Sweet Child

May 25, 2012 - Today was a day with nothing on the agenda. To be honest I was nervous to have no plans because Lucy likes bus and van rides and just wants to be out and about. So we started with our normal routine, gave Lucy her morning bottle (which she doesn't really take much anyway, this might have to be over with when we get home because goodness, this child does not need the extra calories! : ) ) Then we went down for breakfast. I cannot tell you how well she is adjusting each day. This morning, Jason could take a shower without tears coming down her face and she actually played with me while he was in the shower. Yippeee!!!

Love this smile! And she is sportin' her 2011 Wiebe Family Reunion shirt, thank you very much Grandma Penner! : )

After breakfast, we did a little skyping with mei mei (sister in Chinese) and the boys. (We still need to find out what brother is in Chinese. That is supposed to be Aiden's assignment while we are gone.) Then we played in our room for a little bit and then out the door for a walk to Lotus again. We are guessing it is a good 2 mile walk there through a pretty park. Lucy soaked in every minute of it, saying hi to people and smiling at people as we walked. We are so used to the double and triple looks we get as we walk around with our China doll. However, I don't know if I will ever get used to the crazy driving of scooters and cars with a toddler in a stroller. People are crazy around here, but never seem to hit anyone. We just cross the street right next to the locals. They seem to know what they are doing. They pretty much ignore all street signs and lights so we join in their madness. : ) It was another fun trip. This trip showed us that Lucy is feeling more comfortable around us because she was getting into things at the store and then would laugh when we had to stop her. She is a little ornery now, but I soooooooo love it!

Who's climbing where they aren't supposed to be?

After shopping and a little lunch we walked back to our hotel, played for a while and then put Lucy down for a nap. She slept for a little over 2 hours. Rock on! We went to dinner with a few other families at a hotel  nearby and then we walked around with Lucy for a while. She was babbling and pointing and smiling and giggling. She loved it and so did we! It was time for a bath (not a favorite of hers) and then bedtime. Bedtime is still hard, but tonight she calmed down after crying for quite a while, grabbed her bottle from the table said 'mama' and put her arms out to me. I held her while she took her bottle and she fell asleep in my arms. I just sat there and stroked her hair and cried happy tears. My baby girl is with her forever family finally!

Sweet dreams baby girl!

*Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou where the U.S. Consulate is located. We will stay there the remainder of our trip doing all the final steps in making Lucy legally ours. This flight will be a test run for our looooooooong flight home with Lucy. We will find out if she likes planes as much as she likes vans and buses. Thank you for all your prayers. We treasure them!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Zoo Day

May 24, 2012 - Pictures for the day:

Our home away from home in Zhengzhou. It really is quite nice inside with great breakfasts!! : )

All ready for the zoo. (Yes, her shirt says "I'm Awesome" cause she is!)

Lucy still needs a little work on her photo smile. : )

This is pretty much what she did all morning at the zoo. She loved all the animals and pointed to them as she saw them.

Lucy looking at the giraffes

Where did the ducks go?

Hanging out in the Panda's den

A live Panda bear. Can't say I have ever seen one of these live nor do I know if I ever will see one again. Pretty cool!

No Funning???? : )

It's time to go

Supper at McD's. They serve corn with their happy meals. : ) They also gave us a little ice cream cone. We think this may be Lucy's first taste of ice cream because she made quite the face when she realized how cold it was. Then she asked for more. The two guys you see in the background were obviously talking about us during their supper. We kind of feel like celebrities here. People pointing and staring and wanting to practice their English on us. At first I was kind of annoyed by it, now I think it is so fun!  

It was another monumental day in our bonding process. Lucy did so well all day, playing with us, eating very well, and even blowing kisses without being prompted to do so, that is until after her hour nap this afternoon. When she woke up she acted like the old Lucy, crying and not able to settle down. We ended up taking a walk while she was in her stroller and that seemed to help a little. Each day seems to get better and better with her handling all this change. Praise the Lord!

Gotcha Day video

O.k. I think I finally uploaded our video from our first meeting with Lucy. Here it is:

We see a different Lucy than these first few days of being with her. She is slowly coming out of her shell. What a precious little girl!

