We have now been home a week and while Ellie is growing by leaps and bounds, I am dragging! Whoever said older was better to have babies--lied! LOL I am tired does not sum it up, between jet lag and getting awakened at night-yikes! Thankfully, I am functioning, despite everything..

In one week....Ellie has learned to crawl, is beginning to sit, and finger feeds herself! She eats table food, but rice cakes and cheerios appear to be favorites. She still won't drink out of a cup, but is allowing a spoon to come near her mouth.

Either its girls or her ears getting better, but she babbles and jabbers non stop! She loves to hear her voice echo in our foyer, especially and has learned to growl like the dog (not that that is a good thing to be imitating).

The boys are still enamored with her and yes, are always willing to hold or help out (as well as kiss her before leaving or going to bed-but don't tell them I shared that). Her ear piercing screams sometimes inhibits their offers, though.

Thank you again and continually to all those who continue to pray for her. She is making gains as she is lifted by the love of prayer and as God designs...

Home at last

We arrived home, via Detroit, yesterday with some family at the airport to greet us! It was such a blessing to have familiar faces when we came out of customs...even though some were missing, we were happy!

What a long day it was, but Ellie was a trooper! We were overjoyed to be back home, until we got to the car and realized neither one of us knew how to operate the car seat! Now I know how that sounds, but they are so complicated compared to what they had 15 years ago...sooo, we just stuffed her in ( literally) and prayed it was good enough to come home with...however, here it is a day later and I continue to stuff her in...it will come!

I took Ellie to the doctor today...yes she has a severe ear infection, both middle and outer ear..so now we are loaded with antibiotic drops and oral meds..in addition, the litany of tests begin..AIDS, hepatitis, lead, parasites, etc. etc. My pediatrician is Wonderful and is taking it easy on me, as we begin one test at a time and will start vaccines in 2 weeks. Oh joy, THOSE I remember...Oh and almost forgot--she weighs a wopping 18 pounds! Praise God, that is MUCH more than we anticipated, given how she looks...in addition, our pediatrician is not concerned a bit that she is so floppy and weak. He feels she will catch up!

Soo, as jet lag now rears its ugly head again, we are thankful that our little trooper has acclimated easily to the time change...we are also thankful for the outpouring of love we have received..from gifts to well wishes to prayers to encouragement! It is all much appreciated and being noted so that Ellie can know how many people were praying and caring for her long before they ever met her..so if you feel led, leave your comments and I will copy them to her memory book! What beautiful memories we have been given and what a gift memories are...

Happy Birthday!

Today marks Ellie's first birthday! We ended up having the day off to visit shops, do some sightseeing, and relax. Eliana is improving daily...she is finally beginning to eat solids and is willing to try almost anything I offer. Of all things, this morning she ate a small hot dog, ritz bits, cheerios, and tater tots. So much for the healthy eating I had envisioned. At this point with her being so small, I will give her anything she wants if it means that she will eat...later on we can begin to worry about better habits (I hope)

Tonight we went out as a group for a Cantonese dinner...Ellie devoured Dim Sum, which I had never tried prior to this trip...she ate two of those, broccoli, and rice--if offered on chopsticks (no small feat)..so it appears her aversion to food may also be linked to a spoon because she eats anything offered on chopsticks! Thank goodness I can manage chopsticks, though I am no expert...sooo, after dinner we went out and bought chopsticks, along with a picture book in Chinese and English for her birthday..

We are nearing the end of our trip..tomorrow marks our last day in Guangzhou and we will leave for Shanghai in the evening...praise God at how He has sustained us during this trip! Has it all been easy? Heavens no...we have had fears, doubts, stress, fatigue, sickness, and anger all at differing points during this trip; but our Lord continues to sustain...He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow..and I pray that I remember this on a day to day basis..!

I pray the same for all who read this...who may be encountering trials now or will be in the future..that you feel the sustaining power of the God who loves you..and when you cannot feel Him, recognize that He has not moved, that your feelings are not always trustworthy, and that you can recall all the times when He has sustained you in spite of where you are at now...He will always remain..

That is my birthday prayer for my beautiful daughter as well...that the God of the universe, who has created her, will call her as His own...that we will be faithful to raise her to love the Lord and that she too will call on the One who will always sustain her as He has so far..

Happy 1st Birthday my sweet girl!

One more hurdle

Well, one more hurdle down...today was Eliana's visa photo and medical exam, as long as a litany of paperwork for mom :)

Her visa photo turned out beautiful (but we are not allowed a copy) and her medical exam...well, was questionable...the doctors pretty much say every baby is healthy, but from the smell coming out of Ellie's ear and the way the doctor kept looking at it, we expect different. The good news is she seems to be doing well on the antibiotics and we hope to just get her home and checked out more thoroughly.

