One Down

Today was our first medical appointment.

one interpreter
one nurse
one nurse practitioner
one doctor
one occupational therapist
one social worker
ten vials of blood
one lab tech
one shot
4 1/2 hours
and...
still?
One happy girl!
After the blood was drawn and the needle removed our sweet gal's response to the lab tech?
"Thank You"
Not a thank you for removing the needle and it is over kinda thank you, it was a heartfelt thank you for caring about me!
So sweet!!
This girl's tank is just full of the Love of God!
Praising our Heavenly Father tonight!

Thanksgiving

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Words ringing from Molly all day!
We have been busy and our sweet gal has been loving it!
Molly helped to prepare her her first Thanksgiving dinner. She made pudding pie and peeled 5 potatoes. She worked so hard to stir the pudding and to peel the potatoes. By the 4th potato she really got the hang of it and peeled it clean.
We took Molly to the Chinese Christian Church service and then stayed and shared in their big Thanksgiving feast! It was so fun listening to Molly speak to our new friends. She sure seemed to make our table laugh a lot. Everyone was so sweet to her, making sure I filled her plate, sharing fruit with her, and making sure she tried everything on her plate. One sweet 'Jia Jia' gave her a skateboard necklace from her purse, complete with rhinestones! So cute!
We then celebrated with more turkey and trimmings as a family of 7 and introduced Molly to Rock Band. She is an awesome drummer and thought her mom and sister were very good singers!
Today we played flag football, flew a kite, and went out with friends for ice cream! Molly loved the kite flying and mama got her exercise pushing her wheelchair to keep the kite flying. Thank goodness for Lucy who was a big help!
Molly devoured a big dish of strawberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles!
Gotta love a SWEET GAL'S FIRST Thanksgiving!

Our Smilin' Gal

I was proven wrong!
Today was our first dentist appointment for sweet Molly. We had scheduled this appointment waaaaaaayy back before China and I thought I was prepared but as the day drew closer I began to worry that my sweet happy child would not be sweet and happy after being poked and prodded by the dentist. I happen to hate the dentist so I worried for our little girl! I asked my friends to accompany us so she would understand what was happening, I asked my hubby to accompany me for support, and off we went. We arrived, met the nicest dentist and hygienist, had a check up, xrays, some serious dental work and through it all our sweetie once again was a CHAMP! She completely understood the reason for the visit and that in the end of our many appointments she will feel so much better! Thank you Jane and Jian our awesome, caring, God Loving interpreters who prayed for Molly and our family all day long. Our happy Molly ate dinner and of course some ice cream and was still smilin' tonight as she nodded off to sleep with a "Love, Love, Love you Mom". Ahhh, how my heart loves our new daughter!


MOLLY AFTER TREATMENT SMILIN' AWAY

Go Flyers

Saturday a friend gave us 4 UD Flyer tickets!
Home 10 days and taking our new gal to a band playing, fans cheering, loud basketball game? Yep, cuz we could not let the tickets go to waste and we knew she would love it! Love it she did. She loved the National Anthem, she clapped and cheered for every Flyer point, she was intrigued by Rudy the Flyer, she indulged in mm's and cotton candy, she graciously met many friends, and was treated like a queen by the usher. What more could a gal want living in Flyer Territory!

School

Once Again, Molly shines! Today was the big long awaited day! Molly went to school to meet her classmates. We spent about 45 minutes in her new classroom and she did so well. Her new friends are so sweet and caring. She had lots of goodies on her desk waiting for her...candy, paper snowflakes, welcome notes, and some school supplies. We had bought cute chopsticks in China and some candy that Molly gave to her new friends. She sat at her new desk and colored with some of her new classmates. We met lots of teachers and students, the nurse, the principal and the secretary. Tomorrow we will return for another visit in the afternoon. Molly just smiled the whole time and was so polite and sweet!

A Special Call

Today Molly spoke with her good friend Helen. Helen and Molly were good friends at the HoL. Helen was adopted last December. Now, two sweet girls have forever families to call their own. I have no idea what they said to one another but they both seemed very happy!
PS: note Molly eating bacon and talking on the phone...just like her mother!

Melting Hearts

"GOODNIGHT MOM, I LOVE YOU."
enough said.

Our First Full Day!

Wow! We are blessed. Molly is happy, giggly, polite, and a super traveler. After 18 hours of travel time we arrived home to a yard full of balloons, flags, and friends! Molly got out of the car with a huge smile and said Hello to everyone she was introduced to, "Hello Hannah, Hello Grace, Hello Lilly..." and kept saying "Thank you. Thank you." in her sweet voice that we love soooo much! What a fun welcome home present!
She slept all night in her new bed and spent the day hanging with her new family. Puzzles, dollhouse, piano, DS games, and a walk outside to find 'treasures' with her sisters and a friend were just a few of the highlights. Dinner tonight was full of laughter. She loves to mimic our different laughs and her eyes just shine as she does it. :) Tonight she spent time teaching us how to say snow in mandarin...not quite sure we mastered that one yet but she is very patient with the same shining eyes!

