A Lilly Grace Ke Xiu update

Hi Everyone,

I wrote a nice long entry yesterday with these photos and then somehow in the world of computers I hit the wrong button and it was gone. We are doing great. Lilly is doing better and better everyday. On Sunday she was not interested in being kissed at all and now she can't get enough. Since I wrote last we have finalized the adoption so Lilly is now legally our daughter. She is just so sweet and beautiful and we cannot stop staring at her. Scott and Sharlyn went to Wal Mart - yes - you read that right - on Monday with the group to buy some needed items. We did not bring a bowl or a spoon and Lilly likes rice cereal. We have also discovered that she likes banana bread, mandarin oranges, Haagen Daaz Strawberry Ice Cream, the Chinese version of Cheerios and sesame sticks. She loves grown up food. We weighed her yesterday and she only weighs 14 pounds. Dennis told us not to compare her to American babies. She is very healthy and is obviously going to be a petite person. On Tuesday we had a free day and we spent a lot of time in our room just hanging out and bonding with Lilly. She already knows who her mother is and will cry for me if she sees me and I am not the one holding her. It is hard to imagine our lives even one week ago without her in it. In the evening we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant. They were just getting ready for their dinner rush and the young women were cleaning and setting tables and talking with each other. Lilly was mesmerized by them. Then the girls all lined up and sang before they got busy. It seemed to be a ritual that they do before the evening begins. It was very beautiful. One of the waitresses picked up Lilly and carried her around for a bit. We were told this might happen sometimes. It is accepted here in China but of course in the US we would never pick up a stranger's baby. I actually found it very sweet but was glad I had been told or it might have unsettled me. We went to bed very early - 7pm! Today we spent most of the day on a bus driving to Lilly's orphanage. It is in Yichun

(say eesh -une). We met the nannies they are called ni ni which is mandarin for Grandma. They were tiny little women full of smiles. They clearly loved the babies. Scott wanted to see the countryside but waited in the van with Lilly because his heart couldn't bear the orphanage. When they found out Ke Xiu was our daughter the said "Xiu Xiu (her nickname -say sheo sheo) she is very smart and very good baby." Which is so true she did not fuss one time on a six hour bus ride. Now here is the shocker .....we ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. YUCK. The food here so far is a little rough. Let's just say that the Chinese people eat everything. One of the meals tonight in the restaurant at the hotel was braised frog. I am waiting for the pizza delivery now. Just as I wrote that the delivery guy rang the bell and Lilly started to cry. So I guess that is it for now. I can only post a certain amount of pictures at a time so I will try to post today's photos without a real post since I am sure lots of you want to see as many photos as you can. We saw lots of water buffalo and many people in the fields tending their vegetable plot. We passed a cultivated pearl farm. We also saw some fresh graves that were very decorated with colorful pinwheels that fluttered in the wind. There were about 10 on each grave and they went the length of it and stood about 5 ft. high. They were quite beautiful. We were not able to get pictures of these things because we were moving on the bus. Yichun where Lilly has been living is a really nice city. There is a beautiful river that goes through the city. Lilly comes from a rural village about two hours down a dirt road from Yichun. A country girl just like her family! It was too far to go there. Lilly is awake now and eating pizza crust so I must go.

Blessings,

Kimberly