Where has the time gone????

December 6th, 2011- Gotcha Day- the day and moment I had waited on for so long!

She was so, so sad and hurt when they first gave her to me, I so wanted to just take her pain away but knew that God would soon wash away those tears.


I did get a few smiles and she started to warm up to me before we left.


2 months later at 15 mos old, she is a happy, expressive, fun, sweet little girl that has overjoyed her new family!

It has taken me a while to get around to an update. Since I boarded that airplane November 30th for China, it has been a whirlwind! We have had a crazy, busy time getting into routines, teething, colds, many doctor's appointments, her first surgery and me getting back to work. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Gotcha day was so bitter sweet; this day that I long for and prayed for many years to come, filled me with such joy and as the saying goes, " my cup truly runneth over" on that day. But it was a day of sadness, pain, and fear of so many unknowns for my baby girl. She loved her caretaker so much and I could tell that she was so well cared for, another answered prayer and I am so thankful. It was really hard on her at first and there were a whole lot of tears, but by the end of the day there also many smiles. She has just done so great and has not looked back since. It is as though she has been with us forever.

Madie is so smart and amazes us each and every day. I can't believe that she has learned so much in the 2 months she has been home. She repeats everything we say and has learned so many new words. She LOVES music and and will just sing and dance all the time. Sometimes she does things and I just think- how in the world did she know to do that! She is growing by leaps and bounds and really needs to slow down. She is filled with such joy and has a personality that will knock your socks off. She absolutely adores her daddy, brothers and the dogs! They are all a lot fond of her too!

The journey to Madie was so, so, SO, SO long, but to be on this side of God's plan for our family is amazing and wonderful. To be obedient and remain faithful is so hard sometimes, but too see just how perfect she is with our family and to know that she was hand picked by God to be with us, just overjoys my heart. I would do it all over again to have just her. I know that there will be things to overcome in her lifetime, but I know that when there are valleys and tears, we will just look ahead to many more days of happiness. Now I just need to get back to serving, and praying for whatever God has in store for our family next. It is so easy after such a long, hard trial to sit back and not want to jump back in, but I am praying to do just that! Hopefully it will not be as long for an update:)

Love and blessings to all,

Tammy

Bye to Guangxi on to Guangzhou....

We left Guangxi on Friday and headed to Guangzhou. I enjoyed seeing where she was from and how the people live. I did not get to go to Laibin the city she was born, we had to stay in Nanning to finalize her adoption. Guangxi is such a beautiful place and we really enjoyed the warmer weather. Cindy our guide was really sweet and cute as she can be. The people were so nice and really intrigued with us. They would follow us around and take our pictures. It was really bitter sweet to leave, knowing Madie was leaving the only place was born and will probably not be back for many years. Our first airport and flight experience was not good. We went through the security and they took her from me and it was down hill from there. It was way too much for her and she got an upset stomach right before we boarded. We finally got to Guangzhou and we love it here. We have really enjoyed the hotel and the city. Our guide Shiyan is wonderful and I am so thankful for her. We enjoyed the Folk Art Museum and it had amazing art with unbelievable talent behind it and very pretty. Today was our Consulate Appointment. I took our oath and she is official in every way! No more paperwork!!!!! That makes me very happy:) We also enjoyed Shaiman Island today and did lots of shopping and got some really neat gifts, mostly for Madie of course! Madie is doing great. Thanks for all the prayers - I have definitely felt them. She is bonding well and I am loving all the kisses and smiles. She has a bit of a temper and it rears its head when she gets hungry (my girl loves to eat) or if she gets tired:) She is so beautful and so smart and funny. We have one more day here and then it will be off to her forever home and to meet her daddy and brothers and family! I cannot wait, they are going to fall in love instantly! Please continue to pray for traveling mercies and that she does well on Wednesday when we leave. I am really nervous about our big travel day:( We will leave the hotel at 6 am to head to the airport and then we will fly to Shangai where we will have a 6 hour layover before our 14 hour flight to Chicago, then onto Nashville -over 24 hours of travel time/layovers is going to be hard on her. Here are some more pics of this week!

