First Airplane Ride

Xin Ping did great on her first airplane ride! Yesterday we flew from Nanjing to Guangzhou, about a 2 hour flight. She didn't seem to notice the altitude change a bit. The first couple of days we had her, she hated the car, but she has been doing much better in the car since then. On the airplane, she loved watching out the window as we taxied down the runway and took off. She had only a thirty minute nap, so we were afraid the trip would not be so smooth and we were hoping she would sleep on the plane.  She was just as happy as can be.

 She loves her slinky!

We arrived at our hotel about 7, Ping Ping's bedtime. We LOVE our new hotel, even Ping. NO SMOKING room!!!! :) We can finally breathe again! Much better for Ping Ping's asthma and she's getting over a cold. And we have air conditioning!

She loves to go around in the chair. 

The night time view is breathtaking from our hotel room. I will get picture and send in the next couple of days.

 Joy Ping Ping is doing very, very well! We have finally gotten her on her familier schedule of nap and bedtime and she is a much happier camper. She is sleeping very good. She still puts up a fight to go to sleep, but it is getting easier also. She has a nasty bump on her leg close to where the diaper rubs against. Please pray for healing. It looks like it could be a bug/spider bite. We first noticed it a day after we got her and it has grown and gotten redder and puffier daily. Today we were scheduled for a routine doctor check. They weighed her and measured her and looked at her ears, nose and throat. We asked the doctor to look at the bump and he said it is a bacterial infection. He prescribed two medicine creams and we had those filled and have started applying. Does anybody know if an antibiotic external cream will help if it is a spider bite? Mom is trying hard to make an appointment with our pediatrician for Joy for when we arrive home and they are giving her a lot of grief, needing this and that to review before making an appointment. We need to see the doctor as soon as possible. Need prayers for a doctor appointment as soon as possible when we get home.

At the doctor today we found out that Joy may have some hearing loss in her right ear. The doctor did a very scientific test for her hearing (he squeezed a squeaky toy in her left ear and then one in her right ear). She turned to look at the one on the left. But she would not turn to look at the one on her right. It is hard to tell at this age. When she has surgery on her palate, they will probably repair tubes to her ears also.

Our guide in Guanzhou says everything is better in Guangzhou and we believe it. Within walking distance of our hotel is a subway, McD's, Pizza Hut, Italian, Mexican, Thai restaurants. In the other cities, Greg and I just skipped meals because it was hard finding a place we could communicate and find something to eat and most importantly KNOW WHAT WE WERE EATING!! So, we think we are really going to like it here. We love Chinese and had every intention of eating Chinese every meal, but I am getting tired of eating rice for breakfast, lunch and supper. I begged Greg, please can we have McDonald's or Subway today. I have never been so excited to see a chicken sandwich and french fries with a packet a ketchup!!! thank you all so much for your prayers and your comments posted on the blog. We look forward to hearing from you guys daily and we very strongly feel all your prayers. Thank you for carrying us through with your love and prayers. We had some very challenging days in the beginning, but we are all feeling much better now and sleeping good too. We will be home soon! Can't wait for you all to meet Ping Ping. She is such a sweety and she has the cutest laugh!

Leaving Nanjing for Guangzhou

We've completed our appointments and paperwork in Nanjing. Have Joy Xin Ping Jones's Passport in hand so we're packing up and getting ready to fly out of Nanjing and on to Guangzhou!

She slept very good last night and so did I! Thank you so much for all the prayers! She is a much happier little girl today! Here are some photos we took last night in the hotel lobby.

 

Getting ready for bed, playing in her pjs.

 

 

Trip to the Orphanage and A Walk in the Park

We're off to visit Zhenjiang Orphanage where Lu Xin Ping spent the first two years of her life.



No car seats for babies! Scary! This is us on the way to the orphanage.

The room where XinPing slept, in closest, first bed on right

The halls had cartoon charachters painted on them.



