Our Travel day to Guangzhou

Sleeping in my arms at Green Lake Park. (notice her hands.... so adorable! )

Street vendor selling raw coconut milk. The lady put a hole in coconut and stuck a straw in it. Instant drink! It taste like milk, not very sweet.

Braelyns ticket out of China, her passport. There was a minor mistake so we had to go there in person on our way to the airport and pick it up.

Saying goodbye to Paul at the airport. We loved him we want him to come and visit us in Michigan. Jim and I both cried saying goodbye, he said we were like his family. We are going to miss him, he was the man! ( that's what we called him :)

Guess who likes to steal Blake's ipad and headphones? Good thing she is cute!

Walking around with Brody in the Guangzhou airport .

Today was another emotional day, leaving Braelyn's province. Taking her away from everything she knows, the smells, the sounds, the people gives me mixed feelings. I had tears in my eyes as I carried her onto the plane to leave. Couldn't help but think of what we are taking her away from and what we can give her back home. We are so blessed that God has chosen us to be her family. It was also hard to leave Paul, our guide, he was Awesome!  We would love for him to come and visit us. He said next time we come we need to find him. We hope someday to bring Braelyn back to Kunming to see her province. We exchanged email addresses to keep in contact.

Our flight went great, she slept for a while and traveled well as did the other children. Our hotel in Guangzhou is sweet, the kids were pretty excited as was little Braelyn. She was wound up when we arrived at our hotel. A great sign that she is very comfortable with us. She calmed down after a quick bath and went to sleep. So far she has been a great sleeper, I guess she is a little like her mommy already! haha 

Safe travel day to Guangzhou

No time for words, off to the medical exam, we will update it again later.  Enjoy the pictures.

Last full day in Kunming

Today we visited the Kunming zoo.  It was a perfect day, 80 and sunny.  Brock was amazed with all the Peacocks we saw wandering thru the zoo.   It was right down town Kunming

Taking a break from walking around with the kids enjoying some ice cream.

In the van riding to the Notary office, yesterday we found a mistake in the paperwork that has to go with us to Guangzhou for the US Consulate appointment for her VISA to get in to the good 'ol USA.  These are my favorite three girls - Dad writing this tonight

Dad and Braelyn waiting at the Notary office while they change the paperwork

We walked from the hotel to a Chinese restaurant, no English spoken here, Paul ordered for us before he left us for the day.  It was very good food and we ate the whole meal with chopsticks.

We now are back to high chairs and cleaning up the floor before we leave restaurants.  She has been sitting very good so far at the places we have been.  

She seems a little more content with all of us every day.  Blaire seems to be her favorite one to go to. Must be the sister bonding already in full force.  Last night we all slept very good.  We did what we don't like to do - we put her in the crib and not in bed with us.  If you know much about us we usually like to have the kids in bed with us when they are young, and we were told she had slept with her foster  mom.  I(Jim) gave her a bottle and put her in crib, she made two whimpers and right to sleep.  Much different than the 2 previous nights.  After visiting her orphanage and realizing that is how she has been going to bed she feel comfortable doing it this way.  For her nap today, Lynae gave her a bottle and set her in her crib and same result, big two hour nap.  While she napped Lynae and I went out looking for keepsakes for Braelyn in a few nearby stores.  The kids stayed back to watch baby and Brock, Brody and Blaire did some homework and played catch by the pool again.  

She rolls over when laying and playing on the bed but does not seem to crawl at all.  Just today I would hold her hand and she would walk around the room and down the hall way.  Lynae does not like us teaching her to walk, she wants her to stay a little precious baby!  Her personality is also starting show a little more each day.  She has been smiling and sometimes even laughing a little, each day brings a little more of her out.  The kids are really enjoying playing with her, but dad is wondering how long that will last!  She has eight teeth and has been a great eater.  Anything we put in front of her she will try so we are happy for that.  She wants all the kids snacks when they are eating them, and they are good to share with her.  

Tonight we just hung out and I picked up beef sandwiches from the Blue Bird restaurant across the street.  My wife is so ready for a turkey sandwich or the Southwest Wrap from the Trestle Stop with ICE water and cold milk.  We head to Guangzhou tomorrow in the afternoon for our last stay before coming home.  We will miss Kunming city, Braelyns hometown and our guide Paul.  We have had a great time here.  Thanks for all your comments, emails and prayers thus far.  They are all read, but not all responded to.  The internet is sometimes spotty and we have been either busy or tired.

  

3rd day with Braelyn!

Braelyn playing on the bed in the hotel room checking out her new siblings!

We visited Braelyn's orphanage today. Where she spent her first 6 months at (the other 7 was in foster care). 

 This is a picture of the inside of the orphanage in the building where she stayed at.

 Here is one of the buildings outside her orphanage. It was very pretty and there was a lot of beautiful flowers there.

Paul with Braelyn in the car.  He was speaking chinese to her and saying her chinese name to her(Long Yongyun).

The kids were happy to have a some-what American lunch at Pizza Hut! The food was very good but a little spicy. Very nice place though!

Brody pitching to Blake in the empty pool, for coach Ken! :)  Can't find any green space so they went to the pool! 

