Special Dinner with Nancy and Tai

Nancy and Tai took us to a very nice restaurant in Nanjing, just a short walk form the hotel. They ordered many different dishes and they were all delicious! 

This is our last night in Nanjing so we had to say good-bye to Tai. Tai (not sure of spelling) was a very sweet lady. She made our visit to Nanjing very special.

Finishing up Paperwork

More Paperwork

This afternoon all the ladies met with Nancy to finish up our paperwork. All the dads got kiddie duty. We thought it was going to be only one hour, it ended up being over two.

Visit to Nanjing City Wall

This is one of the inner courts within the wall

Nanjing was the capitol of China at one point. The ruler built a wall around the city for protection. The wall is 19 miles long and the average height is 39 ft. On top of the wall it is wide enough to drive a car.

The lady on the left is Thai, she is our tour guide while in Nanjing. She is a very sweet person and has made us feel very welcomed. She lives here in Nanjing and has been giving us a good education on Chinese history. 

At this site there are 4 gates for protection. During battle the soldiers could stand above and throw stones etc onto their enemies.

Tonight is our last night in Nanjing, tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou. Tonight Nancy and Thai are taking us to a nice restaurant for dinner. It has been a huge blessing having Nancy here since we knew her from 5 years ago. It's nice to have a familiar face and she is a very helpful and sweet lady.  

Thank You Nancy!

Visit to Nanjing Museum

Today is kind of a low key day. We visited the Nanjing Museum. The highlights were the intricate Jade carvings and the loom woven designs. We also did a little shopping of course and Emily got her first souvenir. 

Today we Visited the Wuxi Orphanage

Visit to Lily's Orphanage

The Wuxi Social Welfare Institute

The Wuxi Social Welfare Institute is a beautiful facility where Lily lived. It is the largest orphanage in the Jiangsu Province. It also serves as a hospital and retirement facility for the elderly.

The picture below is of lunch that was prepared especially for our visit. The gentleman in the photo is one of the directors of the orphanage. The lady is the head Ayi of the orphanage. We were not expecting to be treated so special but we learned a lot about the orphanage in our conversation with the director.

This Ayi (Nanny) is one of two that Lily called Ma Ma. She was very attached to them and they were very attached to her. In fact, this nanny did not want to let go of Lily. She is the one who gave Lily the Jade necklace she wears.

The nanny in this picture was Lily's first nanny. She is showing us that fact that Lily knows exactly where her "special" cup is supposed to go.

This was Lily's special chair. She went right in, pointed to the sticker on the chair and sat down.

The little boy in the picture is Lily's best friend, she calls him "big brother" in Chinese which sounds like (guh guh). This little boy also has found a family who is waiting to adopt him.

This couple, Bill & Rainy volunteer at the Wuxi orphanage along with many others from the Wuxi International School. We met Rainy on-line

When it was time to say good-bye to the Ayi's, Lily waved to us as though she was staying with them and this little part was over. The separation was somewhat difficult for both parties. Later this evening, when we put Lily to bed, it seemed to hit her that she missed her Ayi's and wanted them instead of us. It was very difficult to listen to her cry for them as she lie in bed. We had to pick her up and comfort her quite a bit before she could actually fall asleep. We knew we were taking a risk of this happening but in the end, the information we gained from the Ayi's was worth it......at least that's how we feel at this point.

Thank You for Loving Chinese Babies

I wanted to make sure I post this. Yesterday when our family was eating dinner in the hotel restaurant two very elderly Chinese ladies came up to our table and asked if our daughter was a Chinese baby, then they asked if Emily was a Chinese baby, we said yes, then they said, "Thank You for loving them". We were very moved by their comments. You could see that they truly appreciated our loving their Chinese daughters.

It is our privilege!!!

Official Chinese Adoption Today!

We're all getting ready to go back to the government building to finalize the adoption as far as the Chinese government part is concerned. This is an exciting time, this makes it official!!!

This is one of Lily's Ayi's who cared for her in the orphanage. We thanked her for caring so much for our little flower. She seemed to love Lily very much.

When we got to the government building we first sat at one desk and completed the Adoption Registration, then we went to the next desk and completed the notary, then finally we paid the orphanage fee. We had to carry a stack of money that was literally about 4 inches thick. 

After the official work was over we all got to go to the supermarket where we could get things we needed for the babies. Just going to the store is quite an adventure. People stop and talk to you, look at the babies, pick them up and make very nice comments. The Chinese people love babies and have been very friendly to us. They appreciate the fact that we love Chinese babies too.