Happy Little Girl

Li Li has been very happy the last couple days. She is so playful and silly. She’s chatting away right now as Keith tries to put her down for nap. The only time she is unhappy is if I pick her up or if we tell her no. We went on a dinner cruise of the Pearl River last night. We wanted to get out and experience a little more of Guangzhou, and knew Koen would love to ride a boat. The dinner turned out the be great and we enjoyed visiting with friends. There is a family here that Keith went to high school with who is also adopting their first daughter, just 10 days younger than Li Li. Both kids enjoyed it, but Li Li had a complete tantrum when Keith wouldn’t let her hang from the railing on the side of the boat. I missed it, but he said she was flailing and even trying to bite him. Looks like we’ll have our hands full as she continues to get more comfortable with us.

Dinner Cruise Family Photo

Koen enjoying the ride. He looks perplexed, but is really just irritated that I made him look at me for the picture.

After getting back from the boat ride, I took my turn at the salon to get my back massage. It was great and all for $10. I didn’t get the smelly guy Keith got. I’d do it again any day. The only weird part was when she stuck her fingers in my ears and swirled them around. We’ve been trying to get souvenirs from our time here. There are so many shops on the island and we’ve been shopping around for the best price. We’re going to do what a lot of adoptive families do and give Aili a gift on Gotcha Day anniversary until we run out when she’s 18 or 20. We also got her pearls for when she gets married and a scripture scroll in both Mandarin and English for when she gets baptized. Li Li initiated a hug with Koen today. She’s been warming up to him more and more. He’s been pretty patient with it all, not really knowing how a sibling relationship should be anyway. We will leave Guangzhou in about 17 hours. I’m really not ready. I’m not ready to handle two kiddos plus house work and meal preparation, and all the other responsibilities of being at home. I feel like we’ve gotten out to experience as much as we expected to, but I know there is a lot more to learn about China. We do really hope to be able to visit in a few years when Li Li is old enough and ready to experience her homeland. Maybe then we can also go to Beijing. Part of me hopes we are able to adopt from here again, but we will see what God’s plans for our family are. Another part of me can’t bear the thought of the wait and the expense again. In a couple hours we go to our Swearing In Ceremony at the US Consulate. It is there that we will get Li Li’s Chinese Passport and US Visas so she can enter the US and become an American citizen on Friday. When we go through customs at the Sea Tac airport around noon on Friday, she will officially become a US Citizen. We’re excited for that and hope America is everything and more for her what it has been for us.

A Sweet Sibling Hug

Koen did not want this picture taken! This is taken in front of the US Consulate after our swearing in ceremony. Cameras weren't allowed inside, so this is the best we could do.