Day 6 - Ancient City of Pingyao

Today we opted to get out of hotel room and do some sight seeing.

We drove about 2 hrs (traffic makes all drives feel long) to Pingayo.

 

"Pingyao is a county in central Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It lies about 715 kilometres from Beijing and 80 kilometres from the provincial capital, Taiyuan. During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial centre of China. Its history dates back 2,700 years and is one of the best preserved ancient cities in the known world. It is still inhabited by 50,000 residents ..." Wikapedia.org

 

EJ really enjoyed learning about China' 1st bank.

He took lots of pics for his banking co-works back home.

 This is Anna, she has been our guide all week. Including the official adoption procedures.

Avery did well considering it was hot, she only took a short nap in the carrier and probably too much stimulation for her :( Sightseeing always seems like a good idea, but in reality it's exhausting and Owen isn't that thrilled either. Oh boy, do we get lots of stares!!!

 Mim, do you notice her bracelet :)

We witnessed some pretty remarkable changes in Avery today. She is coming out of her shell. We got some belly laughter, funny faces, more movements and she even cried on two occasions. While the crying is difficult on us, it shows that she is learning to trust us.

If you can't tell by the pictures, she is a tiny thing. At 23 months she is wearing 12 month pjs and 12-18 month clothes. The shoes we brought (4 and 5) are all much too big. She isn't walking so the shoes don't really matter.

We are choosing to focus on the great strides she making and the positives we see, but in all honesty her delays are heartbreaking. The effects of institutional living are true and evident in our precious girl. Please pray for EJ and I as we grieve over what she likely endured these past two years and give praise to God who saw it fit to give her a family.

On a less serious note, Owen is thoroughly enjoying the buffet breakfast here, where he can load up on cereal (of all things). I am also making the most of this meal, although I can not get used to their coffee (super strong). We are mostly making due with 2 meals a day and snacking on things we brought from home for the 3rd meal.

We have decided not to visit Avery's orphanage as it would be a 5 hr drive each way. We didn't get the feeling we'd learn anything new by our visit. We are sad not to see her home city and the placed she lived her first two years. We have asked the orphanage so email us a pic of the outside to have to show her when she is older, we'll believe it when we see it. After the changes we saw in her today, I am thankful for this decision. I think it may have set her back, to go.

1 more day here then we fly to our 3rd and final destination!! Where we will be with lots of adopting families :)

Making it Official

 

Owen entertaining his sister

 picnic lunch- baby food pouch, 2 veggie straws, chinese bread, cheerios

We are SO SO thankful she is eating and drinking. Kids will often strike on food and liquids out of shear stress. So far so good! She is napping now (on hour 3).

1st Day Together

I was awake this morning before 5AM and I couldn't go back to sleep. Today it's not because of anxious thoughts, but rather excitement to see and hold her again!!!

After waiting and waiting to hold her for the first time, I was nervous about how it would feel. So far its incredible. I do not want to forget that and I do not take it lightly. God's grace and love is clearly present and I am SO VERY thankful!

Riding back to the hotel right after "gotcha", after buying some food to give as a donation to the orphanage (that was quite an experience). We thought we were starred at before ;)
She loves to keep her eyes on Baba (EJ) and she loves the little piano toy. We will go back to the office (Tues) to make the adoption official. When Owen heard this he sweetly confirmed with us that we didn't have to return her.

She allowed me to feed her cheerios, Chinese bread (we picked up at the store) and water from a cup.

She was VERY nervous in the bath tub.

Her body gets very tense when she is scared. Stiff as a board.

Broke our hearts to see her so scared yet not crying.

Oh her sweet little face is even more precious in person :)

She didn't drink much of her 1st bottle. We have since improved our process a little. Made the nipple opening even bigger. She isn't great at sucking (Mom, we will work on this ;) Most bottles in orphans have the tops of the nipple cut to make the feedings quicker. She is good at biting down on it and it takes a lot of strength to pull it out ;)

 Owen has been incredible with her. See him watching in this pic. He was awake by 5:45AM and he was ready to wake her up. The bond that is forming is such an answer to our prayers. She slept 8PM-7AM. We had to wake her to make it to our 8AM appt.

We Got Her

Introducing Avery Li-Mei Fogarty

 

 

 

 

 

What a day! I don't really have words just yet. Perhaps b/c I have been awake since 4:45 AM. It was a LONG wait until she arrived after 3 PM. My stomach was a disaster most of the morning. Totally fine now ;)

 

We are doing great. She is very timid and scared (rightly so). She has yet to show any real emotions, but she is allowing us to feed her and hold her and sit close. We are very grateful for all of these milestones. She is so quiet, but very curious ;) I can tell it's only a matter of time! We are thoroughly enjoying just watching her and she is constantly taking quick peeks at us.

 

Thank you for praying. Everything went remarkably well. She allowed me to give her a bottle and she fell asleep in my arms tonight. We go back tomorrow to Civil Affairs at 8 AM to make it official!!!!!

Thoughts from the Train

Our last ride with Effie. Our driver on far left, was so great. I seriously don't know how you could drive on these roads for a living.

 train station

Waiting to elbow our way through the gates. We were concerned for space for our luggage. The bullet trains don't have a lot of space for large suitcases. The Chinese people DO NOT file in by line ever. It is crazy amounts of pushing. I am learning. May have thrown a few elbows and definitely sped past a shuffling old lady ;)

Worked on the questions we will have our guide ask Avery's caregiver. 5 pages later, they are little pages, I forgot notebook paper ;)

 
As we travel by train and see more of this country, I wish I understood more. I have so many questions. Our guide in Beijing was very willing to answer our questions as quickly as they came to our minds. We even practiced a few phrases to say to Avery. But we said to goodbye to her at the train station. We are headed to our daughter's province, Shanxi, southwest of Beijing. The capital city is Taiyuan and that is where the adoption will take places. She will travel 5 hours to us from her orphanage in JinCheng.
As we ride, there are whole towns that look under construction and yet completely deserted. I suppose I have seen too many apocalyptic movies, but that is what it reminds me of. It is eerie.

About 2 hrs from Beijing we are going through mountain after mountain (tunnels). The smog is actually getting denser, I suppose because the area is growing more industrious the further we move southwest.

 The highest speeds were in the 300s

 

 

 

We are surrounded by little girls. A dance class is on board all with matching outfits and luggage. I have been closely watching families while in China. Counting the number of children per family. Watching how the dads interact and moms interact with their child(ren). I cannot help but think of Xiuyan's birth parents. I wonder about their story and where they are now. I pray that somehow they will know she is going home to a family who has travelled by car and plane and train for her and that she will be loved and cared for always.

To an outsider our pursuit seems extreme. Our guide in Beijing was astounded. The distance, and time to our daughter has definitely been more labor intensive than when our sons came into our family and yet it is nothing compared to the extreme pursuit of our Father's love for us, to death and back again.

I am in awe of my Father’s love and pursuit of me. That is what lead me to this adoption journey. I hope and pray that each of our children better understand God’s love for them in the process. Owen is asking some pretty great questions. Pray for wisdom and words to answer and point him to Jesus.

I am seriously going to meet my daughter tomorrow!!! I can’t believe it. It feels so surreal. The diaper bag is packed with toys and goodies. Her crib is ready and her clothes all unpacked. Oh my goodness!!!!

Our new hotel room is even more incredible. Pictures to come. Hope I can sleep tonight. We don't meet Avery until 3 pm or later (your Mon 3 am). She will be coming by car (5 hours) to us. Poor baby. What a day for her. I am thankful we are covered in prayers.