Another praise to report...French Fries!! Yes, there is a little restaurant next to our newest hotel that has a variety of foods..and yes, anyone who knows me knows I love French Fries..and Doug in his ethereal wisdom, decided to offer some to Ellie...who knew?? You guessed it ! The little shark gobbled them up...funny, she won't eat anything else, but loves fries...guess she is her mother's daughter!

We have been warned by locals of a typhoon or something coming and telling us to stay in our hotel; however, we walked tonight and it was just windy...and hot...we are cut off from that type of news here, so we have no idea what the weather is or what else is going on in the world...we just have limited English channels on our TV...I think there is HBO, a movie channel, and National Geographic...not that we are watching too much TV anyway..

I am so thankful that we are traveling (for the most part) as a group...it has been nice to chat with other families, hear their struggles, celebrate the little triumphs....

We are on the countdown..3 more days until we catch a redeye flight to Shanghai..we are the only ones traveling this way, so we only have 3 more days with our group as well...

Thanking God for all those who are praying for us again, as each day seems to be a little easier...and am looking forward to the promise of my parents "to pray us home"..

First Flight

It was a long day...we got up early to go to the zoo and see the pandas...temps into 100's, so it was hot!! Ellie went the whole day without a nap, we received her passport, and then we had to go to the airport to fly to Guangzhou.

We arrived to our hotel around 10:30 p.m...all of us exhausted..and have to get up early for visa photos and a medical exam.

How to sum up today? Relief comes to mind as another leg of our journey to bring Ellie home comes to an end...Anticipation as we are nearing the end of our time in China--to be home, to have Ellie checked out, to introduce her to all those we love, and to see our boys!

I am now on antibiotics, also...Ellie has shared her respiratory bug with me.... and given China's policies on H1N1, I think it better to knock it out early :)

The Chinese have a name for little girls from the Sichuan Province...they are first called beautiful..and secondly, "spicy"...which means our little angel has some attitude...well, we can assure you it is an apt description on both parts!! But the spicy for us means that she is a little fighter, and Praise God--that is what has helped her get through her hospitalizations and into our arms...and besides, I think she is entering a "spicy" family quite naturally...enough said :)

We receive lots of looks when we are out and about...I pray that we are a reflection of God's love for the Chinese and that our actions convey to them how much we love our daughter and their people...to travel all this way is not about getting a daughter (though we have)...it is about displaying the love of God for all peoples throughout the nations and making a difference in a tiny girl's life...We are all called to impact our world for Christ..each in different ways. At this moment, we are called to be an impact in this little girl's life...in the future, she will be called to impact others...isn't that amazing? I can't wait to see the plans God has for her--to give her a hope and a future!

True smile

Yup! It's official...Ellie gave us her first true smile today! We wouldn't have believed it, but she gave us several :) Ohhh how we appreciate moments like this!

And yes, praise to God! Her fever has broken! It appears the antibiotics we brought are working...she is much happier today and has already had 3 bottles (way more than any other day)...

And thank you to the Berg's...we found a Pizza Hut...to which Ellie is blowing raspberries over--we will take that as a sign of a future pizza fan..

Today we also visited the Flying Tiger museum (history stuff and sadly I did not pay attention--hey, I had the smiles of a beauty to focus on)...a master artist was there and quickly painted a picture of peonies-beautiful...he then inscribed it with Eliana's name, written in Chinese and for a fee-- :) we will be bringing it home.

Thank you all for the prayers...as a dear friend of mine says, prayers are the wind beneath our wings...and thanks to all of you-we are flying!

Quiet day

Today was a day off from scheduled activities (which was a good thing because Ellie was up most of the night crying)...it appears she is sick, so we have now begun antibiotics on top of around the clock motrin and tylenol. As long as the tylenol is in her system, she is happy...that on top of the 4 1/2 hour nap this afternoon, and she is good as gold.

We can see some of the families feel sorry for us because Eliana is not doing what is expected for 12 month olds...to which we reply this...Who is it that created Ellie? Who are we to question the child that God has created specifically for our family? Ellie will grow and develop at the rate that she needs to and we will do all we can for her...we are thankful for the moments she smiles and reveals a little of the potential that lies within her..we are thankful for the moments when she reaches her arms for us, which indicates that she is beginning to trust us...and we are thankful for the times when she burrows her face into our neck, which is a revealing of the love taking hold in her heart...and we are thankful that God has chosen to reveal glimpses of His love in each of these simple acts each day. We are truly blessed!

It's official!

At 3:30 p.m. July 14, Eliana Huayan Elbers was officially declared ours! After an official swearing in and oath, we were presented with a memorial gift of the occasion and given a certificate stating that the adoption was official.

As per her charming personality, Eliana held the document just in time for the photo to be taken! Hour by hour she is becoming more animated and delightful. Even with a fever and cold, she still continues to woo us :)

Despite her illness and expected delays, we were reminded by another parent today...God knew who her parents needed to be...I am forever thankful for the experience I have had working with children who have delays because this now has prepared us to meet Eliana's needs where she is at. We look forward to the miracle about to unfold as she grows and develops by leaps and bounds!

