Gotcha

today was a day that had us running the full gamut of emotions. all of them!

we went to breakfast at an amazing buffet. i was too upset and nervous to eat much. S had tummy trouble and had to leave to use the facilities several times.

we finally met our guide, kelly, and she told us our luggage(all of it) was at the concierge desk. it sustained some heavy damage, but everything was pretty much intact. i was so happy, one would think i won the publisher's clearinghouse grand prize, but changing out of three day old underwear was better than a million dollars-i tell you. 

next, we went to the bank and exchanged $5000 in cash. the bank had a "brinks type" truck come to deliver money. soldiers with assault rifles guarded the truck and walked the money through the bank. it was scary. at one point, one of the soldiers/guards turned around with his weapon and it pointed in my direction. i ALMOST hit the deck. he wasn't aiming for me(at least i don't think so)but he was carelessly wielding it. i would have taken pictures, but i didn't want to invite a bullet my way. culture shock!

then we went to lunch. here are pictures...

tofu with chinese broccoli

noodles with shrimp won ton soup

mashed pork and leek pan seared dumplings

marinated meat platter...S got to it before i took pics

the food is phenomenal. it has been expensive because we are eating in the hotel. we are too afraid to leave on our own. i have had enough adventure the last three days. i need to get calm again before i venture out into the big city.

then it was a short bus ride to the adoption affairs building to meet our girls. i was so nervous that i was shaking uncontrollably. our lives were forever going to be different.

then they started bringing the children to the three families in our group. it all happened so fast. there was not time to get good pictures or video. this is the best we could do.

bao xi yuan is in the blue and shen bao qing is in the purple. i don't remember much of the meeting. i didn't cry(i don't think) i think my conscious brain crashed and had to reboot. it took a few minutes for the shock to wear off. there was no fussing or crying from the children. they were really excited. they had been told they would be sisters a week or two ago.

we moved over to the sitting areas and i whipped out the nintendo ds game systems. they immediately figured out the camera feature and got busy taking pictures. i had to fill out a bunch of paperwork. i was so overstimulated that i couldn't remember any of our vital information like phone number or birth dates.

one of their friends, a girl who was named eve, was being adopted by a wonderful woman in our travel group named nancy and her daughter roxie. they are staying a few rooms down from us. the three girls were very excited to hear that. we loaned eve our other game system, but it did not have the camera feature. i felt bad for that, but grateful that they are were put at ease. of course, the games were such a distraction that it was hard to get the children to want to communicate with their new parents via translator.

we were given many pictures of them as small children and drawings they had done through the years. i haven't had the chance to look at them yet. it was too crazy. we heard a lot of information about them that i will share when i have a day with little to write about.

grandma beany and grandpa joe bought the game systems so the girls could communicate via a translating game. who knew that neither of them would know how to read pinyin? so that idea is blown. i am having a lot of trouble communicating with them. Xi  gets fresh when i can't understand...which is 99% of the time.

i was pleased by how smooth it all went, but am surprised at how much we will have to correct. they are wild, noisy, rude, disobedient, disrespectful, and messy. i hope it is just all the excitement. i think i have said no and careful and shhh more times today than i have in my entire child rearing years. 

some positive things about them...
bao xi yuan:
happy
funny
eager to learn

shen bao qing:
super smart
funny
strong
affectionate

dinner was so stressful. the waitresses only spoke Cantonese. our girls speak mandarin. the children wouldn't stay sitting and shouted often. i thought A was a messy eater...she looks dainty compared to these barbarians, lol.

i had to keep reminding myself that i didn't plant their "gardens" and it will take time and patience to nurture a cultivated and orderly garden. maria...i thought of you when the Chinese people started staring at us at dinner. i said to S, "yup, these are my children!" i will accept them-all of them. manners will be learned later.

i am totally intimidated by the huge task i have ahead of me.

after dinner they showered and then skyped their sisters and grandma at home. it was hard because E and A didn't really understand that i wanted them to engage their new sisters with vocab games, making silly faces, and other bonding games. E was afraid to say the wrong thing in mandarin. guess what? every time i say bao xi yuan's name, shen bao qing laughs at me. i think that means i am saying it wrong. we were instructed to pick western names for them. we are trying to pick ones close sounding to their chinese names. i'm taking a vote...please post your comments or suggestions...

sheyenne(she yen)
shannon
shianna (she anna)
shaina (shay na)
shoshannah

basha (baa sha)
jiara-doesn't sound like it, but i picked it before i knew who our child would be
bailey
bala
bali

GOD? ABBA LIEBER VATER? YOU REALLY THINK I COULD HANDLE THIS? YOU MUST KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT ME THAT I DON'T KNOW YET. I DOUBT I CAN PARENT THESE CHILDREN EFFECTIVELY. I KNOW THAT I CANNOT BY MY OWN POWER. PLEASE BE WITH ME. SEND HELP WHEN NEEDED AND GIVE ME THE COURAGE TO PERSEVERE WHEN I THINK I CAN'T GO ON ANYMORE. HELP ME TO LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY. HELP THEM TO ACCEPT ME. THANK YOU FOR THE BOND YOU ARE FORGING BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR FATHER. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING TO WATCH. I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRUST AND WILL WORK HARD TO NOT LET YOU OR THEM DOWN. YOU HAVE SHOWN US A MIRACLE BY PROVIDING ALL WE HAD NEEDED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. THIS BLESSING I DO NOT TAKE LIGHTLY. THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER.  AMEN.

i know this post is long, but i don't want to go to sleep until they are asleep. it is 11 PM and those precious buggers girls are still giggling and messing around. my eyes are going to fall out of my head!

jessemyn, they are wearing the pjs you gave them. they are so cute. i got an awesome photo, but it was stored in my internal memory instead of the SD card. i don't have my camera cord, so i will have to wait to post it until we get home. thank you to everyone who gave them gifts. we brought most of them with us to China. well, except for the scooters, pillows, blankets, sheets, ect.....

one last thing. they adore baba(daddy). they could care less about me. they have sat on his lap, kissed him, hugged him, held his hand, played with him, and thanked him. they refuse to let me touch them and duck when i try to kiss or hug them. i am patient. i will wait. they did allow me the honor of helping them shower and get dressed for bed. i tended to their wounds. they have alot of abrasions and bruises. not sure where they all came from yet.

ok i think they are almost asleep. nope still giggling. mama is going to need a serious nap tomorrow. guess i'll go read mom's nook and see if i am in bed they might fall asleep.

thank you everyone for your prayers and concern for us through the last four days. i was held up by feeling your love when i almost gave in and bought a ticket on the first flight outta here. i am so thankful for all my dear friends.