Most of our adoption group left early this morning.  We said our goodbyes last night after our last meal together, and then we hit the hay.  Grace woke up at 7:00am, and Sharon was able to coax her back to sleep until about 9:00am. 

After a leisurely breakfast, Sharon and I tag teamed 90 minute massages.  While we sat with our feet soaking in a hot concoction of water of some other dark elixir, they worked on our neck, back, and arms.  After thirty minutes of this, they worked on our feet - thirty minutes per leg.  It was a little bit of heaven, and all for ten bucks each.   This massage was not only thirty minutes longer and ten dollars cheaper than our massage in Nanchang, it was much better in quality.  Sharon did make the comment that a daily massage like this for about one week would probably cure all that ails her.

(Sharon)  As Pat got his massage I walked around with Grace doing a little bit of picture taking, sightseeing, shopping, and searching for a shop Jaime Cook told me about where she met someone she felt was a true believer.  After several attempts to find her shop this week and even more wrong side streets today, I finally came across her shop.  She greeted me with a smile, and yes, Jaime, remembered you well!  She asked, "Are you a Christian too?" and from there we sprung into a wonderful conversation.  She lit up with joy to know I was a believer and in broken English told me that she prays every day for God to bring her believers. She said that every day He does!  I was her first that day and she was sad I didn't have more days there to fellowship with her (I was too). She said she has been a Christian for just 5 years and couldn't believe I had been a Christian for 40.  She said that lately she has really been learning so much because she is reading her Bible every day and is amazed that more and more comes to life for her.  I told her that it will always be that way - that the word of God will continue to teach you and show you new things and that this never stops.  She showed me her  Bibles. One was in English and she said it is hard, very hard to understand. I scanned through it and even recited the Old Testament books in song which cracked her up. It is from Genesis to Revelation.  I asked how she learns and how she is taught and she said, "Through emails!"  She then pointed to her computer screen and showed me how many people write to her. She gave me her email address and took mine as well.  She said "It is very hard because I am only christian in my family." I asked if they don't like it and she shook her head sadly "no".  But her husband, who is also not a Christian, is starting to go to the church with her (the one pictured below) and she says, "not a Christian - yet! I keep praying!!"  I asked, "Is it hard to get Bibles?"  and she said, "Oh no, the church has LOTS of Bibles to give!"  I bought things from her (how could I not!) and hurried to reach my rendevous with Pat.  Can I understand these stories from the past two days and meld them with the books I have read and what I know to be true from the Voice of the Martyrs?  No, but I know that when I hugged Judy good-bye (picture is below), I know that my soul bore witness of the spirit. Oh, and yes, I did ask her, too, how we could pray for her and she said, "That we be kept safe from bad things and harm."  I'll leave you to ponder these events as well and to pray, pray for our brothers and sisters in China. Some who are in peril, and some who may find themselves in peril some day as they grow closer to our Lord and shine His light.

(PAT) When Sharon returned from her massage we took Grace for her first swim.  The pool was beautiful, and Grace LOVED her time in the pool.  She leaned back, smiled a lot, and was nonplussed when her face got wet.  Swimming is a very important part of the Fitzpatrick culture, so we were pleased that she fit in swimmingly.

It is hard to believe that just two weeks ago Grace was waking up in a different crib (or box) to the smells and sounds of her foster home without any notion that her life would turn upside down.  A long bus ride with five other babies, a chorus of crying babies in the gotcha room, and then, as if by magic, she becomes a Fitzpatrick. 

Our five children are a true blessing to us, and we look forward to being reunited with our four older boys.  This adoption journey is as much theirs as it is ours, and it would have been wonderful to have them with us here.  But short of this, we, and they, look forward to Friday night - their own "gotcha" moment.  We also look forward to the rest of our life together with Grace.  While I am writing this, the movie "Twins" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito is playing in the background.  Arnold's character, Julius, finds out when he is in his thirties that he has a twin brother, and he journeys to America to find him.  He finds him in a prison and breaks the news that they are brothers.  He also tells him that he loves him.  This struck me in a new way this time because, like Julius, we fell in love with Grace even before we were matched with her, and her brothers can't wait to express their love for her in person.

We are going to retire early tonight.  It's 9:30pm and Grace is down for the evening.  We wake at 5:00am to begin our journey home.  Pray for us - that God gives us stamina and that Grace does well.  In all, we will be traveling for 25.5 hours (including layovers).   But, as one of Sharon's childhood friends used to say, "we can handle anything that is temporary."  We hope that those sitting around us will adopt the same mantra.