Braelyn fell asleep on mom's lap on the way back from the orphanage. 

Today was a very nice day, around 80 and sunny. We got to tour the orphanage that Braelyn stayed at for the first 6 months. It was very clean and well kept up. We were able to see the room full of cribs where she slept and met some of the caretakers that remembered her! There was even an outdoor playground. We were very very impressed with the complex. We were told it is one of the nicest orphanages in China!  After leaving the orphanage Paul took us down town to check out a few stores, Nike and a few electronic stores.  Then we walked to Pizza Hut for lunch and then walked for a half hour back to the hotel(the kids are getting tired of walking all over).  Lynae and Braelyn took a good nap and the boys went to the pool area to play catch.  We don't see much if any green space, no room for the Chineese kids to do any activities like that.  We are very blessed to live where we do and I know we take if for granted.  Baby had beef congee from the hotel restaurant and we are going to walk thru Green Lake Park which is about a half mile down the street.  The kids are really missing their friends and are looking forward to being back home.

Video of Gotcha Day

Here is a video of our Gotcha Day.  We were signing and filling out our paper work when all of a sudden Paul says "here is your baby."  With Blakes help we have put this on the blog.  

Our day in Kunming

Brody bonding with his new little sister

Daddy and Braelyn playing games. She is starting to feel more comfortable with us.

First breakfast, mommy feeding her congee. After a so so night of sleep. She slept in between Jim and I.  She seemed afraid to fall asleep not comfortable with her surroundings. She would sleep when we walked with her but woke anytime we sat down. We think she was not sure who she would wake up to. Poor sweetheart! It was as hard on her as it was on us!! 

Our van touring us around Kunming. Baby Braelyn fell asleep because she didn't sleep much last night.

Paul took us to a huge childrens store, next to Walmart. It has been raining the last 2 days.

Daddy and Braelyn crashed out! A huge nap of 3 hours!!  :)

Today was a day of touring around Kunming and bonding with Braelyn. We can see a huge difference in how she interacts with us. She is feeling more comfortable with us and is playing games and smiling. Jim and I even got her to laugh! The afternoon was spent back at the hotel. The kids were ready to "chill" and Braelyn needed a good nap and so did mom and dad.  Another emotional day for Jim and I. Several tears were shed but it was very evident that this is Gods plan for our family. 

Gotcha Day

This is the day the Lord has made,  we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

While filling out paperwork,  suddenly Paul said "here is your baby" and a lady handed her to me! It was an indescribable feeling! Not much of a warning but was probably better or I would have been a basket case. 

Finally in my arms!

Looking at her daddy.

Sisters :)

Daddy and his baby.

Big brother Brody getting his turn to hold Braelyn.

Brock is Awesome at getting her toys to play with. 

Applying for  Braelyns passport.

Paul getting Braelyns footprint .

And baby makes 7 !

Nothing more precious than a sleeping baby. 

Our guide took us to Walmart to get formula and some baby food. Braelyn reached out for Blake to hold her.  I'm thinking she could be a "chick magnet" for him back home.

So our guide and driver picked us up at 8:30 this morning and took us to the civil affairs building. Looked more like a apartment building to me. He took us up to the 2nd floor where we immediately had us start paperwork. Earlier when I asked him what time Braelyn was coming he wasn't sure . So I figured we would get all paperwork done then she would arrive. Not the case. I was concentrating on the documents and all of the sudden turned around and a lady handed her to me! I didn't realize she was there. The kids had figured it out because this is one of the outfits we had sent in her care packages. So of course I take her and hug her, while crying. Paul quickly says "more paperwork" so I hand her to Blaire. Lets just say " she LOVES Blaire! She is willing to go to any of us but much prefers Blaire! She didn't cry at all just takes it all in. We have been praying for a smooth transition from foster family to our family and that is exactly what we have been given! God is so good!  Of course as you know Jim has been waiting to get his hands on Braelyn. He soon worked his magic and had her in his arms!!  We quickly finished paperwork and took a adoption picture they needed of Jim, myself and Braelyn. "We are done" said Paul. A lot easier than we thought it would be.

Next stop was to apply for Braelyns passport. So they took us to another building and we took her passport picture and filled out more paperwork and we were done. It all went very quick. Paul had told us last night it could take hours to do if they were very busy. We were relieved when we were done so quickly! Another answer to our prayers :)

I asked Paul to call Orphanage to find out what kind of formula Braelyn is used to. So he then took us to Walmart to get some formula and baby food. Paul is Awesome . Funny personality keeping us laughing and not to mention a great translator. We would be lost without him!

Back at the hotel we are able to feed Braelyn , she is a good eater as you can tell in the pictures. She's not so sure about taking a bottle from us but that will come. She is doing incredibly well seeing as that everything she has ever known has been taken away from her.  She is feeling more and more comfortable with us as the day goes by. We are thanking all of you who have prayed for us but most of all we are Thanking the Good Lord for being with us through out this journey of adoption. There have been so many "blessings" or "God hunts" we have seen and I am quit sure this is just the start! 

Enjoy the pictures and don't worry we will keep them coming!! We had  more to load but would not allow us to. This is just the beginning !  :)