Greg stayed outside with Joy and enjoyed the beautiful day while I went inside and toured the orphanage.  We didn't want to upset Xinping after all the changes she has been through by taking her back inside.  There are 70 children in the Zhenjiang (kind of pronounced like Gene John).  Xin Ping had three nannies.  They wouldn't let me take a picture of the play room because there were several kids in there.  Some were just laying on the floor sleeping and some were just sitting or playing.  It was kind of sad.  There were only two rooms, the room with the cribs and the play room.  I don't remember seeing toys in the playroom.



XinPing and I walking outside of the orphanage





Place where Xin Ping was found--outside the gate of municipal government building.



Place where Xin Ping was found--outside the gate of municipal government building.



Taken in front of one of the city walls.

Both cities we have been to have part of a city wall still standing.  Many years ago, the whole city was enclosed by a city wall for protection. The wall is now the entrance to Xuanwu Park.  These pics were taken in the park this morning.

She will not leave a hat or hood on her head.



Our guide Melody explaning to us what the red ribbons were about.  Most said something about health and happiness or long life or great wealth with names and a date.



 Joy was not so joyful at this point!

She and I woke up at 4:00 am this morning and had not been back to sleep yet.  Her naptime is at 12:00 and it is about 11:15 when this picture was taken.  It started to sprinkle and Joy had had enough so we headed back to the hotel.  She and I laid down together for a nap and after just a little fussing she went to sleep much faster than she has been.  It only took about 10 minutes before we were both asleep.  Please pray for me to get some sleep.  I am so exhausted and need rest.  I must have slept 20-30 minutes and then I woke and couldn't go back to sleep.  Thankfully Joy is still sleeping.  She desperatly needed some rest.  Having a very hard time getting her to go to sleep.

She is playing with the toys a little more yesterday afternoon and this morning than she has been.  Yesterday she even crawled away from me to go to a toy!  So exciting, because up until now, she has hung onto us as if her life depended on it.  The first two days, she wouldn't look or play with the toys we brought.  She seemed to be on a 6-10 month level, if I can remember correctly.  When we tried to engage her in play, she would just throw the toy down.  It is good to see her interested in the toys a little now.  I hope she is really enjoying them before the plane ride home! 

Our guide has gone now to the civil affairs office to pick up the notarized documents we are waiting for.  We began the process on the 27th with a notary interview and registration and today those documents are supposed to be ready.  Before we leave tomorrow, Xin Pings passport is supposed to be ready and our guide will pick it up and meet us at the hotel at 1:00 to take us to the airport.  It has been nice here in Nanjing, spending time bonding with Joy, and our guides have been great.  But I am ready for the next city and to finish up everything and head home.  Eager to see how Xin Ping does on the flight tomorrow to Guangzhou.  Better start packing. 

Wednesday

She is a fighter.  She fights sleep with everything she has.  The minute her eyes close, she sits straight up defiantly.  But sleep finally won, she is napping now.  Greg has gone to get pizza hut again for lunch.  We leave in about fifty minutes to head to the orphanage.  I am thankful for this opportunity.  I am also thankful to get out of this hotel room.  At breakfast this morning, Joy was having a fit the whole time.  I tried to hold her while I ate, but that didn't work. We had to take turns holding and eating.  I think her crying is actually a good sign.  So far when she gets upset, she settles quickly by sucking on her finger and with the other hand, she scratches her wrist.  I think this is a method she has used to soothe herself in the orphanage, since she couldn't always count on a caretaker to pick her up and soothe her.  But this morning, she didn't do that.  She just kept fussing.  I hope that is because she is learning that mommy and daddy are now here to help her when she is unhappy or doesn't feel good.  I think she didn't get enough sleep last night and was miserably tired this morning.  When we came back to the room, Greg strolled her around the hotel room and she seemed to like it.  I was really surprised, since she wants to be held mostly.  My arms and back were thankful for the break. 

I wish I could have savored the moment of our first mother daughter shoe shopping experience, but the truth is she had peed and it soaked through and I was trying to hold her in a way as to not get myself more wet.  My arms and back were dying tired!

