View from our room

ok, so she is not a view from our room, but she is a great view!




Libby asked me to share some info about our touring, now that you saw a view from our bus. Yes, we do get alot of sight-seeing in. It is nice to see the area in which we got our little girl. But, I found out she is from far, far away. I don't know exactly what that means yet! But obviously this is not where she was found.

We do all our sight-seeing things with the group. It is fun. We have 5 families. There are the Masyr's (Evan, Christy, Samantha and Noah adopting Faith) from California, the Mears from Arkansas (Doug, Tammy and Derek adopting Emily Rose), The Smith's from Columbus, Ohio !!! (Steve and Melanie adopting Tapie along with Steve's dad and sister), The Cross Family (Clay, Renee, Shelby and Savannah adopting Sophie along with Jason), and us. Our AWAA guide is Amy (she is very wonderful) and our tour guide is Kevin. We are with them whenever we go on an outing with the group. Someone would like for me to take a picture of all 5 babies. That will be my goal. We will probably definitely do it in Guanzhou because it is a tradition. We have 2 really cool group pictures before the babies came (the entire AWAA group). One at Tianamen Square and one at the Great Wall. I can't post them because they are not digital. I might take a pic of them and see how it turns out. That way you can see the whole group. All of the 5 families are wonderful.

Some other things I forgot to share, but wanted to: She has 10 fingers and 10 toes (that's for all you moms out there who check babies right away. Her eyes are the deepest brown I have ever seen. I can't see where her pupils are unless I struggle and then I can possibly see them. We don't know for sure what she weighs. I tried asking for scales but no one here had a clue what I was asking. We found a scale at Walmart and put her on it. It is in kilograms so I wasn't sure. She weighed 7 kilo's on it. I think it is 2.2 times 7 which would put her at 14.4 pounds. Who knows how acurate those scales are or my conversion is. She fits in the 3-6 months clothes I brought (though I chose the ones that looked a little bigger), she fits great in the 6-9 months and the 12 months are a little big on her. I think I already told you that though. She is the smallest of the 5 babies. And... we believe the cutest (though I think the other families would argue :)

Chongqing is very hilly. Even in the city. There is no flat area at all. It makes a really cool downtown. The buildings are amazing. When we first came, one of the first things we saw was rice or cabbage fields that were right in the middle of all the buildings. It was a cool sight. But the best was when we entered the city and saw some huge dead animal on top of someones vehicle. It was huge. It caught all of our attention. As I said earlier, people love staring at us Americans! Our family has been scoulded for dressing Elizabeth poorly. We were in Walmart and she was dressed in a heavy snowsuit and inside the snugli. She also had 2 layers of clothes on under the snowsuit. Being a good American mom, I did not want her overheated and make her sicker, so I took her out of the snowsuit and put her in the snugli again. Some woman told our guide what she thought and we were told we did not dress her warm enough. Amy tends to watch for us. When we got out of the bus for the zoo, Elizabeth's shoes were not yet on. Mark and I were so baffled by the snugli at that moment that I had not taken the time to put those on her feet yet. Amy came up and did it for us!

The street market is amazing. I can't begin to tell you the food we have seen. But, in the Walmart buiding, there was a line of food available. THere were duck heads and feet and there was a goat head that still had the hair on it's chin!

I am a bit anal on somethings here. I am petrified of the kids drinking the water for fear of them getting sick. THat is the last thing I want them to have to go through. I want them to enjoy all they can and I really, honestly, do not want to have 4 kids with tummy problems. So, I have said they can not drink anything made from the water (including fountain pops and ice). I have told all of them, my husband as well. The first day we were here, Mark took them to McD's while I did paperwork. They all ENJOYED a fountain pop full of ice! Ugh. I could have shot him. I told them all no and was quite firm about it. Then yesterday, we visited MCD's as a family, Mark ordered meals with pop. Ugh! I could have shot him...twice!!! I corrected him, then, bless his heart, he tried desparately to tell the guy he wanted bottled water instead. It did not work. So... I had a little pouting fit (must have been the exhaustion). I let fear get the best of me. Mark and Jacob drank it all (aren't they 2 peas in a pod?), Sam refused to drink it because he knew I was upset. Emily sipped on it. She didn't want to make me mad, but was soooo thristy and pop was such a nice luxury. I don't remember what Erin did. Looking back, I am just a silly mom who shouldn't have pouted. (So that you all know, I just asked Mark if he wanted me to share anything with you and that was the story he wanted you to know!) It didn't take long for me to get over the water incident. And... noone is sick. So, for my sake (and probably my husbands), maybe you could pray noone gets sick from it??

Lydia and Chloe - I know daddy is going to read this to you. I can't wait until you can hold your new cousin. Uncle Mark and Emily and Erin and I were looking for a beautiful chinese outfit for you, but the sizes here are so confusing. WE will look when we get to Guangzhou, I think we will find something very neat. We have told Elizabeth that you can't wait to see her and what you are like! We love you.

Faith and Eli... when we get home, you will get to see her too. I can't wait to spend time with you two! I hear it is snowing in Ohio.

Oh, Mark and the kids got yelled at in the pool. It is funny because we never know what they are saying, but usually know we have done something wrong. They were diving. There is no diving allowed, but they did not know that!

Well, I think I have answered most of the questions. If not, then just ask me again and I will love to answer them. I don't feel so far away when I read your comments and I post my blog.

We love you all. Thanks for sharing in the God given journey! May God recieve all the praise and glory. We have already told her how much He loves her!