This is our last blog while in China.  Thank you all for following along, for praying us through it, for crying and laughing and smiling right along with us.  We are thankful beyond words that you have joined in our joy, and we are thankful to God that he has given us Grace for the journey.  You have been true friends indeed!

God bless,

Pat (and Sharon)

Sharon and I had a relaxing morning, but it started at 7am.  One of us was required to be by the phone from 9:30-11:00 in order to receive a phone call from our CCAI adoption representative in the event that there were problems with our visa request for Grace.  Sharon took this opportunity to do some more exploring of the shops on the island.  She’s done a great job buying cute outfits for Grace and some souvenirs for our boys.   I would go into detail here on the gifts, but they are surprises for the boys.

We got a call from our CCAI rep at around 10:30am letting us know that everything was great with our visa application.  We will be getting the visa tomorrow.  We will also be going through the oath ceremony tomorrow which marks the final official thing we need to do for Grace to become a US citizen.

At 11am today we went to the Pearl Markets with our adoption group.  The Pearl Market is within a massive five story mall surrounded by a number of other shops.  We have never seen such a site.  Five stories of jewelry – colored beads, pearls, jade, turquoise, etc.  We went to the fifth story pearl store because, according to our guide, the higher up you went in the mall the better the deals.  Sharon was able to get some pretty freshwater earrings and necklaces.  At some point during the whole pearl shopping experience I blurted out, “do you have anything here for men?”  I was just joking, of course, and the rest of the men joined in on the laugh.  One of the employees, however, immediately started handing each man a bottled water.  Like the pearls, it was fresh water!

Following our time in the pearl market we went to a store that sells CD’s and DVD’s.  We bought a number of new release movies for about $1.50 each.  We also found some nice children’s Chinese music and some Chinese folk music. We broke away from our adoption group and ate at a McDonalds.  After the quick meal we walked past a long line of outdoor shops where the owners tried to woo us with shrimp tempura on a stick, scorpion on a stick, squid on a stick, and chicken claws.  See the pictures of the assortment of foods.   Neither of us was in the mood to brave the assortment of foods. 

Instead we hailed a taxi and told him, “Bie Tien Uh.”  I was pleased that he actually understood that I was saying “White Swan.”  In about ten minutes we were at the hotel.  We paid the cab driver the 8 yuen (about $1.15) and went up to our room for some R&R.

Grace was happy today, and here's a new first --she actually showed her affection for us by leaning into us for some kisses.  She gives big, open mouth kisses, and it is a pleasure to see this side of her.  No belly laughs yet, but we know these will come too.

Later this afternoon we joined our adoption group for the traditional “Red Couch Photos” in the White Swan Hotel.  We had no problem getting our six little babies to sit on a red couch without their new parents.  Getting them to sit their without crying was another matter!

After an Italian dinner, Sharon and I are relaxing again in the hotel room.  We are anxious to get home – to introduce Grace to her brothers and to her new life – a life beyond hotel rooms, all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets, and Chinese television.   But we are also content even as Grace is content.  As I have written this blog (twice actually since the first time it froze on me and I lost it all) Grace has been content to play with an open box of diapers.  When we call her name she turns her head to us and smiles, wrinkling her nose to give us the most in her smile.

And speaking of diapers, Grace has finally produced well-formed bowel movements.  If Grace weren’t our fifth child we might look at this as another photo op, but, well, let’s just say, “been there, done that.”  We are thrilled that the medicine is working. 

The doctor said that if we give her too much it will cause constipation.  Hmmm…maybe this would be even more effective than the plastic pants for our long flights home.

It's really lovely here especially at night. It's like your favorite little vacation place where you can just walk around, eat, shop, and enjoy a balmy evening. We are all remarking at how fast the time has gone for us here in China. Most of our group is leaving on Thursday so that is just 2 more days together.  We've been seeing our little girls blossom and it's fun to watch the other girls' personalities emerge like Grace's has.  At dinner tonight at the German restuarant, one of the most listless little girls (at first) was giggling and laughing as her Daddy threw her up in the air (as Daddies tend to do!).  Up until this point we've only seen a faraway stare so that was wonderful to see.

