Sunday, 11/30: Free Day, Visit to Liuhuahu Park

It's a free day today! We've had a really good day.  Shay woke up and instantly started saying she was hungry.  She knows we have some snacks here, but we wanted her to eat good food at the buffet so we hurried to get dressed and went down to eat.  Children from orphanages are often really limited in the amounts of food they get to eat, and likely don't get to make many choices in what they get, so they often will eat too much, hoard food, etc.  Shay seems to stop once she is full, but yet, she often tells us she is hungry when we really don't think she should be.  There is a huge trust issue with us not feeding her when she asks, so finding the right balance is tricky at times.  We were so proud of her waiting today to get downstairs to the buffet! 

Picture from last night, but too cute not to share!  :)

 

 

We came back to the room and the girls just played. I love watching them play together and so far they have shared extremely well and are very kind to one another.  Their giggles are priceless...and LOUD!  You have all been forewarned!

We skyped with Aunt Janeen and Corina, but the reception is often poor.  It's been tough to communicate other than a few texts and with the time change that complicates things more!  So, if we haven't texted you, know that we are thinking of you and appreciate your prayers and support!! 

This afternoon we walked to a local park, Liuhuahu Park. 

 

Shay ate some peanuts on the way there and practiced saying," more please, Daddy." It was sweet!  We love her voice!

 

We walked just a short distance in the park and she was thirsty.  Oops.  We forgot to bring any drinks.  So, we weren't there very long and had to walk back to get some drinks.  She waited as best she could which meant that she continued to tell us the whole way back that she was thirsty!  There is a McD's near our hotel, so we stopped there and got everyone ice cream (did I say how HOT it is here?  I could post a gross picture of Kyle sweating, but I'll spare you!) and got Shay her drink!

Brother Love!  These big brothers truly adore their sisters!  :)

Love this sweet girl!!



 

Emily is a great little sister!  We are SO proud of her!

We tried out the hotel pool later on (well, full disclosure....they all tried the pool.  Too cold for me!)and now just ordered supper.

 

 

It's hard to believe we have only been this sweet girl's family for 6 days. We are so blessed!  Emily just looked up and told me, "I love having a big sister!" as they sit on the couch side by side and I snap pictures.  Ahhh....can't get much better than this.  God is good!!

 

 

Saturday, 11/29: Medical Appointment

We all slept well last night!  I think we were all mentally exhausted from the trip here!  Shay woke up with a smile on her face and the day has gone much better, especially considering what we were making her do today. 

Shay had to have a medical exam including a blood draw for a TB test.  The thought of that this morning after her rough day yesterday literally nauseated me this morning, but she was an absolute trooper!  We enjoyed the hotel's breakfast buffet first.  It was delicious with tons of foods and pastries, made to order omelets, and noodle dishes, fresh squeezed juices, and more.

Afterwards, we met Elvin in the lobby and left to go to the medical appointment. Our driver is great here too!  Interestingly, Elvin said drivers are not allowed to use their horns in Guangzhou unless it is an emergency.  With Emily's adoption, the honking and horn noise was so prevalent.  I didn't realize or pay attention in Guangzhou last time that it was not allowed.

We had to get Shay's visa pictures taken first.  There were probably 15-20 other adoptive families going through the same lines and process.  It was fun talking to them while we waited.  We then had to go upstairs and go through four different medical stations.  The nurses check station was first. 

 

They checked Shay's height, weight, temp, and eyesight. Shay was very cooperative the whole time and played on her iPad in between all of the stations.  The second station was a physical exam and developmental check. 

The nurse wrote 6 + 5 on a paper, and Shay didn't do anything.  In a few seconds she picked up the pen and wrote 11!  I am so grateful for her orphanage. The children were so well taken care of there!

The third station was a very quick ENT check (not sure how he saw anything!) and the last station was her blood draw for the TB test.  For all of the previous stations I was able to go into the room with her.  For the TB test, they took Shay in all by herself.  Ugh!  Elvin was great though and told her beforehand what was happening.

