Panda Museum and Fun at the Park~

Today started out with a trip to the Panda Museum.  They house 7 panda bears, all males but one. They were so cute!  We saw them peel and eat large pieces of Chinese spring bamboo, and then they quickly fell asleep on the cold concrete.  They are so lazy after they eat ;)  The only female was old- about 100 years old in human years.  Also, there was one male that had only 3 legs. He was brought here after the 2008 earthquake, where he lost one of his back legs.

After this morning's trip to the Panda Museum, we had some free time.  Sophie doesn't like to be in the room much.  So, we walked along the wooden walkway around the lake to the park.  We had lunch and just hung out.  It was so fun to just be goofy with Sophie.  We chased each other, played Peek-a-boo, and got to see her personality.  She is one cutie pie, for sure!  Her smile is contagious and we couldn't get enough of her. We definitely all needed this kind of a day.  After all the grieving she is still going thru, we needed to be silly with each other and to just laugh and love on her.  It was a great day ;)

Orphanage and Finding Spot Visit~

Today was an early day, with lots of driving. We had ~ 3.5 hour drive each way from Fuzhou to Xiamen, where she is from. Sophie was a gem the entire day!  She slept most of the drive and she was so good during the visits and lunch.  First, we had the opportunity to visit the orphanage and the special care room, where she stayed.  This room was so nice.  It can hold about 12 kids max, that require special attention. When she was brought into the orphanage, it was determined she had congenital heart disease and bronchopneumonia.  Once she went to the hospital for her heart surgery, she came back to this room for only 2 weeks.  The nanny said that she recovered from surgery so well and that she was very, very healthy after.  Once the 2 weeks past, she was placed in foster care. Here is her orphanage in Xiamen~

This picture, below, is what they call a " baby island. "  This is where parents can leave their children, in a safe environment, for the orphanage.  This room has heat and air, a bed and an incubator.  Once the parent leaves the child, closes the door, an indicator alerts the orphanage staff within 5 minutes that a child is in the room.  The parent can still leave the child without being caught, as there are no cameras.  This helps to decrease the number of kids left in busy places, hoping to be found.  The orphanage staff said they have taken in 179 kids from the baby island since it opened in January 2014.

Our family in the special care room.

After visiting the orphanage, we had a really nice lunch with the orphanage staff, and then we were off to Sophie's finding spot. This was tough.  I cried. Just 16 months ago, Sophie's birth mom was at this very location.  I kept thinking about this and how hard it must have been for her to leave her beautiful 3 month old baby there. I.can't.imagine. I was also thinking about the day and time she was found- December 28th at 11pm.  She must have been cold. I wonder how long it was before someone found her... Her finding spot was at the Cai Tang bus stop.  This stop was crowded with people, and on a busy street.  It was reassuring to know that her birth mom wanted her to be found, and to be found quickly.

We are so lucky to have her! Although this visit was tough, it was needed. To fill in gaps of her history, and to answer any questions she may have later in life. I am thankful for today's visit.

Grieving Is No Fun~

Sophie is definitely grieving.  She always looks sad, smiles occasionally, and smells her blanket she brought with her from her foster home, constantly.  She also puts her lips together and moves her mouth like she's sucking a bottle.  Lillian at the orphanage said she also did this when she lived in foster care.  She said this may be tied to her grieving her birth mom.  She was left at 3 months of age.

Poor thing.  It is just so sad to watch her, at times.  You can see in her face that she misses her foster family so much.  I think her slight illness over the past few days has been her trying to adjust to us. Her new parents. Her new life. She's had diarrhea, slight fever, and is sleeping alot. We are staying positive with her, always showing her love and care, smiling and giving her lots of kisses.  She loves to be held by me, so I am hoping this is slowly mending her heart.

We pray that she get thru her grieving.  We can't wait so see this sweet smile again soon!

Gotcha Day!

Today was our official Gotcha Day! We took care of some of the legal meetings this morning. We signed the official documents in China for adopting Sophie, and visited the Notary. Sophie even gave her hand print of approval for this adoption!

