Two Little Warriors

We had a much quieter day today. Bean was sedated and slept most of the day. Her fluid levels came way down, and she looks much less puffy tonight. They were able to start feeding Bean through her NG tube, and she did not vomit at all. It looks like they may be able to take her off the vent tomorrow. I am so thankful that it was a restful day for both of us and that the doctors feel she is moving in the right direction.

Bean's amazing surgeon, Dr. T, came to check on her this afternoon. (I'm pretty sure he sleeps somewhere between the OR and the CVICU...if he ever actually sleeps.) He said Bean is taking longer than he expected to adjust to her new bloodflow but that the setbacks she's been facing are not surprising him. Part of Bean's challenges stem from the fact that her surgery is a year-and-a-half overdue. Her body has had two years to learn to function with a broken heart; now it's having to learn all over again.

Dr. T has operated on children all over the world. (Apparently his idea of a vacation is doing heart surgeries in Africa and the Middle East and Ch*na; I kinda' love him.) He said that on these medical trips he has successfully repaired Tetralogy of Fallot (Bean's condition) in children as old as six. He went on to explain that he feels the children who survive surgery at that age do well because children whose TOF was severe enough to cause major complications have already passed away.

He went on to say that Bean had probably the worst blood counts of any child her age with TOF that he has seen. Her red blood cell count was through the roof because she kept making more red blood cells in an attempt to get enough oxygen to her body. If I understand him correctly, her body was basically trying to make super oxygen-concentrated blood since so little blood was getting through her tiny pulmonary valve to her lungs. Bean is one of those little ones who probably wouldn't have survived to the age of six.

Hearing this hit home so hard. Bean was getting no cardiac care in Ch*na. No surgeries. No tests. Not even any medicine. My baby might not have lived to go to kindergarten. While I truly believe her caregivers loved her, she needed life-saving medical intervention that they were unwilling or unable to give. I knew all this before, but hearing Dr. T explain the true gravity of her condition was very sobering. 

I am so thankful that my little one made it home in time. I'm thankful that we got her file right away. And I am crazy thankful for the amazing group of people who helped us expedite our adoption process.

But I can only be thankful for a moment before I am heartbroken. My precious, spunky, beautiful baby girl was dying in Ch*na. How can I not instantly stop to think, How many other precious, spunky, beautiful children are dying without families? 

One of these children has absolutely stolen my heart, and I'd like you to meet her. I would be thrilled if you would help me find her mama, her daddy, her chance to be healthy and loved and treasured. This is "Juni".

Isn't she lovely?

This sweet girl stole my heart the very first time I saw her face and read her story. Juni has a broken heart like my Bean, but her condition is even more serious. She has been on our agency's waiting list for two months, and she still doesn't have a family.

I'll be honest, Juni probably has a rough road ahead of her. Her heart condition will require multiple surgeries that will probably only be considered palliative. But I serve a God of miracles, and I'm praying for a miracle for Juni - whether that miracle is a healed heart or the love of a family or both.

I don't even have words to say how grateful I am for the amazing army of people who are loving and cheering for Bean from afar. My phone dings all day long with Facebook messages and texts from people saying they are praying for our sweet baby. This girl is loved. My little warrior has an army behind her in her fight. Juni needs an army, too.

I would love it if you would extend your prayers to include this sweet little pixie. Please pray that her family would find her and that she would be able to quickly get home to medical care. (I asked Bean before I wrote this post, and she says she's happy to share her army of prayer warriors.) I have lots of information about Juni, including a super cute video. Please comment here or on Facebook if you'd like to learn more about this cutie.

Thanks, friends. You're the best.

The Battle Begins

Yesterday was long. It felt like we said goodbye to Bean and then waited an eternity to see her again. They took her back to the OR around 7:15am, and we didn't get to see her again until close to 5:00pm. She was in surgery for about seven hours. (Seven hours with your child in surgery really and truly seems like a million years.)

The surgeon was able to repair everything he had hoped. He patched her VSD (big hole in the bottom of her heart) and removed her PDA (extra duct coming off of her aorta). The opening to her left pulmonary artery was very small, so he used a patch to widen that. (The patch is actually a piece of the sac that surrounds her heart. How amazing is that?) He also opened up her pulmonary valve and placed an artificial flap. Her valve was very, very tiny - like the diameter of half of the top of your pinky.