The Many Foods of Molly

bacon
noodles and chili sauce
mango pudding
bean curd and chili sauce (a huge favorite)
skittles
mint Menthos
dried fish
pistachios
spicy chicken wings
pizza with Papa John peppers
chicken with chili peppers
blueberry yogurt
watermelon
roasted potatoes and garlic
ice cream
spicy prawns
chicken nuggets and fries from McDonalds
oolong tea
and iced coffee from KFC :) She loves the ice in it :)

For the little girl that we worried and prayed for to gain weight...God has answered our prayers!
Here's hoping she likes American food! Keep the up the prayers!
we are off to Hong Kong in a couple of hours and then home to the USA on Thursday!

It's Official!

Our first official photo as mom, dad, and daughter






As of 9:30 this morning Xu Mei Li is now officially MOLLY GRACE LI and will be an American citizen the minute she steps on USA soil!! Once an orphan, she is now a daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, and niece! AND we are so proud of her, our darling daughter and sister! Praise God!
Enjoy our first official photos!

Portrait of Joy!

Last night we took our sweet daughter to have a charcoal painting done of her. She was so cute sitting there while the man drew her. She is a cutie!

Brave

Traveling 4 hours by train to meet your new family= BRAVE
Leaving friends behind= BRAVE
Returning to your orphanage to say goodbye one more time= BRAVE
Hanging with crazy people who do not speak your language= BRAVE
Allowing people you have never met care for your basic needs= BRAVE
First plane ride= BRAVE
Touring places you have only imagined= BRAVE
Getting a shot= BRAVE
Feeding a giraffe for the first time= BRAVE
Having to rely on a family you have never met before= BRAVE

Today we went to the medical building for TB check- perfect! We then headed to the Zoo. Molly was so excited. She said she has never been to a zoo before and was very happy to go. There was lots to experience. She was able to feed the giraffes up close and personal, she took lots of photos, ate some ice cream, and loved the deer. At the end of the zoo there is a small amusement park. She wanted to ride one of the rides and because she is the queen we obliged. She wanted to ride the bumper cars...not a good idea for our sweet girl, so we asked what was her second choice? Her second choice was the kiddie cars. She loved it! When she got off the ride she told our guide that she loved it and that she was very BRAVE for riding! We just happen to agree with this beautiful little girl! She is one BRAVE girl, not just for riding in a kiddie car but for embracing her new life and forever family! Molly is full of happiness and joy but most of all our girl is BRAVE. Thank you God for giving her BRAVERY in this new chapter of her life!

Light

Molly is so delightful! She loves to joke and tease and loves to say “Daddy Naughty!”
Last night as we were all falling asleep she started rambling on in English…Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Mommy, Goodnight Oliver. Yikes Daddy! Yikes Mommy! Yikes Oliver! Oliver is sleeping! Mommy is sleeping! Daddy is sleeping! We say yikes a lot as we go over bumps and up and down stairs with her chair ☺ We love the way she says Oliver with an Australian accent. It is adorable!
She told our guide today she wanted to learn to be a good photographer. This girl has aspirations!!!!!! So far piano lessons and photography are at the top of her list, swimming not so much.
Today we ventured out to the Chen Clan Academy and the 6 Banyan Temple. Molly liked the Academy and took lots of photos, she was not interested in the Buddhist Temple at all, she did not want to go in any of the buildings, so she sat outside with Oliver. I guess a gal that is immersed in the Bible really has no need for Buddha! We praise God!
When we returned to the hotel we had a delicious lunch. Molly wanted to order 4 things off the menu, including really expensive prawns. We told her she could choose 2 so she settled for chicken wings and chili peppers and bean curd and minced pork in chili sauce. She loved it! She also loves mango pudding and ice cream, chocolate not so much!
She is truly a beautiful girl who just radiates the light of Jesus!

Photographer Molly

Tonight, we ventured off to dinner. Thankfully there was a lady sitting next to us from California that saw us trying to order and stepped in and saved the day. Dinner was delicious! Enjoy the pics Molly shot on our walk back to the hotel. Her little hands work so hard to push the button and hold up the camera at the same time!

On to Guangzhou

Molly is a happy giggly angel! We love listening to her speak to our guides. They always seem to have a good laugh with her and then say to us how happy she is! Right now she is watching Cinderella in chinese...one of the MANY personal possessions she came to us with. :)
Molly loved her first plane ride and did fantastic. We gate checked her chair but when we got off they had checked it through for us so Bill carried her all the way to baggage. Thank goodness for moving walkways and daddy's!
Today we went to her medical appt and visa photo and then shopped on the island. She did awesome at the medical exam, I think the Dr. was a little miffed and called in a second Dr. to look at her. The nurse was wonderful with her. We now just need to go back for the TB reading.
After the medical we walked through the parks and shopped. We told Molly she could pick one thing (as long as the price was right :)) Of all the fun stuff in Guangzhou she chose a musical toy...see photo. Bill was so happy with this purchase...insert sarcasm :)
We then returned to the hotel for lunch...this girl can eat. Braised beef, snap peas, noodles, salmon, watermelon, grapes, mango pudding, and coconut juice. We then went to the hotel park and she wanted to go down the slide. Uhhhh? Really? Well, she did it with some daddy help! We looked at the pool but she was not ready today. We had our guide tell her about our pool in the summer, she liked the part about the snacks and ice cream, not so much the swimming part.
Just as a side note: Molly is reading the Bible in it's entirety. She is in the book of Jeremiah. How neat to know that she has already read Isaiah, the book that played a huge part in leading us down the path of adoption and to her! We know that this path God has chosen for us may be hard at times but this happy girl has already lessened the load just by knowing her in these few short days. She is a ray of sunshine!