I love these kids so much.

I love these kids so much.

I can't even think about leaving them in less than a week.

Thankfully I don't have to leave them now and I am going to savor every moment with them that I can. 

Our morning was pretty normal. Breakfast and then we headed to the orphanage at about 7:50. We started with the older kids and took them outside like we yesterday. We decided that working with the older kids was best in the morning because that's when it is the coolest and we can go outside for a little bit and it is also when we have the most energy. The afternoons are mostly spent in the baby playroom upstairs, which is very nice since it is air-conditioned!

We brought balloons for the kids to play with & Annie even made some fun animals, hats, swords etc. They really seemed to like the balloons, until they popped…then they got a little bit scared. We also brought some more of the chalk out and drew with that on the sidewalk.

Earlier in the morning we decided it would be best to take shifts of 2 to go upstairs and spend time with the other babies that are usually upstairs by themselves (John included). When it was my time to go upstairs I was pretty excited to see John since I hadn't seen him all morning. He has been getting so close to stand up and walk on his own, but since he is blind his balance is off and he really has to trust that someone is there to help him. I started walking around the room with him while he held my fingers. He is starting to go really fast and I finally decided that I would try to set him on the ground and help him get up. At first I let him hold my fingers and walk the couple of steps toward me but a couple of minutes later he was getting the hang of it and started to do it…ON HIS OWN. I was so excited! Even if it was only a couple of steps. He seemed to love it and would stand up, walk a few steps to me and then fall into my arms and giggle. I wanted to cry because I was just so happy. It seems to me that sometimes the nannies give up on him and some of the other kids because of their special needs. I know they truly do care for them, but there are so many kids, I know it's hard on them. I'm just so happy that I was able to be there for some of John's first couple of steps by himself. Hopefully he will be able to walk even more by the time we have to go. I did get a video, even though he didn't walk very far in it and wanted to hold my hand for some of it; I will try to post it though if the internet will let me.

After a little while in the baby room playing with John and some of the other babies, including a sweet little girl that just wouldn't stop smiling and mimicking me; Charlie and Karla came up to switch with us.

The older kids were now inside in the downstairs classroom and had just finished getting their faces painted. We decided to start a simple craft with construction paper, cotton balls, colored pom-poms, and some glue. We all had a glue bottle and would just dab some on the paper so that the kids could stick the cotton balls and pom-poms on the paper. It was so simple, but they loved it and it kept them calm for a little while, which was a nice break for us.

Eventually that craft ended because we ran out of cotton balls and pom-poms and we just decided to let the kids color some and play with their (not so well kept & clean) toys.

I got to sit with Xing Xing, the 6-year old little girl that I talked about the other day. She has really warmed up to me and I just sit on one of the chairs while she bounces on a bouncy horse. She has some autism tendencies but bouncing on the horse really seems to calm her down; she can't stop smiling and laughing while she was on it.

At around 11 we decided to head back upstairs and some of the other girls stayed downstairs to clean up and clean some of their toys because they were so dirty.

Another family came today to visit the orphanage. They had a little 11-year old girl that came with them that was adopted from Chenzhou when she was a baby. It was cool to have been able to see 3 kids now that were adopted from the orphanage. We spent a little time talking to them and then played with the kids until 11:30.

After we left we went to a Laundromat to see how much it would be to do laundry there vs. the hotel. Less than $1 for each item and then we can pick them up the next day…we will definitely be bringing our laundry there later. We ended up eating at the hotel for lunch and then some people went to the store, but Megan and I stayed back to catch up on blogging and look through pictures.

Later tonight, the man director, Mr. Ren and his friends are taking us out to dinner because they are so interested in what we have done for the orphanage. They are supposedly the head of the youth in the communist party or something like that…from what it seems like they are very important and are interested in what we are doing and think it is really neat. So please pray that later tonight when they pick us up and take us to dinner that everything will go smoothly and maybe we will even have a chance to share some things with them.

