Just a quick update

Ok, so I am still struggling with the whole Internet censorship thing here and trying to get pics on the blog.  Instead of pushing all the buttons in frustration, I will just update with what I have.  I am sitting here next to my sleeping baby girl. She is exhausted.  She has been sick since we got her and we were concerned she may have advanced to an ear infection, so we decided to start her on antibiotics so she can start to heal before we take a loooooong plane ride.  We are hoping she starts to feel better soon.  My victory for today was, she didn't cry when she woke up this morning.  She just layed there looking at us.  Mike also got to see her grin, but I missed it because I was carrying her.  Hopefully the grins will become more frequent soon.  She really is starting to relax and get comfortable with us.  Right now I am sitting in our room at the Marriott, which could be any Marriott in American, except, this is our view.  We are in the heart of a big city in China.  It is like nothing I have ever experienced before.  I will never be the same.  

We went for a walk.  I could not upload any more pictures, or I would have shared the market with you.  Since coming here, I believe I am vegetarian.  The fruits and veggies are amazing, but the meat is frightening!!!!  I am eating lots of fruits, veggies and carbs.  Pretty sure that will be my diet until we leave.  The market was so awe inspiring.  The meat was just laying out there for us to examine.  There was not a piece of ice or a cooler in site.  People were cutting up live chickens right in the market.  There were many bits of meat I did not recognize and I am not sure I want to recognize.  Obviously this is the way people eat, so they are used to it, but I am not very interested in trying authentic Chinese after seeing that.  The rice is good.

Gotcha day

 On our way to the civil affairs office. The traffic is CRAZY. See the guy pulling boxes down the middle of the street?  Cars just swerved around. Pedestrians just walk between cars.  Crazy!    

 Mike and I at the civil affairs office.  We were one of the last families to get our baby because she arrived late.  I couldn't believe it was her when they walked in because she is so tiny.

 Gotcha moment.  No other words needed.

 

She was so tiny and precious.  It was an amazing moment.  When I get back to civilization, I will blog about the whole journey so far, but with the crazy technology, it is a struggle to get much on here.  Just know, we are feeling God's presence, even in Communist China.  He is here and he is mighty.  Seeing baby Grace react with so much fear, even though her life is changing for the better, gives me such a vivid picture of us before we are adopted in the family of God. There is so much more in a life lived for Christ, but before we realize that, we are so lost and afraid.  Thank you God for adopting me!

Tuesday night.

May I begin by saying my blog has issues. Because of the many steps we have to take to get through the Chinese security, I can only do what I can do. I know you all just want pictures anyway, so here are a few. Hopefully I will be able to get more after I finish this post. 

This is baby Grace on day 2. We are trying to teach her to feed herself, hence the puff on my nose. From her expression, obviously she thinks her mama is crazy ;) .

She really seems to enjoy eating solids. She has never eaten them before. She has lived solely on formula mixed with rice cereal. Probably why she is 20 months old and only weighs 17 pounds.

This picture is taken at the civil affairs office after she officially became our daughter. She was snuggled right in. It is not like holding any other baby I have ever held. She has no idea how to be held. I am keeping her close to teach her, but we realize it will take time.

This is baby Grace on gotcha day with daddy and I and the three ladies that brought her 5 1/2 hours from her orphanage. Two of the women are nannies and the other is director of the orphanage. Grace was car sick and managed to catch cold on her way in as well as getting 4 molars right now. Needless to say, she has had a rough time. We are loving on her constantly and we see slight changes. We pray she continues to get used to us and starts to receive our love.

Hong Kong

Greetings from Hong Kong.  We are laying here trying to adjust to the time change, but my body is telling me it should be sleeping, not hanging out at 6:30 PM.  We got in late last night, and were able to go right to sleep, then we woke up and had a full day today.  We started out at Starbucks, and I would like you all to notice, we spent $59 at Starbucks on coffee.  The US dollar is worth 7.5 times as much as the Hong Kong dollar, but sometimes in the US, I feel like I am spending that much on coffee.  Starbucks is the same the world over, just in case you were concerned.  I have been able to order my exact same drink as I order back home, and it has tasted the same.  What a relief. 

After enjoying our coffee, we met with our guide, Matthew and took a tour of Hong Kong.  We were top of some "mountain" and were able to take pictures of the city.  You could actually see better than my picture is portraying, but it was pretty hazy.  The last month in the smoky northwest has prepared us for less than clear skies.  We were with 6 other families on our tour.  All of them are adopting with us and 2 families are adopting from the same province.  We will see each other get our children on Monday.  One family is on their second adoption, and the other is adopting their first child.  It will be so neat to experience this amazing time with familiar faces, since we have to be all the way over here without our friends and family.  It makes it less sterile.  Many of the families in the group went the non special needs route, and so have been waiting 6 plus years to get their child.  It is such a long journey for them.  We have been waiting a year and it has felt like an eternity.  (and don't laugh at my hair, it seems to be expanding in the humidity and wind)

 Another place we visited was a jewelry factory.  Mike kept exclaiming that the equipment the men were using to work on the jewelry was the same that his Dad and grandfather had worked on in their store.  It was neat to see that the trade has not modernized so much, and it is still done by hand with the same tools that have been used for decades. 