So, while it's great news that the technical part of Bean's repair went so well, the anatomy of her heart  before her repair means that the blood flow to her lungs has been minimal for the first two years of her life. Picture her little heart working to pump blood through an opening the size of half the top of your pinky while the part of her heart doing the pumping has a hole in it about the size of a nickel: not good. Now that her heart is repaired and working the way that it should, her lungs are overwhelmed by the new blood flow.

After surgery, Bean's body was really struggling. When we finally got to see her in the CVICU (Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit), the first thing the doctor said to us was, "She is very sick". Her lungs were filled with a lot of blood and fluid, and her oxygen saturation levels were low. The doctors had sedated and paralyzed her with medication, and a ventilator was breathing for her.

I don't even have words to explain how hard it is to kiss your child goodbye in the morning when she looks like this...

...and see her next looking like this.

I felt numb and scared and sad and not sure what to do with myself. Because, of course, I just wanted to help my baby. But I couldn't. (I mean, yes, it matters that I touch her and hold her hand and tell her I love her, but I wanted to fix her.) More than anything I wanted her to suddenly open her eyes and be herself again - to giggle and hug me and wrinkle her little nose like she had just hours before.

Thankfully, as the evening went on, Bean stabilized. Her oxygen levels went up, and her pressures improved. The two nurses she had last night were incredibly sweet and took very good care of her. Jeremy and I received lots and lots of messages of encouragement from people praying for our girl and thinking about our family. (Thanks to a special heart mama friend, Bean even got a super cute panda delivered from the gift shop.)

Bean had a good night and she is stable this morning, but she still has a rough road ahead of her. Several people have told us that the next few days could be a bit of a roller coaster. This morning, they are weaning her off of one med that has been helping her oxygen saturation and another that is keeping her paralyzed. As they take her off more and more of the meds, things could get rocky.

Please keep praying for Bean. Pray especially that her oxygen saturation would stay up and her blood pressure would continue to stabilize. Pray also for her little heart and mind as she starts to wake up and realizes what is happening. 

We believe that a big and strong and faithful God is with us and with our Bean, no matter what comes next.  It means so much to know that we are surrounded by people who are supporting our family with prayers and words of encouragement.  Thank you for your love for us and our baby.

One Week Home

We have officially been home a week, and I have a few quiet minutes to write while one child sleeps and another one builds stacking cup towers on the keyboard of my laptop. I have to head out for school pick-up in a few minutes, so here's a super fast recap of our week at home.

Our bigs kids are over-the-moon in love with their little sister. They were so, so, so excited to finally meet her. My sister was visiting when we arrived home, and she has the cutest video of them watching for our car out the front window and then running screaming out to the front yard to greet us. Li'l Bean is not quite so sure about her siblings (you mean, I have to share Mom and Dad with those kids?), but they are growing on her.

Li'l Miss pretty much thinks Bean is a living doll. She wants to feed her and carry her around everywhere. When I come in the room, she scolds me for taking Bean's attention. I think she'd happily skip the rest of school (just four more days!) and do this all day long.

Bean is warming up to Li'l Miss pretty quickly. How can you not love someone who is ever-so eager to meet your every need, wish, or whim? It's so fun to imagine the special memories they'll make and the relationship they'll have as sisters.

The boys are pretty excited about Bean, too. (Although one of Li'l Dude's first comments was, "I thought we were buying a girl and a boy!" LOL!) Li'l Man has been very helpful. He's my routine guy who always makes sure things get done correctly, and the past week has been no different.

I was most worried about Li'l Dude's adjustment. He's used to being the tiny one around here and getting ridiculously spoiled a little extra attention. So far, he has been a real trooper. Even though Li'l Bean isn't so sure about him yet, he keeps trying to win her affection. He brings her toys and treats her very gently. 

Before naptime time today, I was helping him in the bathroom. Bean was sitting on the carpet just outside the doorway. She was mad about the situation because I was giving Li'l Dude more attention than she was getting, so she started crying. Li'l Dude turned to me and said, "Mom, I can wash my hands by myself; you can pick her up." So stinkin' sweet.

I'm sure there will be bumps as the big three adjust to Li'l Bean, especially when things get busy with her surgery. So far I'm super proud of all three of them, and I'm loving watching them adjust and bond. How awesome to think that the sweet girl they've been praying about for months is really home - playing with their toys, sleeping in her crib, and giving them High Fives!