As we walked through the quaint Banyan tree lined streets, Grace kept looking for me. When I would turn toward her she would smile really big and get very animated.  I just can't get over it, and it moves me to tears. In addition to this affect she also snuggles up to me. I have been longing for this for the whole long wait and didn't know when it would happen. For Grace, she just seems to want to be near me. She also likes to lean over toward Pat when I am holding her and tug him on the arm until she gets his attention and then smiles at him and bops her head onto him.  She really likes us, and I don't know when like turns to love, but I dare say we're starting to cross into that territory and will silently pass through that threshold without  much realization on our part. 

I was shopping again today and found some lovely things for my boys and even a beautiful Mah-Johng set and amazing little box with drawers for it.  It's weighing in at 6 pounds, so we almost passed it up, but with getting 200 pounds on the way home, we figure we will be able to distribute the weight enough to get it home without extra pay. 

Tomorrow we go to the Pearl Market and the Electronics Market and then end the afternoon with the famous Red Couch pictures. You'll see the photos tomorrow of Grace and the other little girls and yes, I went for frilly with a pretty white jacket and tulle skirt with little white shoes.  I don't know how well Grace will behave for the photo op, but if she doesn't like the group endeavor, I'll be sure to take her there with just me and Pat and get some better photos of her then. 

I'm posting a few more pics from today as we head off to bed.  I'm also updating the Itinerary page to make it more specific to what we've been doing.  Have a great day everyone, and we hope to see you soon!

Sharon

We started today off with a trip to the Medical Clinic where Grace passed all 3 stations with 3 different Doctors (ENT, Weight,Ht,Temp,  General Check).  She handled the poking and prying very well with just a few moments of fear and trepidation. But when she gets upset and we come over to comfort her, she seems at ease, and relaxes or smiles. 

Then it was free time.  We used the opportunity to go back to the store we were at yesterday to get that figurine. After all of your positive comments, we were encouraged to get it, and we ended up getting 2 with a nice bargain.  That way Grace can have one and so can her Mama!  They are lovely, and I am feeling so much better now that we have them! We have 2 professional potters in our group, and they both said that the quality was very very nice so that was a good confirmation as well. We also found out that the figurines are made in limited quantities, so I was glad we hustled over there and got the ones we wanted.  And Carla, I'll be sure to keep them out of her room until she can appreciate them! I remember having the same situation when I was young, and so I have actually removed a cute little China doll from her room until she can enjoy it and not think that it will come alive!

The answer to yesterday's quiz -- and we did have some winners -- was dried oysters! They're ugly little things, aren't they? They use these in soups.

The taxi ride to the store was an event in and of itself. We nearly had an accident as we had to stop quite suddenly just inches (or less) from another car.  Buses and cars just push right in front of one another and ignore traffic signals. Our guide went with us, and we asked "What does red mean on the signal?" and she said, "who knows!" with a grin! But unlike Nanchang there isn't a lot of noise from the traffic because there is a law against honking or they are fined 200 RMB which is about $30 US. Motor scooters are not allowed either so that cuts down on some of the chaos as well.

We got back to the hotel with our guide and we went to the clinic in the hotel.  Pat got checked and received a lot of med for his cough and cold. They also gave him antibiotics.  He said to me later, "I've never had to take so many pills for a cold before!"  We also got Grace some more diarrhea medicine so we'll let you know if that starts to work!. All in all, the visit and the meds for both of them cost about $57 US.

While at the clinic the Chinese women took a shine to Grace and had her smiling.  They said, "She's going to be an actress because she has so many expressions!"  -- said in Cantonese, of course, and translated for us by our guide. I was called out by the older woman as she pointed to her bare toes and wanted me to cover them.  We had just been out in the heat and so she was right!  I didn't have any socks so I pulled her little jacket up her legs like pants and that contented the lady. She seemed to love Grace.  In the process I learned how to say, "What a good little girl" in Cantonese and got the thumbs up from the Chinese women with lots of smiles and laughs that I was saying just right!

We've been saying a few expressions to Grace in Chinese like "I love you" , "Morning!", "It's OK" and now we'll add this one.  Grace  seems to like it . Oh yes, we also use the "Bah-bah" on the toilet and after she does her business she is all smiles of pride over her accomplishment. 

We may go to a big market today after our Visa Paperwork gets finished and then we hope to have dinner with some people from our group. That's pretty much it for the paperwork side of things and now we wait.

Have a great morning everyone!  "Zow!"

