Last day in Guangzhou

Our last day in Guangzhou..

We had breakfast and met a family to head to Shaiman Island with again to get more shopping in. We were on the hunt for some great souvenirs! We enjoyed watching the boats on Pearl River! Beautiful area where people are singing, fishing, Tai Chi and other outdoor activities. We had lunch at Lucy's again and did more shopping! Brooklyn was wiped out after all that shopping and slept in the taxi back to the hotel. Its one of those moments I cherish as she still prefers Dan over me. I know my time is coming and I have had time with 4 boys at the beginning. Dan is loving his time with her and I love that he gets time with his girl. We came back and decided to take her swimming for the first time in the hotel pool. The water was little cold but she LOVED it! Dan not so much, if it was warmer he would have enjoyed it alittle more. He was a good sport and let Brooklyn splash him, he twirled her in the water and I loved hearing her laugh!!

We came back, had bath time and mani/pedi session with my girl. We got dressed up and headed back to the same place we went the night before. We all ate too much! When we got back to our hotel we all took turns making her laugh! She is super ticklish and LOVES to be thrown in the air... We  The boys get her all wired up and we figure what comes up will come down. Daniel and Brooklyn play the cutest game of hide-n-seek. She hides in the kitchen and then I call her name, Daniel hides behind the wall by the front door and it gets her EVERY time! She runs back to the kitchen to do it again, over and over again. I have it on video and will post it once we get back. Nightime the past few nights have been rough. I think she is starting to let her emotions out, which is great! Dan tried putting her to bed tonight. Last night she had a really hard time. I think she isn't totally ready to be a mamas girl and it makes me sad when she has a hard time calming down. It went much smoother tonight with him doing it and so he will probably take that on especially when we get home since he won't see her as much. I know the little ones will need me when I get back so it works this way.

We leave tomorrow morning for a 3 hour van ride to Hong Kong. I am really excited to be spending a day there. I hear its amazing and beautiful. We are planning to dress up and have a nice dinner to celebrate before heading back! We are definitely home sick and thank goodness for social media! I love getting all our messages and comments! Makes me miss you even more but when I see you all it will be so sweet!

Love you!

US Consulate Appt

This morning we dressed little nicer, ate breakfast downstairs earlier and met our guide Grace in the lobby at 8:50am. We had our US Consulate Appointment. We joined several other families that had appointments the same morning. We were told we couldn't take any snacks, toys, backpacks, electronics or drinks. This should be fun with a 2 year old that ALWAYS has a snack in her hand and toys available ;-) God always has an amazing way of putting things in perspective for you! Doesn't he.. We went upstairs 2nd floor 7th window got a ticket and waited. They had a cute kids area and Brooklyn LOVED it! As I started to make conversation with another mother I noticed she was on the verge of tears. She adopted previously a little girl and she was adopting a little boy that was 8 years old. Her husband couldn't come this time but she had her older two girls with her helping. She told me her little boy was having a really hard time. She said it was the opposite of how it was with her daughter. I could only tell her words of encouragement that others had given me. Our number was called our documents were checked and we went to another window and did our oath. We then were called up one by one for an interview. Approved and she said congratulations! I was beaming as we walked out of the building. Our sweet tour guide Grace took our picture in front of the building. It was the final process here to make her legally ours!

Dan's back has been hurting off and on, he came to the hotel and took a nap with Brooklyn. Nathan, Daniel and I went to the grocery store, shopping and coffee. I am starting to realize my days are coming to end here with the two older boys.I have really enjoyed the time I have spent with them! They are funny, confident, respectful and basically a complete joy to be around! I love watching them interact with their new sister and how they are so gentle and sweet to her! It makes my heart explode!
I sure have been missing my two little ones. We have been face timing at night (morning here) and it makes my day so much brighter! I can't wait to have them all under one roof!!!

We joined our sweet new friends for dinner since they were leaving the next morning to head back to Michigan. We have really enjoyed getting to know them and hope we can stay connected and let the kids see each other as they get older! We had the best dinner since we have been here, at a place called Noodle House it was Vietnamese. It was so good! I may have to learn how to make some of this food because little Brooklyn can't put aways some serious noodles and rice!

