Sept 19,2007

Nearly 2 months
It is nearly 2 months now that we are home and so much has happened. Gracie is a pure joy. She is the happiest, silliest little girl. She laughs and plays and just makes us so happy. She is picking up English so well. It is amazing. She sings her ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider and counts to 5 as well as many phrases. She sometimes mixes her English and Chinese-Chinglish. She keeps me quite busy but that's ok. She loves her brothers and sisters and has them all wrapped around her little finger. Her favorite seems to be Ge Ge Jordan.
Health wise she is healthy, though the Doctors have decided that she may have had Spina Bifida. She has what appears to be a small incision at the base of her spine. The orphanage denies her having any surgery while in their care. She is getting physical therapy and will soon be fitted for braces for her legs. They will decide more after 3 months of therapy. She will need further surgery on her hands down the road as well. Other than that all is good.
She will start preschool in another week. I'm not sure if she is really ready but we will see. I am back to working part time and she has been home with either Daddy or big sister Danielle.
She is a real mama's girl and wants me most of the time that I am home. But she really loves her Baba and lights up when he comes in. Baba will be starting a new job that will take him out of town and I know that will be hard to get used to but we will have to get through that. We know that the Lord has great plans for our bunch and we can't wait to see what is next. He has been so faithful to us. We are so blessed to have each other and to know our Lord. We can get through anything as long as we take the Lord along with us. I feel the Lord leading me somewhere but I'm not sure where. A new job, mission work, or somewhere else, I'm not sure. I know he will reveal it to me soon. For now I will continue where I am, content with my job and family the way it is. If he leads me somewhere else I will go.

July 25,2007 Last Day

July 25,2007

Our last day in Guangzhou as I stated was a good one. I'm posting pictures from that day with this last post. We rose at 4:00am to get ready to leave. We left for the airport at 5:30. Gracie wanted no part of getting up that early but we finally got her going. It was rush rush as we all went to get our tickets and go through security. There were 4 families total leaving this am. It was us, the Dufresnes, the Petrocelli's and Devon and her kids. We boarded without difficulty and we were off for Tokyo. The flight was 4 hours long. The kids did great. Hannah watched the movie and Gracie played for a while and slept. In Tokyo we had to rush through security again and we all grabbed McDonalds and quickly ate before boarding. We were only able to get 3 seats together but were able to get a girl to trade so Tim was then sitting with us. There were a group of Japanese students traveling to the US and 2 of them were next to Tim. They were about 11 years old. Very sweet. The one next to him rested her head on his shoulder and later flopped her leg over his while she was sleeping. We were cracking up. Once again Hannah and Gracie did great. They slept the last 4 hours of the 11 hour flight. The food was not so good but all in all we survived. We realized after we had boarded that we had not seen Devon and her girls get on so we assume she had missed the flight. We're not sure what happened to them. We feel terrible about this. The Dufresnes with baby katie and the Petrocelli's with Kiara and us were so happy to be back home to the US. Hannah was ecstatic, She hugged her daddy and exclaimed "we're home!" We deplaned and made our way through the airport to the area our families would be waiting. It was great to see all of you there. Mom, Danielle, Drew, Doreen and the kids, our Caleb and then to see Shari that was quite a surprise. Gracie was very shy and quiet for the arrival. Once home she opened up more and had fun. What a wonderful surprise to see what Doreen and Scott and done with the kids room. A complete makeover. I'll take pictures and post later. We are so happy to be home and thank the Lord for our safe and uneventful travel and such wonderful kids. We again know that we are so blessed and loved. We are definately the lucky ones to have been able to bring home another beautiful little one from China.

July 24 Consulate appt
Well today is our last day here. We are so ready to come home yet sad to leave the place of our children's birth. We love this country very much. We thank the mother of our daughter for choosing to give her daughter a life where she would be taken care of as she couldnt. We pray that she is doing well and has a peace in knowing her daughter is loved and cared for very much.
Today we did the redcouch photos. This was a lot of fun. Most of the kids cooperated very well. We had a free morning to shop and play in the Swan room. Then at 2:30 we left for the Consulate. It brought tears to my eyes as we said our oath and knew that our children would now be US Citizens. We came back to the hotel and ate one last time at Lucy's and finished our shopping. We said our goodbyes to the local shop owners. We especially will miss Lucy and Belinda. We took a final swim in the pool and then it was rush to pack and get things ready for our early morning departure. The kids are asleep but Hannah has been running a fever today. We pray she will feel better in the morning for our long day of travel. This is our final post from China. I can't post pictures because I can't find the cord to connect the camera to the computer. I will post pictures from our last day once we are home. Thank you Lord for a fabulous time and safe travel and especially for our precious little angel, Gracie Yuhong Hope Egan.

