We Walked the Great Wall... WITHOUT Strollers... A Miracle Happened!

Today I personally experienced a miracle today... I know we serve the God of miracles, but this was an absolute gift... a miracle moment.

Because of my spina bifida and degeneration of the spine, noticeable since my first pregancy 21 years ago, I have ranged in pain from 0 to "kill me now." It has limited me in my ability to exercise beyond walking around the neighborhood a couple times. At times over the years, I couldn't even stand or walk for even a few seconds... but, in the last few years, God has been restoring my health. Only a few days have I ever walked as much as I walked today... and, I have NEVER carried a baby longer than 1 street block... EVER. Not because I didn't want to, but the pain is excrutiating.

Today though, the Lord, in His supernatural blessing... paid attention to our needs... my needs.

We had no strollers... and, even if we had, we could not have used them.

As we parked in the parking lot, I thought I would ask Adam to help me purchase a wrap from one of the Chinese vendors. I have seen women of all ages, carry kids, of all sizes, even when unnecessary... on their hips, fronts and backs. We found a gal that had some fabric... Amaris wrapped her little body around mine... they wrapped us up... tied the cloth in 2 knots... and, we were off.

The stairs were atrocious... I couldn't have walked those without a baby... yet, I somehow did. Sometimes the incline was 45-60 degrees (my husband is so conservative... there were some that were MUCH steeper than that though).

Here's a look at some other stairs.

We had the amazing blessing of being personally guided by a former history professor named Adam. Adam is a wealth of knowledge and such a kind, intelligent man... fluent in English and fluent in Chinese history. If I were to guess, he is probably in his 50's. He carried our 30 pound backpack the entire walk... he was amazing!

We walked a part of the wall, the Muianyu Great Wall,  that not many people walk... we even had to drive 2 hours from our hotel just to walk it. Because is was not a clear day, it was much cooler (although still hot)... but, what we loved, was that there weren't very many people... so, there were many, many photo ops when we had no one around on the wall.

Tyanna loved climbing the wall!

Although Jason carried Gabriella much of the way, Gabriella did walk quite a bit holding his hands. She absolutely loved it.

This couple was absolutely adorable. They are from Hong Kong and are engaged to be married in a year. We saw them later this evening near our hotel getting photographed at the Catholic Church (Remember... two hours away from the wall).

I think walking The Wall was a wonderful bonding experience for Amaris and I... and, when Jason, Tyanna and our guide Adam walked to the end, Gabriella and Amaris and I had a fun time having a snack and water break, a few kisses, giggles, and even some time standing on The Wall all by themselves.

I loved the smiles... Amaris is full of them, but they aren't always captured via camera... but, today, they came out much more frequently...

 I got surprise kisses ALL DAY long... I use to have to ask for "kissy kisses" but, since our walk... they have come at unexpected times... she generally grabbes my cheeks and plants a big kiss on my lips... she is just adorable. So, so loveable. And, I feel so blessed that God promised us to her.

At the end of the walk, I had such a fun time bartering with the locals. One of the things I bartered for were the panda bear backpacks. I had two things on my list that I wanted: a cute panda bear and some pink dresses for the girls. The pandas started at 180 yuan each... but, I wanted three... one for each of these princesses, and one for Gia whom we believe will be in our arms around Christmas time. By the end of my bartering... which I walked away from... I purchased THREE panda bear backpacks for a total of 100 yuan... it made up for some REALLY BAD (non-bartering) for those two pieces of fabric we wrapped around our bodies to carry our babies. We didn't care how much we paid for those things... we knew we needed them.

Our Hotel: Crowne Plaza, Wangfujing, Beijing

Our hotel in Beijing was pretty amazing... it wasn't The Garden Hotel, but it was nice. This was our view outside of the hotel.

We didn't get the photo of the outside nor the inside of our room, but we did photograph from the hallway... This is our hotel from our floor: The 7th floor: the premier Club rooms... we had tons of benefits being on this floor... but, not much time to experience all the benefits. The room was big.

Baba took this photo from the elevator as we were eating breakfast prior to visiting the Forbidden City.

As we walked the neighborhood, Tyanna wanted to get her photo with this lion.

In China, there are many lions... they guard things.

First Flight!