Love,

Safari Park

Today is a short post, its Monday. We met the other families and headed to the Safari Park, we had heard so many great things about it we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the weather was NOT on our side. We had the umbrellas and raincoats ready. Hoping it would lighten up once we got there. I was thankful for the cooler temps and no lines. We went to the Safari on Wheels part first. It was a train that took us on a tour to see some really cool animals, if you had a car you could drive through it too. Some of the animals were lose running around. We saw approximately 150 white tigers and 60 was from the same mother.. Bless that mama! We took a brief break for lunch and then broke down to buy some ponchos. Dan in a blue poncho with a tiger on it pushing a pink stroller was a sight! We made our way to the monkey exhibit and that was by far the coolest exhibit. We got to feed them and watch them spin on wheels, swim and care for their babies. All in all it was a great time.
We headed to the play area in our hotel  again for Brooklyn to play before dinner.We ate dinner in the hotel and early bed time. We have our big appointment tomorrow at the US Consulate office. Last final process before she is an American citizen and OURS!

Good night! Lots of love!

Pearls, statues and shopping

I am updating my blog from yesterday and today with a glass of wine and watching the one of only four English channels on TV. Yesterday (Sunday) we did the ultimate tourist thing in Guangzhou. We went to the pearl market to buy Brooklyn a set of pearls for her wedding day. It was an entire mall 5 floors of shop after shop selling jewelry and other items unique to China. We purchased a beautiful pearl necklace  and matching earrings for the day her daddy gives heraway! I also boought myself a pair ;-) We then headed on to a bus to Shaimain Island. It is literally means "sandy surface" and is surrounded by water. Its a beautiful area with outdoor vendors, shops, a church, hotel, parks and hotels. We bought the infamous squeaky shoes for Brooklyn in a tiny shop which she LOVES! She literally grins from ear to ear every time it squeaks. We will see how long this last before we take the squeak out ;-) We ate lunch at a placed called Lucy's and it had many American favorites. I had a club sandwich and it was pretty tasty. You have to understand here in China, NO ONE is EVER in a rush, the food takes forever and you have to wave someone down to pay. We then headed to a famous little statute I have seen on so many adoption blogs, it is a statute of little children walking and a empty spot for your child in between to pose. IT was so cute, we put Brooklyn in between the two kids and she was just the perfect height. As we started to take pictures, we looked to our left and noticed literally about 20 people taking the same picture of her. Nathan took a pictures of them taking a picture of her. It was pretty funny!! She was the perfect model!

We were pretty worn out and headed back to our hotel.Brooklyn had a mini nap and was ready to party so we took her to a children's area inside the hotel. Another little girl was there and it was funny to watch Brooklyn interact with other kids. She can definitely express herself without using a single word. She points to the kids to sit with her and pulls them by their hands. She loved the slide. We also noticed we will have to work on sharing and NOT throwing toys. She can be such a girly girl but she can be super feisty when she wants to be. We are teaching her how to be gentle and removing things she throws until she understands. She is so smart, its not taking long!

We met our friends for dinner at an Italian Restaurant but ufortunately  her kiddo wasn't feeling well and had to take him back to the hotel. Come to find out today that 3 of her kids and husband had to visit the clinic here on the 5th floor for antibiotics. I am praying everyone is feeling better as they leave a day before us.


Brooklyn cried for the first time when I laid her down for bed. Thankfully she sleeps pretty hard and falls asleep pretty quickly I rocked her for about 10 minutes and she was done for the night. Definitely makes me think what might be going on in her little head? I read on a blog yesterday about adoption. She described it so well. Imagine someone coming into your home late at night, taking you with your family to another country where you don't know the language and them leaving you there? Its pretty much is what happen to her.... She is a tough girl!

One Step Closer

This morning we woke up in Guangzhou, China. It is the third largest city in China, we are getting her passport and Visa. .We had busy morning ahead of us to take Brooklyn for her medical examination. We ate breakfast in the hotel and it was a beautiful sight to see so many American families with adopted children. It looked like a little piece of heaven on earth!! We were told there were about 100 families having medical exams done today so we left early and arrived before they opened. She had to have 3 exams done. ENT, birth weight /height check, physical exam and blood work. During the physical exam 3 different doctors were looking at her scars and asking if she could walk, we tried to get her to walk but she was probably terrified and  wouldn't do it. . Poor baby! I just wanted to scoop her up and protect her! We were so glad to have that behind us! For those of you who don't know her special need is a club foot, she had it corrected when she was 2 months old , we will need to have an orthopedic take a look at her foot when we get home. She also has two scars on the outside of her legs right above her knee caps that are very deep. We were told that her birth family binded her legs together to try and correct her foot. Where she was born this wouldn't be an uncommon thing to do with lack of education. We know her mom loved her enough to leave her on the steps of a Bank to be found and we are beyond grateful she made that choice! She is such a brave little girl to endure so much pain at such a young age! We will have them looked at and make sure its not hindering her muscle growth at all and if something can be done cosmetically as she gets older.

