Lilly's Clothes

This might make everyone sad but I want you to see the clothing Lilly was wearing when she came to us last Sunday. The first picture is all the clothes she had on. They layer the babies a lot and they can barely move in their cribs. They don't have central heat in a lot of buildings in China and they believe that you get sick from being cold - not sure where germs come into the picture. Anyway.....they bundle these babies and put several layers on and then wrap them in blankets. Lilly's hair is rubbed off on the back of her head where she has turned her head back and forth over and over. When she gets overtired now she will do the same thing with her head. I imagine this is a self soothing thing. It was the only movement she could do on her own. The clothes are pretty ratty as you can see. The red outfit was what they put over her outfit to present her to us. This is not what the babies ever wear in orphanages but it was a nice gesture and the babies looked so sweet all bundled up with their Aunties. Each of the babies had their nametags on their jacket and they check your passports and check the babies nametag and another piece of paper and hand you your sweet baby. The last photo is of the dress that we had handmade for Lilly before we left Nanchang. We stepped into this tiny little shop on Saturday night and the young girl spoke excellent English and said they could make a dress that evening while we were at dinner and then deliver it to the room. I was quick enough to think and not pay for the dress until they delivered it but sure enough they brought as promised. Lilly looks so beautiful in her dress and she seems quite at home in the five star hotel now - in fact we sat her on the bed the moment we get here and she just grinned ear to ear. She had a very smug look on her face as if to say - what took you so long Mom and Dad and Aunt Sharlyn. We have been calling her the Empress and she seems to know it. God, we love this baby. Thank you thank you thank you whoever sat with our paperwork all the way from Dryden, New York and matched us with this exact child. God, perhaps???? Each and every child looks so well suited to their family, both in looks and personality. It is almost eerie. How do Chinese babies look like their American parents? I am not sure but it is true. Today we have a free day and that is going to be so fun for us. We have had a lot of juggling for the last few days. It feels good to linger in the room this morning. Later I will post photos of this hotel and you will wish you were here.

Love,

Kimberly