Day 8 Thursday, 8/11

Last night was tough. Scarlett started off sleeping soundly in the crib, but woke up around 11:30 crying. I brought her into bed with us and spent the night listing to her fuss off and on until she found her bottle to suck on (we’ll break this habit in a few weeks), and getting kicked in the ribs. I hardly slept, she hardly slept, Nathan did better but was woken up a lot, too. We finally fell asleep for a good few solid hours from 4a-7a. Thank the Lord for that! I was dreading the morning, assuming that it would be a repeat from yesterday with Scarlett super cranky and not feeling good from lack of sleep. However, she woke up ready to start the day.

We headed down for breakfast and had a great meal together. Lots of watermelon was eaten, as usual. Coffee is not a big deal to the Chinese, so it’s not been plentiful around here. They give us a little cup in the morning at breakfast, but the coffee maker sometimes doesn’t work so we don’t get it… this isn’t okay! Haha. When we get to Guangzhou the day after tomorrow, we’ll have access to a Starbucks in our hotel. Yay!! 

While sitting at breakfast, some random American songs came on- this was the first time we’d heard American music in our hotel. The song was one of my favorites- Fix You by Coldplay. “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones. And I will try to fix you…. Tears stream down your face when you lose something you cannot replace.  Tears stream down your face and I will try to fix you.” And then, I’m not even kidding- What a wonderful world came on. I could hardly handle myself sitting there listening to those songs! 

After breakfast we came up to the room to get ready for our sightseeing for today. We also called the other kids. They were at Peachwave with Grandma Kiesel. They seem to be having a great time and getting spoiled big time. My mom told me that my dogs miss me a lot. I hate thinking about them wondering where I am. I’m such a dog freak! I can’t wait for my fur baby snuggles in 1 week!! Our trip is ½ over! I’m in shock. I am feeling some homesick feelings, but we’re just having such a great time that it’s hard to think about going back (especially to have to cook our own meals and take care of all 4 kids). It’s been a dream, just the 3 of us in Scarlett’s hometown. Really just an amazing experience here in Guiyang. We love this city so much and plan to bring Scarlett back in about 12 years or so when she’s a teen. 

We went to a place called the Jiaxiu Tower (the Joshua tower) which is considered to be the symbol of Guiyang City. It was chilly and raining, so we headed in, took a few pics and made our way back to the van. It rains here a lot we’re told. Guiyang is known for their nice weather- it’s much cooler than Beijing or Guangzhou (I’m dreading the heat that Guangzhou is known for, actually). We headed to the orphanage to see Scarlett’s finding spot (this is a sensitive subject- it’s Scarlett’s story and I’m not going to give any more details surrounding this part of her life). The driver was so nice to take us there. It was in a remote part of the city and we had to go down a terrible road to get there. I’m shocked that the van didn’t bottom out, to be honest. She slept in my arms the whole way there. I sat in the van while Nathan got out and took pics. Some day, we can talk to her about this and show her this place. Sitting there holding her and thinking about the circumstances of her precious little life was so heavy. I just gazed at her face and thought about how her life is a miracle, and it’s by no coincidence that we are her forever family. I felt all of the feels holding my daughter here.

We headed back to the city and went to a place for souvineir shopping. It wasn’t the kind of place we were hoping for, but I did get her a jade necklace with a horse on it because that’s her Chinese zodiac. Horse symbolizes enthusiasm and energy. The animal gives people an impression of independence and integrity. Man is she ever enthusiastic and independent!! It’s funny how these usually line up with how people truly are. I’m a sheep, but gentle and calm probably doesn’t describe me. Nathan is also a horse and I find this true as well.

After the unsatisfying shopping we went to the restaurant by the hotel. We’ve been there 3 times now, and it does not disappoint! Scarlett was all about the rice today. We all left happy and full.

We decided to let Scarlett burn off some energy before heading to the room for naptime, so we headed to this open space across the street so she could run around. We were sitting on this bench when this nice Chinese man came up to us and spoke really good English and asked where we’re from. We talked to him for about 10 minutes- it was refreshing to be able to speak to someone! He spoke in Chinese to Scarlett and she liked that a lot. She pointed to where her left hand would be and he told her she was special. I loved that. I have to say, the Chinese people have really captured my heart. However, I would not want to be driving on the roads with them! I’m grateful to have this experience in this country so I can tell Scarlett about her heritage and where she’s from.

After getting some ice cream (Scarlett would not try it, but fed mine to me), we headed to the room for naptime. I laid Scarlett down and Nathan went out to try and find a souvineir shop like we were hoping to find. Scarlett started grieving- she got very upset and just cried and cried. I scooped her up into the baby carrier and we walked around the hotel a bit. I hummed and sang Christian songs to her and she fell asleep pretty quickly. It felt good to be able to comfort her. We came back to the room and I laid her in the crib- she fussed for just a few seconds and fell back to sleep. Yay! Success. Every day we learn more about our sweet girl and how to parent her. We do need to work on her learning what no means and not getting her way all the time. For now, it’s all about her, princess Scarlett. The queen of our castle.

Nathan came back and fell asleep himself while I worked on this blog post. These are really long, but I’m hoping that someday Scarlett will read all about our journey to get her. I’m doing a good job of keeping up with it so I don’t get behind. I brought books to read and tv shows to watch, but so far my journal and blog are keeping me plenty busy during down times!

Scarlett woke up after about 1.5 hours and she was super happy. I held her while she had some water and then she got down to play. She got mad at me when I took a bite of her beef stick (at least I guess that’s what I did) and we had a tough time calming her down. I’m betting that Yin Gui Fen spoiled her plenty, as she should. We’ll just need to love on her and teach her that the world doesn’t revolve around her. But for now, it sure does!

After naptime and the tantrum regarding the beef stick, we had dinner in our hotel. It was raining and we didn’t want to go too far, so this was a good option for us. The rain stopped by the time we were done eating, so we took Scarlett outside to run around in an open area near our hotel. She just loves doing this- very energetic and playful after meals! After playing in the room for a bit, we gave Scarlett her bottle and then laid her down- she went right to sleep in the crib! We feel so lucky to have a good sleeper.