A Day in Pictures Part 1

So, to make up for some lacking pictures yesterday, I will try to put as many in as possible and attempt to tell the story that way....



First of all, check out these cuties at the hotel pool!  They thought it was funny that they had to wear swim caps in order to play in the water.  I thought they looked like little Olympic swimmers!  Grace has not seen much water (this includes bath tubs) so we just practiced climbing stairs by the pool and we were completely content!

I'm sorry but if Gap ever decided to use cleft kids for ads, tell me she could not rock the jeans!  I love that the jeans, boots and sweater were all worn by Claire as a baby.  I held onto them just in case...so glad they are on this beauty!

Yesterday we visited the City Wall which circles the city 8 miles long.  This is at the top of the wall complete with drawbridge and moat, these really interesting guys and some very cool drums we were able to play!

This is Claire showing the people how it's done.  Near the wall were several games and hobbies to try, such as this "body building" hula hoop.  Much heavier than ours but you wouldn't know it when Claire gave it a whirl!  That's Carter in the background trying some sort of hacky sack toy and Grace taking her first stroller ride in a hot pink Minnie Mouse ride.  Not really our style but it is what we could find and we think it suits her spunky personality!

This is where the generals used to stand to dictate to the soldiers below the battle plan to protect the city.  You should be very scared.

This happens everywhere we go.  We have no idea who these ladies are.

This is the Wild Goose Pagoda, a beautifully made structure and surrounding buildings.  There are two silly gooses in front.

This is the view near the top structure overlooking the city (and Daddy and Grace).

Behind the main structure which is seven floors high and earthquake proof, there were smaller temples and pretty landscaped gardens.   This is why I love being a Barnett...  our conversations ranged from the apostle Paul in Athens to wondering if we could make our own kung fu movie here.  It would be perfect!

Only because we were encouraged to do so by our guide.  We would never stoop to such antics.

Only because his sister did it.

The courtyard.  What you can't see is the throngs of people in front of us taking our picture too.  We are pretty famous here.

Cory calls this his retribution picture.  We have had our picture taken more times than we care to admit. Cory wanted payback in a big way.  Afterall, he was wearing a baby carrier.  When our guide asked permission for a picture with this military gentleman, he at first said no way.  We said OK, and started to walk away.  He looked around and motioned Cory quickly back for the shot.  He really wanted a picture with him.   Because Cory is famous.

As we were leaving the square, we were approached by some kind young men who asked if we would pose with this message.  After making our guide promise that it didn't say anything bad, we happily agreed.  It supposedly says "Happy Birthday" and the young man was making a creative card for a friend.  To our friends in North Carolina of Chinese decent and/or Duke Chinese language majors....if it doesn't say that, we don't want to know.

Sightseeing is WAY overrated!  (She is not asleep, just decided to collapse on the floor when we were unlocking the room!

Games with big brother...

Part of the massive City Wall gate...

Standing on top of the City Wall...it is very wide and many spaces to shoot arrows from!

Overlooking from top of the wall....

I honestly debated posting this video that Cory made at the dumpling restaurant but I always said I would not blog if I couldn't be honest.  I think there was a best selling book recently out called Tiger Mom?  A whole different kind of Tiger Mom was about to be unleashed in that restaurant.  Good thing they brought jasmine tea.  Calming.....

Dumplings....amazing!  

Grace likes dumplings and puffs and mashed potatoes and rice and pancakes...she is such a good eater!

Chopstick master.

Cory was the only one brave enough to try this...what I can only describe as some sort of pork jello.  The attractive manner in which he ate it made it even better.

Day 1 of sight seeing in Xi'an complete!  Stay tuned for Day 2!

Pieces of the Day

I apologize in advance for no pictures on this one!  We have some, but I will need to load them tomorrow afternoon.  I wanted to give a written snapshot of the day though and will make up for the lack of pictures next time!  It is late and we are all wiped out...I think that Carter and I are the only ones awake!

We were able to have a leisurely morning with a later breakfast and not "officially" start our day until Noon.  Here are some things that I loved....
I loved seeing Carter, after brushing his teeth, bend down and kiss Grace on the cheek as she sat under his feet.  Carter did this, without realizing that anyone was watching.  It was simple and natural and a big deal.  He confessed to us later that he thinks she is really cute but the whole mouth thing is a little hard.  He decided to just do it and get it over with.  He is so honest and kind hearted and his response is normal.  We have all had to dive in...I think every outfit that I worn since getting Grace has a mix of formula, food and snot all over it!  We have 2 rooms here and at night, I sleep with Grace and Cory sleeps with Carter and Claire.  Grace starts in the crib but somewhere between 3am and 6am, she ends up in the bed with me, waking up obviously scared.  This morning was the sweetest because I find myself waking up and waiting for her, glad to be the arms that she reaches up for in the dark and feeling her tense little body settle on mine.  With a sigh that somehow already knows that I am safe and not going anywhere.  This morning when I picked her up, she went immediately back to sleep cradled next to me.  A little while later, she had what I can only assume was a night terror.  This is a pretty common thing with children in her predicament and it was short and as I held her through it, I just prayed.  Not a prayer of desperation, but one of hope that this will pass and God will brush it off of her like everything else.  His peace is hers for the taking.  That poor little person has got to be so overwhelmed and over stimulated.  She does beautifully and often amazingly during the day, but when she is obviously tired and ready for a nap or sleep at night, she has a hard time settling and often screams and cries and kicks.  Thankful again that I have already had 3 children (this is my shout out to all first time moms who adopt...you get my applause and appreciation!) because it is obvious that her little body is worn out and has so much to process.  The bedtime fits are getting shorter and shorter and I know in time when I can provide a steady schedule at home, that she will eventually go to bed peacefully.
Some more things that I loved about today...
I love riding the elevator with my family that is here and seeing Grace feel so comfortable with us, laughing and giggling and cooing and being silly.  People notice and start conversations and it is really a special thing.  She truly fits right in and we grow in love with her each day.  I love that Claire has taught her peek a boo and "If You're Happy and You Know It."  Grace can clap and imitate and seems to eat up any and all affection that we give.   I love how she likes to nestle into the crook of Cory's arm to rest and already knows that he is big fun.  While we are being careful with what we feed her, I love that she will eat anything and we actually saw her shake her head "no" this morning when full.  She realized that we thought it was funny and kept doing it!  I love this but it also breaks my heart.  When she finds things that tickle us, she puts them into overdrive to entertain.  I think this is part of her personality but also how she is processing us too.
I love that I brought all sorts of really great bonding toys to play with her and all she wants to play with are our shoes!  She tries to put them on and her favorite game is placing her hands in them and crawling with them that way.  Very very cute.