Will try to blog later about our afternoon with the babies and our dinner with Mr. Ren and his friends!

Crazy Kids, Birthday Cake Oreos, & Unexpected Visitors Part 2

Our second half of the day was spent with the babies. We were there from 3:00-5:30 and we decided that it would be best to be with the babies and give the older kids a break…well maybe it was just more that WE needed a break from them. They are so crazy this year, but just as precious as ever.

While we were in the baby room they brought in quite a few new babies that we haven't seen yet, so that was exciting that we got to see some new faces J. Two of the girls that were there last year are still at the orphanage, but Shannon has talked to the mom and family that is planning on adopting them both. They are so sweet, but sadly one of them is walking all by herself and the other one still cannot sit up by herself. It's sad to see that one is so much further along then the other, but I'm sure once they are both home they will be much better and closer developed.

I also got to sit and lay with Shawn's baby boy from last year that she called Siu. He is so precious and loves to cuddle. However, later we figured out when his bottle came and he refused it that he was really hot and I'm pretty sure he had a fever. Hopefully he will be feeling better today and maybe I'll be able to see him again!

When we were in the baby room we got to meet 3 families that had come back to China with their adopted daughters so that they could visit and see where they lived when they were younger. It was really cool to see the 2 girls that were from Chenzhou interact and play with the babies and older children. Their parents were so sweet and one of the moms had one of the most interesting stories…She is Chinese and grew up in China but when she was 25 she was allowed to go to the states to be an exchange visitor and help teach at some schools. While she was there, the Tiananmen Square Massacre happened and she was too scared to go back for multiple reasons. She ended up being able to stay and she met her husband in the states. They got married and eventually, 11 years later, she finally went back to China as an American citizen and got to see her friends. She now goes back almost every year and is the mom to one of the girls who was adopted from Chenzhou 9 years ago.

As we finished feeding the babies, we realized that it was already 5:30 and had to go back to the hotel. We said our goodbyes and decided that we would go to the dumpling place across the street that we really liked last year. It wasn't nearly as good as we remembered, but we still had some very good food!...Including two plates of steamed bread and 3 bowls of condensed milk, our favorite. J

After dinner we all went back to Shannon's room to have our devotion that Molly led. We listened to some music and played a game of hot potato. A couple of minutes later we got an unexpected knock on our door.

We all looked to the door and to our surprise, it was the orphanage directors! They had come to ask us to help some of the older kids get tuition for school. Four of the boys had gone to public school at the beginning of last year but didn't like it because they got made fun of for their special needs. So, half way through last year's school year they asked for sponsorships so that the boys could go to a private school that happens to be in the old orphanage behind the new one. People from all over the US ended up helping and the boys got to finish their school year at the new private school where they like it a lot and are some of the top boys in the school.

So, the orphanage directors came to ask us to help them find sponsors for the boys again this year and maybe even the girls. It is a little less than $600 for each kid to attend the school and have everything paid for. I'm not sure exactly how to sign up etc. but please pray for these children to find sponsors and maybe even you are interested. Once I find out more information I will be sure to share, but that is all I know for now.

They ended up staying for an hour or so and we talked about many things that they needed and what we were planning. By the end we were all exhausted, but we were happy we got a lot of our questions asked and we are excited to see what is to come in these kids' futures.

That's all for now…I will hopefully post again tonight! xoxo

Crazy Kids, Birthday Cake Oreos, & Unexpected Visitors Part 1

Our first full day in Chenzhou was definitely a good day. Our morning started off at around 6:30 and we had breakfast at 7:15 in our hotel. They have a Cantonese breakfast where they have carts with food and you pick and choose what you would like and then put it at our table with the lazy susan, like everywhere else, and you pick and choose what you want. We had some yummy pot sticker type things, sticky rice, fried noodles, as well as some other dumplings and stuffed breads…and of course, our favorite, steamed bread, sadly no sweet condensed milk at breakfast though.

