More pictures!

Visit to the Orphanage

Hi everyone! I thought I would take my turn and provide my first official update. Ken has been doing a spectacular job at keeping everyone up to date but I kindly requested a turn.

Where do I begin??? Our lives have taken a miraculous turn and things couldn't be better. Yan Yan (Lauren) is absolutely amazing. She is sleeping, eating and loving Ken like she has known him her whole life. Someone was really smiling on us as she is quite taken with her daddy. I still get my kisses and a whole lot of smiles but daddy is clearly the first choice. This works out brilliantly as I can then tend to Miss Lia's needs while he takes care of Miss Lauren. (Deb - your words of wisdom were once again so true! Thank you.)

Today we went to Lauren's orphanage. We were quite nervous about the potential affects this may have on Yan as she was so terribly distraught when we were first presented her. Our fear was if she saw all of her nannies again, it would be a set back. I am happy to report that was not the case. She was so clearly well loved and taken care of - I am so happy we got to see her home. When we first entered the building the nannies were so excited to see her again. They smothered her with kisses and passed her around like a rag doll. She loved every minute of it. Then they asked her who her mama and baba were - she pointed to us and she readily went back to Ken's open arms. It could not have gone better had we dared to play it out that way in our minds. Ken took lots of pictures of the other children in the toddler room and he plans to post them on-line for the other waiting families from our orphanage to see some of their children. (Again, I think of our dear friends Deb and Phil who we travelled with the first time. They assured us things would go this well. Our negative natures made us assume the worst would happen and pray for the best. Wish you were both here!)

On the sleep front, Lia slept almost all night last night. Yeah! We were zonked at 7:00 pm so we all went to bed. I am proud to report Lia slept until 5:30 am! 5:30 I can deal with. 2 am - not so much.

After the orphanage we stopped at a silk factory. The moms went all crazy buying out the place and Ken stocked up on ties. We purchased a silk duvet cover for Miss Lauren.. We bought one for Lia the last time and thought it was a nice keep sake for them some day. (No actual silk duvets this time!!! We do learn from past mistakes...)

Anyway, I should wrap this up. We are just about to have some lunch and then see if we can take the girls swimming. Things are going far better than I ever expected and while I miss the routines of home, we are all having an amazing time on our grand adventue. The grandmas have been a godsend and we are forever grateful for their help.

Tomorrow is a free day so who knows what will happen but I am sure Ken will continue with the daily updates. Again - love to all at home. I can't wait for you all to meet our amazing new daughter.

Susan

Ok so I'm back. The warriors were awesome! What a site. We spent a few hours there and saw the 3 pits. Much of the site is yet to be excavated. If you get the chance to see it I highly recommend it. Too much to say about it for a blog. The one picture is of Lauren and her nanny at the orphanage. Sue's comments say it all. The other picture is of us watching Dora. Thanks

Ken

Well what a difference a day makes. She is very outgoing with s now. I get all the hugs and kisses I want. She went to bed no problem last night and woke up only once to make sure I was still there. I sang her the ni wawa ni wawa song and zia nali song and she as out like a light. The Mandarin lessons are paying off. Thanks to Jieyu! Lauren is eating like a champ. I have the packing thing figured out. I just make her say awe! and she opens her mouth to get more, if there is still food inside I say no, no and he chews and swallows it to get more. She is still wary of strangers when they get on the elevator with us but is allot better. I guess we were strangers 24 hrs ago too. Mom and I and the girls went on a bit of an adventure. We walked around the block, 1.5 hour walk through the street of Xi'an. The people starred and we said knee how (phonetic) and they smiled and said hello! Xi'an has 7 million people and we just walked up and down the street and a few alleys looking at all the food and things people were trying to sell. Never once felt unsafe unless it was crossing the street, no rules here! We were rushed off the sidewalk by a car driving on it so that was nuts! Lia and Lauren play well together and we got a good nights sleep last night. Lauren is stil asleep ow 5:50am and we head out to see the terra cotta warriors today, something I have always anted to see. It must be fate! The bath went very well. Lauren washes herself hair and everything. She really seems to understand English as the orphanage did have some british missionaries working there. It was a christian based faith too which was surprising. We got a book from them with many pictures of Lauren's 2 yrs there like 1st haircut , birthday etc. That is priceless. We are doing well and thanks for all the comments. they sure help s not feel home sick. Pics of the warriors tomorrow!

