An Orphan No More!
It's official! She is no longer an orphan but ours-Monroe Raine Willard. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement, prayers and support! I know we have a lot of people covering us in prayer because from the moment they put her in my arms I felt a peace and love that so many of you have described. The trip has gone wonderful-from the flights, to Gotcha Day, lack of sickness, and bonding with Monroe. The only glitch on our trip has been our computer. For some reason we have only been able to access the internet during the middle of the night! For those of you that know me well-I'm a night owl so this is not a big deal!!!! Dan and I did get sick one night from eating lettuce and tomato on a weird tasting cheeseburger.......Dan said that's what we get for trying to eat healthy!! We have been searching for something that tastes similar to home and COKE was the closest thing we found!!!! Thank you Jesus for Coke! Dan is still in his search for Mountain Dew but no luck so far!
Lanzhou is the capitol of Gansu and much different than Beijing. Lanzhou is what our guide called "Real China."Our guide informed us that Lanzhou does not have foreigners and very few adoptions. We have seen only one other foreigner since we arrived in Lanzhou and we are stared at wherever we go. At times, the stares are unsettling. Thank goodness we have a wonderful guide! No one speaks any English here so communicating has been difficult......that's not good when you are trying to find a Starbucks!
Sweet Monroe!!
It's been fun getting to know our daughter the last couple of days. She is so different than what our original information indicated. From her initial medical reports and discussions with other people who adopted from Gansu orphanage, we were expecting her to be very delayed. Her report said that she was not sitting up, not crawling, not talking, and very introverted and shy. Well..........the report was not correct!! She sits up, she army crawls, she can stand with help, holds her own bottle and she is not introverted! She is funny, loves to throw things, she kicks her legs all the time, and loves to smile. She loves to eat(especially puffs) and she is a great sleeper!! Can I just say Dream Baby!!! We had been praying for the Lord to prepare her heart to be part of our family. That could explain the difference in the report.......she's just happy to finally be home.We have had no issues with her cleft lip/palate so far. She can only eat small tiny pieces of food and drinks mostly bottles. We are smitten with her and in love!
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| Making it official |
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| She's officially a Willard |
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| The sweet orphanage director and his wife-They really loved Monroe |
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| The dads on baby duty |
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| These two were best friends at the orphanage |
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| Monroe's first wave |
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| Loves my camera lid |
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| Love when she smiles |
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| Going after some yogurt puffs |
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| Our group eating authentic Chinese in Lanzhou |
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| Small enough to fit in a tiny sink for my first bath |
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| Daddy and Monroe out in Lanzhou |
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| Eating rice for the first time |
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| Standing!!! This is a big surprise |
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| Love Her!!!! |
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| The moms getting ready to go shop!! |
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| City of Lanzhou |
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| The 9 story mall in Lanzhou!! |
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| Monroe's first trip to the mall-the first of many!! |
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| One view of mall |
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| Daddy even had fun shopping with Monroe |
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| Girls at the mall reading a Chinese translation of why we have Chinese babies |
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| My friend Nick that we met-the only person who we met who spoke some English |
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| Another view of Lanzhou |
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| Love this photo-Looks like she is praying!! Goodnight all! |
Oh she is so incredibly beautiful!!! Thank you for the sweet pictures! I love how you walked forward in faith, while God quieted your fears from the delays the paperwork said she had. And now to see the little blessing He had planned for your family from before the creation of the world is incredible. I cannot wait to see your precious babe in person!! ~ Once you get to Ghangzhou, you will find the STarbucks right by the Victory Hotel. And for me the closest thing to American food was the Mcflurry at McDonalds. Not healthy, but it was a comfort. :) Praying each day continues to be filled with peace and joy! Blessings, Sherry and the Semlow crew
ReplyDeleteBrought Tears of joy!! So overwhelmed with love for her and you guys!! I simply cannot wait to squeeze her and watch her and Brinley become buddies. Praying the rest of the trip goes smoothly! Thanks for the call and fb message. I actually got the blog info from Shelly's post on fb. Today's the first chance ive had to catch up with you. Love, love, love her!! Bring her home quick!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kim and crew
Glory to God; what an encouraging blog! I'm thrilled she is functioning so well! I'm so glad for all of the pictures. She is absolutely precious, and her eyelashes are SO long. Do you remember when we were at Starbucks, and you were showing me pictures you had been sent of her, and I said she looked like Dan? Well, the pictures on your blog are so much more clear and vivid, and I think so even more now. She was definitely meant to be a Willard! From your fellow, night-owl friend. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh Karen, I am so praising God!! I am filled with such thankfulness for the peace and joy that I hear in your posts. I can't tell you what joy that brings me. God is so faithful and so good. Your daughter is incredibly precious and we all here in the Waterson house LOVE looking at her pictures. So thankful for your health too! We love you all.
ReplyDeleteMelissa