Ni Hao! (knee how) or Hello from Changcha (chong cha)!

It's been an amazing trip so far. While we were in Beijing it just felt like we were on another great trip, sightseeing and having fun. I couldn't wrap my head around what was about to happen. The flight to Changcha was....okay. Normal flyers probably thought nothing of it. I on the other hand prayed non-stop. We went to the Civil Affairs building to adopt Olivia. When we walked in the babies were in a room adjacent to ours. Some of the nannies were standing close so that we could see the babies. I couldn't recognize Olivia. When they brought her out and called our name I wasn't sure that was her. She didn't respond to her Chinese name and looked nothing like her referral picture. Abby and Emma with tears in their eyes, kept saying, "Is that her Mommy?" There was an anxiousness to their voice. They couldn't wait another second to reach out and touch her.

It's been the same ever since. They are always saying, "It's my turn to hold" and "My turn to sit next to her". Finally I said, "It's Mommy's turn!!" I held her all day yesterday. She'll go to any of us, but of course she prefers Jarrett! I kind of knew all along she would. She is a great baby. It definitely has helped having Emma and Abby here. She really enjoys watching and playing with them. Her sadness is overwhelming at times when they aren't in the room. It can almost get too quiet. We do let her have her quiet times without them, but that is when she seems the saddest. Many other parents in our group have said they wished they had brought their other kids. It has been a big help to us, and Olivia.

Olivia fits okay into 6-9 months clothes. We really didn't expect her to be this small. To us she looks like a 7-month-old. She is just sooooo tiny. She has slept through the night both nights. She wakes up at 6:00am for a bottle and goes back to sleep. We've already been up both mornings waiting for her to wake up. That is the advantage with the time change. We're still going to bed at 9:00pm to 10:00pm and waking up between 5:00am and 6:00am. She is showing her personality a little more as the hours go by. When we first got her she had "Sammy hands". She directed the choir all the way back to the hotel. Her hands just kept going the rest of the day. She didn't do it so much yesterday. Yesterday, she was talking a little. "Ba-ba-ba". Very cute! She can't crawl yet. She started to work on it yesterday. She HATES being on her back. So much so, that when we were leaving Wal-Mart, she wouldn't lay in my arms for her bottle, she wanted to be upright. This was a little tricky. I wish we had taken a picture. I had the bottle tucked under my chin like a telephone. I am sure it was pretty funny to see. She stands with assistance and takes a few steps. She loves jumping. She is very bouncy. She loves the red lanterns in the lobby. When she sees them she gets very happy and jumps all around (in our arms of course!).

This morning we looked out the window and there was literally a whole block full of people doing Tai Chi and some are ballroom dancing. What an awesome thing to see at 7:00am!! From now on when we get up early, we'll go outside and check it out.

First thing this morning after breakfast, we went to a local market. I will spare you the pictures for the moment, but let's put it this way....if you want pig foot on the stick and you want it to be fresh, this is the place to come. We saw the live market with snakes, frogs, fish, pigs and birds, all in cages ready to be taken home and eaten. If you buy a bird they will sell it to you live, or, for an extra 80 cents they will kill it and de-feather it.

From there we went on our first real walkabout. we just walked for about 1.5 hours. We were with another family and every time we stopped to look at something, Emma would sit down and entertain the kids. She has been so awesome. She loves this little girl with all of her heart.

Back for a nap and for just a bit of downtime. More tomorrow.

Keep those e-mails coming. The kids love to hear that they have not been forgotten.