Phew. Easily solved.  Once that was cleared up, she was much happier.  Our flight to Guangzhou was delayed by about an hour and Emmy became more excited, manic and anxious as we waited.  Finally it was time to fly.  Behind us on the plane was a year old baby.  Lu Xin called her Mei Mei and tried to talk to her and comfort her throughout the flight. Also, Lu Xin's favorite nanny had given her some chocolate cookies which we saved for the flight (risky move). She was excited to see them and, in typical Emmy fashion, gave one to mama, one to baba and one to Mei Mei before she ate her special treat herself. That's the good news. The bad news is that eating them all fairly quickly combined with decent turbulence, excitement and nervousness and a nasty cold equals tossing her cookies in the friendly skies...onto her shirt and into her mom's hands. Then she got to wear her mom's sweater for the rest of the flight because her parents, who really have parented three other three year olds, forgot to pack a change of clothes for her.  Eventually she fell asleep for the last 30 minutes or so of the flight. Waking up upon arrival and still wearing my huge sweater, poor exhausted, sick Emmy also threw up while waiting for our luggage and while waiting for our driver outside which led to a lovely family asking our guide where on earth we are from.  We are now finally in our very fancy hotel, covered in throw up and snot and trying to get Miss E back to sleep.  But we are here and beginning the second half of our adventure. Tomorrow we will go to medical appointments for Emmy. Thanks again for your prayers for us and for Grandma.  And thanks again for your emails. You guys are the bomb-diggity and we are blessed.

Update #5

Last night sleep did not come so easy for Lu Xin or for us.  She has a pretty nasty cold which took a turn for the worse last night and kept her up from 2:45-4:45.  Then the cold gave her a fever today too.  We mostly laid low today. She was a bit sadder today and less interested in Steve (hard to be the Baba).  She had a couple of teary moments. It was hard to tell how much of it was the transition and how much was not feeling well.  We did take one walk and discovered that Emmy does NOT like anything with fur. Ella and Hero may not be a happy surprise for her. :( She doesn't even want to touch stuffed animals. 

This evening we had our celebration dinner with Anna.  The dinner was delicious.  We had dishes that were unique to Nanjing.  Emmy enjoyed an egg dish and wrestled with her chopsticks.  She most frequently uses her left hand which is fun and in China is a sign of intelligence.  After dinner we walked around the mall.  Emmy chose some fake plastic glasses and hair ties.  She really, really likes glasses.  

Tomorrow we fly from Nanjing to Guangzhou.  We are very ready to begin the next part of our journey and to be one step closer to home but please pray for Lu Xin.  This was the most difficult part for Eli. Flying from his home province of Hefei to Guangzhou was confusing and terrifying for him.  It's a tough transition as Emmy has started to think our tiny hotel room is home. Also, please pray for my Grandma June (one of the amazing women who Emmy Jun is named after). She fell and was hurt pretty badly. She is recovering at the hospital now.  

Thank you for your emails. They help us feel loved and connected to home!

Mandy and Steve

Update #4

This morning began at 5:00 am with an early morning wake-up by a little princess who needed to go potty.  We got to do a long FaceTime call with the three big kids and Grammy and Papa Joe which was super nice.  Emmy loved seeing them and talking to them.  She also liked trying to put chopsticks in their mouths.  We then went up for the breakfast buffet (delicious, by the way!) at which Emmy ate much more than Steve or me.  We think that we've figured out that she likes pretty much anything but a couple of vegetables and pizza.  (She really hates pizza but that didn't happen until lunch.  She also really loves milkshakes but that also didn't happen until lunch!)  