Yesterday was Bean's second birthday. It was one of our wishes to have her home with us for her birthday, and we were really excited to celebrate with her. We had a very low-key "party". Li'l Dude picked a cake at Walmart, and we ate one of our favorite summer dinners (burgers, brats, watermelon, and sweet corn - yum, yum!). 

Li'l Bean wasn't too sure about the whole cake thing...

...until she tried it...

...and decided she's a big chocolate fan after all. 

She was into the presents.

As far as the big people over here, we are doing well. After the shock of going from one child to three in eight days last time around, this three-to-four thing can't be all that crazy, right? There have been some rough moments...like when Bean decided after nine hours that she was absolutely done with the plane ride or when jet lag totally caught up with me and I crashed for 18 hours straight, but we're hanging in there.

I do have some updates on Bean's heart, but I'll save those for a separate post (which I promise to write by the end of the week). Now I'm off to enjoy a few more moments of quiet. Thanks so much for being a part of this journey!

What Day Is It Again?

Yesterday and today have been relaxing. After our crazy adventure Friday night, Bean and I both slept in yesterday. She didn't get up until after 10:00am!

Shortly after Bean and I dragged ourselves out of bed, Jeremy went out to get dumplings and potstickers for lunch. Our diet the past few days is making me a happy girl. How can you not love these veggie-filled spheres of dough-y yumminess? Plus they cost $1, for all of them.

After lunch we spent some time being silly in our room. Bean is coming out of her shell more and more. We still haven't heard her talk at all, but she's giggling, laughing, and using some sign language. Here are a few of my attempts at catching her smiling.

Bean and Jeremy squeezed in a nap before our dinner date with our friends. I read while they slept. At one point I looked over, and they were sleeping like this. Be still, my heart.

After nap time, we met our friends on the island for dinner. We had a really fun time, and Jeremy was not complaining about more sweet tea and other cheeseburger.

This morning (Monday), we had our appointment at the U.S. Consulate to apply for Bean's visa. We got Bean all dressed up in red, white, and blue. After grabbing a quick breakfast at our hotel, we hopped in the van for our ride to the Consulate. Monday morning traffic in Ch*na is not fun. In the middle of the bouncing and stopping and honking and swerving, Bean puked all over the van. Ugh.

Here she is in her super cute outfit with an I-just-puked look on her face. Poor girl.

Our interview at the Consulate was short and painless. And it was our very last appointment in Ch*na! Tomorrow afternoon our guide will pick up Bean's visa, and then we can head to Hong Kong. We'll spend one night there before we fly home Wednesday morning. (For those of you who have asked about Bean's size, she was officially 10.5kg/23lbs at her medical for the Consulate. Her cute little red, white, and blue dress is size 18-24 months, and it would not stay on both her shoulders.)

We got really brave for lunch today. We just headed out by ourselves in an attempt to find a restaurant with a picture menu. On our way to lunch, we stopped to check out the pet market near our hotel. You can buy kittens, puppies, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, lots of fish, and turtles. Check out the turtle selection!

They also had blue crawdads for sale.

And these creepy-looking creatures. I'm thinking they are salamanders...or baby Loch Ness monsters.

We decided to eat here (mainly because their menu was displayed on their front wall in gigantic pictures).

Everything was going well until Jeremy looked a little too closely at his soup.

Any guesses on what this is?

So there's a chance that we might have been a little too brave in our dining selection. 

After lunch, Bean and Jeremy took another nap. The sun finally came out today (it's been pouring since we got here), so we decided to try to pool this afternoon. We were pretty sure Bean was going to hate it. She screams bloody murder anytime we get her near the bathtub, so we didn't think the idea of a giant bathtub was going to go over well.

But she surprised us. She loved it! She splashed and splashed and giggled like crazy. Instead of just sitting on the edge with me, she let Jeremy take her in. (I have the cutest video of her in the pool, but our internet is C-R-A-W-L-I-N-G and it would probably take about 57 years to upload.)

After swimming, we went back to the island for another cheeseburger. (I guess I can't blame Jer after the soup he had for lunch.) Now Bean is sound asleep, and Jeremy is reading. We are looking forward to seeing our friends one more time tomorrow morning and then heading to Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon. Two more days and we will be home!

