Random Funny Things that have happened in China

Libby is doing great with me and joe. TB test was fine and we are counting down the days to fly back to the good ole U.S.A. Please pray that the Typoon that is schedule to hit Hong kong Friday morning does not prevent us from flying out - I would DIE if we could not leave here fri and so would my parents! Joe and I decide to share some of the "funny" things that have happened to us in china.....ENJOY!

1. Watching Joe panick in Beijing airport when our flight to Libby's province was delayed again and the Chinese lunch did not settle to good with his hmmmm "stomach". Total sweats and running around looking for a bathroom (*also no air in the beijing airport and we were in the basement packed with thousands other chinese travelers). Once he finally found a bathroom the only toilet available was the famous chinese squat toilet. Good times!

2. Our guide's name in Beijing was "woooo." We just had too much fun saying it. WOOO WOOO like rapper ludacris' song. And no matter what we asked woo's response was "itsss ok-a" ex. "Woo is the food good here? itsss ok-a" "woo where should we meet you? itsssss ok-a" "woo are we going to be to fly out of Beijing to Taiyuan tonight? itsssss ok-a", "woo is this pollution/smog or fog? itsss ok-a". So now we say it all the time to each other.

3. I got about (not even) halfway up the the 1st part of the great wall and realized fast that I was afraid of heights and almost fainted.

4. A chinese man approached Joe and asked him where he was from in America. Joe said Tennessee. Then the man asked him all about the memphis basketball team and asked if he knew any of the players, joe said no that we live in Nashville. The chinese man was quiet for second thinking he was about to asking about either the titans or famous country music singer but then he said "ohhhhhhh miley cyrus" seriously? miley?

5.Libby is not fond of anyone who is Chinese which makes it hard leaving the room. She won't eat chinese food - just wants to go to the american diner (lucys) orders fries, eats beef jerky and dances to music (*which the best i can decribe is like Delilah After dark radio station)

6. We were getting into a cab in front of our hotel room and it was packed with people behind us bc it was lunch hour also trying to get cabs. I jumped in and Joe of course had Libby and he was a little big for the cab and wasn't watching and tagged his head getting in. Everyone in line started laughing and pointing at him - I was crying I was laughing so hard.

7. Libby sitting in her chair at dinner and pulled her legs up while exposing her underwear. Joe runs to her immediately and pulls her dress and legs down saying "libby don't show your ladyness." Then turned to me and said " i don't know what to call it". I almost fell on the nasty floor i was laughing so hard poor Joe just doesn't know anything about girls.

8. We are the new Modern Day family....since Libby would only go to Joe the 1st week and is so attached to him so she calls both of us "momma" which drives Joe crazy. She will point to me and say "momma" and then point to Joe says "momma." Joe keeps saying I AM DA-DA. Its really funny public when she is running to Joe screaming with a big smile "MOMMMMMAAA." Definitely gets some looks from the locals.

9. Joe finally got some free down time and was so ready to chill out and watch one of the only english speaking channel (we get 2 channels HBO and China CNN) and HBO has been playing nonstop old 80s movie (so Joe's boy). Except for this time (his only downtime0, it was playing the movie "Milk" the shawn pen gay rights movie.

10. In Tayiuan, our bathroom was 3 clear shower doors and a wall of mirrors. Libby would not let joe out of her sight 24hrs a day. I will have to admit as much as I was heartbroken over her constant rejection it was almost worth it watching Joe daily do this crazy "shower dance" trying to make sure Libby did not see any of his manhood.

11. While touring the Jinci Temple in Tayiuan, we looked behind us at one point and had about 30 families following and taking pictures/videos of the us.

12. Joe having a Mom moment after libby was demanding him to hold and carry her everywhere he turned to me and said "i just need a moment to myself I am so tired of her wanting wanting wanting everything from me. I just need a "break" - hmmmm welcome to being a mom honey!

Somebody Loves Momma!

there are no words --- i think the pictures explain it all. Love yall thanks for the prayers!

cue bono

"ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"

Libby has started to come out of her shell with me and other kids - she is such a happy girl. She loves little boys which will be nice when we get home! We met up with my yahoo travel group (about 15 families at Lucys) for dinner which was so fun finally meeting people i have emailed with for about 3 months. We have gotten close with another family who came with their 3 bio. children (2 boys and 1 girl). Libby can not get enough of Logan (their 10 yr old son)- she just giggles, plays with him and bosses him around all over the playground. She loves the playground and can do everything from sliding to swinging. When another child ran into her, she just bounced right back up and kept going.

This morning she woke up happy and was a little unsure of me at first but that only took about 10 mins to get over. She and I walked together to b'fast and went through the buffet line and smiled at me everytime i got her food. Once we got back in the room, she was allllllll about "momma" and I was loving every minute! She brushed my teeth, we played hide and go seek and tickles. It is sooooo good. We are leaving at 10am for her TB test results. Ok, I have to cut this short...some little girl is yelling for MOOOOMMMAAAAAA!!