After breakfast, we went back to the government office to complete the paperwork for the adoption.  The other three kiddos were there, too.  The sweet friend who had such a hard time yesterday was much better today and only cried a little bit when the nannies left.  Emmy, of course, had to go potty immediately upon entering the building and walked right past the nanny and orphanage director with me to get there saying, "Hiiiiii!" as she walked by.  She was charming…playful, funny, fun and sweet.  She colored, told the nanny and director funny stories and sang them songs but did not stray from my side.  Steve and our guide, Anna, had to go exchange money for Emmy's orphanage fee so I stayed with Miss E.J. (as Grace is calling her) and the orphanage folks.  They moved to the sides and just watched her, smiling, and then we exchanged emails so I can update them on Emmy.  (We are so impressed with her orphanage.  I don't think I mentioned it yesterday but they gave us a life book for Emmy yesterday.  It has journal entries and photos from around the time she was 6 months old until now.  We are so grateful!  What a treasure to have!)  After we exchanged emails, they decided it was time to go and I told Emmy to say goodbye.  She shouted (in Mandarin), "Goodbye, I'll meet with you tomorrow."  And they left and that was it.  No crying this time.  It was a bit sad that she thinks she will meet with them tomorrow.  But, as Steve said, maybe tomorrow could be 10 years from now and we will come back for a visit.  

On our way back from the office, Emmy decided that she needed to "shao pi-eh" (okay, I know that's not the actual pinyin but that's what it sounds like to my very untrained ear and means go potty) but we were not back yet.  She becomes a bit more frantic.  Then as we're driving in very busy traffic in the middle of the numerous tall buildings in the very huge city, she notices across the 6 lanes of road that we are driving past the hotel…our 3 1/2 year old…who has seen the outside of our hotel building once…and who was carrying on a conversation with Anna at the time…says, "Oh I see home now.  There it is!" and calms down.  Smart kiddo, huh?

After a lunch of pizza and milkshakes (what were we thinking?), we spent the rest of the afternoon attempting to nap (which looked like playing with her doll in her crib and teaching an invisible class all about types of fruit), going on a walk around Confucius Temple area (and getting our photo taken with a group of teenage girls) and then leaving because someone in our group had to "shao pi-eh."  Then Emmy wanted to take a bath and play with beads with Baba.  Right now she is helping me blog and eating some noodles.  Hopefully sleep will come more easily for her tonight.  She has a pretty nasty cold which will be hard to get rid of with so little sleep.

I think this evening we will go back to the old standby for dinner (noodles - yum!) and hope to get her in bed by 7:00.  

Love to all of you and thanks again for your prayers!

Love, 

Mandy, Steve and Emmy 

Hi, Noah here. I really wish to see her in person.  She is so cute! (-:

Gotcha!

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for…we met our girl! 

At 1:20, we left the hotel for the government office.  Lu Xin was supposed to arrive around 2:00 with three other children who were also meeting their families today.  The first child to arrive was a darling nearly-three year-old girl.  It was so difficult to watch her fear as she met her family and her nannies left.  She finally allowed her dad to hold her but didn't stop crying the entire time she was in the office.  Then two darling boys came with their nannies and met their families.  One of the boys was intrigued by his dad's iPad which helped their bonding considerably!  The other looked nervous but was not crying.  

At 2:45, Lu Xin finally arrived and had to go potty immediately upon arrival (I'm sure I would too after a 4-5 hour drive).  She had her photo album that we had sent and was not about to let go of it.  Steve and I, however, were not as interesting as the album.  It was obvious that the orphanage staff had tried to prepare her but…I don't know how you prepare someone for that kind of a change all of a sudden.  She showed us photos in the album and who her big brothers and big sister are and even who her Mama and Baba are as long as we didn't touch the album because it. was. hers.  Other things that were hers were her scarf, her coat, her hat and her juice.  

When it was time to go upstairs for the family photo, the nannies tried to talk her into holding my hand but she was having none of it.  But she would sit with us for the photo (and I believe made the V for Victory sign in the photo…we'll see tomorrow).  After the photo, the nannies again tried to get her to go with us but, seeing that she wouldn't, the nannies disappeared.  Poor Lu Xin was terrified.  It was heart-breaking.  She was screaming, crying and kicking as we got into the van to drive back to the hotel.  All the way to the hotel, she called for her favorite nanny.  She melted into me with her crying and looked pleadingly into my face and asked again and again for her nanny.  Sigh.

