Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Patty, Caleb, Danae (daughter-in-law), Logan, Drew and Annika!
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
So I have also dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she liveth she is dedicated to the Lord. I Samuel 1:27 - 28
Today was another day of paperwork. Annika was in bed at 8:00 pm and I was right behind her. I tried to rock her to sleep and she just wanted to be put down and she played and fell asleep. That works for me. I checked on her a few times during the night, but we didn't really hear too much from her until around 6 a.m. We got ready and went down to the wonderful western/Asian breakfast buffet. We had to meet in the front lobby at 9:00 am and off we went. Unfortunately we had to go back to the Civil Affairs Office which is the same place we received our babies and we were worried that the babies would think they were going to be taken somewhere strange again. Annika didn't have any problems. We met with 2 directors and gave our promise to never mistreat or abandon her and did we still want her and we were off again.
We were able to stop at a huge mall called the Friendship Store to get some supplies. Annika was sleeping so I stayed on the bus with her and gave Steve the list to get. Bottled water is a must in China, so you always need to make sure you have it around.
Annika is such a good baby. She is still looking frightened and if anyone in our group comes up to talk to her she starts to whimper. She is starting to come out of her shell just a small amount. And she seems to be relaxing in our arms more. When I was on the bus with her by myself she leaned back after she woke up and let me rub her belly for a long time.
She still looks so sad and I can not wait to see her first smile. She recognizes both of us and will just stare at us to see what we will do next or where we are at. I think she's a bit spoiled. We are holding her alot to bond with her and well, we don't mind.
We spoke with our guide today about Annika's Orphanage she came from yesterday. It was 5 hours to get her here and it is not a nice Orphanage at all. There are too many babies for the Orphanage workers and only when they are crying for a very long time do they go over to meet their needs. We are trying to let her fuss and cry but not too much because we want her to know that we will be there to take care of her.
We still have no idea if she can walk or stand up to furniture yet. We've tried and it doesn't seem like she has alot of strength in her legs. She has baby talked twice now really quietly to herself and it is adorable. And yes, our first finger sucker. She sucks on her pointer and first finger. But only when trying to put herself to sleep and all night long do I see them in her mouth
Right now she is sitting on her daddy's lap watching TV and sipping the cream off the top of his Starbucks coffee. She keeps opening her mouth up and sticking her tongue out for more. So cute.
We are doing good. After we got Annika yesterday I told Steve it was time for us to come home. We do have a nice 5 star hotel room. Alot of the people in our group their rooms are small and beds are hard, but ours is not. I slept like a million dollars last night and am feeling great again.
Annika is in 12 mos. clothes right now but they are a tiny big on her. She does well with her bottle, I am switching her already to our U.S. formula.
Hope you are enjoying our journey to China and I hope you enjoy the pictures we are sending.