Gotcha Day Plus 2.....much better

May 23, 2012 - Wow what a difference one day makes. Although, I think being out of our hotel room from 8:00 a.m. until about 6:00 p.m helped a lot. We started the day traveling about 2 hours to Jiaozuo City where Lucy's orphanage is located and where she was found abandoned. We had to get Lucy's picture taken for her passport and that was quite the challenge. Remember how I said we are struggling a little bit with learning what makes Lucy happy during the day, well we had a hard time making Lucy happy while getting her picture taken. Let me tell you, they are very strict with these pictures too. She could not have any tears in her eyes. She could not have her mouth open even a little. She had to be wearing a dark colored shirt because the background was white. We didn't know this and she had a white shirt on and the extra shirt I had for her was yellow, which didn't work. So, they found a man's collared button down shirt, threw that on her and we tried for what seemed like an eternity (but really it was probably about 20 mins) to get the perfect face for this passport photo. Jason had to hold her out and let me remind you, so is a chunky baby. He was sweating bullets while we were trying to get this picture just right. Oh, I was just praying they could get one glimpse of her face good enough for this picture. I already see issues trying to get a family picture taken. : ) After we finally had a good enough picture we stood in line to sign some papers. We had to wait quite a while. During our wait several Chinese ladies were talking about us (The Chinese are not discreet about their staring or pointing. It is pretty funny.) So I asked Rita, our CCAI rep and translator, what they were saying and a lady came up to Lucy and put her arms out to hold Lucy. Of course Lucy wanted to go to her, but we had to say no. I am so glad Rita was there to explain to the ladies why we said no to holding her. Rita said it is quite a compliment in China if people want to hold your baby, but this lady understood and apologized over and over. We felt bad saying no, but Lucy is struggling enough with bonding to us, we cannot have her going to everyone she sees. Standing in line for the passport paperwork gave me a chance to ask Lucy's orphanage director a few questions. She said in Lucy's orphanage there are about 200 kids ages birth to 14 years old. Once they are 14 they are not "adoptable". I also asked how Lucy received her Chinese name. The doctor that does the admission exam for every child names the child. This doctor just picked Hu Lu Fei for our Lucy. Kind of interesting.

 After the passport paperwork was done we went to the Jiaozuo notary office to sign a lot of papers and receive a lot of papers. I just do what they tell me to do and check over what they tell me to check over and sign where they tell me to sign. : ) That visit went smooth as could be and we hopped back into the van for some more crazy driving. (Chinese people are crazy drivers. I cannot even watch out the window. No one ever seems to get in an accident or get hit in the middle of the road while they are walking across 6 lanes of traffic so it works for them, I guess). Sorry, I am getting sidetracked! We hopped back into the van and, per our request, we went to the site that Lucy was abandoned. As we walked up to the restaurant where she was found, tears started rolling down my face. I imagined a mom with a two day old baby with a deformed face in maybe a box or a carrier of some sort leaving her baby in the early hours of the morning or late at night in order for this baby to be found by someone. It was quite an emotional moment that I was not expecting. I had to hand the video camera over to Jason because I could not talk without getting choked up.

Rita took a picture of the three of us standing at the place Lucy was abandoned

 You might be able to view the video at this address: http://youtu.be/s39FdgCsecY
(I am having issues with uploading our videos, so I don't know if it will work.)

We were also able to visit the outside of the hospital where Lucy's lip and palate surgery was done. It is a charity hospital that specializes in cleft lip and palate surgeries. It was nice to see. Rita said this is also the old orphanage for Jiaozuo City. They moved to the current orphanage in 2009, so Lucy was never in this builiding.

O.k. well after we made all the important stops, we headed back to Zhengzhou. During this 2 hour trip in the van, we saw a new Lucy emerge from her shell. I made her giggle and smile. She was still sitting on Jason's lap, but I was having a lot of fun with her.

Hi Fei Fei

playing Kid's Doodle on the Kindle Fire

Hollywood!!!!

There's a smile!

