My Family is Coming!!!!

My family is coming!!! My family is coming!!! My family is coming!!!!!!!!!!!

As we speak, or rather, as I type, my family(minus the boys) is on a plane headed east- landing in Beijing around midnight on Wednesday night China time. My good old buddy Yong ShiFu and I are headed out to the airport to bring them home!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!! He is such a precious gem- one of New Day's favorite drivers. My favorite Yong quote is "Mei you mafan....WO SHI YONG SHIFU!!!!".....In English, that's "No problem!!! I AM YONG SHIFU!!!". This is the same great driver that gave me a CD of Chinese music after we forced him to listen to it the entire trip to and from the Great Wall- a good 2 hour drive each way. It's always an adventure to practice my Chinese with him...I never know how that is going to go!!

The last few days have been SO great- Brooke and I have made so many strides in our relationship towards best friendship. Yesterday she decided that I was pretty cool after all, and began to ask me to hold her, would tell people when they walked in the room that her jie jie was here, and if I left the room or she didn't see me, she would ask her nannies where her big sister had gone :) Today, we played outside together for such a long time- she wanted me to hold her while we were walking around outside and we spent a lot of time feeding leaves to the goat that lives in the backyard. All of her little friends have started calling me jie jie as well...and Brooke has now started to correct them...saying "Ta BU SHI ni de jie jie! Ta shi wo de!!"..."She is not your big sister! She is mine!!!". Breaks my heart a little bit because I SO WISH that I could bring them all home...be a big sister to all of them. It is good though that Brooke seems to realize and understand a little bit of what is going on...we know that it will be SUCH a hard transition for her though. She is so, so loved here...and she loves hard in return. Please be praying for her transition and her little heart to understand what is going on over the next weeks and months- sweet baby girl!!

A little bit about Brooke- she LOVES babies! Always wants to help the nannies give bottles to her mei mei in the downstairs playroom. She loves to kiss and hold the little babies and is SO proud when the nannies let her help with their care. Today, the foster home had put her in a shirt that said "BIG SISTER" in English written all across the front. I told her Brooke!! Ni bu shi jie jie...ni shi mei mei!!! Ni mei you yi ge mei mei...ni you san ge jie jie! ....You aren't a big sister!!!! You are a little sister! You don't have a little sister...you have THREE big sisters!!! She just looked at me and pointed at sweet baby girl and said "Ta shi wo de mei mei"..."She is my little sister". Absolutely melts my heart.

She is speaking SO MUCH Chinese, which I am loving!!!! Her favorite words are "Bu yao"..."don't want". HA. She also understands a fair amount of English and sings LOTS of English songs. She loves loves loves to sing and LOVES to dance! She is a fabulous dancer...she has some pretty great moves. She and Erica will have to have lots of dance parties back home. She is quite the chubster...today the nannies told me that Brooke is a very cute chubby girl and that she eats ALL THE TIME. Hahaha. So great. I helped in her preschool class today- her personality is just so funny. She just runs around and says what she wants- when she wants- and doesn't care a BIT what anyone else thinks. She is just a hoot. Yesterday, she shoved all the toys off the top shelf on the toy cabinet thing and roller herself up onto that thing. Quite a feat for one so small, but yet so chubby!!! She planted herself there...face down on the shelf..proclaiming herself to be queen of the playroom, giving anyone who dared try to get her down the royal stink-eye. OH.MY. What a diva.

I'm SO excited for her to meet the rest of the family- be praying for her acceptance and adjustment!!! Also be praying for the precious little kiddos at the foster home. Some of them are so sick- we have a little girl in desperate need of a liver transplant. The clock is ticking for her and she either needs a family in America where she will be able to get a liver transplant as soon as possible, or a liver miraculously needs to appear in China for her (this is extremely rare...organ donations never really happen in China). Please be praying for this sweet baby- she is beautiful and so, so, so worth it. We believe that God has GREAT plans for her life!!!!

Thanks for your prayers- the exciting part is just to come!!! Getting ready to head out to go get the fam, minus the boys because of school :( ... but OH MY GOODNESS...it is really happening!!!!!!!!!