 

Our sweet girl went right in and told Elvin she wasn't afraid!

 

We were just a little stressed waiting for her to come out!

 

However, she came out smiling.  Oh , thank you, Lord!  Not what I was expecting! 

Elvin then took us to TrustMart, which is owned by Wal-Mart.  We got lots of snacks for the rooms....wow, these kids can EAT!!

 

There are always lots of interesting sights at the store!

 

These crabs were alive! Elvin showed Kyle how to pretend to poke them in their eyes to see them blink to prove they were alive.  Oh my goodness!

Emily liked Elvin carrying her.  She "petted" his hair the whole time!  Too funny!

 Once back at the hotel, Shay and Emily have been playing with foam letters and moon sand. 

She just made these and said it was Daddy, mama, and Shay!  Love this sweet girl.  She tells us all the time she loves us. I'm not sure she knows how much those words mean to us, but it is sweet hearing it from her little voice.

Elvin and I did some paperwork for Shay's visa and now we are just having fun hanging out in the room.  Thank you for everyone's prayers for Shay's little heart!  We appreciate them so much!!

Friday, 11/28: Saying goodbye to Chengdu and Travel to Guangzhou!

Today was a tough day for lots of reasons.  We ate breakfast as usual and then just hung out at the hotel while I packed everything, got our Skype working finally, and waited for 2:30 to arrive to head to the airport. 

Big brothers are the best!

 

 

We were sad to say goodbye to Laura.  She has been an awesome guide and is so caring and sweet. She walked us the whole way up to the security gate and after lots of hugs and a few pictures, we told her goodbye. 

We had about an hour wait to board our plane.

 

 Shay wanted to literally run around the airport so we pulled out the iPad to entertain her.

 

 It worked and she was hooked until it was time to board.  Once we got on the plane we found our seats, but after starting to buckle in, she changed her mind and wanted to sit next to daddy, so we switched and got settled in. 

Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors! 

I couldn't help but become teary eyed as I looked at Shay gazing out the window of the plane. 

 

It breaks my heart thinking about taking Shay from her birth province.  I know we will provide her a future and a family that will love her unconditionally, but it is still difficult for me to process the loss that she has to endure to be given this new life. 

After the plane started to push back from the gate, Shay changed her mind again and wanted to sit next to me.  Well, needless to say, there was one unhappy girl once she was told that she couldn't get back up again.  John got a workout for the next 3-5 minutes until we were taxing down the runway and she became excited about the plane taking off.  Oh, my.  Then it was a battle until she was allowed to get the iPad back out.  She was definitely testing John and was not happy that she needed to sit still. Once we were finally up and we were allowed to pull out the iPad again (ok, we let her have it earlier than we were allowed, but I'm sure the person in front of Shay was likely thanking us), she was back to her happy self. 

She was fine the rest of the flight and enjoyed her dinner and took pictures out the window with her iPad of the beautiful sunset. 

Our helpers!



We met up with Elvin, our new guide in Guangzhou and drove about 40 minutes to our hotel.  The roadways were more like interstate and traffic moved quickly. We laughed when Elvin told us Guangzhou is a small city of 15 million people.  Ha!  Our hotel is beautiful.  We are at the China Marriott this time.  We were initially sad when we found out our agency no longer used the Garden, but wow.  It's so nice here!

Once again, as we waited for John and Elvin to check us in, Shay was acting up. She wanted to run through the hotel, and was very loud and vocal about needing to stay with me and the boys and the need to stand or sit still.  This time Kyle got the workout as I was holding a sleeping Emily. She wasn't throwing a tantrum, but was  really misbehaving, mainly because she wasn't getting her way.  Once back in the room, she again was fine.