After breakfast we headed to the orphanage and started our day with the older kids. They were very, very hyper yesterday when we saw them so we thought we would take them outside to allow them to let out some energy. We had chalk, bubbles, and beach balls for them to play with. Skye, the older girl with CP was the most responsive I have ever seen her. She would lift her head up, look and smile at me, and even stood up from her chair and walked really fast when Li You brought out some watermelon for them. I remember from last year that she absolutely loved the bubbles, so when she saw that we had more she instantly lit up. I sat with her for quite awhile and just let her blow some of the bubbles, she seemed so happy.

Later Molly and I went upstairs to get some waters and decided to stop by the room where John, Al (little 3 year old boy who had a cleft lip repaired), and some other little babies were all alone. We had noticed that these 6 would usually be left in that room on their own or sometimes with all of the older kids being crazy and trying to mess with them. It's really sad to see how they are just left there a lot of the time while 2 nannies are in the baby playroom with 5-6 babies max. I just don't understand why John and the other 5 are on their own or with the older kids when they clearly are too small. I am planning to find out and see if we can at least keep them away from the older kids because they are just too rough with them and the poor babies have scratches and bruises all over them. While we were in that room Molly and I decided that we would try to stretch some of the babies legs. Two of them are just so tiny and their legs are starting to get stiff so I definitely think the stretching helped them and one of them was smiling the whole time, she loved it.

Once it started to warm up a bit more and the sun came out we decided to take the kids inside to their downstairs classroom and do some coloring. Most of the kids really enjoyed it, especially one of the older girls that has a problem with her legs and walks on all fours or with her walker most of the time. She is definitely an artist!

While everyone else was coloring I noticed Xing Xing (Shen Shen) all on her own in the corner. She has been returned twice to the orphanage sadly, and she is very shy. We think she might have some type of autism because she is 7 now and still doesn't talk. She also has a slight limp and doesn't bend her right knee, but she manages to get around just fine. She is super sweet even though she is shy and I just couldn't help but to go sit by her for awhile. I met her for the first time 2 years ago and she has come out of her shell more every time but she is still very, very small and quiet. I showed her one of the bounce horses by her and she got on and started bouncing with the music we were playing, she definitely liked the music and I think it calmed her down. She started laughing and smiling and I couldn't help not to laugh with her, she is such a sweetheart.

After the kids got tired of coloring we decided to pull out the stickers and tattoos they seemed to love them! However, after awhile I was getting exhausted and there seemed to be too many people downstairs with the older kids so I decided to go upstairs with Annie and see the other babies. I went in to see John and the little babies. John was his usual giggling self and even had some corn to eat and then later play with the leftover cob, he was seeming to enjoy himself…just laughing at everything and waiting for me to throw him back and put him upside down. The nannies came in not long after and started to feed them so we headed back downstairs and helped put on hair bows for all the older girls, they absolutely adored them, it was precious. Before we knew it, it was 11:30 and we said our goodbyes and said we would see them soon!

We started walking back to the hotel and decided that we would eat at the place the orphanage directors took us the past 2 years since it was so yummy and it was on the way. During our lunch there was a huge birthday party going on in the room next to us for a man who had just turned 70. It was pretty fascinating to see how they celebrate birthdays in China, even though it was really loud and smoky from all of the cigarettes. At lunch we had a bunch of really delicious dishes, including cauliflower in a really tasty sauce as well as our favorite from last year at the restaurant, fried banana. It is in a big pile and it's banana that has been fried in a sugary caramel breading, it's served hot and is very hard to take some from the plate, but it is so worth it.

Once lunch was over we all headed back to the hotel to take naps, blog (which I obviously didn't do then), and just talk in each others rooms. Annie, Charlie, Megan, Makenna, and I all went into Charlie and Megan's room and just talked and looked at pictures until we had to go back. We also discovered birthday cake oreos which are so delicious…but supposedly they had these in the states for oreo's birthday and I just never knew. I will definitely be bringing back some just in case we don't still have them at home.