Mommy and Madie

My big girl! She is walking really good! She gets a little wabbly,

but amazing how well she gets around

Beautiful Smile:)

She made a friend at the White Swan Hotel

So Cute! There was a Chinese guy standing

beside me and he laughed and laughed and got

the biggest kick out of her glasses

Our awesome travel group and new friends! It is hard to

get all the kiddos looking ahead-we have had

a lot of fun together!

We left Guangxi on Friday and headed to Guangzhou. I enjoyed seeing where she was from and how the people live. I did not get to go to Laibin the city she was born, we had to stay in Nanning to finalize her adoption. Guangxi is such a beautiful place and we really enjoyed the warmer weather. Cindy our guide was really sweet and cute as she can be. The people were so nice and really intrigued with us. They would follow us around and take our pictures. It was really bitter sweet to leave, knowing Madie was leaving the only place she was knows and was born and will probably not be back for many years. Our first airport and flight experience was not good. We went through the security and they took her from me and it was down hill from there. It was way too much for her and she got an upset stomach right before we boarded. We finally got to Guangzhou and we love it here. We have really enjoyed the hotel and the city. Our guide Shiyan is wonderful and I am so thankful for her. We enjoyed the Folk Art Museum and it had amazing art with unbelievable talent behind it and very pretty. Today was our Consulate Appointment. I took our oath and she is official in every way! No more paperwork!!!!! That makes me very happy:) We also enjoyed Shaiman Island and did lots of shopping and got some really neat gifts, mostly for Madie of course! Madie is doing great. Thanks for all the prayers - I have definitely felt them. She is bonding well and I am loving all the kisses and smiles. She definitely has a temper and it rears its head when she gets hungry or tired:) She is so beautful and the smart. Today was our Consulate Appointment. I took our oath and she is official in every way! No more paperwork!!!!! That makes me very happy:) Please continue to pray for traveling mercies and that she does well on Wednesday when we leave. We will leave the hotel at 6 am to head to the airport and then we will fly to Shangai where we will have a 6 hour layover before our 14 hour flight to Chicago, then onto Nashville -over 24 hours of travel time/layovers is going to be hard on her. Here are some more pics of this week!

Madie- Green Mountain Park

Today was a great day! Madie was soooo good today. Her personality is shining and it is just what I thought it would be. She is so full of laughter, and get ready because she has a smile that can make you fall to pieces! I am so in love with her. I just hold her and look at her and can't believe I have her. We went to Green Mountain Park here in Nanning and it was so beautiful. Full of beautiful flowers, green trees and water. I think Madie enjoyed her time outside walking around. We leave her tomorrow to head to Guangzhou and I must say I am ready because I will be closer to coming home! I really miss my boys and I can't wait to see them and for them to meet Madie. Enjoy some of todays pics:)

Oh how I love this sweet face!

We have Madie!!!

After the long wait I now have my beautiful baby girl! We got her yesterday and I cannot tell you how emotional it was. I thought my heart was going to melt when they walked in the room with her. The orphanage director and her foster mom brought her. I am so thankful that she was very loved and very close to her foster mom. When they handed her to me she screamed for 10 minutes or so and then calmed down and started to play after they left the room. It was so heartbreaking to see her hurting. She is amazing and hung in there like a trooper yesterday. It was emotionally draining for her. Last night at bed time it was very hard she screamed for a while. finally she just wanted in the baby bed with her blanket and she rubs her face with it while I patted her to sleep. She slept all night and let me say today is a new day! She has played and laughed and give me tons of love! She is very loving and full of personality. I signed our papers and she is officially Madison Rose Lilan Comer and an orphan no more. I thank God for my precious girl- I cannot imagine my life without her in it. Now for what everyone wants! I am having trouble uploading pictures so I will tag them in facebook.

Tammy

Delay.....