Days 8 & 9: Bean's First All-Nighter

We are still having internet issues, so I'm way behind on posting. I'm going to quickly share about the last 24 hours (because they've been super eventful and involved way too little sleep), and then I'll do my best to catch up on the rest of the week when I can.

Yesterday was our last day in Bean's city. We got up early to meet some amazing ladies for breakfast. Our adoption agency's Ch*na team is in Ch*na visiting partner orphanages right now. They happened to be visiting Bean's orphanage yesterday and were able to meet us for breakfast. These are some incredible ladies who work so, so hard for little ones in Ch*na. I really feel like they are my friends, and it made my day to meet them in real life.

Here Bean and I are with Stefani, our agency's waiting child advocate. This is the awesome lady who sent Li'l Man and Li'l Dude's files to us and who works tirelessly to find families for waiting children every. single. day. She's pretty much an adoption superhero. (Check out Bean's grouchy face; she had a major diaper explosion while Stefani and I were talking, so that might explain her look of displeasure.)

We knew we'd be up late for our flight to Guangzhou last night, so we headed back to our room for quiet time (and diaper explosion clean-up) after breakfast. How sweet is my little thumb sucker?

We were able to check out of our room and grab a late lunch at McDonalds before heading the airport for our 6:30pm flight. Here we are in the airport, saying goodbye to our wonderful guide. (The couple on the left are our new adoption buddies.  Their daughter is in the peach headband.)

Right after this picture is when the adventure really started. Our guide casually mentioned that our flight was delayed about 15 minutes or so. No big deal, right? We found our gate easily and settled in to wait for our flight. We quickly noticed that the computer screen at our gate listed 4-5 flights, several of which were already supposed to have taken off. Not a good sign.

We were doing our best to keep up with the flight announcements that kept crackling over the PA system. (Trying to catch your flight number in heavily accented English on bad speakers in a loud airport is challenging. Understanding what is actually being said is pretty close to impossible.) After we'd been waiting a little while, we managed to decipher an announcement saying that our flight was delayed until 7:30pm. Shortly after that, our gate was changed. We found ourselves in the "basement" of the airport, waiting on a bus to take us to a plane at some unspecified location.

Time slowly ticked by. 7:30pm came and went, but all the screens still showed our flight was scheduled for 19:30. We were on the same flight as 7-8 other adoptive families, and the little ones were starting to get tired and restless. 8:30pm came and went...then 9:30pm. At one point, a huge rush of Ch*nese people left our gate, and we were sure our flight was canceled. Thankfully, it turned out to be another flight scheduled for the same gate.

The one bright spot in our super long evening was that Bean was in a super silly mood. She apparently thought the airport basement was the most interesting place ever. She smiled and smiled as she watched all the craziness. At one point, she was sitting on my lap and she started throwing herself backward. I played along and tipped her backward and then back up. She broke out into giggles. It was the first time we'd heard her laugh. She wanted to do it over and over, and she laughed and laughed. It was so fun to see her opening up, and her sweet little giggle is pretty much the cutest ever.

Finally our departure time changed from 19:30 to 00:20. Ugh. Shortly after midnight, we loaded up on a bus and rode out to a plane in the middle of the tarmac. We were exhausted, but at least we were finally headed to Guangzhou. 

The flight was really full, and the some of the little guys were pretty much losing it at this point. We taxied out to the runways and stopped. Apparently Air Traffic Control had not released our flight. So we sat in our crowded plane full of crying babies in the middle of the runway...until 2:00am.

We finally arrived in Guangzhou a little after 4:00am. Amazingly, Bean slept through 95% of the airplane ordeal. As soon as we loaded the van with our guide, she fell back to sleep. We got to our hotel around 5:30am and took a nap from 6:00 - 8:00am. At 8:00, we had to drag ourselves back out of bed for Bean's medical. (This is an appointment required for her U.S. visa.)

The medical went well, and we enjoyed our morning with our guide and our friends. We are staying in a really fun area that our guide calls "authentic Guangzhou". She helped us buy a delicious lunch a couple blocks from our hotel, and it ended up costing $2 for all three of us!

We had a leisurely afternoon (which involved a very long nap for Bean) and then spent the evening walking around. We visited "the island", the area where we stayed when we were in Guangzhou for the boys' adoptions, and ate dinner at Jeremy's favorite restaurant in China. (They serve double cheeseburgers and sweet tea in Mason jars; he's a big fan.)

Bean was a big fan, too.

