Today was Jade and Pearl Market day. After eating breakfast, we joined the Norris's, Ann and her company, and our Holt escorts (Anson and Joyce) in the lobby for our tour. It was a lot of fun! We visited the jade market first and there were jade vendors "everywhere". We walked around and looked at many of them before making our purchase. Nate got me a beautiful green, jade braclet and we got him a jade pendent.
From the jade market, we walked across the street to the pearl market. Same thing with pearl vendors in every shop (it was like a mall with every shop selling pearls!). Nate bought me three different neclaces (they were so cheap) and then we bought each of our daughters a pearl neclace (ended up being $4 U.S. dollars a piece!). They are going to love them:)
For lunch, we grabbed a bite to eat at the deli and then headed for the pool. It was such a beautiful day to be at the pool! There were a lot of adoptive families down there (one couple was in their late 50's!), so it was fun to visit with many of them. It's just so neat to see all of these families brought together in one location, touched by the same thing - the adoption of a child. Having so many children from all over China and so many families adopting from all different agencies, is just neat. We can all learn from, strengthen, and gain support from one another.
Tim, Kerri, and their two kids joined us for supper and we again went to the Tao Ran Xuan. We were seated at a table next to the young lady who played beautiful music on her instrument, so we got to enjoy that the whole meal through. It was just such a fun meal being with our new and forever friends, the Norris's. We are so happy to have them back with us (after being together in Beijing and then having them fly to their child's province to get her). Our kids all had a fun time too. Anya loves the tea and each day, her appetite improves. She has started feeding herself now too and she is filled with laughter and smiles:) She has begun saying, "Ma Ma" and making baby sounds. She's really trying to mimic what she sees Nate and I doing too. She claps her hands, moves her tongue back and forth, rubs her head, gives Hi-5, etc. It's very cute! I know Nathan, Annalise, Ainsley, and Anniston are going to eat her up:) They will be such great brother and sisters!
We borrowed some little, Duplo type blocks from teh Holt office here, so Anya is on teh bed playing with blocks:) This little girl has just blossomed over this past week! It's hard to believe she is the same child we met on Sept. 19. I think that she knows that we are her parents and that she is with her forever family!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Medical Examination - Worst Day! Sun., Sept. 26, 2010
This morning we Skyped the kids again and oh, how eager they are for us to return. It's very soon now. We'll be home in less than a week! It's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone.
Nate and I met Anson and Joyce down in the lobby at 9:30 to take Anya to her medical examination. It was much quieter today:) The check up part went very quickly (she had to see two different doctors). They said that her heart murmur is still there but that it is ever so slight. That was very good news! The part that wasn't good was they said Anya would need to haave six shots! I about fell over! I was in tears! It's so hard when we have learned so much about immunizations the past couple of years and anyone knows that six shots at once (and some are combination shots, so really it ends up being more than that) is not a good idea. A woman I spoke with later (she works with teenagers at a clinic in the states) said that they never give more than four at once and that is to teenagers! And here little Anya Mai is barely 14 months:( The hardest part is that she is our daughter and there was absolutely nothing we could do. The Chinese doctors said that it was not what they wanted to do but that the CDC required it in order for Anya to enter the United States. To pump such a little body with so much just scared me (how much is too much for that little body to handle before something goes wrong). Sorry! I was pretty upset over this one. It just broke my heart to do to her and with what we now know with how our own children's bodies handle certain things, it scared me. Anya was out of it after her shots and it took her a little while to perk back up. Nate ever so lovingly reminded me that God is in control of it all, so when things are completely out of our control, they are not out of His control. And even if things do go wrong as a result, He will give us the grace and strength to make it through. All that said, the Lord can cover and protect her - even from so many shots at once - and hopefully everything will be just fine.
After Anya's medical exam, Anson walked us to the Christian church where we were able to participate in a Chinese service. The service was preached in the Chinese language with an interpreter to translate into English. We enjoyed the service and Anya just snuggled close through it all. After service a young, Chinese woman approached us and excitedly shared how she came to know the Lord and what He has done in her life. She said that life is very hard, but that He helps get her through. She shared how the rest of her family is Buddist and she prays for them daily. She showed us her Bible an American family had given to her.
Anya was exhausted after church and lunch, so we all layed down for an hour to rest. Nate had our adoption paperwork to complete with Holt and the other adoptive families at 3:00, so while he was gone, Anya and I just hung out and played:) She is such a special, special, little girl! I just love her so much!
When Nate returned, we webt to Susan's Place to pick up our laundry and then ordered in Mc Donald's for supper - Anya had her very first Happy Meal:) It was neat to see a guy pull up on his bicycle with a heated pack that held our meal:) Anya really enjoyed her "American" meal and so did Nate and I:)
Nate and I met Anson and Joyce down in the lobby at 9:30 to take Anya to her medical examination. It was much quieter today:) The check up part went very quickly (she had to see two different doctors). They said that her heart murmur is still there but that it is ever so slight. That was very good news! The part that wasn't good was they said Anya would need to haave six shots! I about fell over! I was in tears! It's so hard when we have learned so much about immunizations the past couple of years and anyone knows that six shots at once (and some are combination shots, so really it ends up being more than that) is not a good idea. A woman I spoke with later (she works with teenagers at a clinic in the states) said that they never give more than four at once and that is to teenagers! And here little Anya Mai is barely 14 months:( The hardest part is that she is our daughter and there was absolutely nothing we could do. The Chinese doctors said that it was not what they wanted to do but that the CDC required it in order for Anya to enter the United States. To pump such a little body with so much just scared me (how much is too much for that little body to handle before something goes wrong). Sorry! I was pretty upset over this one. It just broke my heart to do to her and with what we now know with how our own children's bodies handle certain things, it scared me. Anya was out of it after her shots and it took her a little while to perk back up. Nate ever so lovingly reminded me that God is in control of it all, so when things are completely out of our control, they are not out of His control. And even if things do go wrong as a result, He will give us the grace and strength to make it through. All that said, the Lord can cover and protect her - even from so many shots at once - and hopefully everything will be just fine.