 Oh it was so much fun to see a happy little girl with us! We soaked in every minute of it. Oh, funny story: Lucy was playing with her shoes. I would take them off, she would put them on. Then she would look up and point outside at random times. We didn't know what she was pointing to. It seemed like she was pointing to trees. Finally I asked Rita how to say tree in Chinese. She said, "shu" which sounds exactly like our English word shoe. Ha, ha! Everytime I said the word shoe, Lucy was pointing to a tree.

 When we came back to the hotel a few families were getting ready to head to a place called The Lotus Center. It is basically a big shopping mall plus grocery store. We dropped a few things off in our room and we were on our way with them. Again, Lucy loved being out and about with everyone. She sat in her stroller so happy and content. She would look up at me and smile. I even blew her a kiss, not expecting one in return, but I did get one. She knows how to blow kisses. It was great!

Lucy trying on some new shoes at the Lotus Center. She became quite the attraction as we were trying to find sandals that fit her chubby little feet. The shoes I brought are the wrong size.

It is quite fun being among the Asian people. They are so friendly and love trying to communicate with us. While looking for Lucy's formula, one lady said, "My English not very good" and then just laughed and laughed. It was great! I think we will have to make a trip back there again before we leave and yes, Lucy went home with not one, but two pairs of adorable shoes. I also had to find some barrett's to put in her hair. I was not expecting so much hair. The last pictures we received of her, they had shaved her hair again. It has grown a lot! So I picked up some cute barrett's to dress my little China doll. : )

We walked back to our hotel with two other couples from our travel group. We walked through a park and this sign just cracked me up. I must share:

The island to practice English?????? Huh!? We did not find the island, but we will have to go back and look for it later.

We came back to the hotel and played in our room. Lucy did not cry and she actually played with us. Yay! We are making headway. Well, we were making headway for a while. Then she noticed the door and kept begging to get out. We thought she had a long day with little cat naps, so she must be exhausted. We gave her a bath (which is still is not too fond of) and tried to calm her down for bed. Bed time is still hard for her. I think when she gets tired she is looking for her bed she is used to sleeping in. We have to just pace back and forth with her (Jason does the holding and I just pace and hum and sing to her) until her eyes get so heavy we know it is safe to put her in her crib. She is sleeping now. What a great day we had with our little Lucy. Tomorrow we are going to a zoo. Another fun day planned!

I am getting a little homesick. I am especially missing my kids and home cooked meals. This going out to eat is getting old and we still have a long ways to go.

Chinese word for the day: shu = tree : )

Gotcha Day Plus 1

Tuesday, May 22 - Our first night went amazingly well. Lucy slept straight for 9 hours. I think she was just exhausted from the days events. Today during the day has been another story.

As I type this Lucy is finally asleep. Poor, poor girl is really missing her home. It breaks my heart. I sometimes just cry with her because I remember leaving all that I was comfortable with when I moved to Minnesota. I cried the entire 2 1/2 hours home from the airport where Jason and I dropped my sister off after she had helped us with the move. It was a sad trip home. Lucy is going through something similar, only to a much much bigger scale. She likes to be outside our hotel room. When she is in our room she just cries. I think when we take her out and go for walks, she sees faces that are familiar to her and it makes her feel better. I also think she associates leaving the room to getting her hopes up that we are going back to her orphanage. She is grieving the loss of everything comfortable to her. She is grieving the loss of familiar faces and voices and language. She is definately grieving! We will just ride out this storm. It is definately a challenge, but we can do it. I am so thankful to have my anchor with me on this trip. Jason is getting quite a workout lugging this solid baby around. She likes to be held by him and let me tell you, she is no lightweight. I jokingly say, I finally got my chubby baby. : )  We get glimpses of her personality at times when she will play with us and she can be so much fun. It just takes time. We took her out for a walk and ate dinner out. Lucy did pretty good until the end. She was ready to go so she went up to the waitresses (who are all Asian and speak Mandarin) and put her arms out for them to hold her. We had to stop them from picking her up. It just broke my heart. I know it will take time for her to get used to us. This is just a part of this journey I was not expecting.