Lil' Stinker Libby Xiao

Little improvements today...Libby let me walk with her (without Joe) through the b'fast buffet line this morning and gave me a big smile when i got her eggs, of course she ran into Joe's arms afterward like a long lost puppy but i will take it. We are starting to learn that she is a completely different child in the room than in public. After b'fast she let me play with her for about an 1 hr (thank you lord) in the room. She is a little stinker and VERY spunky - not looking forward to the teenage years. She likes to boss us around in the room and showing me just how she likes things to be :)

We went shopping in the jade and pearl market this morning. Its amazing what shopping can do for the soul. Joe got Libby some pearl earrings to give her on her 16th birthday and a beautiful fresh water pearl necklace to give her on her wedding day (yes he is totally whipped by this little Chinese princess). Joe was so sweet and got me some gorgeous earrings and pearl necklace. He said that it was the most deserved "push" present ever since Libby has been so anti-mommy.

Let me just share a little about my amazing husband! He is so patient and loving with Libby. It is hot here and Libby is the only child here that won't ride a stroller or carrier so Joe is carrying her about 8 hrs a day and hasn't complained once. He is such a wonderful Daddy. As much as my pride/heart hurts when libby chooses him over me, it does make me very thankful that she has those strong arms to run to and be wrapped in. There is just something so special about a Daddy's love (*hmmm learning/seeing alot about the Lord's love and the gospel). Joe has not gotten mad at me once when I am throwing my tantrum over libby not wanting me or missing the boys (this happens a couple times a day) - just gives me a hug and lets me cry. I feel so bad for him because he has libby and me to make happy - who both want opposite things to happen. He is handling it like a pro - he has not even had one "mabry tourettes" moment! I love him so much and could not have done this without him. Welllllll maybe if i had come without him, Libby would have HAD to bond with me -kidding kidding!

Keep the prayers coming - feeling them and appreciate them more than you can ever know. I can get emails but cant access facebook or any blogs. See yall in 5 days (i am doing the happy dance that I am in single digits countdown to home). Skpeing makes me really homesick so i am trying to avoid it right now but maybe later in the week. Love you all!

No News is Good News....Right?

Well nothing to report on the libby love. I had to do a paperwork meeting today for an hour and Joe said she could not stop laughing, talking and playing ....that is until i walked in the room total shut down again. However, I am so thankful to be back with our 24 couples travel group. I am just hanging out with the group (which is nice to have someone just to talk to since libby won't have anything to do with me) and I am getting to love on their chinese babies so I am getting my fix.

Medical was CRAZY and so hard BUT Libby did call out "MMMMMAAAAMMMMAAA" and i ran to her like a mad woman. She let me hold her with Joe beside us for about 15mins. She got 5 shots and we get her TB test results on Monday. We went to lunch afterwards and we had some good interaction with silly play but she is still totally wanting Joe all the time. I told a couple of people that "i think i am completely libbys bitch (ha) I feed her, help her with all immediate needs (like opening candy, toys etc., thrwoing her trash away and she throws the wash cloth at me to wash her and then runs into Joe's arms for love and snuggles". The bad thing is Daddy will have to go back to work on monday ----- and she wil HAVE to adjust to momma. So until then I am just hanging out in China missin my boys at home.

Half Step Forward, 10 Steps Back

Libby woke up this morning like a deer in headlights when she saw me....so needless to say we are back at square one if even on the square. I had Joe leave to exchange our money for the dr appt. He was gone about 15 minutes, and Libby screamed at the door the entire time. She would not let me touch her or anything. So far everyone in our holt travel group, their children have bonded with the mom over the dad -so its me and the dads chillin' together. Oh well...

On a happier note, I love GZ. Its so nice and very adoption friendly. Even though this really sucks for me - God is still so good because look at what I found...Ahhhh, thank you lord for STARBUCKS!!!!

Improving a little

It was a LONG day of traveling and Libby could not even stand for me to look at her much less touch her which made traveling really hard. Taiyuan was a hard city to be in with a "special needs" child LOTS OF stares. I have attached some pictures of some the looks we got daily - this was at the airport. When we toured the Temple, we had almost 30 Chinese people following us and taking our pictures - it was so funny. Our guide told us that they don't understand why we would adopt speical needs girls. Needless to say we were ready to leave the city. We got to GZ around 2pm and she is actually turning a tiny corner. She is letting me touch her if Joe is holding her and I am the only one who is "allowed" to feed or help her which is started to help with the bonding.

We went to eat at Lucy's (American diner) tonight with our travel buddies Wren, Tanya and Barbara. Libby did great and even got a little jealous/concern when I was playing with Wren which made my day. It was nice to just eat some american food and relax alittle. We have our dreaded Medical Exam tomorrow which I have heard awful things about :( Please pray that all blood work comes back good *a little concern because libby has a nasty cough that we cant get rid of and we get her TB test done tomorrow. Also pray for her little body because she is getting between 8-11 vaccines all at one time tomorrow.

I am loving all the amazing comments - you just dont know how much they mean to me. I have felt your prayers tonight and I am thankful for each of you.

On a another positive note, we are finally able to change her clothes with some tears but nothing like before. She is still hoarding her gotcha day jacket EVERYWHERE we go but I can live with that. Also when I took a shower tonight, I shut the door and Joe said she looked around for me and then went to the door (i am attaching a pic). The little things are worth big celebrations here!