In Henan....15 hours to go!

We have safely arrived in Zhengzhou City, Henan. I am already in love with Lily's Provence. It feels very different from Beijing. The traffic is crazy. It is sort of like a fluid chaos that somehow works. Crossing the street for dinner this evening was interesting. Ordering dinner was even more interesting, but we had fun trying to figure it out. Our hotel is very nice. For those of you who know how meaningful roses are to me, you'll be happy to here that there is a beautiful rose garden on the hotel grounds. They seem out of place in this busy city, but they are so bright and beautiful.

It was an exciting day that once again began at 3am. We just cannot seem to sleep any later then that. It was cold and raining in Beijing this morning, and both Mike and I felt very ready to leave for this part of our trip. This morning at breakfast, all of us families were talking babies!


We boarded our flight for Zhengzhou City at 10am. To say that we were excited would be a major understatement. As the plane took off, my thoughts were of Lily, and how long we have traveled to get to her. We are so close!

 Arriving in Lily's Provence.

 We were so happy to see our smiling CCAI guide there to greet us. We actually have two guides to help with paperwork, appointments, and of course, the babies. Yisha and Rita have already been so helpful, and they are staying at the hotel with all of our travel group.

 This is our hotel room. If you look closely, you will see what my eyes first saw when we walked into the room.

 A beautiful rose.

Our guides had a few surprises for us. Yisha informed all of us that instead of tomorrow afternoon, we would in fact be receiving our babies at 9:30 tomorrow morning! She also had updated information on all of the babies, and here are a few things that we learned about Lily.

She is eating some table food, like porridge, rice and noodles. She is still on formula. She prefers her beverages to be flavored. She takes a 2 hour nap everyday. She sleeps through the night. She loves to take a bath. She is lively and gets along with others. If she cries,  holding her and patting her will settle her down. Cakes and sweets make her happy. She is afraid to stay in a room by herself. She is starting to learn to walk if an adult holds her hands. She likes little animals such as little cats and dogs.

These were direct quotes from her caretakers. Are you in love yet? We are!

We did learn something that surprised me. A few weeks ago, she was moved from her orphanage to a foster home. Honestly, I am not exactly sure why, or what to think of that. One of our guides thought that it was done to better prepare her for leaving. It makes me sad for her, it seems a lot of loss for a little one to process in such a short time. Please keep Lily in your prayers tonight, as she for the last time, falls asleep without her forever family. We think that we are prepared for anything, and tomorrow cannot come soon enough. I so badly want to love on my sweet baby girl.

We will try to sleep tonight, and if I do manage to, my dreams will surely be filled with what is about to happen. Tomorrow, we will be holding our baby girl.