Love Sick!

Well, I thought I would post tonight while the family is asleep, so I don't have to get up early to post. Never did like mornings! Well, this morning started with pee on the floor as I mentioned in the previous post. But, nooo, it didn't stop there! We left shortly after the post for breakfast and to tour Nanning city the historic section by visiting a bird and flower market which were amazing and then a historic park with many ancient Chinese customs. In other words, a tourist trap, but a cool one. Well first we went to the market and Alissa seemed so tired and quiet, all she wanted to do was be held, which we didn't mind and we chalked up for another great bonding moment. The only problem is that it wasn't that at all. We just got back on the bus after Daddy splurging on his girl and buying her and mom matching bracelets that were hand tied in front of us. We sat down and Kristin was holding out both of their arms just telling me how beautiful the bracelets looked and thanking me for being such a great husband, (Its my post, so I can exaggerate a little) anyway, she was adoring me, when all of a sudden that precious little daughter who was so cute eating watermelon for breakfast now was projecting watermelon all over herself and thankfully Kristin. She is yelling for towels, wipes, anything, and me now being the dumb, stupid husband was fumbling thru the bag she brought along looking for something, anything. She didn't seem to want to believe me when I said there wasn't anything there. Go figure! Well I was saved by 3 other moms handing about everything but the kitchen sink to help. What a way to start the morning!

After that we went to the historic park where Kristin decided to stay with Alissa in the bus while she slept. While at the park Benjamin and I learned about these neat beautiful handcrafted balls that people usually hang from their rear view mirror. When I found out that they were called "love balls" or "balls of happiness" I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face as I bought six! I triumphantly returned to the bus to make things right with my new found balls!LOL  Kristin wasn't as amused and I think she will kill me when she reads this post.

Well we returned to the hotel for the afternoon off. I decided to read up on the word for poop as I was warned by several comments, and thank goodness I did because I had my new daughter standing there yelling at me in Chinese that she needs to poop! I quickly picked her up and yelled for Kristin to help. I told you today was a zinger. Well we didn't end up doing much because she threw all up over Kristin again in the room and then went to sleep. We just had laundry done and it looks like we will need another order. Oh, they returned our clean laundry today and told me the bill was $1,200 yuan. This would be about $200 U.S. for about 15 pieces of clothes. Well what do you say to a Chinese man who doesn't understand what I'm saying that I think he's crazy. Well, I started counting out the bills knowing I didn't have that much on me, when he started to laugh and tell me I misunderstood, all he needed was $120 yuan or $18 U.S. I sighed a breath of relief and decided he was a good man after all. Sorry for the side bar. I'm getting a little carried away tonight, so I better wrap this up. Alissa did throw up a final time around 6 pm and all over Kristin again. I think she is getting over dry heaving at the sight of vomit now. Anyway, the rest of the night we did play and have some fun moments together as evident on the pictures. She adores Benjamin as you can see from the picture of her watching him journal. She then finished the night with some severe homesickness for her foster parents. It was heart wrenching as she mourns their loss. Cindy our Bethany case worker, came and helped a little by talking to her in Chinese and finding out what was bothering her. I can't say enough about Bethany and the Chinese people they have helping the children and parents bond with each other. We even got a call in the evening by the head person over here that arranges all the adoptions with Bethany families. They take such good care of us and they are always trying to help us learn as much about the culture as we can so we can help our daughters as they get older. God has been good to our family, but Alissa doesn't know that yet as she weeps each night and her foster parents I'm sure are crying themselves to sleep also. Please pray for Alissa, her foster family, and the people here in China that are forced to give up their children because of the one child policy and the lack of resources to support more children. Blessings to all of you.