A mommy blog!!

Mysty and olivia at the embroidery shop. The Hunan province is famous for its elaborate embroidery. We had to get our baby girl some fancy Hunan embroidery.

Anthony and Olivia walking to KFC in downtown Changsha. KFC MORE FRIES and Mashed potatos!!!!
Hey guys, sorry I haven't written all the mushy mommy talk, but Anthony decided he loved this blog and kinda took over. That's okay, he's good at putting the pictures up and writing and that gave me more time to spend with Olivia.

I don't want to say everything that I have felt over these past 6 days, from just getting on a plane for the first time to seeing the babies when we drove up to just a few minutes ago, holding my precious little girl and her falling asleep in my arms, but I will say a little!! The rest is left to tell in person.

The touring before we got the babies really was a great time. Anthony and I just sat around, when we weren't soooo busy, and just be with eachother. We talked about how different it was going to be but how TOTALLY excited we were to be doing this, a chance of a lifetime. All the things we saw were really cool and interesting. I know for sure that this way of living is hard. There were no beggars because China doesn't allow beggars, they are taken care of by the goverenment, but there were people EVERYWHERE trying to get us to buy things from them and bidding against eachother. I just can't imagine doing this everyday just to feed my family. There are mostly women doing it and the kids are just running around.

When we got on the plane to come to Changsha, the emotions were sooo crazy. When we got here, we saw a very run down place. There weren't any decent buildings or homes, they all looked unlivable. I just thought, oh my goodness, this could've been Olivia's life. I can't imagine all these baby girls and boys here that will have no way of bettering themselves because they have no opportunity or money to do anything for themselves. Again, what a blessing to be able to do this! Anyway, as we got into the "town" we saw this gorgeous hotel in the midst of these horrible buildings, it was amazing! Well, we got into our rooms, got a little settled and made ourselves go to lunch! Time STOOD STILL!!! Finally it was time to go!
This was the longest 15 minute bus ride EVER!! As Anthony said, when we pulled-up there they were, and I just started crying. All 10 couples were ALL balling like babies and trying not to run over eachother to get out of the bus. Anthony even said, "Move people. MOVE!!" (joking, kinda!:) One of the guys said, "All the relationships we have made and now we want to run over eachother and yell at eachother!!" He was joking too.

Walking into the room and seeing all 9 (one baby wasn't there yet) against the wall, I lost it. I just skimmed looking for Olivia, but I just looked at all those babies lined up and looking at us. It was like we were picking out the best puppy and you know how the puppies look at you like, "PICK ME!!" and just all curious?? That's how it looked. Those babies had no idea what was going on, but NONE were crying! Oka, me and most of the others, balling!!! Then when the Langley family was called, they picked-up the baby that we had picked out almost immediately and the baby that we had been looking at for a month now. Those gorgeous eyes that had my heart as soon as I saw them, were the eyes of my baby girl. What a complete feeling it was...to finally hold the baby that I thought was our Olivia for a month!! Can't even explain the feeling! Then when I picked her up and she didn't cry AT ALL, that's what I prayed for, just made me know that God hand-picked this baby girl for us and she was perfect~! Yes, for that split second, she was perfect!! :) Then giving Anthony kisses just minutes after seeing us, oh my goodness, that made me cry more.

These 4 days have not been easy. She still won't play on the floor without screaming all crawling to one of us because she thinks we are leaving her. She always has to know where BOTH of us are. If I hand her to Anthony, she looks to see if I am leaving and if I don't speak to her she screams. Same for Anthony giving her to me. It's really sad! The orphanage didn't tell us the right information about her bottles. They said she likes them like paste NO!!!!! She likes them a little thick like Chase had to have it when he had reflux, so I know how to do that!! They said that she had a ready smile...NOPE! We finally got her to smile, but it wasn't until Wednesday! Joy, you asked about markings, well, she does have a vaccination mark that Linekar (our guide) has, but she also has 2 more under that which we don't know what the are. They are pretty jagged, but they are deep! That's something that we just will never know about. Her skin is beautiful and white!! (For a Chinese person)Linekar asked why she was so white, and Mei Mei said that it was good for them to be this white because Chinese people think white skin is the most beautiful!! We already knew that huh??? She really is beautiful and will melt your heart, just wait and see!

She is a spicy girl!! She has a temper and we already see that. She flings her head back when she gets mad and her cry will hurt your feelings. She loves to snuggle and be close and loves to hold fingers. Just the other day I was cradling(SP) her and she turned to look for Anthony. Anthony came over and laid beside her and she held his finger and then within minutes was fast asleep. I looked at her and just cried thinking about her mom and how hard it must have been to give birth to her and then give her away, within a few hours. To think how much she is going to miss, how smart and how beautiful she is! I just cried! Thank you to that mother, for without her having the strength to do that, she wouldn't be ours!!

Well, just wanted to say a few words from a mommy stand point. I have much to tell you all. Thank you to you all for posting comments. It is getting us through this time, really. It makes us feel so good to open it up and read them all...please keep them coming. We love you all and can't wait to come home.

We fly out tomorrow at 10 am, 9 pm your time. Please say an extra prayer because first of all it's another flight, and on China Air!!!! Also, it's Olivia's first flight and ours with a baby. She is already rubbing her ear, so if she is getting an ear infection, the popping is going to hurt really bad, so pray for us okay? We will be in Guanghou until Wednesday!! Then off to Hong Kong and them HOME!!!!! Our Saturday is her Dr. appointment, I will let you know how much she weighs and all that afterwards.

Love you all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANA~!! Love you very much!!

Until later!!