Adoption day is complete!

Hi everyone. We finalized our adoption today and I learned what a squatty potty is. First, the good news….Jing Jing is ours forever! We went to the registration & notary offices today and finalized our adoption! It took a few hours between both offices to finish up the paper work but Yea God, it’s done. It’s hard to believe but it’s so incredibly amazing. God is so good.

The rest of the day we tried to take it easy. We did venture out for a little walk through some of the streets and shops. Jim has been trying to drag me out of the hotel for the last couple of days but I’ve been so intimidated by the traffic, I’ve not ventured out too often. Ridiculous I know, but between the culture shock (mainland China is VERY different than Hong Kong), lack of any English signage or language and the crazy traffic (and I am NOT KIDDING), I’ve been a big chicken. But we did venture out for about an hour or so, walking through all of these outdoor shops, now getting noticed for having a Chinese baby with us as well as little blond Lily. We really have found the Chinese people both in Hong Kong and here in Chengdu to be extremely warm and friendly. I have to say that the city itself has really grown on me. Hong Kong had a lot of gorgeous mountain scenery as well as beautiful skyline. Chengdu is beautiful in an entirely different way. There aren’t as many high rises as in Hong Kong but the buildings have a different kind of beauty that’s hard to describe. It’s common to walk along and see bike after bike after bike lined up along the sidewalk for blocks and blocks. There are as many pedestrians as cars and it’s been fascinating to watch them all navigate the craziness. There are shops of every kind stuck into every nook and cranny and on every street corner there’s some kind of salesman or shop owner beckoning you to come shop their wares. It’s a fascinating city and I’m enjoying getting over my fears and exploring a tiny bit before we fly out to Guangzhou.

Things with Jing Jing are going well. We had a good day all day. She started to crawl today which she wasn’t doing yesterday so it’s amazing to see her start to thrive a little more. She’s been making great eye contact with us and smiling and laughing a little more also. Our bedtime was a little rough, in part because we had a group dinner to celebrate our adoptions. That kept both of the girls up a little later than would be their regular bedtimes so they were both wiped out by the time we got back to the hotel. But all in all, I feel like we’ve had a better chance to bond with her today and slowly we’re getting a feel for what she likes and doesn’t like. It’s definitely trial and error at this point but it’s going better than I would have imagined. Thank you all for your prayers for us on this – we can tell you’ve been praying for this transition for our family!

So, before I sign off, I have to share about the squatty potties. I had heard some rumors about the potty situation here (hey, I’m a mom of 2 young kids, what can I say? Potty is a big part of our vocabulary!), but I had prayed those rumors weren’t true. The rumors are true. ;-) So, while we were at the registry office, Lily announced that she had to go potty. I didn’t think anything of it but went to take her along w/the other little girl in our group. I had Jasmine in the Mei Tai and walked Lily into this little bathroom and looked down….flush with the floor was a little hole. Ummmm, so if you’re a guy, this is no problem but if you’re a girl, well, you get the picture. So, if you can imagine me trying to hang onto Jasmine so she doesn’t slide out of the Mei Tai head first into the hole, while trying to lower Lily w/o her touching the disgusting floor……yep, that was my squatty potty experience! Needless to say, I waited until we got back to the hotel! ☺

So, on that note, I’ll finish this update and again thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. We’re experiencing God’s provision and miracles every single day and are so incredibly thankful that He loves us and how He’s in the tiniest of details. We’re so thankful for our 2 precious girls and how each day we’re bonding a little bit more as a family. And, we’re so thankful for you all. ☺