Medical Examination Day!

No time to acclimate….we had to hit the ground running today!  Lucy had her medical examination today.  She had to go to four stations:  1)  general look over and listen to heart  2)  ear, nose, and throat  3)  eye exam, blood pressure, height, and weight  4)  TB test blood draw.  They take each child into a room and close the door to do the blood draw.  Our guide in Chengdu told Lucy that she would have to do that.  Lucy just smiled and walked in.  We could not go with her.  A few minutes later, she marched out with a big smile on her face and a band-aid on her arm!  I was very proud of her!   We will find out the results of the blood test on Monday.  Next our guide oriented us as to where things are within walking distance from hotel.  Then we had to meet with the guide to put the paperwork together for our US Consulate appointment on Tuesday.  We had lunch at an Irish pub, Starbuck’s, and dinner at a noodle restaurant.  If we eat American food, Lucy just sits there, and if we eat Asian food, Abby just sits there.  Hmmm?  Lucy tried Tobasco sauce today and loves it!  She puts red pepper sauce on her food!

The next couple of days will be spent doing some sight-seeing and shopping while we wait for blood work and consulate appointment.

Lucy’s First Plane Ride, in Guangzhou, and Abby is Sick

We spent our last day in Chengdu packing, hanging out at the hotel, and exchanging money for the next leg of the journey.  We really enjoyed our guide in Chengdu and wished she could come to Guangzhou with us….thank you Emily for all of your work and kindness.  You do a great job!

We arrived in Guangzhou to our hotel safe and sound.  Again, a high and a low!  It was Lucy’s very first plane ride and it was so much fun to watch her experience it for the first time!  She did great and goes with the flow when it comes to traveling so far!  We got to travel with the other family today, which made it all more fun! 

The low?  As the day wore on, Abby felt increasingly worse!  Sore throat and headache.  At first we thought she might be coming down with a cold, but before bed she said it feels worse than a cold.  We will see.  I gave her some painkiller and she is resting right now.

Tomorrow we will go have Lucy’s medical exam done and then I guess I should look at the agenda so I will know what comes next!

From High to Low and a Rebound in the Pool

What an emotionally exhausting day we had today…. Our first stop was the Panda Research Base.  Abby and Lucy each got to hold a baby panda bear!  Then we walked around the base amongst tall bamboo and it was so relaxing.  We had lunch outside, sat on a heated toilet seat, and bought a few keepsakes.  Then since Lucy’s “finding place” was really close to the Panda Base, we got to stop there.  We assured her that we would stay with her and that we would like to take some pictures.  Lucy’s story is her story and out of repect for her I will not share what we found out today, but I can say that there were people there that recognized her and were there the day she was left.  It was very tough, but I believe that it was necessary for her healing to begin.  I can also say I believe it was a safe place.  She is a strong and brave little girl.  She is a survivor.

Next, we had to go back to the Registration office to pick up documents and back to the Notary’s Office for more documents.  Lucy slept in the bus.  When we got back to the hotel, we asked her if she would like to go swimming…a little smile and a quick nod of the head!  It was just what the doctor ordered for all of us!  Another shower, more spaghetti, and a skype date with her Forever Ba Ba (Daddy)….The healing has begun…

I am tired, emotionally spent for now, need to get to bed….pictures are uploading way too slowly, so I will leave you with a couple and hopefully when we fly to Guangzhou tomorrow, the internet will be faster and I can add some more from our day today.

As we are preparing for Holy Week, I am processing….pondering the day’s events in my heart…..it is too heavy of a cross for a sweet little girl to carry by herself…she courageously allowed us close enough to that cross today that we might bend over, embrace that cross with her, and help to lighten the burden from those petite little shoulders. 

Humanity is beautiful.  Humanity is cruel.  Humanity is humanity.

Lucy Chenguo is officially our daughter!

We had a busy day today!  First off we headed to register the adoption.  That consisted of getting our picture taken, signing some papers, showing some documents, taking Lucy’s handprint, answering some questions, paying a fee and leaving a gift.  Then we drove to the notary office and answered some questions, breathed in some cigarette smoke, showed some documents, signed some papers, paid a fee and left a gift.  Our work for the day was done!  Next, we played all day!  We popped a packaged of caps with rocks, walked along the river, got money out of the ATM at the bank for panda holding tomorrow, ate spaghetti for lunch and dinner, went swimming, played ping pong, made rubberband bracelets, showered, and played with glow sticks!  Lucy went to bed wearing her glow sticks!  We have an early day tomorrow because we are headed for the Panda Research Base.  We might also get to stop at Lucy’s finding place and we have to stop back by the Notary Office to pick some documents up.  Today Lucy became our daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin…but she has always been a child of God.

Gotcha Day April 8, 2014!

It has been a long and amazing day!  Surreal is the word that describes Gotcha Day…we looked at the same picture of a little girl in China for almost a year wondering what she was like and how it would be to finally meet her.  We finally got to the orphanage after who knows how long…the traffic is crazy!  We briefly got a glimpse of the other little girl being adopted today as well.  Then they wanted us to move down the hall into a conference room.  On our way down the hallway, Chen Guo and some of the ladies that work at the orphanage were walking toward us.  We recognized her right away and she was very open to letting me give her a hug!  She had some new shiny shoes on and a new little pink coat.  She had the backpack that we had given her in her care package stuffed full of snacks from her foster mother.  We went into the room and did the paperwork and our guide was busy translating for us and the other family as quickly as she could.  We got to take a tour of the facility.  It was a very well run orphanage and smelled like lunch cooking!  We got to go see where the other little girl had been living and also got to visit with Lucy’s foster parents when she first arrived at the orphanage 2 years ago.  They knew she loves shrimp, so they made it for her!  The lunch they made was amazing and the kiddos eat like that everyday.  We did not get to visit where she has been living for the last 1.5 or so years ago and we did not get to meet her foster family.  She is a very petite little girl and loved the swimming pool today!  She has the cutest little giggle and it is very contagious because Abby is already giggling just like her!  Abby has not had time to process the day yet.  After we got out of the swimming pool, she came back to the room and vomited.  We will see if it will pass and if it doesn’t we have Cipro.  The guide thinks it will be possible for us to visit Lucy’s finding place.  We will also be going to the Panda Research Base and both girls want to hold a baby panda.  The guide will be arranging that!  I need to get some sleep…