Gotcha!!

We just arrived back to our hotel with Eliana! What an experience...as the wives were all filling out paperwork, the babies were brought in while our husbands watched.

One by one our names were called as we were matched with our babies. She has been hand-picked by God, named before time to be our daughter and here she is!

It has been quite a hard day for her..she had a 7 hour train ride to get here, then had the stress of coming to new people, getting photographed, and riding a bus back to our hotel! She handled it well, but is a bit fussy now. She is fascinated by Doug's razor stubble, so I'm thinking that he can't shave for a while :)

As for prayers...we were told that she has been quite ill and in the hospital for several weeks due to a diarrhea disease..she still has bruises on her head from the IV's..and is quite thin...please pray that we can get her home and to a doctor safely and quickly without delays. Also, that we can manage her care here as well...this has all got to be very hard on her.

Sum up the day in a word? Or a few? Indescribable, uncontainable, You set the stars in the sky and You know them by name...You are amazing God!!

Gotcha!!

Anticipation....

Today was a full day again! God continues to open our eyes and heart to a culture that we really are just beginning to learn about. We walked (ALOT) yesterday, through Tiannamen Square and Forbidden City. A country rich in history and tradition and overwhelming beauty has been set before us...and I, as a westerner, and again realizing how little our world seems in America.

Our high point of the day was a rickshaw ride through Hutong village...this literally means narrow alley and is in a part of Beijing where the streets are very narrow. I believe, the Mongolians created the infrastructure of this part of the city and established many water systems as well...as time passed, this type of area has expanded...they are literally like little cities within cities. Homes sharing common courts, being passed down for generations...poorer areas, sharing common restroom facilities...

Those of you who know me, know how I love to watch cultures and yesterday was a gift! We saw elderly sitting in the park playing some type of game that looked like checkers and dominoes..children in the streets giggling...old ladies sweeping the street with a traditional straw broom..vendors selling their produce...etc.

The finale was being invited a traditional Hutong home for tea...Fresh tea prepared for each of us with the flower petals still floating...aromatic and savoring every moment as I "drank" it all in...praying that God would preserve my memories of all of this for Eliana.

We finished our day at the famed Pearl Market...enough said :) Tomorrow is our "Gotcha Day" for Eliana...our entire group is on edge with excitement and anticipation...

Praise God for the way He is revealing His love for the Chinese peoples (yes there are many different ethnic regions in China)...and praise Him for making this possible in our lives!

A taste of culture

We are finally able to access our blog, thanks to the helpfulness of one of the receptionists who works at the hotel (and happens to be from California-what are the chances?) Apparently blogs and facebook are blocked in China and we did not know. Thanks to her youthfulness and computer savvy, she hooked us up and we should now be able to blog without difficulty.

We took a tour of the Cloissone Factory today watching intricate vases being made by hand and went to the Great Wall. It was a looong day, but rich in education and the peeling off of our western eyes, which we need to more fully appreciate the culture from which our daughter comes.

Two of the families have already received their children, two boys and we re being delighted by them each day as they are with us. One of the little boys sang a traditional Chinese song about butterflies today...brought his mommy (and me) to tears. He is 4 and adorable! While I generally enjoy visiting places, I am ready to be done sightseeing and meet Ellie; but I know this too, is part of the process that the Lord has intended us to go through. Someday these memories will be important to Ellie. We are trying to pick up little gifts for each of 18 birthdays to give her something from her culture as she ages. It is very important to us that appreciates the beautiful culture from which she comes. In 9 days, she will celebrate her first birthday!

A gift

During the flurry of the week, we were quite stressed trying to choose the flight to take that Bethany's travel service offered. We wanted to fly into Flint, but there were more layovers and it was more costly. We wanted to take United Airlines (because we avoided having to fly into Hong Kong or Tokyo), but their price was double that of Northwest...Doug left the decision up to me--ugh! I wanted convenience!!

Tuesday morning I was to call and confirm our decision, Doug received an email THAT morning from Northwest stating we could upgrade our tickets by using ONE World Perk Point..it seemed too good to be true...I called the travel service, it was real! We received FIRST CLASS ROUNDTRIP tickets out of Detroit cheaper than flying United into Flint---Decision Made!! Can you believe it??? Thank you Jesus, what a blessing...

Answered Prayer

We have our dates to travel, confirmed and ready to go. We leave out of Detroit Metro July 8th and return on the 22nd. God's faithfulness continues to overwhelm me, in spite of my faithlessness in so many ways.

I never believed Eliana would be real..and here it is, less than one week till we get her. Doug has been confident this whole time, never wavering. His faith amazes me still. This has been a dream for so long, I drop to my knees in awe every time I think of God's amazing grace to our family..in not only giving me the desires of my heart but making those desires a reality.

His love is being displayed for the nations, next week we will have the privilege of catching a glimpse of His love in action as we and 8 other families receive the children God has chosen to display Himself thru. What an adventure we are about to partake!