Day 19 (Again - picture of the girls in their silks!)

It is something most parents do with their new children from China - dress them up in silks and take pictures!  I had heard that the Chinese don't really ever wear these, so before I bought any, I asked three different Chinese people in three different provinces.  The general answer was that the older generation will wear them at celebrations and the little children will wear them at celebrations as well, so I felt comfortable buying these (at 3 to 5 dollars each! Thanks, Ann!) for the girls.  I bought the shoes two sizes too big so they could wear them for a long time, plus, they were unable to run away when having their picture taken! ; )

These are not fantastic pictures as they were taken in a span of 5 minutes on the playground!  Kids move fast and they wanted to play!

If you're wondering why C has a bracelet and FL doesn't, it is because FL doesn't like anything on her arms, even sleeves.  C got two bracelets from her orphanage director, so we had planned to share, but FL is not there yet.  C loves her bracelet and likes looking at mine, too.

Ok, here are some of my favorites!!!

Day 19 (Free Day, What Our Room Looks Like)

Have I mentioned how nice it is that the hotel has an outdoor play area?!  The girls so enjoy it and it is nice to have a place where you don't constantly have to restrict them and they can freely scream at the top of their lungs! : )

Flora Lin is the official gatekeeper.

Charlotte is circling the perimeter and still rocking the Miao haircut with the shaved forehead, shown clearly for you here!

Both girls love the slide, but require some help, which we happily provide!

The gatekeeper letting C in.

There is a solid stone table and stone stump chairs that make a great resting spot...

Unless your mom keeps taking pictures of you, which gets a little old when you're two. :)

So, not much going on here, really.  Other than feeding, cleaning, bathing, playing and learning about our children which pretty much takes all day.  We had wanted to get some extra sight seeing in, but with some issues we have and things that need to be packed, that probably won't be happening. 

I don't have any recommendations on what to bring because we didn't leave the hotel today, but I will show you how it looks!  It is nothing fancy (well, maybe it was until we moved in) and is very messy.  If you know me, you know I like things organized and in their place, so you'll know it has driven me crazy to live like this!!!

THis one suitcase contains medicines and food as well as other essentials.  We also keep the diapers and pull ups over here.  I think it is really supposed to be a sitting and shoe area. : )

Here's where the kids play.  I brought an old queen size flat sheet and we spread the toys out and they play on it.  Since it looks different from the carpet we can also point to it and say "go on the mat" and the girls know what that means.  All hotel floors are not as clean as we would like, but spitting on the ground is culturally ok here, so staying on the mat unless you have shoes on it what we do!  When it i s time for the maids to clean, we simply pick it up and stick it and everything in it in a corner!  Easy!

Toys our 2.5 year olds have loved:

finger puppets, squeaky blocks, bowl, colander, stacking cups (it is actually round and becomes a ball, or several or bowls or a tower, etc.), small bouncy balls with lights inside, childrens purses, a buiness card (total accident!  It becomes a cell phone to them! So funny!), little board books, big books for nap time and bed time.  We use water bottles cut to different sizes for tub toys.  We brougth no "noisy" toys on purpose.  The one that someone on the trip gave us caused meltdowns, so it had to leave.

The mess is real!  We pushed both beds together and against a wall so we have one large bed.  C gets one to herself since she rolls and kicks in the night.  You can see a little bit the pillow nest I make for her.  She feels safer when boxed in and the pillows protect us from her blows!  She does throw a hand over her pillow at night to search for mine until she falls asleep.  It's pretty sweet.

Our bathroom is SO MUCH MORE than a bathroom!  It's a kitchen, pharmacy and water boiling station as well!  Not an inch goes unused!

Here is the part that is mostly a kitchen.  I have eaten more ramen noodles here than I ever did in college!

One of the biggest challenges for me is that every time you want water you MUST boil it or buy it in a bottle.  The locals do not even drink it and you have to remind yourself to keep your mouth closed in the shower.

This is the diaper changing station for FL - a nice thick bath mat.  The wipes and diaper ointment stay in the entry way.  I know the maids must think we're crazy, but the clean up is so easy!

And there you have it - room 736 in all of its craziness!!!! :)  Yep - that's what C did when I asked for a smile (FL is sadly in shutdown mode, as you can see)!

We're one day closer to home!

Prayers/Praises:

*  We may have a solution for sleep - keep praying!

* This post is back dated, but we actauly leave for Hong Kong tomorrow - please pray for C and FL as this will be very confusing and scary for them.  We don't know what they will be thinking, but change is hard for any 2.5 year old, especially a newly adopted one, and that's all they've had since they've been with us.  We know that C is frightened of packed up suitcases so I am sure FL will be scared, too.

* The girls passed their medical tests!

* Today (Tuesday) has been better as far as meltdowns for us - keep praying we handle them as we should!

* Our family, friends and farm back home - the weather hasn't been great and so many people are working so hard to keep things going!