•  She loves the cream out of Oreos. She will eat every bit of cream and not eat one bit of the chocolate wafer.
• She is crazy about Lays Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavored Chips.
• She will not take a bath. She knows exactly how to wash herself very well with a washcloth.
• She loves to be carried everywhere.
• Eats a lot but very slowly on most foods.
• She loves to look at the pictures of her family back home.

And because she was more interested in eating the fish food than throwing it we broke out the  Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavored Potato Chips.

We are up bright and early this morning, John and I struggling to sleep decently. This must be what jet lag feels like. We never had jet lag when we were here before. We can only sleep for 4 hours at a time best and exhaustion hits us out of the blue a few times a day. Last night we put sweet Ellery to bed at 8 and we went to bed right a long with her. Which is why I am up so early posting before we head to the Civil Affairs Office to make this thing final! When you are given your child in China you are given 24 hours known as the Harmonious Period to spend time with your child, if you for some reason want to change your mind you can return them to the orphanage the next day. NO THANK YOU!! This one is going home with her Mama and BaBa!

Now about yesterday....

I had a very nice sense of calm all day and never got nervous. I truly felt all the prayers that had been lifted up on our behalf. John on the other hand was the like the picture of the dad pacing the floors of a labor and delivery floor full of anxiety and wonder and questions. Will she like us? Will she Cry? Will she be ok? Will we be ok?

We were sitting in the lobby waiting. We knew she was on her way and would be there any minute. Suddenly I looked up at the lobby door and there she was. Tiny little thing. I stood there and started snapping pictures as they walked towards us. She was calm and they must have been telling her about us because I heard them say mama and baba. She was brought by the orphanage director, two nannies and her foster mother. I was very surprised but happy to see her Foster Mother. I knelt down to be on Ellery's level and so did everyone else. So there we were all of us on the floor in the lobby of a 5 star Marriott in the middle of registration for a Fortune 500 Business Convention learning all about our daughter. They happily answered all our questions. We snapped a group photo and then I reached for Ellery. I don't believe she had any idea what was really happening. When I picked her up everything changed.


Crying and tears and flailing quickly began. Before I knew what was happening the orphanage turned around and walked out of the hotel. I handed her to John since she was flailing about and our guide quickly took us upstairs to our room. She continued to cry for about 45 minutes stopping only to eat a Dum Dum and some Smarties. We completed paperwork for our process Tuesday and then we had to walk out into the hall for our first official family photo of the three of us. She was still crying so I walked out towards the indoor balcony (we are on the 19th floor, I am scared of heights so this balcony scares me) and the very site of everything calmed her. She stopped crying we took our family photo and then I decided to walk the halls with her, maybe the room right now was too much. Within minutes she started to relax and then before I knew it she was sound asleep. Scared to sit I walked the halls for about 30 minutes to let her nap. Not long after I sat in the lobby on our floor she woke up. She still wouldn't look at me dead on but she would catch side glances of me. (our guide told me she was probably scared because she had never seen anybody with blond hair and big eyes:))  We sat in the lobby and John sat across from us and started taking pictures, he was being silly and she started to smile ever so slightly. Within minutes we had our first laugh and things have been about the same since. We have not had anymore tears. We came back to the room and were able to play and she went to town on a bag of Mexican Tomato Chicken Flavored Lays Potato Chips. It was a big bag and she ate almost the whole thing. They have some of the most unusual flavors here, it is fun to try them out. She was doing so well we decided to take her to Pizza Hut for dinner. That experience could be a whole other post in itself but she was cute and is smitten with her Baba, he fed her and she would just give him the cutest looks! We got some  stares walking around the streets but our guide told us most people know about International Adoption in China and think it is wonderful for these children to have a family, me too!



I know this is long but we want this documented for her. We are just amazed at how well she is doing. She is still sound asleep. John said this feels like having a new baby. We kept checking on her during the night making sure she was ok. She is ok and we are hoping for the smiles to still be on her face when she wakes up this morning and sees that we are still here. Please pray for us today as we go to the Civil Affairs Office. It is possible everyone from the orphanage will be there and it could be very upsetting to her all over again.
Thank you to everyone for your love, prayers and support and comments. John and I enjoy reading your comments. Love you all!!