(When you're the fourth child, you get to do really crazy things like drinking sweet tea before your second birthday.)

Tomorrow we have a day off. We are going to sleep forever and then just enjoy a relaxing day together. The only thing on our schedule is meeting friends for dinner. This sleepy girl is excited. 

Alright, I need to sleep. I'll leave you with one more picture of Bean from our walk tonight.

Day 3: Best Mother's Day Ever

I really, really intended to post last night, but all three of us crashed just after 8:00pm. Today has been busy with appointments (and a long nap). Bean is asleep, so I have a few quiet minutes to write a quick update (if I can keep my eyes open).

Yesterday morning was about seven years long. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was thinking about meeting Bean. Our appointment wasn't until 2:00pm, and I'm pretty sure all the clocks in Ch*na stopped moving yesterday morning. Jeremy wanted to sneak in a few last minutes of uninterrupted reading. I tried reading with him, but I'm not sure I got through three pages all morning. I was just way. too. excited.

We are staying in the same hotel as two other adoptive families from the States. It has been so much fun sharing meals and having them at our appointments. One of the families is using the same agency, so we share a guide and a driver. At 12:30, all three families headed next door to the bank to exchange money for some of the legal fees. What we thought was going to be a quick five-minute errand turned out to be an adventure/cultural experience. 

It started pouring rain just as we headed out. We hadn't grabbed umbrellas, so we looked like a bunch of crazy white people running down the sidewalk to the bank. (Nobody wanted frizzy hair for Gotcha Day pictures.) At the first bank, they wanted our SSNs to exchange money. I have never been asked for my SSN in China, so we decided to try another bank. At the second bank, we told the security guard what we wanted. He called a man over who chatted with our guide for a while in Ch*nese. Then he left.

We were getting a little confused at this point, but the guide assured us that the man worked at the bank and he had gone out to get our money. Hhhhmmmm...it seemed a little odd that the bank manager had to leave the bank to get us money. A few minutes later he came back with a brown satchel full of money. It was the most interesting currency exchange I've ever experienced, but so far everyone has taken our brown-satchel Ch*nese money.

Finally it was time to head to the Civil Affairs Office to meet Bean. The other two families left at the same time. We ended up arriving early, ahead of the kids and the orphanage staff. They ushered us into an office where we sat around a big table. We were all nervously chatting and laughing when we heard voices coming down the hall. It was such a crazy feeling to know that our daughter was about to walk into the room. Here's our eek-we're-about-to-meet-our-daughter selfie.

Nannies started coming into the room holding little ones. Bean was the third baby to come in, and I recognized her right away. She just has these big eyes that are impossible to miss. When the nanny handed her to me, she cried for a few seconds but stopped as soon as I handed her a sippy cup.

We were able to sit with one of Bean's nannies and a translator to ask questions. I may or may not have brought a slightly-OCD list of about 87 questions that the nanny patiently answered. It sounds like Bean's orphanage is doing some things very well. We were told that she was cared for primarily by one nanny who was responsible for four babies. Older children in her orphanage live in foster-type settings with one married couple caring for 4-6 children. The nannies had prepared a very sweet photo book with lots and lots of notes (which are unfortunately all in Ch*nese). They also returned the lovie and mini photo album we sent in February.

I wasn't sure what Bean would think of Jeremy. (Plus, I didn't really want to let her go.) Little ones in orphanages don't see adult men very often (and pretty much never see scruffy white guys who are 6'2"). Surprisingly, once he managed to pry her out of my arms she went to him right away with no tears.

After we got back to the hotel, we had a little family time in our room. Bean has been very quiet. I'm sure she is scared and sad. Yesterday she was pretty shut down, but she was willing to perk up for her cup and food. The nanny said she is not picky, and that is true! Last night we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. Bean devoured my beef fried rice and then Daddy's uneaten tomatoes and pickles.

After dinner, we were all ready for bed. I gave Bean a quick bath (which she hated) and got her pjs on. Bean is tinier than we expected. When I put my hands around her to pick her up, she feels so dainty and fragile. I brought mostly 24-month and 2T clothes, and they are pretty big on her - especially the bottoms. Here she is in her whale jammies.

This is her mad face when I took her sippy cup away to snap another picture.

Bean slept in our bed. Somehow her tiny body took up more space than Jeremy and me combined! Thankfully, she slept really well. She's a thumb sucker. I was dying to take a picture of her, all curled up and sucking her thumb, but I didn't want to wake her.

