One week

We have been in the states one week now. Crazy how time flies. Elle is doing great.
On gottcha day my heart broke to see her so set back. We knew going into this adoption that she was delayed but to see it first hand was hard. Living in a orphanage is no place for anyone. God designed us to live in families. Since gottcha day Elle has shocked us. The first day we could hardly hold her for more then a minute at a time. She would play with us on the bed but didn't want to be held. She was weak, when we got her. Sleep was a thing of the past, she didn't want to nap or sleep at night. She loved to sit in her stroller or crib. Lots of rocking and shaking. We also couldn't touch her bottle when she eat.
Now, holy cow this girl is a different kid. We now put our arms out to her to be picked up and she puts her arms up. She allows us to hold her for longer periods at a time. She has said her first word , momma! she loves to whisper it all day. Each day she gets stronger. She never stops moving.  She is on the go non stop. She still doesn't like to sleep much but is sleeping more each day.
The first few days home she wouldn't crawl any further then the living room rug, now she crawling down the hall and into kendras room. She pulls her self up on anything she can stand next to. Yesterday she kept trying to get on the couch , so I showed her how. Wow, she caught onto that fast! It tickled her pink she could do it. No, stopping her now. She doesn't know how to get back down but she loves getting up.
She shows interest in walking but is pretty nervous about it.
I won't be surprised at all if she is walking in a month or so.
She loves the dog, at first she loved to just pull his fur. Poor Ace is not fond of it at all. But after showing her just a few times to lay her hand flat to pet him, she got it. Ace, is not thrilled about having her follow him around.  She thinks it funny, giggling away crawling after him.
She still gets stressed really easily.  I went to Tayas softball game last night, had planned to stay in the car. She loves her car seat. Of course they were playing where I couldn't see anything from the car. I decided to be brave and stand in the outfield with her. She was not a fan. She relaxed after a few mins but decided it was to cold. And soon started to cry. We went back to the car, although she seemed fine after we got back in the car,  she was stressed.  She didn't eat for the rest of the evening. 
Time, she will need lots of time to heal. This world is so big and so many first. Any time she gets stressed she stops eating.  We will have to play it safe for sometime to make sure she gains some weight. 
Everyone is loving having her home. So far all the kids seem to be adjusting fine . You never know how transition will go but so far, it's going great. They love trying to teach her new things , she is a bit of a celebrity right now. Each new thing she does is celebrated by 10 big fans.
Eating, is going to take time.  She only drinks a bottle right now. She shows interest but doesn't stick anything in her mouth. She still loves to lick everything.  So we started to offer things to her she can lick. Sometimes she thinks it's great to play along and other times she won't even look at you. We are trying new things in her bottles,  smoothies. Adding different baby foods, greek yogurts,  fruits and hoping to add vegetables soon. I have to be careful how much I add of a new flavor or she won't eat for a very long time. It's a slow process but we have time. I am sure we will be in food therapy soon.
Over all she has done amazing since we got her May 12......our amazing,  quick learning, baby who is shooting for the moon :) we are blessed beyond belief.

Home sweet home

We have been home now since Thursday. It is so nice to have everyone together.  All my babies under one roof. Elle, is doing great. She doesn't mind the noise of all the other kids. Of course her siblings want to hold her none stop,  she does mind that.  More and more each day she will let them hold her. She has been pretty good about letting them know when she is done. She has amazed us more and more each day. Each day holds a first for her. She mostly only wants to stay in the living room. But yesterday she crawled over to the front door and the small window next to it, she was so proud of herself. She giggled and babbled about it. She hates the kitchen or any other room in the house. just to many changes I guess,  she sleeps in our room in her crib. She does love her crib. We are having a hard time flipping her time over. Lots of jet lag happening here. We are up at 3:30am, she doesn't like napping or sleeping much at all.  Yesterday we got her to take a early nap and she went to bed at 8pm, and slept till 4am. Progress!!
I am going to try to keep track of Elle's progress here on my blog.
So here goes-
Elle's likes-
She loves to lick everything
She now sits with us for at lest 20mins at a time
She now can get picked up without crying
She loves the pattern on our living room rug
She loves the dog
Loves hair
She now holds her arms up when offered to be picked up
She loves to push things of the coffee table,  the louder noise it makes when it falls the better
Her crib
Her stroller
Having her face washed
The TV

Elle doesn't like
Being held for very long
Eating
Loud noises
Bright lights
The kitchen
Any room besides the living room
Being moved to fast
Bathtime
Her highchair
Her walker
Lotion
Nap time
Bed time