WOW! What a day! We arrived at the civil affairs office a bit early and had to wait for the girls to arrive. Phil, I think I still owe you 200 RMB from last time I was in a place like this. I'll pay you on the homeland tour! I was as nervous as ever and Sue was anxious as well. We knew Lauren would be scared as we were told she was afraid of strangers so we expected the worst. When they brought her is she immediately started to cry which is normal but once the nanny tried to pass her over she was beside herself. I think she knew what was going on! She was so terrified and I was immensely sad for her and the guilt I felt at causing this was horrible. The look on my face in the picture above doesn't come close to the feeling of sadness and guilt! She has a very loud cry. She would shake and wail. The nanny would say to her waive to you mama and baba and she would but it was a furious waive of good bye I think. After a half hour of this the director said to the nannies to had the girls over and they did and left the building. This caused more commotion as you would guess. At one point Lauren was standing on the floor and she realized she was able to move. The fight or flight instinct kicked in and she ran for the door. These kids are amazing! Sue picked her up at the door and she actually began to calm. Sue was fantastic! Lauren began to soothe and melted into Sue's arms. This was way different then with Lia. There were only 2 girls and they were both a year older and understood what was happening. Lia was awesome! She shared her favorite toy with Lauren and that helped a great deal. She even helped change her and put her to bed. We got back to the hotel and Lauren was a champ! She only whimpered a bit when Sue would change positions or move. She is starting to warm up to me more and more. I can get a smile from her and even feed her but no kisses yet. I guess she is like every other girl I ever met! The kisses are saved for her mommy I guess as Sue gets them on demand. Last night she slept the entire night mostly but Lia was up at 2:00am so I was as well. This morning Lauren was awesome. No tears! She eats like a champ but is packing too. She will take food but save it in her mouth. This is apparently the norm as they feel they better take while they can get it and save some for later as they my not know when the next meal comes. It is quite sad but understandable too. I am rambling a bit and I am sure Sue will have more thoughts soon. I could not post pictures yesterday for some reason but today it is all good. What a day! More to come but I want to get this off before they close it down again!

Today presented more changes and some rest! We now get Lauren tomorow afternoon and have her forever. The initial visit and leave without her idea was cancelled. (Thank goodness.) Today we ventured out on our own around Xi'an. It was pretty eventful with "the grandmas" (as Lia calls them) were almost arrested for shoplifting! We went to a local department store to buy some supplies and they forgot to take the security tags off some things and after some explaining in english to people who didn't understand it, we got out of there OK. We also went for a small walk around the hotel and found the wall of the old city. It is older than Rome and Athens. It is considered one of the first cities ever built. It is truly amazing!

We just had a nice nap and now will head out for a dumpling dinner and some sort of dance show. This wil be our last night as a family of 3. The grandmothers are doing great. I had to save Mary's life today as trying to cross the street over here would be similar to crossing the 401! It is nuts the way they go in and out of traffic and drive on the sidewalks etc. The picture of Lia was taken this morning. She is doing quite well other then she doesn't want to wear her pants right now for some reason. Sleep is coming and we are doing well!

Thank you for all the comments and please keep them coming as they really help us get through the day as well. We can also get email at ken.worsley@gmail.com I will post again tomorow hopefully with new pictures of Lauren! There is also a picture of the hats, mits and blankets that some fantastic people knit for us to take to the orphanage! The ice wine I had for the nannies and director was confiscated at the Beijing airport. After much argument and some possible international incident names I called them, I just left it there for them to enjoy. Whatever! I was not in the mood to let it go further. I will figure out this blog thing soon so that the pictures match the text. Tomorow is the BIG day!

We are now in Xi'an! Last night we went to bed at 6:30 pm our time here and we woke up at 12:30 am. Lia was wide awake and ready for action! We weren't! So we walked around the empty hotel for an hour, watched 50 Dora's and then went and had breakfast at 6:45 am. Next up, we got on a plane where the seats were very small and cramped for the 90 min flight. Lia passed out for the flight and the 1-hour bus ride to the hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel, she was again wide awake and ready for action. We aren't!

Tomorow we go to the orphanage and meet Lauren! Unfortunately a change in process means we leave her there until the next day. At that time, they bring her to us at the hotel, which is kind of nice. Of course, I will post pictures then.

So everthing is going pretty well. Lia is a champ at this travelling thing - other then not sleeping when we tell her - but what else is new.

Love to all at home.