We have truly had a great day! After sleeping on and off for 9 hours we walked down to the airport to look around and grab a bite to eat. Not long after we sat down Sara from Football and Fried spotted us and her and her hubby sat down and we started chatting. They are so fun to talk with and I have laughed so much today. What a great distraction to all the nervousness that surrounds this experience but to be able to share it with someone who can make you laugh and totally gets it because they are right there alongside you. We got to Nanning about 6 pm Sunday, met our guide (a real sweetheart) and traveled by van to the Marriott Hotel. I love China and am so comfortable here. It was so cool to ride through the city, the Chinese love lights so many building were lit up with bright lights. We immediately found out that we will get Ellery Monday at 2:30pm China time which is 1:30 am at home. We also learned that she still takes a bottle and I am hoping she will let us feed her it is great for bonding!! I was so happy to learn she is still on the bottle. Also, we learned she has to travel over 6 hours to get here. Knowing that we are expecting her to be tired, hungry and thirsty. I am glad they are bringing her to our hotel instead of meeting her at a government building. So much less stressful!! After we got settled into our room, John and I ventured out to the Wal-mart next door. The stores here in China are so fun to visit. We spent about an hour walking around but didn't really buy much. We did pick up some cool toddler scissors (hint hint Sara). Nanning does not get a ton of Westerners so we get a lot of stares. It doesn't bother me though. We also tried to order at KFC which proved to be interesting, it was hard even with a picture menu where we could point to what we wanted. When you say your prayers tonight pray for us and Ellery 's reaction tomorrow. I am scared she is going to be frightened by us and cry constantly. Next time I post we will have her!! Thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging comments. They truly mean so much to us. Love you all!

I have always had a silent blog with very little comments from my reader except those very faithful friends and followers that have been around a while. But in case you haven't noticed there is a comment button after each post. These comments during the trip will serve as encouragement to us. I know it's silly but there are over 100 people reading the blog everyday let us know you are there and it'll give us great encouragement while away from our family and friends. These comments will also be printed along with the journal pages of our journal for a keepsake for Ms. Ellery, wouldn't it be nice for her to see messages from those at home waiting to meet and love her.

ok I'm done shamelessly requested comments, but is my blog......

We made IT!!!

16 hours on one flight
26 hours of straight travel
4 hours of sleep
2 babies crying almost the entire flight ( have lots of sympathy, that may be us on the way home!)
4 movies watched
153 movies to choose from
6 TV episodes watched
0 minutes spent on the ipad
0 leg room for poor john
37,000 miles altitude
8557 miles traveled
2 very tired, very cramped O'Cains ready for bed.
Taking an Ambien and hitting the sack.
Just wanted to let you all know we made it safe and sound.

PS Our flights with United and Continental were absolutely top notch, we had a very good experience.

Packed and ready to go in the morning! Ellery here we come!

Tonight I am just giddy with excitement!! In just two more sleeps I will leave for CHINA.

In just 5 more days I will meet my daughter and give her hugs!!

I have so much to do and am so unfocused. I have been fluttering around the house all day,

doing much but feeling like I have accomplished little, my to do list is still long.


Anyway so here is our basic travel itinerary:

Nov 25: Leave the USA for Hong Kong
Nov 26: Arrive in Hong Kong (23 hrs of travel and one loooong 16 hr flight-prayers please!)
Nov 27: Hopefully meet Sara from Football and Fried Rice (LOL) and catch a quick flight to
              Nanning, Gaungxi. This is the capital of the Province our daughter is from and where
              we will meet her.
Nov 28: Meet Ellery! Be.Still.My.Heart!! I.Cannot.Wait!
Nov 29: Finalize Chinese portion of the Adoption
Nov 30: Free Day Sightseeing
Dec 1: Free Day Sightseeing
Dec 2: Fly with Ellery to GZ arrive at 11:20am
Dec 3: Ellery's Medical Examination
Dec 4: Sightseeing in GZ
Dec 5: TB test read and ??
Dec 6: American Consulate Appointment at 10 am ( I think I told you the 5th-my bad :))
Dec 7: Leave GZ by train to Hong Kong
Dec 8: Sightseeing in Hong Kong
Dec 9: Begin the long flight home with a 2 yr old in tow, fun times! 14 Hour flight. Thank Goodness
            it is shorter on the way home though I don't understand why.

