Friday, June 10, 2011
GOOD BYE NANCHANG AND HELLO GUANGZHOU!!

Piper had a great day today! We are more in love with her today than yesterday! It is so amazing how special this little girl is to us! We are so blessed that God chose her to be our daughter!

Piper had a rough night last night! She was grieving pretty hard for her foster mother! We had a lot of trouble getting her to go to sleep last night. We knew that night time was her hardest time of the day because the night before she was very restless. It took me two hours to finally put her to sleep. I would get her to fall asleep and she would wake up crying for her Ayi. Ayi means nanny in Chinese, but that is what she called her foster mother! It absolutely broke both of our hearts to see our little girl so sad and not be able to make it better. She allowed me to comfort her without pushing me away and I was so glad she let me love her! She woke up very tired because she didn't get to bed until very late and she was up and down crying on and off all night. I am happy to report that tonight she went right to sleep without any problems. We hope that she knows how much we love her. I would stay up every night with her if that is what she needs! We just love her so much!! You will all fall immediately in love with her too! She is just that special!

Our day stared pretty early! We went to breakfast first today. We thought that Piper would be very hungry because she drank and ate so little yesterday! However, she ate very little and still seemed a little sad to us. We tried to get her to eat watermelon and peaches, but she wouldn't touch them. We did get her to drink orange juice and eat a few bites of pancakes. We talked to the children before we finished packing for our flight. We had to meet down in the lobby by 10:45 AM to head to the airport. We arrived at the airport and got our tickets. We were given three different rows and three different seats. When we got on the plane we asked them to sit us together. They sat us in the very last row of the plane. It was so hot! I had to ask for water before we ever got off the ground. Erik was fanning Piper because she had sweat pouring off of her while we were waiting to take off. I thought I was going to be sick! Thank goodness that didn't happen. Erik felt a little sick too! Piper, on the other hand, fell fast asleep before we took off and slept the entire hour and a half flight to Guangzhou! It was an easy flight for her.

We met our guide Helen in Guangzhou! She has been our guide all three times we have been to China. It was so nice to see her again! We arrived at the White Swan about 4:00 PM. We put our things in the room. I took a nap and Erik took Piper to get some ice cream and play in the playroom. See Notes from Dad below for more details on Piper's special time with her Daddy! She certainly has captured her Daddy's heart! She spotted a huge doll in the window of one of the stores and I am sure Daddy will be buying it for her! We went to dinner at Lucy's. It has American style food and it was nice to have a taste of home! Piper ate a pretty good dinner. Before we left Nanchang today our guide gave us a paper that told us what Piper liked to eat and when she went to sleep. We found out she likes white rice and is just a so so eater! She apologized for not giving us the information on Tuesday. We came back to the room and gave Piper a bath. Then, our little angel went right to sleep!

Tomorrow is Piper's medical exam. She doesn't need to get immunized because the law was changed and we now have thirty days to have her immunized after we get home. She does need to have a TB test because she is over two years old. Let's hope that goes well and doesn't set her back again!

Notes from Dad:
I think the most difficult days over here are ones that involve travel. I was feeling a little queasy myself when we landed in Guangzhou, but I was able to shake it off pretty quickly. We were all a little tired today due to Piper's tough night. She cried a lot - I felt really bad for her. We think she was calling out for her foster mom - something we expected might happen. She was pretty inconsolable last night. This morning she was still sad, but she picked up after we got to our hotel this afternoon. She had a good dinner of rice and french fries - which made us really happy. We are happy whenever we can get her to eat! As I type this - she is sleeping soundly. Fingers crossed that she stays that way tonight! Tricia has been napping more on this trip due to her pregnancy. This has given me more solo time with Piper than I had with Sophia or Parker. It's been nice getting to know her. She has an amazing smile - the kind that you love to tease out of her because it is so warm and genuine. It just makes you feel so happy. She's still a little scared - but warming up everyday. We are so blessed - we are just so excited to have her as a part of our family!

Dear Sophia, Graham, and Parker,
We love and miss you very much! We are glad you liked your coloring books we left for you today! We hope you are staying cool! We are glad you liked your snowballs! We are going to look for some presents for you tomorrow after Piper goes to see the doctor. We love you! Have a great day and be good for Mom Mom and Dziadzi!

Lots of love,
Mommy and Daddy