Orphanage Trip

It has been a long day for us. We went to Emma's orphanage in Heng Feng which is about a four hour bus ride from Nanchang. Emma spent most of her time in foster care and not at the orphanage. It is a new building and it seems to be very nice. We were allowed to visit the caregivers and babies. They do not have heat and that is why they are always so bundled up. They were all in baby beds and they could not move because of all of the layers of clothes and blankets. It was sad. They are all so precious we wish we could bring them all home. Again, we don't realize how lucky we are living in America.
We did get to see the place where Emma was found. The picture of the wall with two logs was where she was found. It was quite emotional!!

A day at the pagoda

We just got back from the pagoda that is right by our hotel. It was beautiful! The local people are constantly staring..it is such a site! THe pagoda was built by the prince to go "clubbing" at! The pagoda was burned down 18 times during the different dynastys and was most recently rebuilt in 1989. It was more beautiful than any we had viewed in Guangzhou.

Here are some more pictures of Emma. She gets prettier each day. We are hoping that she is strong enough to sit up before our journey home. We can tell she was never placed on her belly. A doctor checked out some of the other girls in our group last night that aren't doing so well. She told us that all our babies are malnourished..which we knew..and that they were delayed. We didn't have this with Ellie, but we know that this is normal when adopting from China. Jiangxi is a very poor province. Most adoptions come from this province due to it's poverty and high population.

Miss you all!

Tuesday night

This is a picture of Emma's foster sister. They are really cute together. They look a lot a like! They enjoy being around each other.

We ordered in pizza with most of the group tonight. I met a lady that lives in the Presidential Suite upstairs. Her husband is a big-wig with Ford Motor Co. She has had us up several times. Her place is unbelievable. They have the whole top floor to themselves. She made a call and had her assistant order the pizza for us and then her driver to go pick it up. She is really nice and she told me that we can see American Idol tomorrow..one day late! I'm so excited!

I'm really wanting news about the track meet!! Please...let me know! Our e-mail is fitnails@sigecom.net. I can't stand it that I'm not there. It bothers me more than I had thought it would. Emma is really laid back so I think she will have to make track practice a few times with me! She only fusses when the bottle is empty. It takes her about 30 seconds to realize there will be no more for a while and then she is fine. She doesn't eat the table food that the others eat. I'm hoping by the end of our trip that she will begin to eat some different foods. The orphanage reported a lot of facts to families that definitely were not true. I'm sure she hasn't eaten food at all and the fact about loving a bath we found is completely false!

Hope everyone is doing great and that my track girls are relieved that their first compeition is under their belt! Keep working hard!!!

More Pictures

Day 2.....

We completed more paper work at two different places today and we think she if officially ours, we think. We were treated to a trip to a Chinese Wal-Mart. That was quite an experience. Emma continues to be very sweet and happy. She just beams when Ellie is around. We had some excitement this morning around 2:30am when the building next door was on fire. It was really rocking. By the time I got down to take some pictures they had it under control. It was an amazing stop considering the equipment they have and no LDH(large diameter hose). Thanks for all of the nice comments and we miss everyone.

End of Gotcha Day!

Well, she is a doll. She smiles and laughs most all of the time. I've never seen such a happy baby..she must know she is going to be an American! Jianxgi is the REAL China experience. We can't wait to get to the White Swan! We saw a funeral out on the sidewalk yesterday~it's quite different here.

Ellie has been great with Emma. Emma just adores her and lights up whenever she comes around. Ellie is wonderful with her and has done all of the feedings, but one!! Emma is a thumb sucker and has 2 teeth coming in. Some of the others in the group are running fevers and have other minor problems, but Emma is great. She does have a bad rash on her head and face, but it seems to be getting better. She was layered in so many clothes I think she has a heat rash. All of the babies have horrible diaper rash. We hope that in a few days all of these minor problems will be cleared up.

We are pretty tired and are hoping that she will sleep well tonight since she didn't sleep all day! She is just taking it all in. She is very curious and alert.

Happy Birthday Aunt Judy and Marybeth!

We can read your commnets in Jianxgi! We can finally see the blog!

We miss you all and AMERICA! We don't realize how lucky we are!!!

She is here!!!!!

We just got back and we have Emma in our arms. We are so excited and just can't stand it. We think she is just beautiful. She has not cried yet and she smiles and laughs. She does have red bumps all over and we hope it is just from the heat. Other than that she looks very healthy. She loves just loves Ellie...yea, and Ellie has been great. She is going to be a great big sister. For some reason we can view the blog right now. We have to get some paper work done so I will post a little later.