We would treasure you prayers during this time. Though we have been anticipating and hoping for this day for so long, our daughter may not understand what is happening. This can be very hard for her at first and of course seeing her upset will be hard on us. Though watching her grieve will be difficult we know that God has meant Ellery to be in our family from day one and he will see us through it, we would not have started this journey if we didn't trust him.


God Sets the Lonely in Families... Psalm 68:6

We have booked flights to leave November 25th. And thank you to my brother in law who was able to get our tickets there and back with his Frequent Flier miles. This saved us a huge amount of money! Once I have confirmation on our itinerary I will share it but  until then I  know what matters... We will meet our daughter on the 28th!!

Also we got another update on Ellery with new pictures. They have started to let her hair grow out and so thankful for that but in the pictures she looks like a boy to me. In most of the pictures she is not smiling but in one someone got her to smile. Love those dimples!! Just ready to get our girl, hug her tight and stick a bow in her hair!

TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew! I was beginning to worry but thankfully we received our TA today. We didn't get the call until 5pm so I had given up for the day and was feeling blue, my 93 yr old Nanny died today and I was just sad. My poor caseworker probably thought I was a nut when she called because I busted out crying before she even told me, I just knew.

We are praying to leave Thanksgiving but are just so Thankful we will have our daughter home in almost a month! SO much to do!

Last Sunday Wyatt lost his second tooth at church. He had it wrapped up in a paper towel in his pocket. I asked him for the tooth so I could keep it safe until bedtime but he insisted on holding on to it. Not one minute later he dropped the tooth while we were crossing the street right over the white crosswalk. I thought we would never find it but Mason found it rather quickly. Again I asked for the tooth but he refused. Now just a few minutes later we are riding home and he loses it again. This time it is never found. To make him feel better I reassure him that he can write a letter to the Tooth Fairy and leave it under his pillow and she will still come. By bedtime we all forgot about the tooth and he didn't remember until tonight. After putting him to bed tonight he came downstairs and said, " I finished writing the letter". When I asked him what letter he said the letter to the Tooth Fairy. I read the letter and found it funny that he actually specified that he would like $5 for the tooth, way more than we give. He told me that some of the kids in his class think the Tooth Fairy was their parents. I asked him what he thought and he said it was probably the parents because they have all the money but he didn't know. LOL. Then he told me he was going to put it in a Ziploc bag and wanted to write his name on it with a permanent marker. I handed him the marker and left to run to the grocery store. When I returned I figured he was asleep so I ran upstairs with $2 in my hand to quickly leave it under his pillow. I walked in his room and peeked over his bed. The note was in the Ziploc bag tucked between his cheek and the pillow. Written in huge letters across the Ziploc bag was TO BEST MOM EVER. It warmed my heart and  a huge smile spread across my face. I turned around, ran back downstairs, put the $2 back in my wallet and pulled out a FIVE. I mean how could I not after, BEST MOM EVER!

Today is Orphan Sunday. A day to bring awareness of the estimated 147 million orphans worldwide.
I have a personal reason this is important to me and it is not just because my beautiful, sweet and loving daughter was once an orphan. But because I feel as a Christian I have a responsibility to do what I can to help the orphan. My heart for orphans continues to grow with each passing year and I look for ways I can make a difference. For our family we chose adoption. For you it may to help support an adoptive family financially, to collect toys or necessities or to donate your time to caring for them short term. But the truth is most people do nothing. When I lay awake at night or look at the parentless children's faces staring back at me on my computer I cannot just do nothing. My wish is for all of you who read this blog to find a way to make a difference this year in the life of an orphan child.

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." David Platt