We spent our first evening on this beautiful island in Guangzhou. It's so lovely. You can see the busy city right outside it's edges but here on the island it is like a little safe oasis.  Our room is beautiful but the beds are hard.  I'm glad I brought along some egg cartons to lay on. Yes, they sure filled up our suitcases but no sore hips or shoulder this morning!  The beds have absolutely no give and firm as a board. Tonight \we're eager to catch some Z's and get up tomorrow and take care of Grace's medical exam.  Even though Grace still has diarrhea this is NOT the visit that you want to bring things like this up. We just want to get cleared and get through. Everyone says it's just a perfunctory exam and that's what we want to hear.  For those of you who remember earlier blogs, this visit was the reason we needed to get the amended home study to cover us just in case something was found that they thought would deem her special needs.  Tomorrow afternoon it will be lots of paperwork completed for her Visa and then the rest of the days we'll basically just be hanging out waiting for all of the paperwork to clear and we get her visa and can COME HOME! 

Today while we would have preferred to catch a visit to a local church -- even if it is run by the state, we instead went with the group to a Buddhist temple.  We opted out of the blessing they perform on the children by the monk.  To us, being blessed by the Buddhists would be like negating the blessing of our God, the only true God. We filmed it though and took lots of pictures :-)  There was lots of incense that was smelly and lots of people that were very devout and believe that these man-made images can actually imbibe them with special powers.  Sad.

It was quite hot today (mid 90's with high humidity) and Pat was drenched so I carried Grace around otherwise she would have been quite wet herself.  Pat is also struggling with a fierce cold so prayers would be appreciated for him and for Grace with both their health issues.  I'm doing well but being careful to eat blandly and stay away from fried foods.  We were talking to our kids today and told them that we aren't very adventurous when we have a little baby to care for. That one day off my feet was pretty miserable and I don't want to go through that again if I can help it!

After the Buddhist temple, they took us to Old Chen House which is basically a museum filled with beautiful colored porcelain, lime roof sculptures, stone and wood carvings, and paintings done with embroidery.  We were all especially thrilled to find the embroidery room, not just because they were absolutely exquisite, but because it was the only place in the building compound that had air-conditioning! 

After that they took us to a shop that had many beautiful things. We were told that they were of the highest quality and better than what could be found near the hotel on the island.  But we felt like it was a place that our guides get a bit of a kick-back for bringing customers to them. It seemed like an upscale tourist trap. Pat and I didn't buy anything but I was very tempted by some beautiful porcelain figurines of Chinese women. They were specific to the various provinces and Grace's province kept calling out to me - Buy me -- Buy me!.  We nearly did but then thought we would check out the island first and see if we could find something comparable.  After an afternoon of shopping around the various stores while Pat tried to take a nap (he didn't -- Grace didn't sleep), I realized that there just wasn't anything like that here. So I may be going back. You know what they say - When you find something you love, you just need to buy it or else you'll probaby just regret it and probably never see it again. What's that? You've never heard that saying? Hmmmm. . .maybe that's just MY saying!

To conclude, I thought I'd let you know that our Grace seems to have an easy going personality -only time will tell but this is the side we've seen this week.  She rarely fusses even when we have to hose her down in the tub from the explosion she's just experienced, or she has gone way too long without a bottle due to an extra long tour, or even when she has beads of sweat all over her face and her hair is dripping wet.  She good naturedly smiles at us quite often and falls asleep here and there without any fussing other than a minute or so of rubbing her eyes.  She's a sweetie, that's for sure and it's fun to discover her personality emerging more every day. Now she's sitting fairly well and likes to throw her self back onto the pillows we place all around her. She'll smile and lay there playing with her toes or with nearby toys. This was something she hated just a week ago -- has it really been a week with Grace?!! -- and now she's making a game of it.  She coos a lot and does typical baby sounds.  When I laugh real hard, she does a wonderful silent laugh with all 7 of her teeth showing. We have yet to hear a good old fashioned belly laugh but Grace seems to be a quiet little thing so we're content to wait on her timing.

In the group of pictures above, the paintings are all done with embroidery. And see the eggs? Notice that they have their eggs outside without refrigeration. The porcelain doll I wanted to buy is on the shelf -- what do you think, should I buy it for Grace?  It is representative of Jiangxi province where she was born. I think I just answered my own question! The pot is translucent so that light shows through like little pieces of rice. And the last picture was of a treat I found with my chicken dinner at the Thai restaurant we all ate at together this evening. I just got a half of roasted chicken and I picked up that piece at the very end.  We put it on another place to make it look nicer but it didn't seem nice at all at the time!