July 23,2007 More Guangzhou

Its hard to believe but Gracie has now been with us for 1 week. It seems like she has always been a member of our family. I can honestly say we fell in love with her the minute she came to us but we now love her so much it is amazing. She has the best personality. She is a little jokester. She loves to play and laugh. She talks so sweet in her little chinese voice. She has been interacting with Hannah more and loves to imitate her. They are really sweet together and Hannah is very proud to say she is Gracie's big sister.

We decided to take a lazy day. We went to breakfast and then went out shopping. We decided not to go to the temples with the rest of the group. We played in the playroom for almost 2 hours todaya. The girls love to go in there. It's neat because we meet more families in there and really get to talk and hear their stories while the kids play. Later Tim and Hannah took a nap and Gracie and I went walking around the island. We just walked and took in the scenery of China. We ate at Lucy's again today. I took the girls out this afternoon and shopped again and then Tim and I and the girls all went swimming. They had a great time. Gracie really loves the water. She would even go under the waterfall and just laugh and laugh.

I was holding one of the other babies today and Gracie was jealous, she crawled up on my lap and hugged me. It was so sweet.

We ordered Danny's bagels tonight and the girls are now both sleeping soundly. Its hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day here but also we can't wait to get home. It will be nice to be home and develop a routine again.

Tomorrow is the red couch photos in the morning and our Consulate appointment in the afternoon. We plan on a little walk in the morning to the park and some final shopping and swimming later in the day.

I look at these sweet girls and think about my sweet boy at home and feel so blessed to have been chosen to be their mother. We have 3 wonderful biological children and that was such a blessing in itself. We are now the proud parents of 6 amazing children. We only hope we can raise them to be loving, God fearing children. Those who love our Lord with all their hearts. I pray I can instill that love in their hearts and encourage them to seek out a relationship with the Lord. I pray for the wisdom to know how to do this.

Thank you for this amazing journey we are on.

Sunday Guangzhou

Sunday July 22

Today was a nice day. We rose to 2 smiling faces again this morning. After breakfast we went as a group to a Pearl Market/Shopping mall and Jade market/mall. Some of the families bought pearls and jade but it was kind of expensive. We did buy some DVD's very cheap and shopped for a while. Tim stayed back because his shoulder was still bothering him. We were back to the hotel around 1pm so then Tim and I and the girls went t o Lucy's for lunch and then did some shopping in the local shops. Tim is very good at bartering with the shop owners. Hannah and Gracie bought some tiaras and wands so we truly have 2 little princesses. We the spent 2 hours playing in the play room. They have so much fun in there. Gracie started puttering out and wasn't her happy self and it felt like she may have a fever. We came back to our room around 5 and she fell right to sleep. I took her temp and it was 99.8. Not to bad yet. We are praying it is nothing. Hannah fell asleep soon after that and they are probably down for the night. Tim and I just ordered from Danny's bagels and are watching a dumb movie on tv. Tomorrow morning is free and then the group is meeting around 2:30 to go tour some Buddhist temple. We'll see how Gracie is feeling. We may just take a lazy day. Our time is quickly coming to an end here. Tuesday is our Consulate appt and red couch photos. Wednesday we fly home. It is very bittersweet. We can't wait to get home but once again we are leaving behind a part of our childrens heritage. We love China and all that it means to our children but we also want to bring her sweet girl home to see her new home. As I write this all of you back home are rising to get ready to go worship our Lord freely and without worry. Here it is a different story. One day maybe the people of China will get to freely worship too. We thank God for all he has blessed us with, He is truly an awesome God.