This song keeps running through my head as I hold my grieving daughter. It reminds me of my Heavenly Father who sent His Son Jesus to take the place of my sin so that I can be a part of  His forever family. There are no orphans....there are no outcasts. Thank you Jesus for rescuing me and for bringing Lucy into our family.

Now I will join my Lucy and go to dream land. Soli Deo Gloria!!

Gotcha Day

May 21, 20012 - IT'S A GIRL!!!! Presenting Lucy Fei Penner. Lucy was placed into our arms on this day. Here are a few pictures of the day:

Walking into the building where Lucy will meet us for the first time

The proud parents to be waiting for Lucy to arrive

Holding Lucy for the first time

This is a life changing moment for Lucy

The orphanage kept the book we sent her and gave it back!

checking dad out



Lucy and Daddy

The orphanage also kept the disposable camera we gave them. I cannot wait to get those pictures developed

The first time meeting mom and dad is exhausting

It was just so hilarious that Lucy came into the room dressed in what looks like a princess/tinkerbell dress. I think her big sister would appreciate that a lot. We have another princess in the family.

The first day was rough. Once we came back to our hotel room we played for a little bit and then the housekeepers brought in a crib into our room. Lucy did not like that one bit. She cried for pretty much the rest of the day until she wore herself out and fell asleep. We were able to skype with our kids at home and she did enjoy that. We have seen a few smiles, but overall you can see the grieveing process happening with her. She already is a daddy's girl and has bonded to Jason more than me. People keep telling me it will just take time and she will bond to me also. I see a few signs of that already, which is good.

She is fighting sleep right now. So I better go. She does not like being in our hotel room and Jason is having to pace the room to help calm her down. She prefers to be outside and with people. Although her first night of sleep went really well and for that we are really thankful. We are just learning what makes her happy during the day.

One more day

Today (Sunday in China) we left Beijing on a flight to Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan province. We said good bye to George and off we went. The honeymoon part of this process is over. We had our fun in Beijing, now it is time to prepare our minds and our hearts (not that we haven't already been doing that over the last year, but the time has finally come) for Lucy to be a part of our family. We were met by Yisha, our CCAI rep at the Zhengzhou airport. On our bus ride to the hotel, Yisha gave us papers that describe Lucy's routine in the orphanage and Yisha also gave us a lot of information about what is going to happen over the next few days. We all must have had a 'deer in the headlights' look, at least that is how I felt I must have looked. It is going to be a whirlwind over the next few days! Here is some of Lucy's routines: She drinks formula from a bottle (yes, still!!) and eats rice cereal and noodles. It also says she likes vegetables and meat. : ) She usually goes to bed at 9 p.m. and wakes up at 5 a.m. with two naps during the day. It says she does not wake up in the middle of the night (we shall see what happens when we bring her out of her comfort zone what will happen). It says she is lively and active and she is a little afraid of worm (hmmmmm, what does that mean exactly?? : ) ) It says her roommate friend is Ya Du. She sleeps by herself in a crib and they call her Fei Fei. : )

When we arrived at our hotel room, I started unpacking our stuff and getting all of Lucy's clothes and bottles and formula and toys out in preparation of her arrival. The contractions are getting closer and I am getting completely ready for our addition. : ) We ran to Wal-Mart quick (down the road from our hotel, but so not like the American version of Wal-Mart, but still interesting!) to get a few things now that we know what she eats and drink.

I don't know if this has all sunk into my mind yet. It is all so amazingly surreal! As Jason and I were talking about this adoption process over our supper at KFC (yes, there is a KFC right down the road from our hotel, it was a challenge ordering until they gave us a picture to point to. ha!) we discussed how after all our waiting and waiting, now that the time has come, the wait doesn't seem so bad. : )

God is good and I thank Him for this honor and privilege to do what He has asked of not only myself, but our family. Our kids at home are being asked to be without Jason and myself for over 2 weeks and that is making one of our children sad (at least one that I know of). I pray that God would be working in their lives during this time we are apart just as much as He is working in my own heart and life with this adoption.

Now I am going to close this computer up and ponder and pray over everything that is about to happen in just about 12 hours. Lucy's life is about to be turned upside down and so is ours, but in unimagineable ways.

To God alone be the glory!