We are packed and ready to depart the luxurious Garden Hotel.

It was quite a bit to have to lug all this ridiculous luggage around... so, when we go to adopt Gia, I am going to use what I have learned... to pack much, much less.

It was quite an adventure to have to worry about all these bags AND KIDS... while in the airport, but thank God for Tyanna.

As our airplane began to take off from Guangzhou to Beijing, Amaris was sitting next to me playing quietly, but as the airplane began to get speed, her smile lit up her face... her eyes brightened... and, my original thoughts of her just being a snuggly wuggly... are completely gone now.

While I know she is a snuggly wuggly, she is also a total thrill seeker.

I am beginning to put events together: she jumps from the chair to the couch, she turns chairs upside down and scoots/runs them across the floor and back. She sits in upside down chairs and then stands up in them to make my heart race. She lays on top of the same circle-shaped chairs in our hotel and spins while not one part of her body is still touching the floor. Yep... we have just been changed. She can stand... without falling... she can walk without holding a hand, she can run and jump... these are things Gabriella will do soon... but, for two years... we have only had glimpses of.

Our guide Eva, and our driver Yuan, got us to the Guangzhou Airport right on time. Eva helped us get our luggage checked in and off in the right direction. She was such a blessing.

I found out during our trip that one of my closest adopting friends, Emily (and her husband), also had Eva as their guide. It is a small world. Emily and I had hoped and prayed we could travel together, but the Lord knew that Emily had to get to China to save the lives of her daughters Lily and Mackenzie... and, He knew how important it was for me to have our daughter's consulate appointment on June 26, 2012.

And, so the two of us ended up in China at different times, but with the same sweet guide.

We had an uneventful time in the airport, that was nice.

Amaris was a champ on the airplane. I loved being a part of watching her during her first flight.

I will have to post her picture once I download all of Tyanna's photos.

Second Photo Op with Chinese Outfits

In the hopes that changing our photo location might bring smiles, we tried again...

Well, here's what we got!

I said, "I want my mama!"

And, as soon as I picked her up, she immediately stopped crying... as usual!

The Girls Traditional Chinese Outfits

These are the girls' traditional Chinese outfits. Gabriella (age 5) wears a size 8 and Amaris (age 2) wears a size 4. Giavanna has an outfit as well... but, because we don't have PA for her yet, we are not posting much else.

Gabriella is always picture perfect... I can't wait for Amaris to smile for all her photos...

Baba tried to get into the photo to see if she might cooperate... hmm... not a chance. I can't wait to see what happens in the airport when we have no stroller and no baby pack... and 9 suitcases (one we gave to the orphanage... and probably 3 carry-ons... It's going to be lovely. I am going to have to strap her to a suitcase... because, while she is light, I can only carry her a short distance.

When we got Amaris 10 days ago, she weighed in at 25.8 pounds at age 2 years and 4 months. Gabriella weighed in at 25 pounds at 3 years and 6 months old and stayed that weight for more than 6 months, only eating organic food, no wheat, no corn, no dairy (except yogurt and cheese), and 3-4 high-end nutritional drinks each day. 

I am surprised that Amaris is as heavy as she is. She is a size 12-18 months... which is pretty remarkable having come from an orphanage where she never had solid food (bottles and maybe congee)...

She reportedly had 5 bottles per day of a Nestle baby formula, but based on her desire to eat (or lack thereof for 10 hours at a time) I am guessing she probably had 2-3 bottles per day. I don't think we will ever know, but she is now on our eating schedule and is already getting the much needed nutrition into her body... except when we are eating pizza. She has already been "Pizza-rized".

She gave up the organic baby fruit and veggie squirt drinks on day two. She wanted pizza.

The Garden Hotel Foyer

This is the foyer we walk in to each day... it is so grandious and so beautiful...

These are the magnificent stairs we take our photos on each morning...

6/28 Sisters on the Stairs

Well, today is our last day in Guangzhou... and while our littlest monkey (AKA princess) smiles all day now... she is a stinker bug for pictures on these stairs.

 

I suppose playing with one's belly button is WAY more exciting than all these photos... Or, perhaps, she is showing you her really cool belt.

I think these two photos are my favorite from this photo session, but the lighting is off. I will need to fix these and re-post later.