We are about to eat and head to the orphanage.  I would like to sight see more, but am so anxious when we go outside.  There are so many people and EVERYONE, EVERYONE stops and stares at us.  Some will smile and nod, but most seem to be thinking bad thoughts about us.  Also, there are so many bicycles and motorcycles and cars and people.  It is crazy and I fear for our lives.  Yesterday, I saw a little boy walking behind a cab that was driving forward and suddenly the driver started backing up and hit the boy!   The car stopped when he heard the bump and the boy was fine, but it was scary.  It must happen a lot here.  Pedestrians do not have the right away and are more like targets to the drivers.

Yesterday when we went back to the civil affairs office, we were scolded for not having enough clothes on Joy.  I feel like the people here are constantly thinking we need to have her covered more.  So, when we go out, Greg and I have on shorts and short sleeves, but we will be putting layers and heavy jacket on her (so that they let us bring her home!)

Its Official!

Joy Xin Ping slept all last night!  But she has been fussy most of the day.  Today was harder.  She constantly wants to be held. Our arms are getting sore and we are getting very tired and emotionally drained trying to occupy her with limited resources in a foreign world.  For most of yesterday and today, when we try to engage her in play with the toys, she is uninterested and just throws the toy down or puts it in her mouth.  This morning, we went back to the civil affairs office for the notary interview.  We were told today that Joy Xin Ping Jones is officially a member of our family now!!!  The orphanage director brought us a copy of the birth note her biological parents left with her.  It is in Chinese and we can't understand it, but our guide told us that it states the date and time she was born and it has a poem that talks about how much they love her.  This is a treasure we are so thankful to have for her.  We hope to be able to get it translated while we are here.  This afternoon after she had a good nap, she did play for a minute with the toys.  We are getting pretty tired of being couped up in the hotel room, so this afternoon we took our dirty clothes down the street to be washed and we walked around the block and into the mall.

The orphanage director has been very generous and is letting us come tomorrow to tour the orphanage. 

We will also try to find the place where Xin Ping was found. 

  



Shoe Shopping.  The shoes we brought are too big.



Gotcha Day!

We had a great day today! We left our hotel at 9:30 and headed to the civil affairs office to meet our daughter, Joy Xin Ping, for the first time! We were told that she would arrive there at 10:00, which was the same time we arrived. When we arrived and walked into the building, there were two babies being carried into the building, but neither of them were our baby girl. The office we were supposed to go into was locked shut with a chain, so our guide left us standing there and she went to find the appropriate staff. As soon as she had left us, in walked two ladies and one was holding Xin Ping. I couldn't believe my eyes! Neither Greg nor I expected everything to happen so quickly! We had planned for our guide to video our union, but that didn't happen. So we don't have video or many pictures. Greg and I both wanted to be with her, not taking pictures and our guide had not returned. So, we immediatly walked up to the ladies and Joy and they of course knew that we were her parents, because we were saying, "Ping Ping! Ni hou, Ping Ping!" They didn't speak English, so I gestured with my hands asking if we could take her and hold her. She nodded yes and I held my daughter for the first time! It was everything I hoped for, prayed for and thought it would be!

She never cried until we got in the car to go back to the hotel. She does NOT like the car. Once we arrived back at the hotel, it was time for her nap, so we played a little and then tried to settle down for a nap. She is doing SO GOOD! She looks both Greg and I in the eye. When she has played a little, she "checks in" by looking at Greg and then me. We have found we can get her to smile and laugh by raising her up in the air and then lowering her down quickly. She also likes to play with her bottle and when she takes the bottle out for a break, she smiles when we tease her about putting the bottle back in her mouth or maybe not yet, back and forth. When we first got to the room, we sat her down on the floor and I got down on the floor across the room and held out my arms beckoning her to come to me. She smiled and crawled to me!!!

As Greg and I took turns trying to get her to sleep, she got to where she didn't want to be put down at all. There is a little battle going on inside her (probably bigger than I know). She wants to explore her surroundings, but the desire to stay close to one of us is stronger. This is a good sign!!!  

 

 

 

She did not want to go to sleep! She fought sleep for an hour and a half and she finally gave in at 2:20 (two hours later than normal). That's really not too bad for her first day with strangers and with all the major changes that have taken place for her today.

 Look at our sleeping beauty! 

 

 

Tour of Beijing



Tienenman Square



Forbidden City- Where the Emperor and his wife and concubines used to live.