Back at the hotel, we got into the room and she warmed up very quickly.  Apparently Steve and I are pretty funny at times because within a few minutes she was smiling and within an hour she was giggling up a storm.  How grateful we are for her fun, chatty personality.  We went to get dinner (noodles!) to bring back to the room and she fed herself and us dinner (which may have included a sweet bag of Trix).  It reminded us of Eli.  He would always share whatever food he was eating.  Sweet kiddos. 

After dinner, she wanted a bath and washed her own hair and body innumerable times until the water got cold.  Then she put on her pjs (4t is a bit big but we are guessing 3t is tight…she loves to eat!) and her boots from the nannies and we played for a while.  Before we left, Grace, Noah and Eli made a video of themselves dancing to a Chinese children's song.  She played it over and over and danced and sang with them.  Love!

At 7:00, we started getting ready for bed…brushing teeth (new experience for her, I think), going potty 400 times, reading books, praying, songs.  And then, she talked and attempted to climb out of her crib and go to the potty and talked and talked and talked and sang for two hours and 45 minutes while I hummed "Baby Mine."  We finally were successful in outlasting her but I'm not sure I'll have much of a voice tomorrow. :)  

I suppose I better hit the sack since I only had 5 hours of sleep last night and who knows how tonight will go! :)

Love you all!  Thank you for your prayers.  Keep em coming!

Mandy and Steve 

Update #2

Today was a day of adventure.  Steve and I spent the day discovering the Confucius Temple area but began the day with an old friend…Starbucks!  

We then entered the Confucius Temple area just as people who work there were arriving.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  The buildings are all very old and are now primarily used for commercial purposes.  We walked along streets and alleyways that looked like they came straight out of a movie.  As we neared the river that splits the area, we saw a beautiful reflecting pool and a pagoda.  We decided to go to the museum attached…the Imperial Examination Cultural Exhibition.  From 605 to 1905, China used special examinations given in each province and then in Nanjing to select and evaluate students for special assignments, government positions and for prestige within their own province.  Even international students came to participate in the examinations.  The goal of the students was to become the "Principal Graduate" or top student each year.  This system is said to be the "fifth greatest invention" of China (I'm not sure what the top four are!) and has spread all over the world.  We were struck by the vast history of Nanjing, the intense pressure on the students (some were threatened to be disowned by their families if they didn't pass) and the beauty of the place.  Here's what it looked like:

We then had a delicious lunch at a little restaurant and the spiciest noodles either of us have ever eaten.  We were completely entertaining to the folks working at the restaurant. :)

  

And tomorrow…we meet Emmy!  Our Nanjing guide, Anna, just called and said she'll pick us up tomorrow at 1:20 to go meet our sweet girl.  Keep praying, friends, we can feel your prayers. 

Love,
Mandy and Steve 

Update #1

Lindsey has graciously agreed to post for us while we're in China.  Thanks, Linds!  So we won't be able to read any of your comments as we can't access the blog while we're gone.  If you'd like to communicate with us, the best way is my email address: amandapouliot@hotmail.com.

Happy, happy birthday, GDP!  Speaking from the future, I think you're birthday is going to be a great one.  ;)  We love you kiddo and miss you lots.

Our flights yesterday and the day before went very well.  We got to ride in "the largest commercial jet in the world" according to Steve's aviation engineer friend from work on the leg from Los Angeles to Guangzhou.  We got in to Nanjing in the afternoon and tried really hard to not sleep but only made it until around 4:00 pm…thus we are up at 4:00 am.  Oh well, we'll adjust before we get to meet Emmy I'm sure.  

Nanjing is really beautiful.  It was the capital of South China during the Ming Dynasty.  There is a giant wall (similar to the Great Wall of China) that surrounded the city and still exists today that we actually drove through on the highway on the way to the hotel.  Our hotel is located in a shopping mall called Aqua City.  We'll have to check that out today sometime.  We hope to go do some other sight seeing today as well.  We'd like to see the Confucius Temple and Purple Mountain as well as some other things near the hotel.  The Confucius Temple is within walking distance from our hotel but I think we're going to attempt to navigate public transit to get to Purple Mountain.  :)  Luckily the people we've met in China so far are extremely helpful and patient with us in our lack of ability to speak Mandarin. 

Mandy and Steve