Our first bump in the road...

Wednesday started off pretty well. We didn't have to be anywhere early, so we took our time getting up and around. Mom, Jacob, Hannah and I went down for a late breakfast and Stephen and SG stayed back in the room. SG was feeling better, but we were still playing it safe about what she could eat. After breakfast our group was going sightseeing, but we decided to stay back and have some much needed downtime. We pretty much hung out in the room where Hannah seemed to be comfortable playing. She was still doing good.....almost too good. As the morning went on she seemed to be more mellow and a little less interactive, but perked up by the afternoon.
That evening we did our bedtime routine of bath and bottle and I got her ready for bed. It was a fight to get her to sleep and it pretty much got worse after that. She was very restless and would only sleep an hour or so at a time. She did not want me to put her down. I was exhausted to tears. I had taken two simply sleep assuming she would sleep through the night like the two previous nights. But oh was I wrong and was wishing I had not taken them. Hannah was pitiful. Clearly she was grieving and it was so sad to watch. Around 5am she woke up and looked at me like 'who in the world are you'. She began screaming and pointing to the door. She was trying to get out of my arms so I stood her up in her bed. Stephen went and grabbed her shoes she wore from the orphanage and the bunny we sent her when she was there. She clung to these familiar things and continued to point to the door. She was saying what sounded like, "yay-yay." I felt like she was crying out for her nanny. She finally let Stephen pick her up and console her. I reached for her and she turned away. This had not happened since gotcha day. I fixed her a bottle to see if that would comfort her and it did. It was like a switch had been turned on and sweet little Hannah returned. The rest of the day went great. We went out sight-seeing and she was content as could be in my ergo carrier (I can tell she feels very safe in it)
I explained what had happened to our guide, Rebecca, and she reassured me that it was normal and over all she felt like Hannah was taking to Stephen and I very well. She gave me some helpful tips and it made that days nap and bedtime much better.
I have written this post over two days, so it is now Friday morning. She did beautifully last night, praise God! We woke up at ten till 5 this morning to go to the orphanage at 6:30, a trip I have not felt peace about since we got here, especially after that bad night. I was afraid that she would not want to leave with us after seeing her nanny. She was doing so well and I didn't want to go backwards. The kids at Maoming are taken really good care of compared to most orphanages. This is evident in Hannah's behavior.
So we got ready, ate breakfast, and loaded the bus. All of a sudden I felt like I was going to pass out and I looked at Stephen and said 'I don't want to do this.' Feeling very torn we got off the bus. This trip is grueling enough as it is. I didn't think Hannah or I had it in us. We prayed over Hannah hoping we made the right decision not to go. I feel okay with it.
I am loving getting to know my precious new daughter each minute that goes by. I love her so very much. Please continue to pray for us and the other families on this trip, my mom is now sick:(. We discovered this when we went over to tell them we didn't go. Pray for a speedy recovery!
Love, Kim




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Gotcha day, and a little more

I am so exhausted, so sorry if at any point I don't make sense...... Monday, March 5-Gotcha Day. 2:00 rolls around and we all eagerly load the bus to the civil affairs office where we (us and 8 other families) will be given our children. The sun is shining for the first time since we have ben here and it is warm outside. We take a twenty minute ride over, pile out of the bus taking deep breaths. We walk into a crowded waiting area where we wait for our 'batch' of families to be called forward to take our child one, by one. All of a sudden Rebecca, our guide, says gather around and then begins frantically calling our names and passing out children. Sound like an assembly line? Well, it was, but much more traumatic. We hear 'Miller', then 'Mao Zhongxia' we quickly step forward and she is passed to us and before she could even get completely in my arms she begins to scream. Although I fully expected this reaction I did not anticipate the way the process played out. It all happened so quickly and it was just so chaotic. Her shoe had been kicked off during the chaos and when someone handed it to me, she grabbed it for dear life. It was the ONLY thing familiar to her. After trying to calm her down with toys, suckers, whispers, she finally tired and let me feed her some puffs. Ever since then this sweet little angel has been mommy's little girl. She has attached to me exceptionally well and the Lord gets all the credit. She is a happy, playful, tender, shy little girl. Today she has really warmed up to Sarah Grace and Jacob. She loves Stephen, but mostly when I am holding her. She is making small steps toward letting him hold her. Tonight she left my lap and walked over and reach for Stephen. It was precious!
Today has been long and busy. We went back to the civil affairs office at 9am to take an oath, answer some questions and sign some paperwork. We came back to the hotel for a bite to eat and hopes of a nap (that didn't happen). Then off to the police station to get a picture for her visa and passport and o finalize the adoption. She's finally a Miller! Mao Zhongxia is now Hannah Marie Xia Miller.
Once we got back to the hotel, where mom had ben keeping the kids, she told us that SG had thrown up:(. My anxiety just went up! I was so said to not be able to take care of her and worried that this bug may spread. Please lift her up in prayer to recover quickly and it not spread to anyone else. If there was one thing I hoped wouldn't happen it wad that!
You all are now filled in up to this point and I will do my best to post more often. If you want to see pics you will have to check out my page on Facebook. Love you all!
Night, night!
Kim

