hullo from china everyone!!!
we've just returned from a full day of shopping on bejing road with d'lee's wonderful uncle charles & his beautiful wife amy, who are vising us & helping us learn to bargain. ellie is enjoying her new stroller as it allows her the opporunity to lounge as she is wheeled about & she appears to be quite fashion conscious & loves new the new clothes we buy her & the toys too, but she doesn't speak yet. she communicatess via whimpers & tears, & we are quickly learning to adapt to childspeak. it's a rather easy language to understand. her hair is longer than the the first pictures we had received. she has now been with us for 5 magical days. each day is a new adventure & she is getting more used to us each day. she has completely charmed her way into our hearts!!!
she loves to eat and especially to walk & get out & about. we are having a great time with her. sorry for the delay in our postings as we were busy bonding with her & getting our computer working & online, but more will be coming shortly!!! take care everyone.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Finally we get to write!
Here she is! Our little Ellie ( aka Jinjin) We thought about calling her Jinjin, but the pronouncation in Cantonese is very difficult for us to say let alone remember.
She is the perfect daughter for us. I do not know how the matching process works, but everyone in our group has the "perfect" daughter for them. Ellie is very independant.
She is called "the walker" She loves to walk all over the hotel. The 1st night there was great intensity in her walking, like she was searching for something. The 2nd day we had to return to the Civil government building and finalize some papers.(the building and room where they presented her to us the day before) All the care takers were there from her orphange, plus the 8 families in our Gunagzhou group.
There was a lot of noise and confusion going on as I watched her slowly shut down.
She stood in the center of the room and rocked side to side, shifing her weight from right to left, with a blank stare on her face. My poor little girl, she had no idea what was going on, who she was supposed to be with, or what she was supposed to do.
Each evening at 6:00 p.m. we all meet in the hotel lobby to go to dinner. Some of the other children have that "march of peguin" walk. It is not that they are shut down, just learning to walk. It is actually sort of funny when by accident they line up ( 2 or three in a row) and rock and walk...just like the Emperor Peguins in Antartica.
She is a very sweet little girl. I have been sitting her on my lap and feeding her at mealtime. The 2nd evening she tried to feed me! Paul was so happy this morning when she gave tried to put a grain of rice in his mouth.
Just like her mama, she grinds her teeth, but Ellie really grinds, so much so that when Paul and I first got her alone we thought someone was playing the castanettes. We looked at each other in shock "did that horible sound come from our daughter?" OH, it must hurt so much! It's like she's eating her own teeth. Today is day 5 with her, and she has only done this a few times today. As soon as we get home, it is off to the dentist! Mama and Ellie will have matching night guards.
We are meeting my Uncle Charles and his wife in just 20 minutes. They flew down from Shanghai to spend the weekend with us. I will give details of how I have a Chinese Uncle in my next post.
She is the perfect daughter for us. I do not know how the matching process works, but everyone in our group has the "perfect" daughter for them. Ellie is very independant.
She is called "the walker" She loves to walk all over the hotel. The 1st night there was great intensity in her walking, like she was searching for something. The 2nd day we had to return to the Civil government building and finalize some papers.(the building and room where they presented her to us the day before) All the care takers were there from her orphange, plus the 8 families in our Gunagzhou group.
There was a lot of noise and confusion going on as I watched her slowly shut down.
She stood in the center of the room and rocked side to side, shifing her weight from right to left, with a blank stare on her face. My poor little girl, she had no idea what was going on, who she was supposed to be with, or what she was supposed to do.
Each evening at 6:00 p.m. we all meet in the hotel lobby to go to dinner. Some of the other children have that "march of peguin" walk. It is not that they are shut down, just learning to walk. It is actually sort of funny when by accident they line up ( 2 or three in a row) and rock and walk...just like the Emperor Peguins in Antartica.
She is a very sweet little girl. I have been sitting her on my lap and feeding her at mealtime. The 2nd evening she tried to feed me! Paul was so happy this morning when she gave tried to put a grain of rice in his mouth.
Just like her mama, she grinds her teeth, but Ellie really grinds, so much so that when Paul and I first got her alone we thought someone was playing the castanettes. We looked at each other in shock "did that horible sound come from our daughter?" OH, it must hurt so much! It's like she's eating her own teeth. Today is day 5 with her, and she has only done this a few times today. As soon as we get home, it is off to the dentist! Mama and Ellie will have matching night guards.
