Shamian Island

It is hard to believe that we are down to our last few days here in Guangzhou. Funny how you can make a home most anywhere when you are with the people you love. Our little hotel room (#1529) has become home to Chaeli here in China and she is getting very used to her routine here with her Mommy & Daddy. She has no idea that all of this is about to change again for her in just 3 days. We know though that it is all for the better, so we hold our breath anticipating what is to come for our little girl. Please pray that the trip home is a smooth one for Yen Yen.

And thank you to all of you who wrote back to us about how to conquer constipation in a small infant. Unfortunately the good remedies from home like corn syrup, prunes and glycerine suppositories are not common here on the island. We did manage to find and buy whole prunes (which Dan took the skin off of, and after mashing them down into a paste/puree) added to her formula and rice cereal. Chaeli ate it instantly and within the hour was no longer constipated! Hooray! We were clapping and cheering again! Crazy how having a baby can make you get excited again about the smallest things! Kuddos to my husband the smartest, resourceful man I know!

Chaeli does still wake up in the night to eat (she only takes about 4 ounces at a time so she is hungry about every 4-5 hours). I don’t mind though. I just think back to all of those late night/early morning calls with my boys when I was nursing them. And it was all so worth it, just as it is with Chaeli. They grow out of this baby stage so fast that I am trying to enjoy every moment of it…even when the moment comes at 4am. I am just so glad to see her face (seems I waited forever to have her with me like this).

We walked around the Shamian Island for the last time today, and spent some nice time in the park. I love the picture I caught of Danny and Chaeli together there. It is so natural. She really loves her daddy and I hate to say it (but she even snores like he does). Yes, it’s true. My girly girl can make a lot of noise when she is sacked out with her Daddy on the bed. The two of them are like a symphony of some very bad, loud music. I just lay there in the dark laughing and wondering “Why me Lord, why me?” Wasn’t it enough to have to live with one snorer???

To everyone who has been to China & to The White Swam Hotel before you will recognize this next girl instantly! It is the (famous) beloved Lucy. She owns a shop here on the island and has been doing our laundry for us since we arrived, and has also befriended us instantly. What is it about Lucy? Everyone knows her and adores her! And what is it about the way the Chinese do their laundry here? I am mystified! Dan’s shirts have never looked so good, and unfortunatley he too has noticed as he looks at me sideways in the mirror.

To Lisa Gilispie, Lisa Elrand & Tammy Tutton this photo is for you! I know how much you 3 love Lucy!

Tomorrow is our US Consulate appointment where Chaeli will be granted US citizenship and access back into the states with us. It will be a BIG day for her! We have all had beautiful Chinese (traditiona)l clothes made for her big day and we promise to dress up and take lots of pictures for everyone back home to see! Afterwards the Consulate appt., it will be back to the hotel to begin packing for the long, long trip home. I can hardly wait to see my boys again. Dan and I miss them terribly (it is all we talk about now). We have been showing Chaeli her brother’s 3 pictures and teaching her their names. Of course all she ever says back is “Da Da” and “Uh Da.” You can imagine who is gloating over that! Dan loves his girl. He was walking by a shop today and saw a dress in red & black and said to me, “Oh Chaeli looks so good in those colors Sheila. Go in and buy her that dress.” Yep, he is hooked now… line and sinker.

The last bit of news I have been saving to share with all of you is in regard to our adopting from China again. Of course it is something we have talked a lot about, and even discussed again in detail the whole way over here. Dan and I both agreed before receiving Chaeli that Chinese adoption was something we would pursue again.

But the day I received Chaeli something changed inside of me. I told Dan it was like I was so satisfied, so full, and so complete. Having Chaeli fulfilled every longing inside of me. I tell you all of this because only 2 days after I voiced my heart to Dan we heard the news that the CCAA had just made a new change to all international adoptions. All families with four or more children now would no longer be able to adopt from China. When I heard this news I couldn’t believe it. It was like confirmation to my heart. The still, small quiet voice I had heard telling me that Chaeli was it, was the truth. Chaeli really did complete us.

We came to China exactly when we were supposed to, to get the specific child that was made just for us. Our hearts are so full and so overwhelmed (with what we have already been given) that we can only say Thank You Lord. Thank you for giving us so much. It was her, only her, and Chaeli is so much more than we had ever fathomed she would be.

May you all be blessed in the New Year, and may your dreams come true in 2007 like ours did miraculously in 2006!

Sheila & Dan.