Family of 6

Word can not even express today well: it has been an amazing day.

We got to the Civil Affairs Office about 9:00 and began to fill out paperwork. The Farley Family, as well as one other family, sat around a large conference table, cameras and goodies in hand. We were the first to get our daughter--out of the corner of my eye I saw a pony tail bouncing up the stairs: that's my girl! In she walked, holding the hand of an orphanage worker. Her first response was fear--get me out of here! The orphanage worker pushed me into a sitting position and plopped her in my lap. She was terrified and crying. I began to pull things out of the backpack and she began to quietly watch, taking what I offered. The next few minutes of cookies and lollypops she began to relax from her "get me out of here lean towards the door." I motioned CoraGrace over and had her begin to blow bubbles: Bingo! We have interest! Together we reached for, and popped the bubbles.

By this time the other 2 babies have met their parents crying loudly. The orphanage worker told me that it was "too quiet when she entered and all these strange people here: that is why she cry." Slowly the kids come over and we play together. I had a bag of balloons which she happily picked out one at a time and thrust towards one of us to blow up for her. We had a few stickers and she peeled them off, sticking them here and there (I even got one on my forehead).

This whole time she is consuming snacks--happily munching away. If we stopped feeding her she'd grunt and point at the snacks. Smart girl. Throughout this Kyle is filling out more paperwork and putting them next to me on the floor to sign as well. The two babies are still screaming. We looked through the photo album we sent together and she pointed to the picture and then the real person for each picture. At one point I stood (um this girl is HEAVY and my legs were falling asleep). As I held her and the kids blew bubbles we saw her first smile. Our guide helped us ask some questions of the orphanage worker about SongLian's past and present. We took our picture together for the first time as a family of 6 and headed downstairs to our van.

In the van she pointed to the backpack. Our first outing as a family was to a grocery store to buy stuff for the week. We purchased a stroller and she began to giggle as the kids took turns pushing her. The worse they "drove" the more she giggled. Back at the hotel she downs a cliff bar and has her first melt down. It is SO sad to watch a little one grieve like that. During the sad time she wanted nothing to do with me and only Kyle. I occasionally would get the evil eye (I'm ok with this, I know she was close to her nanny and I'm too close to home in those sad moments). We got out the toys and discovered this girl LOVES stickers. She has completely covered 3 pages of paper with stickers. She and Kyle worked together to peel and (carefully--she always chose a spot that was empty and fit the sticker well) stick each sticker. Nonna worked on her Chinese color words as she peeled color-stickers.

We decided to go on a walk: this girl likes to go--the hotel room seems to make her sad. This time, map in hand we set off for a new grocery store (I know, I know . . . everyone travels to China to visit grocery stores). Down the street, up and over a major road (cool escalator system to cross the street!), dodging bikes, motor scooters, cars and buses. This grocery store had 4 (I think) floors. We found a dandy stroller with a much higher frame at not too bad of a price (this was an expensive store so we are not too sure why except God was taking care of details) and bought it because this girl has some long legs and it is clear we are going to need a better stroller than the one we got while here in China. By now Noah is pushing Josiah in the old stroller (he can bend his knees) and CoraGrace, SongLian and they are flying throughout the store giggling away together. The grocery part of this store is AMAZINGLY crowded.

Once back to our hotel, SongLian filled a sticker sheet and we decided we better get some dinner. Our first try (set up somewhat like a Panda Express) was a no go as the only item we recognized down the line was white rice. Our lovely excuse was that we were told to feed SongLian noodles and rice. :) Off to restaurant #2. After being seated we were given a menu in English. Trouble is, there are no pictures and while the dishes are in English we have no idea what they are. Finally (as we are about to give up again) I see on a Chinese menu a picture of both noodles and fried rice. We pointed to the pictures and really confused the staff. They kept bringing out people who spoke a (very) little English. Finally a gal marched over grabbed the menu and said, "You want one this (pointing to the rice) and one this (pointing to the noodles). Yes, yes! They were so delicious we ordered the same thing again. Yum! SongLian expertly used her chopsticks to scoop her food into her mouth. She ate and ate and ate.

Her communication at this point is remarkable--she points and grunts so we were able to keep her happy. After dinner we listen to a pianist play in the hotel lobby and then up to our room. The girls took a bath together and SongLian had no problem--she seemed to enjoy the water and played content with the random items I declared bath toys. After bath, I began to brush her hair and she really snuggled in with me. As I braided her hair she nearly purred. Sweet girl. We watched some Chinese cartoons. And then made our way towards bed, which of course set off a round of sadness. At which point Kyle is the wanted one. So sweet--after about an hour she is asleep in his arms. Brave girl. I've watched her today shudder inside and then her little face pulls together. It is so clear that she was well prepped for this day and knows we are her family. She is amazingly brave; but at the same time grieving something awful inside. That is a good thing. She was well cared for and she connected. She is also very determined--likes to do things on her own. Strong girl. And just to keep it real here: we've yet to see her walk. Her legs are quite stiff. Carrying her is like carrying a sleeping child; total dead weight. We think she in her fear is keeping her from using those skills??? When I placed her on the bed she fell over as if she had no "floor" skills. Then she saw the stickers and she crawled right over to them. We shall see what tomorrow brings in this department. Again, I am so glad I can trust a sovereign God here. She is already teaching my other 3 wonderful things. She is smart, smart, smart. The kids taught her to give a high five. She clearly understands and comprehends things. In closing (I better stop if you have any chance of a picture which I know is really what you want): my favorite part of the day was after dinner when I let my kids run up and down the hall of our hotel floor (quietly--they have been SO good as there is no place to run!).

They'd take turn pushing SongLian and she is having the time of her life. Hot Dog! I got one crazy family; and I love it!

Thanks for your prayers & support. I can not say how much they mean to us . . . :) Blessings from China, Eliza