Comment Poll answers from previous blogs: 
Someone in our group today gave me some plastic pants - YEAH!  So thank you to all of you for your comments, the winner is Aunt Ruthann.  We will also probably try to get our hands on some size bigger diapers for the plane ride home, so all of you who answered this way get the consolation prize!
And to all of you who are eager to see our blog continue. . it certainly won't be as interesting or as daily, but we'll be happy to keep you informed of Grace's achievements and of our adjustment and that of our boys once we get back to Raleigh. We feel touched that you have such love in  your hearts for us and for our prayer-child and so how could we say no?

Last night we watched a bit of Chinese TV.  Women in a game show were racing each other barefoot across a rushing but shallow river.  Adding humor and challenge to the game, each woman had to carry a young, squirming, squealing pig.  Hilarious. 

Our bus ride was bittersweet.  We were fine leaving Nanchang because we have heard such great things about Guangzhou, but leaving Nanchang means leaving Grace's home province.  Can you hear my sentimental sigh?  Leaving Nanchang also means leaving Evelyn, our CCAI local representative.  She was a wonderful guide, and she took a special shine to Grace, especially near the end of our trip. 

On the bus ride to the airport Grace was all smiles, and every time she smiled at Evelyn Grace would wrinkle up her nose and make Evelyn laugh.  Evelyn made us promise that we would send her a picture of Grace's smile.  Our traveling companion parents were also surprised to see Grace's smile. Up until now, she has saved it for private times in our room so it's been fun to see her warming up to people.  We've really been enjoying these new friends of ours as well with many times of laughter and fellowship.

While we waited at the airport, we were singled out by a Chinese woman and her mother who kept pointing at Grace and saying "So cute!"  They kept hovering and getting closer until they finally reached out their hands to take her from us (See picture below).  They really got a charge out of it when Grace flashed her million dollar wrinkled up nose smile and laughed and laughed and clapped with joy.  Her older son was with them and spoke English and he said, "How long you have her with you?"  We told hinm for about 5 days and he said, "That incredible because she look so happy with you.  She seems to really love you." 

Our 80 minute plane ride from Nanchang to Guangzhou went smoothly. We sat next to a young woman who was intensely curious about why we adopted, and why from China.  She spoke passable English, so we had a great conversation.   At the end of the flight she wanted her picture taken with us.  Grace couldn't have done better on her first plane ride. She ate her way through with Cheerios and bread until 10 minutes before landing at which point she fussed for a few minutes and then fell fast asleep.Hopefully this is a precursor to our 25.5 hours of flying and layovers that we will be doing on Friday the 18th.

Since Guangzhou is where the US consulate is,  all Americans who are adopting this month from every Chinese province have converged, most staying at the White Swan Hotel.  In Nanchang, the only white people we ever saw were the few from our adoption group and Norwegian families who were also adopting from the Jiangxi Province.  Here, it seems that there are hundreds of American families - all with little babies, mostly girls.

We were thrilled to be here after all of these years about hearing about Guangzhou and our hotel room has a beautiful view of the city. After a quick walking tour of the shopping district around the White Swan Hotel we ordered Papa Johns pizza and have been hanging in the hotel room ever since.  Tomorrow we are visiting some sites around Guangzhou, but for now we are completely content to relax and hopefully get a long night's rest. 

Signing off for the evening!  Good morning to all of you.

Our bags are packed and we're flying to Guangzhou (pronounced "Gwong zhoe") in about two hours.  Guangzhou is where we meet with US officials to receive a visa and US citizenship for Grace.   We will be staying at the White Swan Hotel.  If you google the White Swan Hotel you will see that it is a very upscale place with a beautiful outdoor swimming pool where I am determined to take Grace for her first swim. 

And speaking of firsts, Sharon put Grace on the toilet and made the "Ba Ba" sound.  Within thirty seconds Grace had a bowel movement and smiled really big.  No pictures though - sorry  (Ha).  This wasn't a first for Grace, but it was a first for Sharon.

While I am typing this Sharon is eating breakfast down at the buffet and Grace is sitting quietly on the bed surrounded on three sides by large pillows, and quite content to play with an empty videotape box.  Just a few days ago we couldn't put her down without tears, and so we continue to be amazed at the strides that she is taking.