Things that she is learning
To explore the world around her
To play with toys
To allow mommy and daddy to comfort her
To try different taste in her bottle
Getting her diaper changed without screaming
Getting dressed without screaming
To express her self

Over all she is such a joy to have,  we are blessed beyond belief to be called to have her in our family. I am loving watching each one of her siblings fall in love with her. God has big plans for this little girl and we are beyond privileged to watch her grow. We dont know all the challenges she may face in her life but we are happy to be the ones to come alone side her and go through them with her.
Hopefully today I will up load the pictures of our trip :)
Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Guangzhou

Guangzhou,  we went so fast. It hardly felt like we were there. The Garden hotel was huge very family friendly,  the staff was friendly and there was alot of other adoptive families there. We had a great time exploring.  Did alot of walking around. The pool was huge, Elle even got in one time. She thought it was funny to have her toes touch the cold water. I was able to hold her for about 5mins before she decided it was not fun anymore. She was happy to be back in her stroller. I need to down load a ton of pictures from our trip.
Elle, is changing so fast. Each day she is letting us hold her more and more. As she gets more comfortable she explores more and more.
For the first 10 days we had her she wouldn't cross over any floor, like from the carpet to the tile. She was so proud/guilt once she did, she didn't know what to think about sitting on the tile floor. She did love licking it, I am sure the cold tile was better to lick then the carpet. I can't wait to get her into the eye doctor to see how much she can see. Hoping she can get glasses and some of the licking will go away. Her  immune system has got to be very strong licking everything.

Medical appointment

Yesterday was our medical  appointment.  It was not a experience I very want to do again.  From the moment we walked off the elevator she started to cry. First they wanted to get a visa photo. She screamed and screamed the room was to bright and they kept the flash on the camera.  So everytime it went off she would scream harder. They wanted one with her eyes open. Ya, sorry not with that many lights on.
Next we had to wait to fill out paperwork before the doctor visit.  She continued to scream through that. At one point I tried to stand up and walk around and she screamed like she was being stung. Through sweat, snot and tears we got into the doctor's office.  We had to undress her which she hates. The screaming got enough louder then. The doctor looked her over,  she was very concerned about how delayed she is. About developmentally around a 7 month old. But I comfirmed we knew that and off we were sent to the next room. Here they weighted her and seen how tall she was. Soon after I got her back she was stress sweating so bad she drenched my shirt and was clinging to me for dear life. Next she had to get her blood draw for the TB test. I had to wait outside the room. Poor baby screamed so hard she broke blood vessels in her face. Her light skin shows so much. They had to poke her 3 times, each time she bruised badly. I was close to tears by now. Steven, had stayed back at the hotel with the big kids. I sure wish he had come. As soon as they cleared us, I ran down stairs with her. And tried to find the quietest darkest corner of the building.  She had been screaming for over a hour by then.  My heart was broke for her, she had no idea we had to be there. No idea if we didn't she couldn't get her visa. Plus with her low vision, being laid down over and over again next to the close edge freaked her out. She doesn't know yet that I would have never let her fall off there. Needless to say. we both were ready for a bath and a bed by the time we got back.
She did recover from the experience,  the pictures were taken before we left for the appointment. We couldn't leave the room for the rest of the evening but today she was back to Elle. Happy , smiley,  giggly Elle. We even went shopping and she did fine.

Elle first plane right

She did great, got pretty nervous taking off. During the landing she got very upset, but only silent tears streamed down her face. It broke my heart, she had to sit in her own seat. We have our medical appointment today . Lots of families here. There was bad weather landing in Guangzhou,  so our flight was delayed.  We didn't get settled into our room till 11pm. It made for a long night.

Wuhan

Wuhan, has been a adventure.  The weather has been just perfect. If fact the blue sky was out today and our guide took a picture.  She said we were very luck to see such a beautiful sky. There are some years where they dont see it at all. To us this seems crazy our big desert sky we get to look up at each day. A blessing we forget about to often.

We went the museum and East lake today. And the yellow cranr tower the day before. Wuhan , is beautiful.  East is one the largest fresh water lakes in China.  Very pretty, lots of locus growing and lily pads everywhere. The kids wanted to ride in a boat across but it looked to ruff for me. (I am not a boat person). Elle did great at the park.  You never know how she will respond to things. But with her hat and sun glasses on she was happy. She smiled and talked to herself as we walked along.