After Anya's medical exam, Anson walked us to the Christian church where we were able to participate in a Chinese service. The service was preached in the Chinese language with an interpreter to translate into English. We enjoyed the service and Anya just snuggled close through it all. After service a young, Chinese woman approached us and excitedly shared how she came to know the Lord and what He has done in her life. She said that life is very hard, but that He helps get her through. She shared how the rest of her family is Buddist and she prays for them daily. She showed us her Bible an American family had given to her.
Anya was exhausted after church and lunch, so we all layed down for an hour to rest. Nate had our adoption paperwork to complete with Holt and the other adoptive families at 3:00, so while he was gone, Anya and I just hung out and played:) She is such a special, special, little girl! I just love her so much!
When Nate returned, we webt to Susan's Place to pick up our laundry and then ordered in Mc Donald's for supper - Anya had her very first Happy Meal:) It was neat to see a guy pull up on his bicycle with a heated pack that held our meal:) Anya really enjoyed her "American" meal and so did Nate and I:)
Free Day! Saturday, September 25, 2010
We skyped the kids back home this morning and they wanted to see Anya and ask us what interesting Chinese foods we had eaten that day:) Nathan kept trying to make Anya laugh and was just being such a sweet, big brother:) The kids are all just so excited to have Anya in our family.
Anya has been changing so much each day! It is so much fun watching ehr come alive and seeing her personality come out. She's been smiling and laughing so much. She has four teeth and is cutting two more so it's so cute to see this little "toothy" grin:)
After breakfast we met Anson and went to the photo shop to get Anya's visa picture taken. From there we walked to the medical clinic for Anya's medical examination. It was absolutely crazy! There were over 500 people there - the large number due to the clinic being closed over their holiday (Mid-Autumn Festival). Here in China when they have a holiday, they get the holiday days off but then they have to make those days up on the weekend. Like today (though Saturday) the kids are all in school to make up the days they missed from the holiday. Strange, isn't it. Well, because it was so crazy at the clinic, Anson (our HOLT guide) said we'd come back tomorrow. So, the rest of the day was free! We walked down by the river and through the park, and then did a little bit of shopping. We stopped by Susan's Place to drop off our laundry and Dong invited us to stay for tea. Nate visited with Dong while Susan and I sat over by the jewelry and talked. I always learn so much from just listening to Susan.
This evening Nate and I decided to try the French restaurant for supper. It was very good! We ate in a train car and it was just a neat experience! We sat next to a man from the U.S. who is married to a Chinese woman. He is working to get all of her papers together so she can soon join him in the states. This gentleman has lived in between the U.S. and China for the past five years. He talked with us the whole meal through and shared with us some of the things he has seen and experienced while being in China. He said that everything you see is fake, and it's sad, but the more we learn and see, the more we realize how true this is. Our hearts ache for the Chinese people and the control of power that is placed upon them. I cannot stop thinking about the people:( I find myself awaking in the middle of the night thinking about what life must be like here and the people we have come to really care about here. It makes your heart hurt. It makes me so thankful to live in the U.S., and my life has been touched in my love for the people here. I will never forget our experiences here and will pray for the people of China.
Anya has been changing so much each day! It is so much fun watching ehr come alive and seeing her personality come out. She's been smiling and laughing so much. She has four teeth and is cutting two more so it's so cute to see this little "toothy" grin:)
After breakfast we met Anson and went to the photo shop to get Anya's visa picture taken. From there we walked to the medical clinic for Anya's medical examination. It was absolutely crazy! There were over 500 people there - the large number due to the clinic being closed over their holiday (Mid-Autumn Festival). Here in China when they have a holiday, they get the holiday days off but then they have to make those days up on the weekend. Like today (though Saturday) the kids are all in school to make up the days they missed from the holiday. Strange, isn't it. Well, because it was so crazy at the clinic, Anson (our HOLT guide) said we'd come back tomorrow. So, the rest of the day was free! We walked down by the river and through the park, and then did a little bit of shopping. We stopped by Susan's Place to drop off our laundry and Dong invited us to stay for tea. Nate visited with Dong while Susan and I sat over by the jewelry and talked. I always learn so much from just listening to Susan.
This evening Nate and I decided to try the French restaurant for supper. It was very good! We ate in a train car and it was just a neat experience! We sat next to a man from the U.S. who is married to a Chinese woman. He is working to get all of her papers together so she can soon join him in the states. This gentleman has lived in between the U.S. and China for the past five years. He talked with us the whole meal through and shared with us some of the things he has seen and experienced while being in China. He said that everything you see is fake, and it's sad, but the more we learn and see, the more we realize how true this is. Our hearts ache for the Chinese people and the control of power that is placed upon them. I cannot stop thinking about the people:( I find myself awaking in the middle of the night thinking about what life must be like here and the people we have come to really care about here. It makes your heart hurt. It makes me so thankful to live in the U.S., and my life has been touched in my love for the people here. I will never forget our experiences here and will pray for the people of China.
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