I needed one last look at the city this morning, so I stole away for some video and picture moments.  Sharon and I wanted to video tape the crowded streets, because words and still shots don't do justice to the cacophony of horns honking, squeaking brakes, and the hum of motorcycles - the music of Nanchang.

At 7:00am the city is already alive with the hustle and bustle of a Saturday morning - commuters, shoppers, dancers.  Yes, dancers.  Middle age and elderly people, mostly women, congregate to dance in the courtyard outside of the gated Jin Feng Hotel where we have stayed for the past five nights.  

We will miss Nanchang as we fly off to Guangzhou, but there is no place like home, and we are so looking forward to being in Raleigh with our boys.  We're missing them! (Pat)

Today when Grace woke up she looked at us and smiled. On the mornings prior to this, she'd wake up and give us a look like "Who the heck are you?"  so this was a very fun new development and certainly a wonderful way to start the day. We had a lovely morning out.  CCAI has done such a great job of giving us just enough outings mixed with our needed down time.  We are ready to go to Guangzhou tomorrow but it's been a great week -- after the first day of vomiting and diarrhea -- oh - and my day of sickness!  We have generally gone somewhere in the AM and gotten back to the hotel in time to feed our baby and give her a good nap while we load our pictures, blog, nap, and get things organized for the next feeding or outing.  I think our boys would be pretty bored hanging out at the hotel but for Pat and me, it has been just what we needed to not only get on our feet with this parenting business, but to keep ourselves healthy both physically and mentally.  Kudos to our agency for this well thought out schedule and planned sites.  They covered everything we would have wanted to see in a week's time in this province.

Today it was off to a local park.. There were lots of Chinese people with their children and all of them would smile at us and we said lots of Ni Hao's (Nee-how) of hello!  The park was unlike any park I've seen in the US. There were people playing cards, playing musical instruments, using park stationary exercise equipment, pushing babies, riding on amusement rides and boats, eating ice cream and even someone doing a traditional dance with a sword .  We didn't see any joggers or bicyclists but we did see a few statues devoted to communism.  It's hard not to love these Chinese people with their abounding smiles and welcoming nature.  I tried walking on the cobblestone path that is supposed to exercise one's feet, and let me tell you -- OUCH!

One of the highlights for us was to finally get a good close up look at people playing Mah-Johng.  This is a Chinese game that we have really been enjoying as a family ever since our cousins Mark and Sharon introduced it to us some 5? years ago after having been to China themselves.  So here were all of these people in their games using the exact same set that we have! One rule of the game is to take all of the tiles and build a wall. We never do this part when we play or it would take forever. What a riot it was to see that when the game is done, they just push them all into the middle and they go down into the table and come up in perfect wall form! Magic! We can't  figure out how they come out in the right direction so we jokingly said there must be a little Chinese Mahjong man under the table doing all of that! 

Then we went to a pottery place because Jiangxi is known for rice but also porcelain.  We saw some beautiful things but we're trying to keep our luggage weight down until we get the 2 bag international allowance on the way home so we were good. Well - pretty good . . we did buy some egg-shell porcelain vases that were paper thin, light as a feather and just too pretty to pass up.  We also got a mini-tea set that has a mother and daughter on it's pieces as well as a couple of little pink porcelain bracelets. I will most likely find these same items in Guangzhou (for cheaper), but I really wanted Grace to have a few things from her province.

Later this afternoon we received Grace's passport.  It has a picture on it of her that was taken on her way to our Gotcha Day so it is just precious to behold.  We'll be adding a visa stamp to it in Guangzhou but it is exciting to have the official document that allows her to travel with us!

Tonight we have another group dinner and then tomorrow a relaxed morning of packing before getting our 2:30 pm flight to Guangzhou.  We will take one more look outside tonight this evening at the Nancheng skyline and wonder again at how dark everything looks for such a big city.  It just amazes me that the city doesn't light up like cities and towns in the US. The apartments must either have very dim lighting or not have electricity at all.  We were told this week that apartments are very expensive and girls will generally refuse suitors unless they have an apartment. OR they will choose a mate solely based on the fact that he has an apartment.  Also, when an apartment is bought, it's pretty much gutted and you have to add everything - water, electricity, etc so that adds to the expense.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy days to read these lengthy blogs. We love all of your comments every day and send back to you the warmest of greetings and love! Thanks for journeying with us in spirit and through your prayers. Keep praying for good health, good sleep, and for Grace's BM's! We're really hoping that in one more week they aren't so explosive otherwise that trip on the airplane could get pretty dicey if they keep  flying out the sides of the diapers onto her clothes and ours!  We're thinking maybe of putting a bigger size diaper over top to catch the spillover if they're still that way when we travel home -- any other suggestions?