After these appointments, we headed home to the hotel. Sophie had some pretty bad diarrhea, and she was acting like her mouth hurt. I think she's teething, so we gave her some tylenol. After her nap, she seemed much better. I will say, however, that yesterday Sophie was in shock. She didn't cry, but would only be held all day, no Ergo ... and today, she seems to be grieving. Not so many smiles, crying if I sat down with her, awoke from her nap and saw me-then called for Momma. I think she is really missing her foster mom today and she is trying to process all that is going on. It's really so sad. We can see it in her face. She played really well today in the room with all her toys, but was quite the entire time. With that being said, she has made great strides in the past 29 hours since we got her. She walked on her own today, held onto Scott's finger as she walked, went in the Ergo with me, and even laughed out loud at dinner. So, we are seeing mixed reactions from her ~ all of which are expected.  I know this will get easier for her, but for now she needs to grieve. Poor baby ;(

The most expression we see from her thus far is when we are eating.  This little girl can eat!  We ventured out this afternoon for some lunch here in Fuzhou, and Scott found this little restaurant that was packed at lunchtime, so we joined them.  No one, except one sweet customer, spoke English.  She translated the menu, ordered for us and helped us with the bill.  She was more than generous!  Sophie LOVED this place, and I know we will soon return.  Here are a few pictures of Sophie in action at mealtime...she couldn't be any cuter!

After lunch we went out for a walk around the lake and to the park. Sophie is starting to walk on her own, which is a huge step in trusting us.  Below are a few pictures from our walk.  Once dinner was done, we Skyped with Connor and Hayden, and Sophie fell asleep at the end.  The boys just adore her!  And we are missing them like crazy....

Together Forever!

It was so surreal.  I cried before leaving the room to head to the conference center. I could not believe this was all happening.  I was excited, nervous, hopeful, happy this waiting phase was coming to an end.  We met our guide in the foyer to copy our stamped Visa page in our Passport, and there she was.  An orphanage nanny was getting out of the car, holding Sophie, who was sleeping.  I stood in the lobby, crying, as they brought her over to us.  Our cameras and phones were not ready to take pictures and videos. I was not sure if I was allowed to take her just then....so I continued to cry as she slept!

We went upstairs to the conference center, and that is when I held her for the first time. Again, surreal. She is even more beautiful than in her pictures! Minutes later, we had to wake her up for our official family pictures. She was hard to wake up, but once awake, she was fine! *fine*  No crying, letting us hold her, eating puffs. Fine.  Scott held her as I signed and completed the documents needed.

We took her up to our room, and played with her on the floor and gave her a little bit of space as we all got to know each other.  She is just darling.  She is already smiling!!!! Yippee! She has cried once, when we first had to change her and her diaper.  She was quite hot in her outfit, so we changed into something a bit lighter. Her dress from the orphanage was so pretty.  I was a green and off-white dress, with pearls. She looked so pretty.  The orphanage staff were sweet as can be, telling me about how much Sophie loved the train ride here from Xiamen.  At the end of our meeting, on behalf of the orphanage, they gave Sophie a jade dragon necklace, for the year she was born.  Very sweet, very unexpected.

After a bit, we went outside for a walk around the beautiful lake. Sophie loves to be held by us, and screamed as we put her in the Ergo .... so we carried her. She holds on to us, holds my hair , is totally content. On our walk she fell asleep on me and so we sat on the bench and relaxed, feeling the warm wind, as Sophie slept peacefully.

After her late nap, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner.  Sophie ate rice, some chicken, and lots ( lots ) of watermelon.  She loved eating, as she sat on our laps the entire time.  No fussing, crying, fidgeting...she is such a good baby ;)  She passed out for the night on me, which was such a great feeling! By the way, she loves when Scott says " I love you "  and " give me a hug" in Mandarin. She gives the cutest smiles.  She is also very shy.  When she's shy, she tilts her head and looks down. Melt.My.Heart.

I just can't say enough about her.  She is all we dreamed of, and much more.  We love her to the moon and back.  She is finally ours, finally in our arms forever~

Before bedtime, we Skyped with Mimi, Papa, Connor and Hayden, and then Grandma.  She was so good, sitting on my lap the entire time just playing.  The boys just loved her.  They asked if she was coming home to live with us, and if they need to be quite when she's home.....I answered YES to both!