We are still struggling with feeding. She is doing better but not taking to many bottles. She eats no soild food. We can't even get a spoon in her mouth. I did sneak a straw in her mouth with some soda in it. She didn't know what to think of that.  She loves to lick everything,  do to her low vision. We tried to let her lick some ice cream but it was a no go.  She is getting more comfortable each day. Exploring her world just a little more each day. She does crawl but is not very fond of being on the floor. She loves to play in her crib or on the bed. Its hard to say how much she can see or not. Time will tell on that one. She loves to play and giggle. Being held is a new thing for her and she is pretty unsure about it.  She doesn't like loud noises, being picked up, any sudden moment or bright lights. Bathtime was not so fun neither,  she did calm down fast but not until she was dressed again.

Gottcha day

We have our sweet Elle. Gottcha day went well. She was waiting for us as we walked into the civil affairs office. At first she was not to fond of us talking with her, the nanny finally told me to try hold her. She cried and cried. She was none to happy to have a stranger hold her. She is so light,  much taller then we excepted. But for a 3 yr old she is still tiny. Daddy got his turn to hold her as I went to sign papers. She right away found his facial hair and giggled. As he came in the office to sign papers he tried to sit down and she would have nothing to do with it. She cried until we got moving again in the car.
We had to go to the police station to get her passport pictures. She screamed the whole time, poor baby.  So many strange places and bright lights shining in her eyes. As we waited for the pictures to print, she fall asleep in my arms. Such a sweet moment for me. It was so hot in there and my arms were burning before we got them were ready to go. I still cherished the moment,  shaking arms in all.
When we got back to the motel, she screamed until we sat her in the crib. Within a few mins she stopped crying. And smiled and did this crazy happy dance. She hadnt eaten since early that morning and was not to happy to take a bottle from us. We got maybe 3 oz down her before she fell asleep.
Over all we are in love with our sweet girl. So many changes ahead with tons of first.

One hour in 50 mins to go...

So far so good. Still can't get on Facebook but instagram worked. So will have to share that way. Trying the blog again. Not sure it will work either. So excited to finally get to see our little girl!! Our bag is packed ready to go get here. The guide and translator will be here in one hour to pick us up and bring us. Every thing so far has gone smooth. There is a pool here so the big kids are happy. We had plan to pass the time by,  by sitting by the pool but it was closed for cleaning. Steven and he kids went to find lunch. My stomach is a nervous , so I skipped. Its good to have some alone time before we get her. Time to think and reflect. The weather is beautiful,  75 degrees and sunny. Couldn't ask for better. Well next time I update, we will have our baby. Love to all!!! And a happy mothers day!

Beijing

We made it to Beijing. It was one long trip. 3 legs,  four if you count the drive to Seattle. Our guide was there to meet us at the baggage claim area. We took a long 45 min drive through Beijing. We are all so tired, we are struggling to stay awake . So we can acclimate to the 15 hour time difference. We need to get up early tomorrow morning so we can be up and ready for our guide. We are going to the Great Wall. We are all really looking forward to seeing it.
Our guide took us to a wonderful lunch and a nice walk through the city. I think we may all be to tired to eat dinner. Taya seems to be holding up the best out of all of us.

One more day

One more till we leave!!!! It all seems so unreal, even with the bags packed and weighted.  To think one week from today,  Elle will be officially ours. To think next Monday morning (Sunday our time) she will be in my arms, butterflies for sure. What a mother's day to remember for sure!
I still have alot on my lists but the most important things are done. Plane tickets bought,  hotel reservation are done, our guides are set up and our bags are packed.
We start our trip with a 4 hour drive to Seattle and then board our plane at 3:30pm. We get into Beijing Friday morning (Thursday night our time). Saturday we will go see the great Wall,  then Sunday we fly out to Hubei. Monday is gottcha day!!! And then our official adoption happens Tuesday. We have a couple more days and appointments there, then we fly to GZ, Friday.  Then Saturday medical appointment and Sunday is a free day. Monday, we go back to have the TB test read . Tuesday we have our consulate appointment and Wednesday morning we go get her passport and fly out at 7:30pm. We fly into LA and have a over night lay over , then back to Seattle.  And then make our 4 hour drive home!
A crazy busy schedule , I am sure it will go by in a flash.
We are all getting colds , right before we leave. Been giving tons of vitamin C out . Hoping to limit the colds. Please for our travel and for our little girl.  She has no idea whats about to happen, I am sure it will be all very scary to her. Pray she stays healthy and adjusts quickly. Can't wait to meet her.