This blog is getting really long…so thanks to those who actually got this far J & if not and you are just reading this, it is a ok. Thanks for at least reading some of it! I will post the other half of our day later today when we get back from our morning session at the orphanage. Until then, I am off to breakfast and love on some kids! 

Exhausted.

As I sit here and type this in my rock hard bed I can barely keep my eyes open. It's 9:15 PM here and we just finished our devotion time which turned into a meeting with the directors. They surprised us around 8 and asked if we could discuss some of the kids that needed help. Long story short, we ended up talking for quite awhile.

I still have not taken a shower today and I can smell myself and it is not a pleasant smell from being with the kids and babies all day long. So, with that being said, I will start my blog of today tonight but will most likely not finish. I have so much to say I just don't have the words to type it right now, let alone the energy. I promise to write some tonight and finish tomorrow after lunch during our break so that I can be back on schedule by tomorrow night!

Sorry again, I can't wait to put everything into words and share it with you. It was a very fun and eventful day for us. Talk to you all soon. xoxo

I Thought Wrong

We arrived in Chenzhou today and Fawn told us that the orphanage director said that we could come this afternoon. We were all so excited and once we got off the bus we went straight to our room and dropped our bags off so that we could go. It was weird how we all (everyone who has gone) remembered exactly how to get there. You could tell that we were all walking as fast as we could to get there sooner.

 Once we arrived we were greeted by the woman orphanage director. She recognized most of us and it was so awesome how our relationships have all formed and grown over the years. Some of us started crying right then as we saw her… but I really thought that I would be ok. I didn't think that I would actually ever cry while I was there, except maybe when we had to say goodbye. She (Ms. Wang, pronounced Wong) took us into the meeting room and we got to all sit down at the table and enjoy watermelon. Fawn then translated for Ms. Wang and we got to talk about all that we have done and how happy that we were back. We talked about setting up interviews for the kids so that we can better advocate and answer questions about them to adoptive parents. After some more talking and figuring out when we would be able to visit (8:00-11:30 & 3:00-5:30) Ms. Wang asked us if we would like to see the kids then. We all immediately got up and went to the elevator to go to the 5^th floor. As we went down the hallway we heard the babies' cries and giggles and as we got further down we were greeted by all of the older kids.

Some of us headed into the baby rooms to see some familiar faces but I immediately saw John on his rocking horse in the big kid room.

My heart dropped.

Last year I truly thought that it might have been the last time I was ever going to see him.

I walked over to him and was bombarded by some of the older kids that recognized us. They were SO CRAZY today and there were some new faces that were just as excited to see us.

My heart was still with John and I just wanted to hold and kiss him.

As I finally got through some of the older kids I got to see John.

He had scratches and bruises all over his face and arms and he was on of the skinniest toddlers in there.

That's when the tears slowly started coming, but I managed to hold it in and see Li You, the head nanny, and say hi and smile. Fawn said that she remembered that John was my little boy and was glad I was back.

I had pretty high hopes for John, I wish I didn't but I just couldn't help it.

I had thought that he would be talking some more and at least doing more babbling than he did last year when he was in the baby room.

I had thought that he would be able to sit and stand up on his own and hopefully walk at least for a little while.

I mean, he is a 3 year old, I didn't think that was too much to hope for…but I thought wrong.

Sadly John still can't stand on his own or walk for that matter, but he can at least sit, for the most part by himself and stand with someone holding his hands. I am definitely thankful for that. He is babbling a little bit more, but still not much.

As I found all of this out and saw that he wouldn't let me hold him, I simply lost it, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer, I had to let them out. This poor boy that is now 3 years old can't do the things that a 3 year old can do.. sure he is blind but he shouldn't be characterized by his disability.

