We have had our sweet Lily Belle in our lives now for four full months! It is amazing how much she fits in here and seems to have always been part of us. Since we met her, she has had an amazing personality, but each week some new bit of sparkle comes out that we had never seen before! Before…
Consulate Appointment and Pearl River Cruise
The day which an adoptive family’s whole trip is planned around is Consulate Day. That is the day you swear an oath to the United States representatives in China to take care of, love, and never abandon your child. It’s also where you apply for their visa to enter the United States. Ours came and went very uneventfully, thank the…
An Update on Current Events
Most of you know that Lily Belle was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome. She was also born with a foot that turns outward, like the opposite of club foot. When we took her for her first Orthopedic appointment, her doctor was not entirely sure which need was more pressing: operating on the scar tissue band on her leg or beginning…
Shamian Island
Sorry for the absence from posting… Lots has been going on here! I will update on that also, but wanted to continue recapping our time in China before I forget it all! Shamian Island is famous among adoptive families. It used to be the home of the US Consulate and the White Swan Hotel, which was where all the Internationals…
Market Day & Chen Family Temple
We began our market day with a walk in the beautiful garden behind our hotel. I had walked there alone with Lily when trying to console her or get her to sleep, but the boys hadn’t been down yet. There was an unbelievable number of koi in the ponds, so many that on one of my walks I was standing…
Medical Day
After our less than thrilling intro to Guangzhou, I felt that my boys could all use some down time, as well as some away from the new baby sister time. Therefore, I decided to volunteer to take Lily Belle to her medical appointment alone. This isn’t as brave as it sounds. I would be in a group with all the…
Goodbye Nanning
We had mixed emotions about leaving Nanning for Guangzhou. Nanning is a gorgeous city; it is the first place we laid eyes on our daughter, where we witnessed her heartache and the beginning of her healing. I, who will forever be directionally challenged, had explored solo enough to be able to put Lily Belle into the Ergo and just walk…
6 Weeks Home!
Six weeks after we returned home with Lily Belle, we noticed the surface of our home quickly and effortlessly transforming into a lovely, flawlessly colored exterior. Thanks to the cladding sprayers for providing the greatest and most cost-effective approach to repair our home’s outside surface. It has truly flown by! And Monday will be our Eight week Lily-versary! In many ways…
Forest Park
Our last full day in Nanning was spent in the beautiful Forest Park. I have never seen a park so big or so gorgeous! Our family had become closer with David, our guide, and I really enjoyed talking with him about Chinese culture as we came upon things in the park that sparked interest. For instance, the covered bridge above…
Nanning People’s Park
Apparently many big cities in China boast a park named People’s Park. Nanning’s People’s Park is where we spent our Wednesday together with David and the other Lifeline adoptive family who was with us. It was right near downtown with crazy traffic when we pulled up, yet after a short walk through the gates we were in a gorgeous park…