 

I'm sure there are many reasons for her behavior, and  with such a huge day of travel, new places, probably uncertainty about what was happening, etc., it's understandable.  It certainly doesn't make it easier as you are living it, but understandable.  John and I are dreading the travel home after today, but it will be what it will be! 

We have the medical appointment for Shay in the morning (all of this is the US's process now), so I need to get some sleep.  I will add a few pictures of the day tomorrow when I have more time! Please keep Shay in your prayers.  Our brave girl needs them!!  (and her daddy could use some too!)

Thursday, 11/27: Notary Visit and Lots to be Thankful for!

We received XiaXia's adoption certificate today along with several other documents that we need to process her visa application in Guangzhou.  The documents were all done a day early, so now we just wait for our flight to Guangzhou almost 24 hours from now to proceed with the US side of the adoption!  We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day!! 

Shay always wakes up a little reserved.  I wish I knew what she was thinking.  I know she is trying to process all of this and it's in these moments especially that I wish I knew Mandarin so I could talk to her about what she is feeling.  Amazingly, it doesn't take long at all for the huge smile to appear though and usually a few brothers and a sister have a lot to do with that!  She is just amazing and so brave.  I can't believe how much she seems to trust us already.

This morning, the girls played in the playroom until it was time to meet Laura to head to the civil affairs office again.  There we picked up her adoption certificate and headed to the notary's office.  We spent about 1/2 hour there reviewing our paperwork and double checking everything for accuracy.  Then we were issued several documents and the China portion of the adoption was complete! 

 

They boys were once again awesome in distracting the girls with water, lollipops, dolls, iPads, etc.!  Love you, boys!

The crazy traffic in Chengdu!

We then went to a snack street which is like a food court with numerous choices of foods to eat.

We tried several new dishes and then watched a clown making balloon creations.  Both Emily and Shay were given balloons and Seth got to be part of the show!

Next, we went to the Bamboo park, a place where the local people go to exercise, play games, dance, etc. 

Views along the way!

Hey!  There's a panda climbing the building!!

 

Entering the Bamboo Park

 

Shay had a blast riding the bumper cars with her brothers and a tilting ride.  This girl likes speed.  Oh, my!  The kids spied the brown sugar art again, and enjoyed those on the way out. 

We came back to the hotel, swam, and then got some dinner from the hotel restaurant. Shay gets mad occasionally and will crumple her face at us and grunt, but that's been about the extent of her grumpiness!  She will push our hands away if we try to take something from her or will ignore us if she doesn't want to do what we say, but can be persuaded differently pretty easily.  She has voluntarily given both John and I kisses and lots of hugs, and I know I've said it before, but she just has the sweetest spirit.  While we were getting dressed after swimming, a mom came in and went way ahead of her toddler son.  The little boy burst into tears and Shay was so concerned and instantly jumped into protective mode.  It was the sweetest thing to witness.  She is going to be such a great big sister.  We can tell she really likes Emily, but watching that today showed me how caring she is.  Oh, my.  I just love this girl!!! 

I know it sounds like I'm only writing good things about Shay, but honestly, she's been really easy so far!  It's just been BUSY!!  Right now she and Emily are running through the apartment laughing and giggling as loud as can be (sorry to those in rooms around and below us!)  It's hard to correct her because she just laughs and repeats us and makes us laugh.  She is giggling and saying "Shay, no more.  Shay, no more", which is what she heard her daddy telling her about running and putting a sticky lollipop on his arm! 

She just asked us "You hungry?  You hungry?" That usually means she is hungry.  Her voice is so cute!  And she is mimicking John like a parrot right now in between fits of giggles.  The noise level in the Dunkle household just went up several notches, I'm afraid. 

I need to start packing things up for tomorrow.   Packing for 6 and organizing everything for the plane takes awhile!  We will really miss our guide, Laura.  She has been awesome and is so helpful.

It's been another great day.  Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with our wonderful family.  We are so grateful!  Happy Thanksgiving from China!