After sitting with Sky, an older girl with cerebral palsy, and holding her hand for awhile I settled down and loved on her. Poor girl just sits on her own all day with her head down. It's so cool to see how she lights up when someone holds her hand.

John finally let me hold him and he started giggling and smiling just like his old self. I missed him so much, and even though I wish the circumstances were different, the only thing I can do is pray for him and pray that a family will adopt him. I did find out that he is on the list, so I will definitely be fighting and advocating for this sweet little boy that stole my heart.

Ok well it is late now and even though I wish I could write more that's all for tonight, I need to sleep since it's almost 10. Up at 6:30 tomorrow! I will try to write again tomorrow night about our first full day at the orphanage.

Love you all!

PS. Hope this somewhat makes sense… it's late & I'm so exhausted, so sorry if it doesn't!

Shanghai Day 2 & Lots of Travelling

Our second day in Shanghai was a lot of fun, definitely my favorite day we were there… because we went shopping ;) We went to the Bund early in the morning but it was just so hot and humid that we were drenched so fast. It was very cool to see all of the architecture though and especially the tower that is so famous.

After we finished at The Bund we got back on the bus and we went to a mall/market that we asked about because some of us really wanted to find some good knock offs! And oh boy, we definitely did. I know some of us were in heaven, including me. It was very similar to the Silk Market in Beijing that we went to the past 2 years so most of us were pretty familiar with the atmosphere. Everywhere you went there were purses, wallets, bags, phone cases, knick-knacks, just about anything you could think of.

 It was the normal process, "Oh, you are very pretty girl, I give you very good price, student morning price." Then they would type in some huge number into their calculator and we would gape at them. They would then ask for us to give them a price then have the same shock we showed them when we typed in a much lower price. In the end almost all of us got close to the deals that we wanted…and probably bought more than we needed. Especially since after we leave Chenzhou we can only have one carry-on per person, and we have to fit all of our belongings in it so that we can take the train to Hong Kong.

 Later that night we decided we just wanted to order pizza from Pizza Hut and eat it in Shannon's room since we had to be up so early the next morning to catch our flight to Changsha. We had planned on just ordering cheese and pepperoni pizza but we later found out when we arrived that our guide had also ordered us seafood. It was not the best smelling pizza I have ever smelt, that was for sure. She also ordered us 2 boxes of a Hawaiian type pizza with sausage, which wasn't that bad by the time we got the guts to try it. In the end it was a successful pizza night and we got to spend time with each other, do a devotion, and just talk about what was to come. I think it was really good for us as a team to bond.

 The next morning…well this morning…as I'm typing it, it seems like it was forever ago. Anyways, our wake up call was at 4:30 and we had to be down in the lobby by 5:15 all packed and ready to go! We hopped on the bus with our breakfast to go and went to go check our bags in. We all brought a large suitcase with donations for the orphanage that we are planning on leaving in Chenzhou and then we all have a carry-on and backpack. Well, this morning Shannon's Walmart duffle bag started to rip, we were scared that when we went on the plane it would break and lose everything. So when we got to the gate she had to pay to saran wrap her whole duffle bag. It was pretty funny looking, but ended up working so that's all that matters.

 So at 7:40 we were off to Changsha on the plane and it took about an hour and a half. When we landed we got our luggage and went to the bus, which took us to a McDonalds at the Changsha train station. We all got our meals and some of us even got oreo mcflurrys and oreo/mocha or caramel mcflurrys, different, but still good!

 After that it was onto the bus for a 4/5 hour bus ride to Chenzhou. Our driver was quite the impatient man, which was ok with us because we got there safely and faster than most people would have. It was definitely a very bumpy drive though. I did manage to catch a quick nap, which I am very thankful for now since I am somehow still awake at 8:45 PM. So that is all for now… hopefully in a few minutes I'll be able to write a little about the short time we were able to spend at the orphanage today.

Thanks for all the prayers.

 Elyssa 

Shanghai Pictures

Yu Yuan Gardens