Well the last 24 hours have been unexpected and very tiring to say the least. We arrived at the Beijing airport yesterday at 4:50 am to leave for Nanning to get Madie. The fog was so dense all the flights were cancelled or delayed. After 18 hours in the airport we boarded our plane last night at 11:30 to then sit on the runway until 1:30 am to de-ice the plane. We just arrived in Nanning and it was 5:00 am. Our guide Cindy told is that we have to meet her in 2 hours to go meet Madie! I am so unbelievably excited. I guess we will be running on adrenaline today. Let's just hope that she sleeps:) Yesterday was a complete let down and so terrible! I am getting her things ready now to go and meet her. I will post pictures of us together FINALLY hopefully tonight. Please pray for us. More soon:)

Tammy

Beijing

The last couple of days have been great! It has still been very cold, today coldest yet. Saturday we spent the day at the Cloisonne Factory and the Great Wall. It was an awesome trip and the wall is so unbelievable and beautiful. I must say that it was a little steeper climb than we expected, but we made it! We took a cable car part of the way up and then climbed the rest of the way. For lunch they took us to a restaurant where we were served some interesting, very authentic Chinese food. We did try as much as we could, but it is just not like the Chinese at home! Today we went to Tinnamen Square, Forbidden City and the city of Hutong. Me and Missy thought we had gotten left at the square, but luckily they retrieved us! Forbidden City was a very huge place and very beautiful. It was built in 1407 during the Ming Dynasty by the Emperor. I can't imagine something like this place being built that long ago. We then went to Hutong which is a small area of Beijing and we took rides through the narrow city streets on bicycles, which our guide Daniel called our Mercedes. He was quite funny and we enjoyed his tour. It was very humbling to see how the people here live. They do not even have restrooms in their homes, they have community restrooms, that he said have not been there long. I cannot say enough how much we have enjoyed our travel group. Especially the Valentines who live in our hometown and go to our church. It is crazy we had to go 8000 miles away to meet them. For those of you who know them and go to our church, the next time you see Darren, just approach him and say, "Brad, can we touch your enormous calves and take your picture?" He has been quite the celebrity around here, along with everyone else. We definitely stand out in the crowd. One last thing that has been quite the adventure are riding on the streets with the other vehicles. The laws of the road are only "guidelines" they are not the rule by any means. They drive absolutely crazy and LOVE to honk their horns at everything and anybody. You take your life into your own hands when crossing on foot. It has been a great experience and just way too much to catch it all in such a short time. Missy has been a great travel partner and we have had a ton of laughs so far. Tomorrow is Madie day. We leave the hotel at a bright and early 4:50 am to go to the airport and head to Guangxi/Nanning City. I expect to have her by early afternoon. I am so excited and thank God that this day has come. Please pray for us and pray for Madie and that this transition is as easy as possible on her and that she will start to bond with me very quickly. Pray that we all stay healthy and safe while traveling. I don't think I will be getting very much sleep tonight! I will try to post pictures of Madie soon:) Enjoy a few pics from the last couple of days!

Hutong Bicycle Tour
Emperors quarters at Forbidden City

One of the buildings at Forbidden City

Me and my partner in crime Missy/Forbidden City

Memorial at Tianneman Square

Beautiful view at the Great Wall

Us on the way up!

We are still breathing!

We are finally in Beijing!!!!

After a very lonnngggg 22 hours at airports and on airplanes we arrived in Beijing at 12:30 am Friday morning Beijing time. It was a good day today. We got to meet with all the families and get to know each other today a little bit. There are a total of 7 families with our group. They are all wonderful and it is so great to have this group while we are here. It was freezing outside today. The temperature was 28 and we got a little bit of snow. Tonight we went to an awesome acrobat show. It was simply amazing to see what they could do! I am very worn out and tired today. The time difference has gotten me a little now, hopefully after a couple of days the jet lag will ware off and and we will adjust to China time (just in time to come home, LOL). Tomorrow is the Great Wall and Cloisonne factory- other than it is going to be very cold, I am really looking forward to seeing the Wall. Just two more days until we leave for Guangxi where Madie is. I cannot believe it. Even though I will enjoy touring this part of China, my heart is in southern China. My life will forever change on Monday and I cannot wait! I hope to post some pictures tomorrow after we get back from our big day. Good night, time to get some much needed sleep!

Tammy