Have a wonderful day. Love to you all!

(Pat) First, I would like to thank all of you for praying for our tongues.  We are already much improved, although it appears to still be bothering Grace when she eats. 

Our group took a half day tour of a village thirty minutes outside of Nanchang this morning.  Except for the fact that CCAI probably takes adoption groups there on occasion, most have probably not seen a real live white person.  This particular village has its share of wealthy people, but is made up primarily of rice farmers and their families.  We watched one woman washing her clothes in the small pond outside of her home (her home is actually built so that the back end is over the lake).  A few minutes later I noticed a man fishing in the same lake, a vegetable gardener collecting water in large buckets from the lake to water her crops, and a man who had just slaughtered a dog washing the entrails and other scraps into the lake.  We often talk of multi-purpose rooms and fields in the educational environment, and as wild as I have let my imagination run as a school administrator, my "out of the box" thinking has nothing on this little village hard at work.  That being said, they also use human excrement to fertilize their rice fields, and my guess is that they have never sat through a biology class lesson on the complex life cycle of flukes, tapeworms, and other parasitic worms that can have a hay day in such an environment.

We brought candy and toys for the kids of the community, and they were all smiles and warmly welcomed us onto their streets.  Some even posed for us.  Most of the pictures of people that you will see in our gallery were taken only after we asked their permission. 

(Sharon)It was an amazing walk through real China and we could not seem to take enough pictures.  Yes, we saw dog being cut up and we saw dog pets that were either skinny as rails, or pregnant or nursing.  We saw a pen that held ducks that was also used as an outhouse. The sights and, as you can imagine, the smells, were powerful!  Grace calmly walked along with Pat carrying her in her little Snugli. The Snugly seems to work great for Pat. For me, it really hurts my neck, so Grace gets lots of Daddy time  :-) 

(Pat) From our jaunt to the countryside we made our way back to Nanchang for lunch.  Our group decided on Pizza Hut, so we headed for the shopping district.  I was impressed by the wealth in this area of the city, and except for the homogeneous crowds and Chinese characters on every storefront it reminded me a lot of the shopping districts in New York City.   Having just come from the village, the disparity between the two was striking.

(Sharon) Our boys today told us to take more pictures.  HA. We're actually taking tons of pics but sparing you all the boring details (for the most part!).  We were able to SKYPE them today again and it's always wonderful to see them and my mother.  They often just ooh and ahh over Grace -- "Look! She's smiling!" or "Look! She's eating a cheerio!"  and they want us to hold her up and just look at her.  They can't wait for us to come home, and to tell you the truth, as wonderful as this adventure is, we'd like nothing more than to just bring her home and start our new adventure at home! But we are also loving this place, its people, and its beauty. It's a rough and rugged beauty with wizened faces, gritty buildings, and hard working good people. 

As I write this, Pat and I have tag teamed off on the blog.  I was enjoying an hour message - not too hard, not too soft -- very methodically working through my sore muscles from my head to my ankles. The feet is something we're saving for and hour long massage tomorrow. We hear it's quite a treat! Now, Pat is on the bed in our room getting his hour message. She laughed when she saw his large frame and shook her head with a smile and a sigh as if to say, "Well, let's make a go of it!".  She's getting a real workout and putting all of the weight of her small frame into his message. I decided to go first because I knew he'd wear her out and I didn't want to feel guilty about her being tired out  during mine!  He seems to be really enjoying it and we've put on the Chinese TV to help keep her entertained a bit during these 2 hours.

Grace had another first today -- tasting ice cream!  We stopped off at Haagen Daz on the way back to our hotel.  Pat and I shared a small cup of Mango icecream.  Haagen Daz is expensive even in China at $4 for a tiny scoop but we wanted to experience!  Grace kept reaching for it. When we finally were outside and able to give her a first taste, she wrinkled her face up in pain as if we had given her lemon juice!  I doubt she's ever had anything cold in her life.  I'm sure ice cream will warm on her though!  Since everything she eats or drinks has to either be nearly hot or very warm, we bought a thermos tonight at the local grocery store. At 16 RMB (2.75 dollars) it was certainly a better deal than our Haagen Daz icecream, that's for sure!