July 21 2007 medical exam

July 21,2001 Medical Exam

We woke up in Guangzhou today and had breakfast at their wonderful buffet. Their buffet is amazing. There is so much to choose from. We filled up and then headed out for the kids Visa pictures and then to the medical exams. We walked as a group over to get the pictures done. While we waited Hannah and little Nina found princess crowns and wands and purses. They had a ball dressing up. When pictures were done we walked down the block for the medical exams. It wasn't too crowded this time. Once again we had the height and weight. Gracie was 10kg in weight or a whopping 22 pounds. The medical exam was not too bad. Gracie didn't cry at all. Then off to the ENT where they played a piano and squeezed a toy to see if she could hear. She passed with flying colors. We headed back and had to stop in a few stores to do some shopping of course. A few more outfits for Gracie and a few gifts. It was getting pretty hot so we headed to the Swan Room-or the play room. The kids had a ball playing in there. Tim is in a lot of pain today because he hurt his shoulder some how. We let him lay around for a while and I took the girls to Lucy's for lunch. They enjoyed this quite a bit. Later Tim went off for paperwork and I took the girls back to the playroom. This evening the whole group went to a Thai restaurant called Cow and Bridge. It was ok. The girls were very sleepy by this time. We headed back to the hotel and Devon asked if Hannah and Gracie wanted to go swimming with her girls so we got dressed and headed to the pool. They loved this of course. Once back to the room I barely changed them and dried their hair and they were asleep. It is 8:59 and they are sound asleep. Judy, one of the guides got Tim some Red Tiger balm. It hasn't really helped much. I'm trying to get him to go to the clinic or at least for a massage but he says no. He really is hurting quite a bit. Tomorrow is a shopping tour day to Pearl and Jade markets and downtown shopping. I'll probably take the girls and let Tim rest his shoulder. It is really great to be in Guangzhou. IT is much slower paced and less crowded. Please pray that Tim feels better tomorrow and can get back to enjoying the trip. I'll post some pics and get back to you tomorrow. Gracie continues to show her personality. She is getting more loving as well. She is hugging and kissing more each day. Her smile is the best. We miss you all.

July 20th 2007 Off to Guangzhou

Well we made it to Guangzhou. It is 10:43 pm and we are just getting settled into our room. We started the day this morning with breakfast as usual and then we took a walk down the streets of Changsha. We went down an alley way and saw many small shops. It was the heart of china. One place had big buckets of snakes, turtles, eels and other live looking things for sale. It was really disgusting. We walked through a department store and had a popsicle and headed back. it was already very hot. We went back to our room and hung out for a while. The girls watched videos and played with playdoh. Gracie really liked that. We went to the play room and played with Wen Xian for a while. We werent leaving until 5:30pm so we had all day to kill. We finally went to the airport and said our goodbyes to Susan our guide. She has been great to us. We exchanged emails and promised to stay in contact. Gracie did really well on her first flight. She just didn't like leaving the seatbelt on. It was only an hour flight so it wasn't bad. It is really good to be in Guangzhou. Everything looks so welcoming and familiar. The girls are sleeping and we will be joining them soon. We have to go for the Medical exam at 8:30am. I'll try to post pictures again. The last 2 days I couldnt. The Lord has been so good to us. I just look at my precious children and feel so blessed and unworthy to be chosen to be their mother. God is good.

