First full day as a family

Yesterday was our first full day as a family. Since we spent many hours on Gotcha Day doing paperwork and running errands we had a free day today just to bond with Kinley. Kinley is doing very well adjusting, she is just a dream. The only hard time we are having is bedtime. I've come to the realization that she does not know how to have someone put her to sleep. What I mean by that is the only way to get her to sleep is to put her in her crib and let her cry and self soothe--which is very hard for me to do! I want to rock her, which I do for a while. But she must think that when someone is holding her it is time to play and just will not sleep. We will continue to work on this. When we are out and about and have her in the carrier she will take a nap easily in that though, which is a blessing.

Yesterday we played in the hotel room, then went out to a beautiful park in Kunming just a block from the hotel. The park is HUGE! Kunming is called the "City of Eternal Spring" and is where many come to vacation. There is a lake where millions of seagulls migrate from Russia for the winter. The people LOVE the seagulls and will stand at the edge of the lake as the seagulls circle within a foot of them as they throw out food into the air for them to eat. Many people gather at the park, including people who are doing ethnic dancing, ballroom dancing, etc. Sometimes there are two dancing, sometimes there are groups of 100 or more. Yunnan, the province, is where the most minority groups are in all of China. Kunming is a very special place to be in China and we are so happy we are getting the chance to see it. It is 75 degrees here (and very windy as you can tell by my hair in the pictures, lol) Our only regret is that we didn't bring more shorts!

When we left the park we ended up paying a local 120 Yuan, about 20 bucks, to sketch a picture of Kinley. He did a great job! It quickly became overwhelming though, as about 75 people surrounded us to watch. The Chinese people are very curious of us, especially here in Kunming which does not see many foreigners. I'm sure the fact that we are carrying around a Chinese baby does not help! They are all very nice, however we get lots of stares and pointing. Some will even wall up and point to Kinley and try to talk to us. We just smile and say hello, and keep walking. One guy in the park actually sprinted in front of us to take pictures of us. When we notice this we just try to look away and keep walking.

Today we will go to visit the orphanage Kinley was in. I have very mixed emotions about this. I know it is a part of her history and we should go to be able to show her pictures and tell her about the visit. I worry that she will be sad and scared when we take her there, however many people believe that it is closure for them. They see that you take them back for a visit, but not to leave them there. I hope that Kinley will understand that we have no intentions of ever leaving her.

I will try to take more pictures of Kinley today. We got so busy playing with her, we did not take many pictures, so today I will make up for it! Love you all! Thank you so much for the comments, prayers, and love that you are showing us!


Heather


We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.

But those who make their journey home across time & miles,

growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,

are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us

by God's very own hands.

--- Kristi Larson