The Summer palace. The emperors daughter lived at the summer palace.



Gate to the Summer Palace. She came and went by boat to the palace.

There are trees here that are very old. it is common to see the trees have a structure or poles helping to hold the tree and its limbs up.

The Silk Factory- They taught us how silk is made

We visited a chinese family that lives in the Hu Tong district.  this is how most of the Chinese people used to live in a complex of four buildings connected with an garden in the very center.  Many generations live together.  Not so much any more.  Many complexes like this have been replaced with business and other more modern buildings.  This is what Beijing used to be like.

The GREAT WALL



Some of the steps on the Great Wall were very steep!



Our View from the Great Wall



Riding a rickshaw through the Hu Tong district



I think we are going to enjoy Nanjing. Our guide has been so very helpful this afternoon. She picked us up at the airport and checked us in at the hotel. We just got back from lunch, a REAL chinese restaurant within walking distance from our hotel. She had to order for us. The food was delicious. We will probably go back. We ordered rice, brocolli, kung pao chicken, and a huge bowl of spicy beef and vegetable soup. Everything we ordered was too much to feed the three of us and it cost 123 Yuan, which is $20. There are many shops around our hotel, selling lamb on a stick, a small supermarket, a hair cutting place, a place we can take our laudrey to be cleaned, etc. Everyone walking around look like locals. Can not believe that we are leaving our hotel in the morning at 9:30 to go to the Civil Affairs Office. Melodie, our guide, told us that Xin Ping will arrive about 10:00am!!! I can not believe that I am now within 30 miles of Xinping! Our guide in Beijing and our guide in Nanjing have both told us that Xin is pronounced "Shin".

We're Here

We made it to Beijing without a hitch! I was worried that we or our luggage would not made the connecting flight between our landing in Chicago at 12:17 and our next flight to Beijing leaving at 1:00, but our flight out of Birmingham left early and we landed in Chicago at 11:45. We found a shuttle to Concourse C and had time to stand around for 30 minutes before boarding. The flight to Beijing was SO LONG!!! I don’t want to do that again for a while…at least for two weeks! We arrived in Beijing at 3:30pm and thankfully after we went through customs and luggage pickup, we had a guide waiting for us who had a cab ready to take us to the hotel. As we rode to the hotel, Greg and I were both struck by the cloudy haze that engulfed us. It is nothing we have ever seen. Like fog that hangs around all day. Greg and I halfway joked that God was leading us by day with a cloud the way he led the Israelites. Our guide said it is always like that. The smog never leaves! How sad not to see the blue sky!

Once we were checked in to the hotel, Greg and I decided to just eat supper in the hotel restaurant. By this time we had been awake for 26 hours. I was feeling overwhelmed and tired and didn’t feel like leaving the hotel. We did not know yet how to convert the Chinese currency to American dollars. We finally got in bed at 8:00pm, Thursday, March 22^nd (7am Thursday in AL). As I collapsed into the bed I prayed for our boys back home and tried to imagine what time it was there and what they might be doing and then I prayed for Xin, and as I tried to imagine what she may be doing, the thought occurred to me that for the first time ever, we are on the same time! So tonight as we sleep, she is hopefully sleeping peacefully too. This morning I woke up about 1:00 and couldn’t sleep. I am eager to talk to my boys back home. I miss them so much! This morning I turned to Psalms for some encouragement and I happened to turn to Psalm 121. The Lord provided the perfect encouragement at a time when I feel very lost in this world where I can’t communicate with the people or understand the ways. Thank you so much for your prayers!!!

I raise my eyes toward the mountains, where will my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip; your protector will not slumber.

Indeed, the protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.

The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side.

The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life.

The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.

Ready, Set, Go!