July 19th Orphanage Trip
Today was an interesting day. It started early as usual with the girls and I rising early around 5:30am. After our usual breakfast we met our Guide Susan to go on our trip to the orphanage. It was an hour and a half trip. We arrived and as we stepped out of the van Gracie immediately began crying and clinging to me. She was obviously upset as she thought we were bringing her back. I talked to her and reassured her as I held her tight. Some of the peole from the orphanage tried to talk to her and she cried harder. She calmed down as we waiting in a room to be taken on a tour but when a woman came in talking in a loud voice and trying to take her from me she became very upset again. I held onto her and told her i wouldnt leave her. She again calmed down when the woman left her alone. We finally began our tour. As we climbed the stairs to her living area she became very upset again as she thought we were definately taking her back. Her nanny was there and talked with her and told her she was staying with her mamma and babba and she calmed down. She did let her nanny hold her as well. She came back to me and held on as we finished looking around. The children in her area were so sweet. We were not permitted to take any pictures of the children only the rooms. We saw where she slept. Wooden cribs with thin bamboo mattresses in a small very hot room. The children were in this area playing as well. There was no air conditioning except in the first room we had waited in. The heat was unbearable. They showed us the clinic, dining area and play area. It was a very short tour. The orphanage was reasonably clean but limited on toys. The play area outside was big but it was so hot noone was out there playing. As we waved goodbye Gracie waved and said bye bye and was smiling as we got back into the van. She has definately showed us that she is very happy with us and does not want to ever go back.
Back at the hotel we played, took a walk down the street which was very hot and then ordered pizza from Pizza hot. Gracie ate the cheese off the top and tried the garlic bread. She ate some cream of mushroom soup too. We played and colored and painted our nails again. Finally the girls had another bath together and were both asleep by 7pm for the night.
We are so blessed to have been given another beautiful angel. She is just so perfect. Her personality has really emerged. She loves to play and imitate things. Her Babba gets her laughing so much. She loves being with her jie jie Hannah and imitates her. They sat together today side by side watching dvd's on the computer. We miss everyone so much and can't wait for all of you to meet this precious little gift from God.

July 18th 2007-Embroidery museum/University tour
We started our day at around 5:30am. I showered and the girls were up soon after. We all painted our nails pink this morning. Gracie acted like she had done it before or she just wanted us to do to her what we were doing to our nails. We all looked great. We had another good breakfast and then met Susan to begin our morning of touring. We went to the embroidery museum. The embroidery pieces were really amazing. We also saw many of the women working on pieces. Some pieces can take a year to finish. They can look at a picture of something and copy it with embroidery. We bought a small piece as this is unique for the Hunan province and we wanted it for Gracie. We then went to the other side of the Jangtze River. This river divides the city of Changsha into the commerce side and the educational side. We headed to the educational side the the University of Changsa. Very interesting place. It was extremely hot and Hannah was a bit tired at this point and the heat was making Gracie very itchy. We finished the tour with popsicles and this made them both feel better. Once back at the hotel they played together for a good while. Gracie tries to say more in English. She repeated bunny rabbit for me when she pointed to the picture. Hannah and Gracie sat and watched some story book CD's on the computer. Gracie seemed to enjoy them but I doubt she could understand but they were cartoons. We ate lunch in the room and headed to the playroom. Gracie's roommate Wen Xian was there also. Hannnah had fixed her own hair with clippies, put on gymshoes and said she was a cheerleader and did many cheers for us. Gracie tried to take a toy from Wen Xian and I took it back and she cried and cried. I picked her up and she went to sleep. We came back to the room at 5:00 pm and she is still sleeping at 9:20pm. She is quite the sleeper. Hannah is also asleep. I guess they are down for the night. Tomorrow is the orphanage visit. I wonder how Gracie will do there. I hope she doesn't get upset about being there again. It is about a 1 1/2 hour ride each way and the air conditioning in the van is not that great. I guess we'll make it. Friday late afternoon we fly to Guangzhou-finally. It was just too hot to take the girls back out today to explore. Maybe tomorrow. Here are the pics from today.

July 17th Adoption day

Today began very early again. Hannah and Grace and I went to sleep at 4pm yesterday and they both slept until 5this morning. Gracie had her first bath today and loved it of course. She brushed her teeth like an old pro. At breakfast she ate and ate. She hasn't been upset all day except when she fell and once when Tim took M&M's away from her. She is getting inquisitive. Getting into everything now. Anyway after breakfast we went to the Civil Affairs and finished all the paperwork and Gracie Yu Hong Hope is officially an Egan. We ate breakfast next to the family who adopted Gracie's roommate at the orphanage. They are from Iowa. We got their email so we can keep in touch with them. Their little girl is 3 years old. She is much more shy than Gracie. They get excited when they see each other. Later today we met them in the playroom and they played for quite a while. Then Tim and I and the kids took a cab to Super Walmart. That was pretty exciting. We ate a late lunch and then went to the swimming pool. Everyone had to wear swimming caps. We all looked so cute. Gracie of course loved the water. She and Hannah had a great time. We met a little girl named Sung Li. She was 7 years old and spoke some English. She was very friendly. Tomorrow we are going sightseeing in the morning. To the Educational side of Changsha and then to an embroidery factory. Gracie is giving kisses to both Tim and I. She puckers up so cute. I brought a book with baby faces making different expressions and she imitates all of them so cute. She is quite the little showoff, and a big gigglebox. I'll post a few pictures and say goodnight for now.