We also visited the Aberdeen (yes, that is the name of the town I was born in) fishing village.  The group was given the option of taking a quick boat tour, but since the motion of the bus was already making me quite queasy, Mike and I opted to walk the water front.  We saw many different people doing many different things.  I appreciated this woman that looked like she was preparing bait.  I took the picture from a distance, though I know she noticed me.  I enjoyed seeing her sitting their doing a task she probably does everyday.  It makes me feel less foreign.  This is where people live, just like I live in Washington.  I see people doing normal everyday things, and it calms me.  I have been so busy the last month getting ready to come here, it is nice to be able to relax and enjoy what is going on around us.  The people are just people and the city is just a city.  I may feel differently after we arrive in China tomorrow.  We'll see.  In th mean time, I am going to lay here and enjoy watching soccer on TV and waiting for the time to come when I will be able to skype with my kiddos back home.  Tomorrow we take the train into mainland China.  It is about a 2 hour ride, and we will be met at the train station by another CCAI rep.  They do a really good job of preparing us and keeping us to the correct schedule.  I am so very impressed with anyone that is organized and maintains a schedule.  Ask mom as she is home with a binder of instructions for my kids and their schedules :). 



Kelly household changes

Today was a big day and the beginning of a lot of changes at the Kelly house.  After enjoying 6 months with Nicci and Addi, it was time for us to say goodbye.  They left first thing this morning, and will be driving today and tomorrow back home to Colorado Springs.  So sad to see her go, but we are so thankful Joseph will be coming home soon and they can finally be a family.  We have loved getting to know our new niece and spending quality time with my sweet sister.  It will be a time in my life I will never forget, and I am so thankful we got it.  Ok, who wants to move in next ;)?  We are five days from leaving for China, and 9 days from holding our baby girl in our arms.  Actually nine days minus 15 hours, which is the time change from here to China.  I am hoping while we are there, we will be able to keep everyone updated on our blog.  I think we know the secret to being able to use our blog.  If not, we will pass info on through mom.  We arrive in Hong Kong, via Portland and Tokya, on Oct. 5th at 11:56 PM.  We will be in Hong Kong until Sunday the 7th when we will take a train to Guangzhou.  On the 8th, we get our baby girl and get to spend time getting to know her.  We officially become her parents on the 9th.  We also apply for her passport, so she can come back home with us.  We have a free day on the 10th, while paperwork is being processed, then we have a medical exam on the 11th.  The 12th we will spend filling out more paperwork, then we have two more free days.  We hope to enjoy the city, and spend lots of time getting to know baby Grace.  The 15th, we receive Grace's passport.  The 16th, we go to the US Consulate and finish up with the business end of the adoption.  The 17th, we receive Grace's visa to come to the US, then we take a van back to Hong Kong, where will stay over night and fly out first thing in the morning on the 18th.  We arrive home on the 18th, and get to introduce Grace to her family.  It looks like it will be a great trip.  I think we will be ready to come home and see our babies here.  I haven't ever been away from them for 14 days.  I am sure it will go quickly.  We are continuing to pray that Grace will have an easy transition and she will learn we are here to love her and make her part of our family forever.  Once again, I must thank my sweet Mom for willingly coming into our home and running our house while we are gone.  The kids are small compact bundles of energy and I know they can be exhausting.  Anyone that feels like it, check in on her and make sure she is alive and well.  We plan to Skype as often as we can, but it won't be the same as being able to call any time we want.  I have spent the last two weeks trying to prepare the kids and the house to make life as easy as possible for mom.  I will continue to think of things to do, but I also know I can't plan for everything.  Mom will do just fine.  My sweet friend game me the neatest necklace yesterday.  It has beads that represent each of my kid's birthstones, including Grace, set in a little wire nest.  I can't wait until I can get all 5 of my chickies home into the nest.

 Ainsley at Ballet

             Holden placed 9th with a 1 mile time of 7:35

 Brandt placed 8th with a 1 mile time of 6:40.  Wyatt didn't place this meet, but ran a 8:35 which is excellent for him.

My beautiful new necklace

We are going to enjoy our last weekend as a family of six.  It will be our last.  I am joyful for that.  We have 4 soccer games, church and AWANA, so a pretty typical weekend.  I plan to get everything packed or at least start.  We had a cross country meet on Thursday, and the boys all did very well.  They are having fun with their team.  Ainsley is back in ballet and gymnastics, and she is doing so well.  She is really starting to listen to her teachers and doing what they ask.  It is a nice change.