I am very thankful that we are seeing Dr. S right after we get home. Bean's heart is definitely working hard. Her fingers and toes are very blue, and she has to put extra effort into breathing. She's also pretty tired. She fell asleep in my arms three times today. (Some of that could be the stress of everything that is happening to her right now, as well.)

All of her symptoms are normal for a little one with unprepared TOF, but seeing her little heart struggle makes me so thankful for the people who worked so hard to get us here fast. I'm also very grateful to know that she'll be seeing Dr. S less than 24 hours after we get home. I emailed him this morning, and he said to go ahead and start her on the beta blocker he prescribed. This should help her some with the blueness.

One of my most poignant memories from yesterday happened on the van ride back to the hotel after meeting Bean. The other family riding with us adopted a sweet 13-year-old girl. (Actually, both of the other families with us adopted 13 year olds.) On the way back to the hotel, their little lady could not stop talking. She was so excited.

Our guide translated for her as she peppered her new mama and baba with questions. She asked things like, "Did you bring me pajamas?" and "What day is Christmas?" She was just bubbling over with happiness.

One of the questions she asked was, "My friend _____ is still at the orphanage. Can you help her find a mom and dad like you helped me?" This little girl knew the joy of finding her family just in time, and she wanted her friend to have that too. (Orphans in Ch*na "age out" at 14 and can no longer be adopted.) Hearing her ask that question was incredibly sweet and heartbreaking at the same time.

Today was filled with meetings, and I'll try to post about those later. I do have to tell you that in one of those meetings, our adoption became official. Li'l Bean is ours forever. 

I'll leave you with a picture from this morning (because I know the pictures are why you're here, anyway). This was before the guide very directly informed me that white flowers are only for funerals. Oops.

Days 1 & 2: Beijing

We had a whirlwind 24 hours to see Beijing. Our flight arrived around 2:30 Friday afternoon, and we caught the bullet train to Bean's city at 2:00pm today. It ended up being a fun overnight adventure.

Last night we took a long walk (mainly in an attempt to keep our jet-lagged selves awake later than 5:30pm). I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera because we ended up at a super interesting food market. There was one stand selling kabobs unlike any I've ever seen. They had centipedes, snakes, bees, and tarantulas. Seriously. (No, I wasn't brave enough to try one.)

This morning we started off with a very authentic breakfast.

Try not to be jealous of our ability to adapt to a new culture so quickly. ;)

After breakfast, we took a walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was fun adventuring on our own. Of course, we had to take some selfies. Here we are outside the Forbidden City...

...and hanging out with a lion statue...

...and, um, just being our special selves.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked through several hutongs. These are traditional Chinese neighborhoods made up of alleys that connect courtyard residences. Some of them have been around for hundreds of years.

I love the hutongs. I think they are filled with personality and really unique architecture. The crazy thing about Beijing is the fact that a street like this...

...is literally just a minute's walk away from a street like this, where you can shop at stores like Tumi and Apple.

After our very American breakfast, we got brave and walked into a little Ch*nese restaurant for lunch. We managed to order lunch on our own, even though none of the employees spoke English. Best of all, everything we got was super yummy and our whole meal cost less than $10.

Our guide picked us up at noon to head to the railway station. We chose to take the bullet train to Bean's city instead of flying. It's less expensive, and we were excited about the opportunity to see rural Ch*na. Plus, the bullet train is pretty much the coolest method of transportation ever. Here we are in the train station.

The ride took about four-and-a-half hours, and we got to see lots of countryside and small villages. I tried to take a picture for you, but we were going a little too fast.

We arrived in Bean's city around 6:30pm. There's another adoptive family here this week who is working with our agency, so we get to travel together and share a guide. They are super sweet, and our guide is wonderful!

Our hotel is very nice, and it's located close to the center of the city. We can walk to lots of shops and restaurants (including DQ), as well as some interesting historical landmarks. Bean's city was the capital of Ch*na before Beijing, and they've worked hard to preserve the history of the city.

Here's the best part of our hotel room.

They had this sweet little crib ready for Bean..who we get to meet at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon!!! (For those of you at home, that's 2:00am Sunday morning.) We are so excited hold our baby girl! 

Alright...time for bed. I'll have pictures of Bean in my next post!