To everyone at home we miss you all very much and can't wait to get home to all of you.

More Gotcha Day Pics:

July 16,2007-Gotcha Day!

"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad".

Words cannot describe the moment I saw that little angel walk into the room. We arrived at the civil affairs office and there were 3 other families receiving their children. Gracie was not there yet. We sat down and Susan had me start doing paperwork. I told Tim to have the camera ready. Suddenly Tim says "Jackie look". I looked up and there was the tiniest little angel standing in front of us next to another sweet little china girl and 3 women. I couldn't believe it was her but I knew it was. That face was unmistakable but she was so tiny. Her arms and legs are the skinniest I have ever seen. She was so short. She looked more like a 2 year old. The nanny started telling her that I was her mamma and Tim was her Babba. They got out the photo album and showed her our pictures and pointed to us. Then they said to come take her. I walked over and picked her up and she didn't even cry. I kissed her and hugged her. It felt so good. They told her to say mamma and she did. She said mamma very soft and sweet. Hannah came over and we told her this was her jie jie and she said jie jie. Hannah began giving her her toys and fruit snacks. She loved these. She was so sweet and at peace with us. The other little girl with her was her roommate who was also being adopted. Her family was coming later in the day. We took pictures of her also. We will try to get in touch with this family and let the girls stay in contact with each other. I was amazed at how well it all went. Not one tear. We left with her and she went happily. Her babba had her laughing and smiling before we left. He just has to make a silly face and she cracks up laughing. She willingly goes to any of us. She will hug and cuddle with us too. We went shopping when we left there because nothing I brought will fit this tiny little thing. Her feet are extremely little, about a size 4-5. We are definately concerned about her pencil legs and arms-almost looks like rickets. The nanny said her legs are very weak and not to let her run or jump. They look like they could break with any pressure at all. Please all pray that there is not something seriously wrong with her. She has good momvement of both hands so that is good. She also has a rash all over her body. I pray it isn't scabies. We are in heaven. It is about 10:19 pm and Hannah and Grace have been sleeping since around 4:30. Oh and we call her Hong Hong right now because she doesn't respond to Grace. We will gradually work that in. Hannah now wants to be called Song Song. We ate dinner here in the restaurant and Grace is a pro with chop sticks. I know you want to see pictures so I will post them now. Thank you all for all your prayers, She was so ready for us. I know that was due to God preparing her heart as we have been praying.

Pictures from july 17th

The picture of Hannah with the microphone is her singing to all the families songs from Cinderella III and from Alladin. She is not shy at all.

July 15,2007-travel to Changsa
Sorry about the late post. We were up early as usual around 4:30am. We took pictures in the lobby and outside and went to breakfast. All the families traveled to the airport at 8;30am. Some left as early as 9:15 flights. Our flight was 11:15. Our luggage that was checked was stopped after xray due to the hairspray can. They opened our luggage and smelled it. We were finally cleared to go. We said our goodbyes to all the families and we went to our gate and waited. Our flight was fine and we landed in Changsa around 1:30pm. Susan our guide met us and took us to our hotel. She took us to this little grocery store down some alley first to buy waters and softdrinks and snacks for our room. Once in our room we messed around checking everything out. We soon all crashed on the beds around 4pm. We thought we'd sleep a few hours. Well I woke up at 1am and saw Tim sitting up watching TV. He said he had just woke up. We watched a movie for a little while and discussed ordering from the 24 hr room service but decided to go back to bed and Hannah and I slept until 4am. It is now 4:45 and Hannah has had her bath and is dressed to go. We are only 5 hours from getting Gracie! We leave at 9:15 and arrive at civil affairs at 9:30. Please be praying as we get out precious litte girl. We will post again tonight with pictures of Gracie.

More pictures from 7/13

More pictures from 7/13 and 7/14