In China
All Days  |  Previous Day  |  Next Day

Sunday, May 13, 2012 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Today I am really missing ALL my kids! It is Mother’s Day and I am the only single spouse here. All the other families are out celebrating Mother’s Day this morning. However, I have the BEST Mother’s Day present sitting here right next to me – our newest son. He has made our family complete. Today my thoughts wonder as I think about two unknown China Mama’s. Quinn and Savannah both have a birthmother out there “somewhere” who I wish a Happy Mother’s Day. May they both find peace in their hearts today. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart for the most precious gifts you could have every given me. I had a surprise today---thank you Mom! It was so nice to have a card from home on this day. The staff at the hotel was so sweet this morning at breakfast. They greeted all the “new” Moms and wished us a Happy Mother’s Day. They really try to make everyone feel so at home here in Guangzhou. I am very happy to be here this week! After breakfast Quinn and I explored the hotel a bit. There is a really nice outside playground. The scenery is gorgeous. However, it was so muggy! We only stayed out for a short time and then headed to 7-Eleven to buy Quinn some noodles for lunch. We found out that 7-Eleven also sells chicken feet to go! This afternoon we had a trip planned with our group to the jade and pearl markets. This is one stop I was not going to miss. I bought a purple jade necklace for myself the last time I was here and Savannah is obsessed with it. I am not sure if it is because it is purple (her favorite color) or because of the Chinese characters on it. She always wants to wear mine. I promised her I would buy her one in China just like Mama’s. We met our guide in the lobby to board the bus. Our guide (Joyce) stopped me to see if I had an umbrella with me. It wasn’t raining hard, but she felt I needed one and should just borrow one from the hotel. So, I went to the reception desk to borrow an umbrella and when I returned to board the busy – they were gone! Yep – they forgot about me and left! I was NOT happy. I stood outside looking stupid cuz I just couldn’t believe Joyce forgot us after she told me to go and get an umbrella. I went back inside and asked the staff to call our agency office. They have an office in our hotel. They are stationed here so this should have been an easy request. The language barrier at his moment was terrible. The man at the desk asked me if I wanted to return the umbrella. NO – I want to speak to someone in our agency office in THIS HOTEL. I was beginning to lose it and my eyes began to well up with tears. I was NOT going to cry a waterfall, BUT I HAD to get to the jade market to get Savannah’s necklace. Time was ticking as our bus was getting farther and farther away from the hotel. FINALLY – this man got it as I was getting mad. NOTE: remember the lady in Beijing telling me to get rude – I did! A staff member from our agency came down to find Quinn and me and personally take us to meet our group at the jade market. We had to take a taxi to meet them there. I was like – I am not paying for this taxi – right? He tells me – no Joyce is. LOL Poor Joyce – she felt terrible. Joyce was our guide back in 2010 so I know her well. She did not let me out of her sight all afternoon. That was a good thing too because Quinn decided to touch everything at the pearl market! I went back to the same pearl shop where I bought Savannah’s pearls for her wedding day. Today I bought Quinn a pearl bracelet for him to give his bride on their wedding day. The pearls are strung by hand. I had Quinn in his stroller so he had a much lower view than me. As I sat down to pick out his pearls I hear glass hitting the floor. Quinn put his hands under the display case and pulled out one of the fluorescent light bulbs. The bulb shattered in his hand! My guide was right there – Thank God! I probably would have had another bill. The good news is that Quinn was not cut. However, I am a little concerned as white smoky-powder came out of the bulb. What is that? All the way back to the hotel my group had a great time laughing at me. Quinn is the oldest child adopted last week in our group – thus the most active. Imagine being almost 5 years old and just seeing the world for the 1st time? I can tell by his eyes that his little brain is spinning. He is neither shy nor timid. He just dives right in. Watch our America – another McKay is coming home! Quinn’s t-shirt today was admired by many. It read – Hello, my name is TROUBLE! I believe Quinn and Savannah will be the best of pals. The rest of our family will have years of entertainment.

Our 1st Mother's Day Together Outside our Hotel Outside our Hotel Chicken Feet - Anyone? "The Broken Bulb" Who will be the lucky girl?

More FUN Outside


LOVE that Smile!


CHEERS!
(Practicing for Camp)

~~~

Today in honor of Quinn’s China Mama I will end my post with:

From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours
by Michael McLean

With so many wrong decisions in my past, I'm not quite sure
if I can ever hope to trust my judgement anymore.
But lately I've been thinking, 'cause it's all I've had to do.
And in my heart I feel that I should give this child to you.

And maybe you can tell your baby,
when you love him so, that he's been loved before;
By someone who delivered your son
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

If you choose to tell him, and if he wants to know,
How the one who gave him life could bear to let him go;
Just tell him there were sleepless nights; I prayed and paced the floors
And knew the only peace I'd find is if this child was yours.

And maybe you can tell your baby,
when you love him so, that he's been loved before;
By someone who delivered your son
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

Now I know that you don't have to do this,
But could you kiss him once for me
The first time that he ties his shoes, or falls and skins his knee?
And could you hold him twice as long when he makes his mistakes,
And tell him that he's not alone, sometimes that's all it takes.
I know how much he'll ache.

This may not be the answer for another girl like me;
But I'm not on a soapbox saying how we all should be.
I'm just trusting in my feelings and I'm trusting God above,
And I'm trusting you can give this baby
Both his mothers' love.

And maybe you can tell your baby,
when you love him so, that he's been loved before;
By someone who delivered your son
From God's arms, to my arms, to yours.

Website by myadoptionwebsite.com