Around 1pm today, we ventured out with our guide to see the City Wall, the Wild Goose Pagoda and then to eat "famous" dumplings at a restaurant.  I will post lots of pictures tomorrow but our afternoon was fun and we were grateful to see the sights.  Such history and really excellent dumplings.  I'll save the sights for the pictures, but I wanted to remember the restaurant.  Our guide brought us early, 30 minutes before the restaurant opened.  We kept saying that we were happy to wait and not in a hurry but they immediately turned on lights to the restaurant and started to set the table.  Some of the staff were sleeping at other tables and we received lots of stares.  Staring is pretty normal here and obviously it is not a cultural taboo to do so.  We get stared at a lot.  Our children get smiling stares and had their picture taken about 100 times today at the city sights.  They take it in stride and feel like rock stars.  Cory and I get a mix of stares, often because we have Grace.  I can say today that  the stares were wearing on me and getting old.  While we waited for our seat at the restaurant, a staff worker came up to me while I was holding Grace.  Grace's back was to her and the worker started to pet her hair and talk to her.  When Grace turned around, the lady jumped back and shrieked.  I keep pondering my response...I hope it was a good one.  I'm not sure, but I know it was real and natural.  I just looked at her with a firm smile and said, "Yes."  I don't think she spoke English but most people understand Yes.  Especially a "yes" from a mom who said it with conviction.  I don't know why I chose that word.  Yes to Grace.  Yes, there is a noticeable birth defect.  Yes, we will fix it.  Yes, we like her like this.  Yes, we want her like this.  Yes, you should be ashamed of your response.  Yes, it is normal to respond like that.    And, Yes, I want to sit down and have hot tea.  It was likely a mix of things but the answer is Yes.

We had an amazing dinner that I will share more later.  The kids were so fun and brave and tried many things.  We had told our guide that we considered venturing out on our own to find restaurants on the street.  She said it wouldn't be safe (the food) and I am taking her advice!  I think she feels responsible to find us "good food" now and I am happy to let her!  The dumplings were fantastic but even more fantastic was the two tables (seating 8-10) of restaurant staff sitting across from us just STARING while we started eating.  We were obviously having fun and laughing and Grace was being a superstar, picking up food and putting it in that little messed up mouth like a champ.  She was giggling and playing with Carter and obviously with her family.  Cory and I (in a state of survival humor) began to invent ways that we could counter the staring.  I offered to walk over, hug everyone and kiss them on each cheek to see what that would produce.  Cory thought that was a good idea but he definitely wanted to film it.  Imagine trying to eat with 16-20 people staring.  We decided if we were going to be the dinner show, that we would make it worth it!  Carter totally schooled Cory on chopstick eating and Cory ate everything brought to the table.  Dumplings...no big deal.  But, cold appetizers...a completely other story.  Some sort of pork jello and cold fish and he was shoving it down.  We were both laughing because the scene was out of a movie.  Complete with school children standing outside the window waving and hiding and running past to get our attention.  We drove home in rush hour traffic and our sweet Grace, who giggles and laughs through most of the day, was DONE.  We never have to take her out of a restaurant and she happily saw the sights with us, but we were no longer able to entertain her exhausted self.  She had a complete meltdown.  Completely understandable and no big deal if you have seen melt downs before (and, believe me, we have) but it totally stressed out the driver which was stressful to us and our kids.  She just needed to go "home" and go to bed.  But we were stuck in crazy traffic!  We got back to the hotel and gave her a bottle which she proceeded to throw up because of the intense crying.  I tell you this because I said I would be honest.  We were all wiped out and she worked herself into such a frenzy that everything came up.  We are bonded now as mom and daughter (you really aren't a parent unless you have worn your kids vomited up food) and despite my attempt to wash the clothes, our really nice Sheraton is going to get a really great present tomorrow for laundry.  I'm glad that I'm worn out and laughing and tired but peaceful.  Again, I know there are some prayers that have helped us along the way.  I know that we have a Father God who loves us despite our mess and tantrums and fits!  And I can't tell you how excited I am to get home and make life as "normal" as possible for all of us again!
So, tomorrow I will try to load many pictures including some from our outing to the Terra Cotta Soldiers tomorrow!  For now, it is bedtime!