We ate at a  Mexican restaurant named Tequila, I think I will wait for some Mexican till we get home. My stomach didn't get agree with it but Brooklyn did have her first taste of guacamole. I watched her scoop it up with a tortilla chip and said that's my girl!  Then this afternoon we headed out to H&M and Starbucks. So much fun! Good thing Dan was there to keep me on a time schedule and on budget.She has definitely been happier today! She didn't cry when she woke up this morning and has been saying a couple of words. She gets really excited and laughs so loud. We are loving our time with her! Daniel and Nathan have been great helping and entertaining her ;-)

Tomorrow we have a fun filled day plan and I will update tomorrow evening! Thank you for your prayers, with the little bit of communication we are able to have sure makes us want to be home! countdown is on!

Love,
Sarah

Reality

Our sweet girl has slept amazing the past two nights but our day started early with her crying at 5:30am, Dan was able to calm her down and I made her a bottle. She feel back asleep and woke up again crying at 7:30am. I tried to calm her down  and took awhile. The reality of her grief was setting in for her. The reality of parenting a precious 2 year old that I can't communicate with is setting in. The reality of not knowing what she likes and doesn't like is setting in. My heart hurts when she is sad. We opted out of the full day tour arranged for us today and laid low in the hotel room and around the hotel. We took her for a stroller ride to a nearby park called Green Lake Park, it reminds me of Central Park in NY. Its gorgeous, lots of trees, water where you can ride boats and fun little rides. We went to lunch and headed back to the hotel. Brooklyn and Dan took a nap. The older boys and I headed out to Starbucks. We decided to take a journey to Walmart by ourselves. We even managed to buy a pair of shoes for Brooklyn since the ones I bought are all too small ;-( She has some seriously long toes. haha
The boys are I were pretty proud of ourselves.

We came back to the room and Brooklyn was crying again after waking up form her nap. So hard to tell what she wants. We just give her lots of love and some extra snacks.. ;-) Dan decided to go for a walk with Daniel and give us some alone time. I was so excited to do something I have been dreaming about for years!!! Paint her nails.. I got the nail polish out and she looked down at her hands. She clearly knew what it was. I made Nathan take a picture of me painting her nails. She loved it and kept looking down at her hands. A moment I will cherish for sure.

She still seemed to be sad most of the day so we took back to the park. We got her out of the stroller and tried to run with her and she perked up. She began to smile again. We ran into another family at the park that adopted a little boy from the same orphanage and had dinner with them. She really enjoyed having some food that was familiar. They had a belated birthday cake for their little boy and we celebrated with them. She definitely remembers what cake is. It was so cute to watch her interact with the her friends from her orphanage.

Praying for a great nights sleep and a fresh new day tomorrow filled with lots of smiles from our sweet girl! Tomorrow which is Friday for us, we fly to Guangzhou for 6 days. I hear the internet is better there. Lets hope so! For those of you that took the time to write us notes, I have been reading them every morning and I can't express my deepest appreciation for them. They have encouraged me and reminded me how blessed we truly are!  So thank you!!!

A friend sent this to me and it really spoke to me again.

"For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers,. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

Lots of love!

Brooklyn Emilia Stoltzfus

On Wednesday we were scheduled to do a tour of the Golden Temple in Kunming to learn about the history of Kunming. We were pretty tired from the long day before at the orphanage so we rested all morning and headed out at 1:30 for our tour. It was pretty obvious that NONE of us were interested in anything but Brooklyn. Its safe to say we all are SMITTEN by her. We didn't follow the tour guide at all. haha. We did take lots of pictures but took lots of pictures of HER and the sights,HER sitting down with the boys, HER standing with Dan. It was all about HER...So I thought I might as well share a few things we have learned about her the last few days and name this entry after her ;-)

*She sleeps really well
*She eats really well
*She is super smart and figures out how to turn toys on once after watching me
*She loves to be on the move and wanted to do the stairs over and over again whereever we were. She points to her stroller in our room when she wants to go somewhere
*She loves to throw toys at Daniels head (it makes her laugh really loud)
*She is very affectionate, she motioned to give Dan and I a kiss for the first time
*She smiles but tries to press her tiny lips together so we don't see
*She loves being around other kids


Just a few things we have learned about her so far. We ate dinner with another family we have grown close to at a restaurant called Bluebird. We sure wished they lived closer. Its clear Brooklyn and Lucy are pretty fond of eachother after looking at eachother during dinner. I had something that resembled a tostada ;-) I am craving some serious Mexican food!


Love,