Time

Time... There is never enough of it in a day and yet it goes by way too fast. It takes time to trust. Time to heal.  Time brings happiness. Time makes children grow. 

In two months time we've watched a little girl from a small town in China, leave everything she's ever known and open her heart to a family she can call her own. Mine. Mine. Mine. She is two after all! 

This sweetie came to us timid yet silly. She pushes the limits all the time to make sure someone is still in control. She now cuddles. She sings! It hasn't been easy and there's a long way to go but time will fix that. 

Bringing home Stella Claire has brought a whole new meaning to parenting children. Adoption is not natural. There's so much loss and learning what a family is all about. What a Mama is about. Imagine not knowing what a mother is? But as we work to graft this little one into our family, we praise God for all he's done to heal her heart. We will keep working, with time on our side. Helping her to grow...watching her sing.  For it's a happy child that sings!

The "So Glad We Brought This" list!

I can't wait to wrap up my posts about our China trip and make it all into a book for Stella Claire! Life is busy, busy, with a new toddler in our home and we are loving every little minute (even the not so easy moments!) of it.  She's been home a month now!  But I wanted to take time to write out what we were so glad we brought to China with us.  Some of these items are on many of the packing lists that can be found around the web and on blogs of China mamas who have so carefully written it out for all of us!  This is just my short list of items that you might not have thought about bringing, but were so glad to have them in China while adopting a child.

The "So Glad We Brought This" list: 

*Baby carrier (our child was a newly turned 2 yr old at adoption day) - I brought my Baby Hawk, but I saw others with Tulas, Ergos and Becos.  Strollers are not always available but we did borrow one at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou and were so glad to have it too!

*Baby Blanket (I made one for Stella and brought it with us to China.  She has attached herself to it - for naps and nighttime at home now.  "Blankie" is a very special and important part of our sleepy routine).

*Sippy cups, snack up and plastic toddler spoons.  We had an "incident" in a restaurant with a broken porcelain spoon...  Porcelain and two years don't go well together. Ahem. Bring the plastic.

*Downloaded music to my iPhone - "Hidden in My Heart" lullaby hymns. Played at each bedtime, and any time we needed to calm her heart or ours.

*Iphone and Ipad (and a VPN like PandaPow or ExpressVPN if you want to connect to blogger or Facebook).

*Bubbles, stickers, stacking cups.  Just a few of our favorite toys!

*Moneybelt.

*Compression socks (for the long flights).

*Wireless phone charger!!!! I almost didn't bring this and oh.my.goodness. go get one if you don't have one.  It will keep everything charged during those long days of not having access to outlets.

*Some Chinese money.  I exchanged some with my US bank before leaving and we were all set to go once we landed in China (which was late at night and we were tired from the 24+ hrs of travel).  I exchanged approx. $200 US and it was plenty for those first few days when we needed cash.  All the hotels will exchange money easily once in China.

*Diapers.  I took one pack and wish I had brought more.  The China diapers are just different... They get damp quickly which makes for very frequent diaper changes and we went through them like crazy. I even bought the Pampers overnight ones in China.

*Wipes - Clorox wipes (for hotel and borrowed stroller), hand sanitizer wipes, facial cleansing wipes and baby wipes. Sounds like a lot but we actually ran out of the hand sanitizer wipes! And the facial ones were so convenient for quick airplane freshen uppers.

*Little packs of tissues (toilet paper is rare when out and about in China). 

*Diaper disposal bags (with arm and hammer).  Found these at Target in the baby section.  Trust me - stuck in a hotel room with a stinky diaper is not pleasant!

*Snacks for the airplane and granola bars for quick breakfasts.

*Ibuprofen.

*Lavender essential oil.

*Gentle baby body wash. Used for baby and for cleaning bottles, etc!

So that's our short list of items to pack when traveling to China for an adoption!  If you shop on Amazon, you can support New Day Foster Home (where Stella lived before we got her) by going here and then shopping through the link.

Goodbye Hohhot - Hello Guangzhou!

I can't leave writing about Hohhot and Baotou without telling everyone about the delicious food Inner Mongolia has! The day we visited Baotou, we went for lunch at a traditional Hot Pot restaurant.  So yummy and one of our favorite Chinese experiences! This was seriously some of the best food I have ever had.  And we were hungry! We enjoyed the company and conversation with our travel mates, guide and driver.

Everyone begins with a pot of broth, flavored spicy or mild, and the waiters come light each pot to start the cooking process.

Our guide ordered our food (thank goodness!) - a variety of fresh vegetables (broccoli, chinese yams, mushrooms, spinach), meat (lamb), pastas and bread. Such beautiful food!

Each person cooks their own food in their own "hot pot".  It's multitasking at it's finest! Cook, eat, cook, eat! This peanut sauce... super yummy. 

Stella ate well and promptly fell asleep in her high chair.  The day was exhausting for her.  As we were leaving the waitress serving and watching us said to us "you love them just like biological children".  Yes, yes we do.

Squatty potties... for our friends who have never experienced these.... Most public places in China do have western style toilets, but not this restaurant! Taking toilet paper with you is a must pretty much wherever you go.  And forks too if you're not savvy with the chop sticks!

Our driver for the day was quiet on each trip, but his conversation during lunch is one I will never forget.  As we talked and compared experiences in the US and China, he had this conclusion - "different cultures, people all the same".  As we paid and thanked him after arriving back at the hotel, he said "God bless you" to us.  He was a Christian.  How I wish we had talked to him more about his life in China.

Some of our favorite Inner Mongolian goodies we picked up to bring back home (from the grocery store)- milk teas, milk candy, milk lollipops and some weird flavored Chinese potato chips (Numb and Spicy flavor anyone? Or how about Spicy Fish Soup Hot Pot flavor?)! Stella was given a traditional Mongolia dress, and an ornament from our guide and the international adoption worker.

We left Hohhot's mild, dry air (much like Colorado here in the US) and headed to Guangzhou's tropical, humid climate.  Guangzhou is where all US adoptions are finalized as the US Consulate is located there. Everyone gets an appointment date to go over the US side of the paperwork and the goal is to get Stella a VISA to enter the US.

Stella's first airplane ride went incredibly well as she was pretty much oblivious to being on a plane and then took a nap.  Napping in anything moving - cars, planes or buses was her napping location of choice on our China trip.

We were pretty much paparazzi material wherever went in China and people were always trying to take our picture (either straight out or snapping selfies with us in the background).  We just smiled! This woman on the plane must have had a whole album of us on her phone...haha! Now she's on my blog!

Exhausted, we arrived in Guangzhou feeling like we had just left China and entered a huge international city (Guangzhou has a population of 14 million people!).  We got checked into the Garden Hotel then went out to find food.  We don't usually eat McDonald's at home, but when you are tired, familiar is good.  McDonald's China style it was! A face time back home to end our day and we all crashed into bed.  As long as the pillows are soft, it doesn't matter how hard the bed is... Missing home but feeling like the end is in sight on this day.  One more week in China.