It is travel day!
Yesterday we packed and packed and PACKED!!!  We thought we were doing really well on luggage size limit requirements, but when we finally packed everything, we actually had to pack an extra bag to take every thing we "needed" or had planned to take.  Wow!!! we are taking five checked bags!
We slept great last night and we got up at 3:00.  We left home at 5:00 and arrived to the Birmingham airport at 6:30.  It is now 8:45 and our flight leaves at 10:00.  Praise God!!!  We arrive in Chicago at 12:17 and then our next flight leaves Chicago at 1:00 headed to Beijing!  The flight from Chicago to Beijing is almost 14 hours.  We will arrive there about 3:30p.m. which will be 2:30a.m. in Alabama.
We will be flying from Beijing to Nanjing on Sunday and then on Monday, March 26th we will meet our daughter face to face for the first time!  What a blessed day March 26th will forever be in our memories! 
In 1996 Greg and I were in a very bad auto accident.  We slid off the road and hit a driveway embankment that worked as a ramp and the vehicle was propelled into the air.  We flipped and landed in trees.  Greg had a brain injury and the doctors told us that they didnt expect him to live.  I had crushed vertebrae and wasn't sure if I would be able to walk again.  God healed us both miraculously and we knew then that God had work for us to do still here on earth.  That accident was on March 26, 1996.  We will forever celebrate this day.  Not only as the day we lived through an horrible accident, but now as the day we will be united with our precious daughter.  We are so thankful to be alive and have the opportunity to have two awesome sons and one beautiful daughter!!!
Thank you so much for your prayers.  You all mean more to us than you'll ever know!
Gotta go, next post will be from Beijing!

Were going to China!!!

We are SO excited to share the good news with you that we have received our travel approval today and we are ready to book our flight to China!!!!  We are leaving in two weeks!  WOW!  I (Angie) can not believe the time is here!  I think that through all of our adoption paperwork and process this past year and 3 months, a part of me has never really believed with all my heart we would ever make it.  Maybe it is a defense mechanism to protect myself if and when bad news came.  So, now, here I am thinking about ALL the things that need to be done, all the final preperations, and I can't sleep.  I am just too excited!  We just received the call from AGCI tonight about 6:30.  I have been laying in bed trying to go to sleep, but sleep just will not come right now.  It is too bad, I have to be up before 5:00 in the morning.  But, I have been waiting to post this post on the blog for 15 months and it is finally here.  I have to share the news before going to sleep with you all that have been waiting on this news for so many months.

We will leave around March 20th headed for China.  Greg and I will fly first to Beijing and spend 3 days sightseeing, getting over jet lag and enjoying each others company.  Then we will fly to Nanjing on the weekend and be united with Xin Ping for the first time on Monday, the 26th.  We will spend a week in her province taking care of adoption appointments and paperwork and then fly to Guangzhou for the last week to finish the process.

We just received an update on Xinping and found out that she weighs 19lbs and she is almost walking.  She can walk if she has something to hold onto.  
I can't wait to be with Xin Ping.  I can not wait to get to know her, her likes and dislikes, what cute thing she does when she is tired, what facial expressions she makes, to watch her sleep, to hold her, to count her fingers and toes...
Yet, I am also anxious.  It has been my prayer that God prepare our hearts for the arrival on Xin into our family and also that He prepare her heart for our family.  Even though God communicated to me more than a year ago that we had a daughter waiting for us on the other side of the world, I still wonder how those first moments and days will be as we are getting to know each other.  Oh, I pray for peace for her little heart.  One of the required classes Greg and I took to prepare us for adoption asked us to imagine how we would feel if we were dropped off with strangers who don't look like us and don't speak the same language as we do and we can't understand why we were left with these strangers.  And these strangers keep smiling at us and getting really close to us, all up in our face and then start touching us and examining us all over as if to make sure we had all fingers and toes.  I get homesick just thinking about it!  The food we will cook for her will be different, the smell of our home will be much different, she will leave behind all familiar faces and her favorite nanny and her best friend. 
This is why we decided we would not change her name.  Her name will be the only thing she gets to keep that is familiar to her.  We decided we couldn't start calling her a name she has never been called after all the other difficult changes.

So, there is so much to do and so little time, and I am so excited to finally start packing and finishing up the rest of the details here. 

Please pray for God to work in Xin's heart and our hearts a divine bond and attachment to each other from the very first moment she is placed with us, like she has known us and we have known her all her life!

We love you guys and our Lord, who has blessed us with a daughter!