The room is quiet, and I was able to get Norah down for a nap on her own today - a HUGE milestone, as she has been on me for 3 days (bonding) - which is precious in it's own way - but it is also nice to be able to blog for a little bit, eat some lunch and touch base back home. We miss home - and we are only halfway through the trip. On one hand, I'd love to board the next plane to the US. On the other hand, I know the Lord uses this time we are here to help create a lasting bond between us and our Sweet Norah. We have no other demands or priorities right now - in fact - our room is cleaned daily, our laundry is done as needed and all our meals (2 per day) are cooked for us. This allows us to completely focus on Norah. It is a gift.
Norah is doing so well. Everyday is a big improvement from the previous. For the first 2 days she did not walk, talk, point, crawl, eat, drink, or really even move. We were at a loss as to how to best take care of her. She was dehydrated and had some stomach problems.....we prayed, asked for prayer back home, and are so thankful that day 3 she turned a corner. She began eating and gained some strength, and by that night walked to dinner holding my hand. Now that she is eating, she seems more aware of her surroundings, looks us in the eye a little more and is showing us she is 2 and has the ability and new-found energy to throw quite the tantrum.
Today has been really nice - we had nothing on the schedule. We ate breakfast at the hotel (again, Norah ATE well - congee, oatmeal and mashed bananas), went to a local park for a few hours, then headed back to the hotel for Norah to get some lunch in the room and a nap.
As for eating, we are still trying to figure out how to best feed her. She does not feed herself at all. If we hand her cereal, cookies, crackers, she either holds them or throws them. She will really only eat very mushy foods. She can choke easily, so we are very careful and go slowly. No wonder she is such a lil peanut!!
Joel and I are doing well. This trip has been great for us, and he has been such a servant to me. Norah prefers me right now (though we are always working towards her gaining Joel's trust), so when we are eating meals or needing to go somewhere, Joel has been by my side, serving me in anyway he can. He has also taken care of all of the details of each day - paperwork, money exchanging, finding food for us, running to the 7-11 for more snacks or instant lunches. Truly, I feel so blessed. Even in the hardest of moments -when Norah is quite upset and we cannot sooth her, Joel is right there.....
We have met some really neat people at our hotel. For dinner, we have been eating at the "free" appetizer hour (save every penny we can right now). Each night we go and visit with them. They both work for 7-11 and we were able to share with them what a blessing this convenient store has been to us on our travels to China. In our province for Naomi, it was a lifesaver. As well, this trip it has proven to be consistent and we know when we see the sign that we can go pay fare price for a drink or snack. I got to ask them, as they were literally designing a new slurpee cup lastnight, if the ice blended in with the slurpee was filtered (we cannot drink the water here nor have any ice, due to the parasites). He assured me that the ice was UV treated and that it was safe. BONUS!!!!!! Of course, I already had one and plan to enjoy a few more before we leave. It did wonders for my sore throat today.....
Tomorrow we will leave this hotel and travel about 10 minutes away to another hotel on a small island. There we will meet up with our dear friends, Brian and Heather. We can't wait to see them and meet their lil Lainie Mei! As well, we have been e-mailing back and forth with a few other families and will get to meet them!! Saturday-Wednesday we have appointments, consulate dates and swearing ins (so we can not only bring Norah home, but once she lands on US soil, she automatically becomes a US citizen) and dr visits. The island is full of other american families who have adopted and we are looking forward to meeting them. There are also great shops and restaurants.
I can't believe this post is SO long!!! This shows what great strides we have made today.
For today's pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197643&id=605614827&l=9783857db9
Norah is doing so well. Everyday is a big improvement from the previous. For the first 2 days she did not walk, talk, point, crawl, eat, drink, or really even move. We were at a loss as to how to best take care of her. She was dehydrated and had some stomach problems.....we prayed, asked for prayer back home, and are so thankful that day 3 she turned a corner. She began eating and gained some strength, and by that night walked to dinner holding my hand. Now that she is eating, she seems more aware of her surroundings, looks us in the eye a little more and is showing us she is 2 and has the ability and new-found energy to throw quite the tantrum.
Today has been really nice - we had nothing on the schedule. We ate breakfast at the hotel (again, Norah ATE well - congee, oatmeal and mashed bananas), went to a local park for a few hours, then headed back to the hotel for Norah to get some lunch in the room and a nap.
As for eating, we are still trying to figure out how to best feed her. She does not feed herself at all. If we hand her cereal, cookies, crackers, she either holds them or throws them. She will really only eat very mushy foods. She can choke easily, so we are very careful and go slowly. No wonder she is such a lil peanut!!
Joel and I are doing well. This trip has been great for us, and he has been such a servant to me. Norah prefers me right now (though we are always working towards her gaining Joel's trust), so when we are eating meals or needing to go somewhere, Joel has been by my side, serving me in anyway he can. He has also taken care of all of the details of each day - paperwork, money exchanging, finding food for us, running to the 7-11 for more snacks or instant lunches. Truly, I feel so blessed. Even in the hardest of moments -when Norah is quite upset and we cannot sooth her, Joel is right there.....
We have met some really neat people at our hotel. For dinner, we have been eating at the "free" appetizer hour (save every penny we can right now). Each night we go and visit with them. They both work for 7-11 and we were able to share with them what a blessing this convenient store has been to us on our travels to China. In our province for Naomi, it was a lifesaver. As well, this trip it has proven to be consistent and we know when we see the sign that we can go pay fare price for a drink or snack. I got to ask them, as they were literally designing a new slurpee cup lastnight, if the ice blended in with the slurpee was filtered (we cannot drink the water here nor have any ice, due to the parasites). He assured me that the ice was UV treated and that it was safe. BONUS!!!!!! Of course, I already had one and plan to enjoy a few more before we leave. It did wonders for my sore throat today.....
Tomorrow we will leave this hotel and travel about 10 minutes away to another hotel on a small island. There we will meet up with our dear friends, Brian and Heather. We can't wait to see them and meet their lil Lainie Mei! As well, we have been e-mailing back and forth with a few other families and will get to meet them!! Saturday-Wednesday we have appointments, consulate dates and swearing ins (so we can not only bring Norah home, but once she lands on US soil, she automatically becomes a US citizen) and dr visits. The island is full of other american families who have adopted and we are looking forward to meeting them. There are also great shops and restaurants.
I can't believe this post is SO long!!! This shows what great strides we have made today.
For today's pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197643&id=605614827&l=9783857db9
posted by Joel and Lee-Anne at
12:58 AM
2 comment(s):
I like the long post! Great to hear from you and that norah is doing better. Have a great day today!
By
Unknown, at
9:08 AM
Thanks for sharing your journey. Love the big smile on her face. God bless you as you continue to do His work.
By
Loiclan, at
1:57 PM
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