UPDATE FROM CH*NA...

First I want to apologize that it's taken so long to get to a post from Ch*na. It's been quite glorious and grueling. For now, I will summarize just what's been happening.

The grueling part was traveling last week and not really having a chance to settle in anywhere until we arrived in Fujian Province on Sunday. We traveled over 27 hours to get into Beijing. D. got sick on the long flight and when we arrived in Tokyo he was pretty out of it. God saw us through that and we arrived at our hotel about midnight. The next few days were mostly a blur. We did visit the Great Wall. That was pretty awesome.

On Saturday we had the incredible blessing of going to Shepherd's Field Children's Village where our daughter has lived for just over the past year. We got to see the house she lived in with many other children and their nannies. Our first meeting was very hard. She wanted her Ayis pretty badly. She was very scared and pretty quickly we realized we needed to go back to the Inn at SFCV so we didn't upset all the kids there. She screamed and cried for a while -- until Cheerios came to the rescue. Let me just say they were like magic.

Cheerios. I never realized how much of an ice breaker a Cheerio could become. But, it worked beautifully, along with all the prayers.

On Sunday, we flew from Beijing to Fuzhou with a representative from SFCV then packed into a van and drove an hour or so to the hotel where we could officially take custody. PHEW! That was quite the experience and I'll share more about it some other day.

From that point, she's been ours. The adoption was made official on Monday with trips to the local officials offices. Tomorrow we get her passport and head to Guangzhou.

So, what you really want to know is how it's going. Well, up until two nights ago, I was the most physically and emotionally exhausted I think I have ever been. If you have ever run a marathon or exercised or done anything way beyond what you thought you were capable of then you will know where I was.

Lil' one was not going to sleep easily. The rest of us were tired, hungry and just all around having a hard time. Thank God for H. who kept it all together with the older three while I tried to manage the baby. For a few nights, all she would let me do at bedtime was hold her and walk or stand or she would cry like a banchee. There would be no sitting or lying down with her until she was fast asleep. By the third night, I had nothing left and we had to find a better way.

After much prayer and tears, we finally worked it out and she's sleeping beautifully now. We have a little tuck in routine and then she sleeps in her crib up against our bed. I then slide my arm through the slats and she holds (more like death grip!) my finger. At first, she would wake up and look for me and my hand and if it wasn't there she'd whimper. But each day is getting better.

Something else that we believe was part of all her crying at bedtime has to do with grieving. She had Ayis (nannies) that she was attached to and has known their loving care. Her cries were more of a gutteral, desperation to return to what she knew and loved rather than a lack of desire to go to sleep. Her heart has been ripped again from what it knew. I have cried with her, too. I am so sorry for all that she has had to go through to get to us - her forever family.

The glorious part is the gift she is to us already. Her brothers and sister are enamored by her. Even I., our video game loving boy, said she was more fun to watch than his Nintendo DS. Now, that's a big compliment! D. just can't get enough of her and wants to tickle her all the time. And, while lil' one seems to target Ashley for pokes, pulls and scratches, A. has been amazingly understanding of it all and is learning to move out of the way quickly.

Hopefully, we can update a little more from Guangzhou. I will also share more when we get home. We have pictures and stories galore. Finally, I want to thank all of you who are praying us through this trip. We know you are out there and we feel God's presence and have seen him work many things through for us. We continue to give Him all the glory for what He has done and will do in our family as we complete this journey and begin life with our new, bigger family back in the U.S.

When you comment it doesn't show up until I approve it and I can't see them from here. I will post them when we get to the US. But they are coming through to us and I love seeing them! XOXOXO M.

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Note from M's sister S:
As I cut and paste M's email I believe she cannot see this "Room to Grow" Blog...but does in fact get your personal replies via their email...Thank God for technology :-)
SO PLEASE KEEP SENDING THEM YOUR PRAYERS AND REPLIES!
Thanks, (((HUGS))) S.