It's Official

We just received Amelia's official adoption certificate and her passport. WOOHOO! She is officially Amelia Siyuan Wells! It's a good day at the Wells' Casa in Chengdu, China!

Chinese Passport...still in her Chinese name. We'll change that to a US passport when we get back! Well maybe, if the State department EVER gets control over the passport situation again~HOLY COW~what a mess!

Today was a lazy day since we were awaiting news on the coveted documents that you just read about.

Candy left for home today. We will miss her, but we are happy that she was heading home since that is where she needed to be. Pray for safe travels for her since she will be by herself.

We had breakfast and then headed to the swimming pool with the Reichs for a late morning swim. I gotta tell you, that this indoor pool thing is killin' me!!!! I know the pool is heated, but there's nothing like that good ole Ohio Sun beatin' down on your head (preferably that head has a hat on it.) But swimming in the indoor confines of a hotel pool is a bit different for me!

Amelia was not included in the pool time activities. We seem to be having some gastrointestinal issues. Yes, I have been pooped on twice. There is no need for the dreaded suppositories that you are told to pack for your adoption. It is know throughout the adoption community that many orphanages feed the children something (can't remember the name at this point) that will keep them from having a bowel movement during transportation. Many children are transported many miles and many hours to the provincial civil affairs office for adoption proceedings. This transportation "issue" causes many orphanage workers to resort to "stopping the flow of things" during this period of time so they don't have to deal with it and so that new parents aren't faced with a "messy" situation within minutes of receiving their child. The intent is pure, although sometimes painful, if you know what I mean. Let me tell you that we went through many, many suppositories for Elise when we adopted her. Not gonna be a problem on this trip.

Amelia is now on a very strict diet of rice, rice and more rice. She had rice congee for breakfast and a piece of toast. She had rice cereal with her bottle of milk this morning and this evening. She had rice cereal for lunch and for dinner. Do you see the pattern???? She LOVES to eat. It's almost comical to watch her when she sees or hears someone eating. I'm tellin' you that she makes a bee line for you. Totally cracks us up. We are actually timing her to see how quickly she responds to the sights and sounds of food.

Let me point out that this is also a very typical response to a child that has been institutionalized. These children tend to hoard their food since they sometimes are only given a small amount of time to eat. Orphanage workers will sit the children in a circle around them and feed them one by one until the food is gone. There really is no other efficient way to feed the children and the workers do the best they can with what they have.

Amelia is happy enough about it, but right now she has several people handing her something to eat whenever she "shows up" squealing for something. I mean look at that face, how can you say no?????

I know Mama is eating something! I heard the cellophane!

So how is Miss Elise doing? Well, I have a story about that. After returning from dinner last night, my sister informed me that she asked her if we were taking Amelia back to her home. Yep, she's a little put out. But that's nothing that we didn't expect. Steve and I are doing our best to give her individual attention. She is still rather whiny sometimes, but all in all, she's doing great!!!!

Could someone just read me a book and put me to bed?

Man these Cheerios and Gerber puffs are great? Are there any more?

I put some Cheerios and Gerber puffs inside this little cup that Amelia got for a gift. I wanted to see if she could figure out how to get them out. Well, needless to say, she had the cup empty withing 10 minutes and was squealing for more! The good part is that she had to work for awhile to get to the food! It's a great tool for occupying a child!

I sit on Mama's lap

Once again, we ventured out in search of the Carrefour store. I wasn't impressed with the clothing ( I had hoped to find some things for Amelia), but the grocery was great! I actually found Chardonnay. I thought I would drop to my knees and thank God. But I contained myself. We were already drawing enough attention....three big ole Anglo's in an Chinese residential area with two Chinese children. Nice, very nice! I've had my photo snapped on the "down low" so many times, that it's become a game. We act like we don't know what they are doing and I'm saying "wait for it, wait for it....SMILE!" right when they snap the shot. It's just beautiful. Hey, you gotta have a little fun!!!!

The sad part is that I dropped a bottle of the much sought after wine right in front of the store. It shattered all over the place. I thought I would weep, but fortunately, Lisa talked me into buying another bottle and I was golden. We headed back to the hotel for a light dinner and bedtime.

Grammy doing stickers with Elise


"I'm working on my pants hanging too low." I think we may have some proportion issues
:-)




I know I'm cute, but who cares that she's dressed like me, the original Princess (Empress).

Don't look at her, look at me!

It was another good day! I've had a few moments of being stir crazy but tomorrow I will go to the gym and relief that feeling. I need to exercise a little.

We are in Chengdu for two more days and we'll be home in seven more days. The beds are sorta comfy, but sleeping without a toddler will be a good thing. I look forward to what tomorrow brings and the adventures we will encounter. I think we are going to find a few local tourist spots to keep ourselves out of the hotel. We will go to the Panda research facility on Friday.

Please pray for all of the families that are adopting as they transition and adjust. It really is a tough process. I know I laugh and make jokes, but sometimes is really is hard. Sometimes families have difficult issues that they aren't ready for and your heart hurts for them.

Our God is an awesome God!

He reigns from heaven above,

with wisdom power and love.

Our God is an awesome God.

That's Tucker with Pikes Peak in the background. We are sitting between the "Siamese Twins" in the Garden of the Gods.

OUR GOD, IS AN AWESOME GOD!!!