Thoughts while in Kunming

First off, I would like to say how grateful we are for all the messages from family and friends. It is very comforting knowing all the love, prayers and good wishes that are coming our way from y’all in the States. It’s fun being here, but also stressful. Kiera doesn’t even know how many people love her, have been praying for her, and are anxious to meet her.


We are adjusting to each other as a family amazingly easily. She loves being cuddled, she looks into your eyes with her big, brown ones, and she seems to be bonding very well to both of us. Xiulan says that she already knows that I’m her Momma. She has been smiling, laughing and playing peek-a-boo today and she only cries when she’s hungry. She has experienced a lot in her first couple of days with us, and she’s doing beautifully. She has been enjoying trying some new foods (but no scorpions for her).

Now I ask you, HOW CUTE IS THIS???

I have posted some new pictures of Kiera here: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ourlittleflower/album/576460762385687292

"Why you so old?":

People in Kunming are not used to seeing Americans with Chinese babies. So they stare, constantly. They stare relentlessly and unapologetically. I told Will that I feel like JLo. We are the center of attention everywhere we go. I’m not sure if they are staring because I’m so white, or because I’m so old. Sometimes people turn to me and ask, “You mama????” “daughter???”

Sometimes they turn around to look at who’s in the stroller to see what an American baby looks like. When they see Kiera they are stunned and say "Chinese baby!??!” When people start staring, Will whips out a card that explains why we are in China and why we have a Chinese baby that is written in Chinese. Then a HUGE crowd forms all around us which scares me a lot but Will enjoys it.

China: Land of Unsolicited Advice

Now you might think that if you travel halfway around the world, that you could escape having someone (I’m not mentioning any names, Mom) giving you advice that you didn’t ask for, but you would be wrong. Everywhere we go people criticize us for not covering the baby up enough. Gayle and Michael know what I’m talking about. You may have noticed Kiera’s Artic expedition outfit in her picture. It’s about 55 degrees, folks! Now if it were like this in Charlotte, people would be running into BiLo with shorts on. But not here! People are wearing gloves, parkas, hats, etc. and they dress the babies in even MORE clothes. People let you know if the baby looks “cold”.

But the High Priestess of Unsolicited Advice is Xiulan. She makes my mom look like a rank amateur in the advice department. She’s like my mom on steroids. She has explained to me that I feed the baby wrong, make her formula too runny, dress her wrong, pack my diaper bag too heavy, hold her too much (sorry, not budging on that one), should put the diaper bag on the stroller and Will and I don’t dress warmly enough.

Now I have raised two children to adolescence without killing or maiming them or causing them undo psychological trauma. I have not poisoned either of them nor have either of them had to have any extremities removed because of frostbite. THIS IS NOT MY FIRST CHILD!!! Oops, got a little emotional there. As someone who has an unusually strong aversion to being told what to do, I find myself taking many deep breaths and reminding myself that Xiulan has been wonderful with us. She handles everything relating to the adoption. We don’t have to worry about anything. She tells us what’s safe to eat, bargains the vendors down for me when I’m shopping in the market (by screaming at them in Chinese) , makes all of our reservations for us, etc. There is no way we could ever get through this adoption without her. Just don’t cross her.

Here she is explaining to me that I'm feeding the baby wrong.

That's it for now - I've got some really funny pictures to share, of things that we've seen in China, so stay tuned.