Tid Bits About Ivy Joy!!

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She is adorable! Smart. Shy. Curious. Tiny.

She loves to eat. She likes spicy food and sweats while she eats it. Don't dare take it away from her. Her nose runs and there are sweat beads on her nose and upper lip and she continues to eat her favorite Spicy Hot Pringles. She swiped a Snicker Bar from her brother tonight and proceeded to eat the entire thing! She seriously ate an entire Snickers!! We have no idea where it all goes!

She loves music and she loves bath time! She will stay in the bath as long as you let her.

She loves to sleep! She goes to bed at 8pm and we have to wake her up in the morning in order to get to breakfast before they close it up at 10am! She takes a 1.5 hour nap around 12:30.

We are seeing lots of smiles and even giggles now. She is tickleish under her chin and on her neck just like Lexi.

She is so LOVED!!!!!!

Tomorrow we head to the orphanage for a last goodbye. I have so many thank you's and hugs I want to give to the ladies who took care of Ivy Joy! We will be taking some pictures of a few little ones who will be coming home to their own families soon. Even one who is in foster care is being brought back to the orphanage for us to visit with. We hope to get some video of each of them as well. Then its off to Guangzhou for the last leg of this trip! We are half way done now! Can not wait to embrace my girls again and my absolutely amazing husband who has taken such good care of his girls at home while we've been in China! Love you Babe!!!!! Love you Quincie, Rylee, Cassidy, and Lexi! I am so blessed to call you all mine!!!!

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48 Hours Together!!

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It is hard to believe that I have only known my daughter for 48 hours. She is such a part of me now and there is not a thing I would not do for her. I am so in awe of her bravery, of her ability to cope. I am amazed at the way she has chosen to trust me. I am blown away by her ability to attach. I love her with all depth of my heart and my soul. My heart breaks at the thought of her being considered inoperable, and un-adoptable.

I would move mountains for this little girl, she is worth every second of this journey we have been on and if someone told me right now that her heart was beyond repair I would not change one thing. She is worthy of every ounce of life God chose her to have and she has clearly been cradled in the palm of his hands every day of her life.

She has been loved, she would not know how to love like she does had she not been loved in that orphanage! She loves to be cuddled and looks for my hand and holds it tight when she feels insecure. She woke up this morning and smiled when she saw me! She smiled! She still flips her lip up when people come too near her and when we go into a new environment but she is opening up and she is making huge progress. She is wonderfully, perfectly, beautifully made!!

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Our Tiny Valentine Is Officially Ours!!!!!

Pin It Today, February 14th (Valentines Day) Ivy's adoption was finalized. How appropriate that God chose this day for our little heart baby to be officially ours!!!

She is making huge strides. Last night we got our first smile and today we had many smiles but she is still so so very scared. When she gives us a grin, a smile or a tiny giggle it is still done with such reserve. She squeezes her face and doesn't really let it all out. She is really not sure what is going on yet. She does love her mama, I will tell you that. She keeps her body so very close to mine and just molds to me when she is scared. New environments really get her worried but once she see's we are ok she relaxes very quickly. I don't think she has ever been anywhere and I am certain she was not allowed to have much activity whatsoever. This in fact has saved her life. I learned this tonight but I will get to that later.

Back to how much she loves her mama..... she gives me kisses, voluntarily!!! She just leans over to me and comes in for a kiss. It is the sweetest thing ever!! Its random and it's often!!! It just melts me every time!!!!

Ok off my mommy high! Tonight I decided I wanted to see if I could get her to walk a little. I know her legs are strong, her balance is terrific, her fine motor skills are amazing, but she will not stay in standing position. So I took her in the hall and made a game of it. She was having no part of it at first so I had Emily pretend she was taking steps to me and tried to get Ivy a little interested in coming with us. Finally, she got up holding my finger and walked down the hall with us. She went down passed about 7 or 8 rooms and I could hear her breathing louder and louder. Her little heart was racing and she was absolutely exhausted. We will not be doing any more walking until after surgery!!!! Her orphanage has definitely done a wonderful job of caring for her and I am so grateful!!!

She will sit and play with her stacking cups for hours. She will sit and eat cheerios for hours. In fact she will sit and eat anything for hours. The girl can eat!! She only likes soft things (besides cheerios) but she never stops eating! She loves the little yogurt drinks they sell here. Her orphanage said she drank 1 during the day, and every day before bed. Well, today she had 4!!! along with congee, bananas, milk, sweet potatoes, bread, hot cereal, french fries and lots and lots of cheerios!!!

Night time is her most comfortable time. She loves to play in the room and becomes more cheerful and comfortable at that time. And since it is night time here now, I've got a little girl to go play with. Happy Valentines Day!!!

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Happy Valentine's Day From China!!

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We Have Ivy!

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She is amazing!

She cried very quietly for about 10 seconds and has been stoic and observant since. She is very scared but so brave! She is cuddly and wants to be in my arms always. She is so precious! I am still working on getting her layers of clothing off, she wants no part of it. I continue to pray that she will know the depth of my love for her. This journey has been such a sweet reminder to me that God is in the details and JOY comes in the morning.

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IT'S IVY EVE!!!!

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Hi! It's Diana posting for Mary! She is having VPN connection issues!

We arrived safely in Hangzhou and were greeted by our guide, Sun Pei Pei. Her English name is Rebecca. She is NO fun!!!!  She spoke in Chinese to the driver 100 miles a minute jabbering away on our hour car ride to the hotel. She said only one thing to me...

"are you aware, that the child you are getting has a very bad heart?"

Yes...

"Ok!"

So since I like to try to make the most out of even the worse situations, I decided to ask questions and talk to her. She answered very quickly and then went right back to her conversation with the driver. When we arrived at our hotel she pointed one way and said, "Pizza Hut down there!"

Here's the good news!!! Ivy Day is at 9:00 am Hangzhou time! Which is 7:00pm Central Time! Please lift up Mary and precious Ivy today.. This little girl is going to be SOOOO incredibly blessed when she meets her new Mama and big brother!!

Thank you!

Diana

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12 hours till gotcha!!

Pin It Last thoughts on this last day as a family of 7. This morning I was chatting on line with the family. Bryan tells me that Lexi tells everyone that her mommy is in China getting IBEE (Ivy) right now. She is doing amazing! I have everything laid out, unpacked, and ready to go. If we have several days where I can't do much of anything but hold Ivy, no big deal, I'm ready. I get a lump in my throat every time I try to picture what the moment I see her for the first time will be like. And I try to hold back the tears as I imagine those first days together. I wonder what her voice sounds like? What her baby skin feels like? Does she say any words? Does she tire easily. What does her smile look like, what does her laugh sound like? Does she still drink a bottle? What foods does she like? Will they have shaved her sweet little head again? Does she like music? Bubbles? Balls? Dolls? Will she let me in to her world right away or will there be some time where she wants nothing to do with me? Has anyone ever told her that they love her? That she was wonderfully, perfectly made? That she is important, special, beautiful, deserving, an amazing child of God?  You are baby girl! And I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know all of these things. Just one more sleep!!!! See you in the morning. Pin It