We're Back!!! ~ Day 6 With Lily

Wow, we lost touch there for a while. So much has happened since our last posting, I'll try to fill you all in on all that's happened. We traveled to Nanning, Guangxi China on the 15th and had no access to our blog or Facebook due to censorship here. We are still in mainland China now (Guangzhou, Guangdong China), although another adoptive family showed us how to gain access by paying a $20 fee.

Nanning, in Guangxi provence, is a medium sized city for China with a population of about 2.4 million. 6 million if you include the surrounding areas. Nanning is a pleasant city. The people are very friendly and seemed to be happy to see us as an adoptive family. There is much pollution in the air due to all of the cars and motorbikes. The traffic is frightening and it seems to be organized chaos. To cross the street on foot is taking your life in your hands. We stayed at the Majestic Hotel which was very beautiful. The lobby was marble, there was marble everywhere. It was lovely. Although as soon as we walked out the door there was a drastic change of scene. Apartment buildings everywhere, none of which are complete due to the constant building up, up, up to accommodate the masses. Dirty, smelly, loud, busy streets. The climate is tropical so it goes without saying that everyday is at least 100 degrees and many of the foliage and ground cover I recognized as house plants sold in the grocery store (some I have in my home!) and are very beautiful.

Lily is from Bobai County in Guangxi provence which has a population of only a few thousand people. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Lily was in a foster home shortly after she was found. The government has a program for children with special needs called The Alliance for Children Foundation. We received a booklet with pictures of her foster mother and reports of her development throughout the past year. There is a period of 24 hours that we had with her before we were allowed to finalize the adoption with the Chinese government to make sure that we were "pleased with her." When they brought her to us they gave us a camera from the foster family to take some photos and bring back the next day when we were to complete the paperwork. When we got back to the hotel we were able to download at least 50 pictures of Lily with her foster family and they had written a note to us. She was born July 16, 2009 and was found the next day at a Bus Station in Bobai County. This is where she gets her surname of Bo. We kept her Chinese name of SiLing as her middle name. She is just what we thought she'd be, she had a little spark in her eye in her referral picture and she certainly has lived up to that. She is very pleasant and agreeable and LOVES to play with her brothers and her Daddy. She is sure to charm you right away when you meet her. In the words of Nicholas... "We have the most awesomest baby ever!"

Everyday we would go down to the breakfast buffet in the hotel. Lily and the boys would finish eating first, then they would take her out of her highchair and chase her around as she laughed and would crawl up and down the stairs. We received so many comments about how great they are with her. They have been praying since 2008 for her and just love their little sister. They are such a blessing.

As I see the difficulties that other families are facing with their little ones I am so grateful to God for his provision and Grace upon our family. Thank you everyone for covering us in prayer. He is listening and is blessing us like crazy. We are all well and our only obstacle is a little constipation for Lily which is apparently a common problem among newly adopted children that I was not aware of. We celebrated tonight as "Little Miss Ling" pooed, in the tub no less. This seems to be a running theme in my life at work and at home... ;)

I will fill you all in more about this little sweetheart that is now ours later. It may be the afternoon for you guys, but it's after midnight here and I gotta get some sleep...

~Sue, for the family