Quick update

Well, sorry I am little late in posting this, but we made it to Guangzhou on Saturday after noon. Navigating through the train staiton once we got to guangzhou was quite stressful, because there was a miscommunication and our guide was nowhere to be found. Thank goodness our friends from b'ham, Derek and Rushton were with us. Derek and Stephen managed to track down a couple of taxis to get us to our hotel. This city is very different from Hong Kong. The smog is heavy and the drivers are worse than New York. There was definitely a feeling of 'we're not in Kansas anymore, toto'! Our hotel is absolutely beautiful and very accomodating. Once we got to our room they had a crib set up with a gift basket of baby stuff in it. I still cannot believe we are here! The time has almost come. It is 1:30am here and I am sleepless. My wheels are turning in my head, anticipating what is to come. Please continue to pray for Hannah, as this is her last night in the only place she has ever known. We were told that she is shy and does not like strangers, but that she loves to be around little kids. I must admit there have been a couple of moments where I was thinking 'now why did we bring our kids?', but after hearing her tell us that, now I know. Sarah Grace and Jacob a SUPER excited! We noticed that in every picture we had of Hannah she was always with her nanny. I am sure that the initial pass off will be so scary for her:(. Please pray that she will allow us to comfort her. The big moment will be at 2:30 this (Monday) afternoon. 12:30am your time. There are 6 other families getting there children at that same time. 3 of them are friends from my adoption coffee group back home. It has been really fun being here with them. Praise God for allowing us to be here together! I believe we will be leaning in each other quite a bit. How awesome that our girls will know some familiar faces once we get home. Well I am going to try and get some sleep.....BIG day ahead!
I am blogging on our iPad which is not letting me upload any photos (any ideas on how?), so I am just going to post our pics on Facebook if or until I can figure it out.
Will post again after Gotcha Day:)
Love,
Kim

Next stop, Guangzhou....

It is 7:30 am Saturday here in Hong Kong. We arrived at our hotel about 9 last night. It was a very long day, but the kids did so, so good. Sarah Grace slept almost a full nights sleep on the plane and Jacob slept about half that. We watched lots of movies! It was a pretty easy flight, but the last 4 hours seemed like eternity. Most of you know how I HATE flying and this was the thing I was most nervous about from day one. Well, huge praise.....I have never felt more calm and peace! I didn't even have to take my doctor prescribed 'chill pill';).
It truly warms my heart to see all the kind words of encourage and prayer coming from all of you back home. They are being felt!!
We are going to grab some breakfast and walk around downtown Hong Kong (which is a beautiful city and a lot like New York). Then we will take a 1 1/2 hr train ride to Guangzhou where we will be the remainder of our trip. We are so close to Hannah now!
Love,
Kim

Here we go....

The day started off very early, but everyone woke up quite chipper and ready to go. Sarah Grace talked ninety to nothin the entire way to the airport. She said "I am just so excited." The first flight was a success! Sarah Grace was a little scared at first, but ended up loving it. Jacob loved it too. I am surprising calm and Stepehn is, well, Stephen;). My mom and I keep saying that it still doesn't feel real! You may hear this a hundred times, but I am so thankful that she and the kids came along.
We are resting at a hotel in the Detroit airport before we take off to Hong Kong. We will arrive in Hong Kong when y'all are waking up tomorrow. I will post again when we get there!!
Love,
Kim

4 days and counting....

I cannot believe how close we really are! 6am Thursday morning we will be on our way to Detroit where we will have a 6 hour layover (UGH!) and then we are off on our 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. PRAYERS PLEASE!!! We will arrive there at 8:45pm on Friday, spend the night and take a train to Goungzhou Saturday, March 3, where we will stay the remainder of the trip. We will be taking the same route back in and arrive in Sweet HOME Alabama at 4:30pm on Friday March 16. I am tired just thinking about it. I feel as prepared as I am going to be. It has taken weeks to plan/pack for this trip. I have had to think out every possible scenario in my head. I have packed enough medicine and food to take care of a small army! Stephen laughs at me, but hey, he will be thanking me when we are stuck in the room with 3 kiddos on what appears to be quite a rainy trip. Looking at the next 10 days in Guangzhou, 9 out of 10 of them are rainy!!!

Sarah Grace and Jacob seem to have a grasp on what will go on. We have talked to them about the whys and whats for a couple of years now. They get it about as much as a 6 and 4 year old could, I guess. Please pray for them, as what lies ahead could be scary at times. Please pray that they will feel safe, loved, secure and pray that they would be okay with sharing some of the attention.

As for Hannah, pray for that moment that she leaves her nannies arms and is placed in ours (Monday, March 5). How scary that will be for her. Please pray for a smooth transition and supernatural comfort and healing of her greiving heart. Poor baby has been through a lot in her short 18 months of life. Pray that she would be able to fully trust that Stephen and I will love her unconditionally and take care of all her needs, forever.

Lastly, please pray for wisdom for Stephen and I. Decision making is tough as a parent. These little ones rely on us. Pray that we would seek God in every decision made, down to every tiny detail. Pray for God's hedge of protection around Hannah, Jacob, Sarah Grace, Stephen, Mom and me. My mom is stepping way out of her comfort zone traveling to the other side of the world to many unknowns. Please pray that she would feel God's presence at every turn. Pray for good health (SG and Jacob have this cough that they cannot shake and it is making me a bit nervous), and just a fun time! I am overjoyed that we can take this trip as a family:)

I have an incredible group of friends and family! Thank you all for your overwhelming support and prayers. Keep it coming, as this journey is just beginning! Thank you for loving us! We love you all very much!

Praise Him through whom all blessing flow!! And to God be all the honor and glory and praise!!!

Blessing!!
Kim

It's time!!!

After a long 22 months it is finally time to bring our daughter home! Two weeks from today we will be on an airplane bound for China! Hannah's bag is packed and her room is ready. We are coming, sweet girl, coming to bring you HOME!

More details to come!