We are meeting my Uncle Charles and his wife in just 20 minutes. They flew down from Shanghai to spend the weekend with us. I will give details of how I have a Chinese Uncle in my next post.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Only 2.5 hours until .........
We are indeed strangers in a strange land. Nothing is familiar. The weather is tropical, the language is incomprehensible, the food is peculiar, and you cannot let the water touch your lips ( let alone drink it). Our bed is made of a bed frame with a hard box spring( no matress) and lovely down comforter for a blanket. Luckily yesterday Paul found a German K-mart and bought us a blow up matress to go on top. Now we feel we are sleeping on a "Heavenly bed"! Yet, no matter how strange we feel here, we cannot help wondering how Ellie will feel when she comes to live with us. In less than 3 hours we will arrive at the "Offical State" building along with several other families and receive our children. Leizhou is an 8 hour drive to Guangzhou.(the city we are in now) The caretakers and children all left the orphanage in Leizhou very early this morning. I wonder if Ellie has ever ridden in an automobile before? Has she ever seen a American before? My height seems to be of great interest to the Chinese people, I hope I do not scare her. Paul shaved off his beard yesterday. We have been told to bring food, clothes, diapers, and toys for her. I just packed my first on many "diaper" bags. We realized yesterday that here in the South of China people speak Cantonese.( Not Maderine) Our tape recorder is pnow full of words in Cantonese ( I love you, It's O.K., Good girl) so she can understand us.
Oh, the housekeeping staff just brought a crib in our room. Just 2 more hours now.
2 more hours!
Oh, the housekeeping staff just brought a crib in our room. Just 2 more hours now.
2 more hours!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Here she is ..... Introducing our daughter Ellenora Jinjin
This photo was taken in February when she was 17 months old Her latest update read: 21 months old, height 30.5" , weight 20lbs.
She looks tall, don't you think? ( Just like her Mama) and eating a
snack cake ( just like her Daddy, with a hair cut just like her big
brother! We are both so in love with her already.
This photo was taken in February when she was 17 months old Her latest update read: 21 months old, height 30.5" , weight 20lbs.
She looks tall, don't you think? ( Just like her Mama) and eating a
snack cake ( just like her Daddy, with a hair cut just like her big
brother! We are both so in love with her already.
guangzhou |
Friday, June 1, 2007
Here we are.....
My husband asks "Where were we before?" Two years ago we began this process to bring home our daughter from China. Little did we know that the day our application was accepted was the day she was born, September 3, 2005. 120 years before that, my great grandmother at the age of 27 left her father's home and sailed to China to answer her calling as a missionary. She met my great grandfather while traveling on the Yangtzee River. He was immediatly smitten by her charm, devotion to the Lord, and healthy good looks. Two years later he walked 300 miles across the interior of China to marry her. Together they opened a new mission in the town of Cheoo Foo on the North East Coast. I remember my grandmother telling me about her walking with her sisters over the frozen waves at the beach on Chrismas morning. My childhood was filled with stories about China. We read books by Peal S. Buck, and always felt blessed we had plenty of food to eat.
Fast forward to 2007. On March 27th we received our"1st call" from our adoption agency. My hands were shaking and tears flowed down my face as we were told to expect a photo of our daugher in a few days, and be ready to travel to China in early May. Our group was about to go into the "matching room". It is all very mysterious as to the process of matching, but in my heart I knew my Grandmother's spirt was there watching over our daughter to insure she was matched with us. The govenrment of China announced a change in policy as to who may adopt a Chinese born child this year, and this change seems to have slowed down the adoptions quite a bit. We waited, and waited and then learned they were only matching a few applications and we would not be matched until the following month.
May 1st we received our 2nd call, and the package containing our daughters photo and information.
Fast forward to 2007. On March 27th we received our"1st call" from our adoption agency. My hands were shaking and tears flowed down my face as we were told to expect a photo of our daugher in a few days, and be ready to travel to China in early May. Our group was about to go into the "matching room". It is all very mysterious as to the process of matching, but in my heart I knew my Grandmother's spirt was there watching over our daughter to insure she was matched with us. The govenrment of China announced a change in policy as to who may adopt a Chinese born child this year, and this change seems to have slowed down the adoptions quite a bit. We waited, and waited and then learned they were only matching a few applications and we would not be matched until the following month.
May 1st we received our 2nd call, and the package containing our daughters photo and information.
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