Grace went down early last night and was up at 3:40AM.  I was still not feeling well so Pat, in the wonderful Daddy and husband role, took Grace out and gave me some more time to sleep. He did an amazing job yesterday covering for me and we were glad both of us weren't sick. It's also fantastic that Grace really likes her Daddy! Later today, when I was feeling better, I returned the favor and he got an extended naptime to make up for those stolen hours. 
 
We went to the TangWang Pavilion today. It’s apparently the “hot tourist spot” in Nanchang.  It’s basically a big building with some pretty gardens that was originally built by the 23rd son of the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty in around 657 AD after the emperor banished him from his sight because "he would never amount to anything." Those of you who love history will probably hate this blog because I was pretty much out of it for the tour and don’t really know what we were seeing!  I was having trouble staying on my feet – pretty woozy, and weak from yesterday’s sickness.  And it was hot, so as we went up the tiny staircases I was struggling just to keep from fainting.  But it was pretty and a nice morning out.  Did we tell you that Nanchang is called one of the “four furnaces” in China? It’s because it has 85% humidity for the entire month of August and temperatures of 105-110 and is located in a valley so it really heats up. We were feeling it today, that’s for sure!
 
We then headed off to a restaurant that Pat and the others really enjoyed.  It looked like a great spread, but I opted only for the rice and steamed egg – yummy – basically the same food our baby is eating. But my stomach thanked me for it!

Today we have loaded pictures of the pavilion, Grace’s first outing in a stroller, her first bath, and yes – her first time sitting up by herself!  She’s been like a weebly wobbly, and then all of a sudden tonight she’s a pro at sitting. We had heard that these little children make incredible developmental strides, but it’s amazing to watch.

The other exciting thing for us happened when someone came to our room to fix our  internet service. The lady reached for Grace and held her and Grace started to cry and turned around and looked for me with a face that could only be described as, “Help! You’re supposed to be holding me – not her!”   It was our first peek at attachment and it was wonderful! 

And finally, we received pictures back from a camera we had sent to Grace in a care package last month. We had few hopes to get back any pics from the foster family. We, of course, were hoping there would be some of her house or of the family she had been staying with.  We didn’t get that, but we did get an entire roll of Grace and the foster mother back at the orphanage on the day that we got Grace.  The foster families had to drop off the children at noon that day at the orphanage to make it to our 5 PM appointment to receive the children 2 ½ hours away in Nanchang. In the photos you can see how very loved Grace was by the smiles on the foster mother’s face.  You can also see in 2 pictures the absolute sorrow and angst she went through as she knew she was moments away from not seeing Grace again.  The pictures are touching, telling, and a real treasure. And did we tell you that we have the Finding Ad for Grace? It’s the advertisement put into the newspaper to see if anyone has any info about her parents.  It has a picture of her at probably 3 weeks old or less. Precious. Priceless.  Even if it is smaller than the size of a postage stamp!

Thank you everyone for your prayers for me.  I’m feeling MUCH better this evening. Pat and I and Grace all have some little sores on our tongues which aren’t too pleasant that you can pray about now!  And thank you for all of your comments. It’s killing me not to respond to each of you individually and hope you all understand.  Please keep the comments coming!  We smile and laugh and get so encouraged by all of your comments. What a blessing you are to us, and we are humbled that you are sticking with us on this journey! 

 

Sharon


A brief note from Pat: Grace went to bed last night at 8:30 - much earlier than the first two nights.  No surprise that she woke up at 3:30am.  Sharon was still feeling sick, and I wanted her to sleep so I took Grace out of the room when it was clear that she wasn't the least bit interested in sleeping.  I put her in a baby carrier and went for a walk outside the hotel.  The weather was a comfortable 80 degrees with a slight breeze, and the streets were quiet for the first time in my remembering.  Over the next 2.5 hours Grace and I watched the city wake up.  Men and women walked or jogged by us, a few women pulling large carts laden with their goods trekked by, and most looked at Grace and me with a smile.  I had one young couple approach me and try to engage in conversation with me.   The man could speak a little English, and the woman, after studying me and Grace exclaimed, "She Chinese!"  After I said, "yes," she thought a minute and then said as if she had figured it out, "her mother Chinese?"  I said "yes" again, and thought about just letting them think that her Chinese mother and I made baby Grace, but I then threw the adoption word out at them.  I think the man understood, but we said our pleasant goodbyes at any rate.