Here we come Grace

OK, we have plane tickets, one night of hotel reservations, and our conscientious adoption agency working on the rest of the details.  We leave Spokane International Airport on Oct. 4th for a trip that will change the lives of so many.  Our's, Grace's, everyone we come in contact with and explain the amazing journey we have been on.  While I was waiting this past summer, I think I lost sight of the big picture and what our small part in it is.  I was consumed by each step of the process and lost sight of the final destination.  We are approaching the final destination, and I stand in awe of my God and His amazing plan.  We are going to get our daughter.  She has been growing in our hearts for so long now. We saw her March 26th and we have not been the same since.  We have seen how you can love someone so much, even when you have never met her.  We have cried over the fact that we have not received a single update during the process just so we could get a glimpse of the child that has stolen our hearts.  When I say we, I mean Mike, myself, Brandt, Holden, Wyatt, and Ainsley.  We are all so in love with our baby Grace.  Not saying there won't be challenges as we adjust to another little one running around.  Ainsley has the most to lose.  She is currently our princess, and only daughter.  She will be sharing a room, and the spotlight.  We have been showering her with affection, but we are also prepared for some challenging behavior.  The boys are all prepared to defend their sweet sister if people give her a hard time because of the cl/cp.  They will be her little protectors.  We are also praying every day that our baby girl will understand the love we are so excited to give her.  She has been institutionalized since she was born.  We want her to quickly learn what it means to have a mom and dad meeting all her needs and loving her all the time.  We want her to learn to love her siblings and understand what it is to be a Kelly.  We want her to fall in love with us, like we have fallen for her.  If you wouldn't mind praying that with us, we would really appreciate it.  So here are the details.  We leave Oct. 4th and fly to Hong Kong.  We will be there until the 7th, then we will go to Guangzhou, China.  We will receive our baby girl on Oct. 8th and she will be ours at that point.  We have to go through several paperwork steps to receive her passport and visa, and then we have an appointment with the US Consulate in China on Oct. 16th to finalize the visa process.  We fly out of Hong Kong on Oct. 18th and return to Spokane the 18th.  I plan to keep this blog updated with pictures and stories from China, so be checking while we are gone.
So, life of course continues here at home.  The boys are back in school and doing great.  They all love their teachers and have settled back into a routine.  I miss them.  Soccer is in full swing, cross country has started and Ainsley has started gymnastics.  Her ballet class starts next week.  MOPS drive thru registration was today.  We start meeting every other week next month.  So in the middle of all this, we will be plopping our new baby girl.  I am sure she will just fit right in.  She will understand the chaos that is our life :) .

The kids have started a new game after watching the Ellensburg Rodeo over Labor Day weekend.

We also took some time to go and visit Manito park and take pictures of the kids.  We don't order school pictures, we just take individual pictures on our own during the fall.  The kids did great and were, of course, the cutest kids ever.
We sold our Yukon XL on the internet last week.  It was the craziest thing.  We sold it to someone that didn't even come out and test drive it.  He had it shipped out of here and to his house in Kansas City.  And yes, we were very careful and overly cautious, but we were super relieved when the check cleared.  It was pretty cool to be able to sell it and get what we want for it.  Needless to say, we are now looking for a new car.  We need a vehicle that has two bench seats to fit car seats better than the two captains chairs we used to have in the Yukon.  We are pretty selective in what we want, but we are also being very patient.  We want to get exactly what we want.  It has been fun to look around for a bit.  Mike may have found our new car in Salt Lake.  He is going to be there tomorrow, so is going to look at it.  Other than that, life just keeps going.  Inside, I am all butterflies waiting for the day we will hold our new daughter in our arms.  We can't wait for everyone to meet her and love her.

Still waiting

Still waiting, but in the meantime, life continues.  We had huge milestones last week.  Brandt started 5th grade, Holden started 3rd grade and Wyatt started 1st grade.

Aren't they the cutest little boys ever.  Of course I forgot my good camera at home, so these pics are from my phone.  Sorry for the blur, and no your eyes are not going bad.

We just returned from a great time at the Ellensburg Fair and Rodeo.  We have such a great time every year.  Mike's extended family gathers for the weekend.  We spend lots of time swimming, visiting, watching the rodeo and visiting the fair.   This year, I had 3 of my siblings and various family members come for the weekend as well.  It was great to get to see everyone and it is a bit of a letdown when it ends, it signifies the end of summer.  We are now ready to head into fall.

Doesn't Brandt look cute in his cowboy hat?  I managed to get all four to sit together for this picture.  This is my gator (Wyatt's nickname) driving a gator :)

Brandt decided to build a large raft in the pool.  This picture is a bit deceiving.  The entire weekend, the pool was full of squirming little bodies.  If you just saw this picture you would think it was a lonely pool.  Really not the case.  

So, I will let you know that I expect to hear this week when we will be traveling to China.  If we don't hear, you may not want to call.  Mike is leaving tomorrow so I won't have him to vent on.  Just be cautious and forgiving when dealing with me this next week.  If we do get travel approval, we will be leaving within 2 weeks probably.  My life will go into overdrive trying to get all the details of our trip and the kids lives in order in that amount of time.  Mom, I love you and am so thankful you are willing to take on our crazy crew for us when we leave.  I will have everything in order, I think.  I will alert everyone when we hear, if you don't hear me screaming, it will probably be via text or phone.  We are so excited.