Baby Steps

 

This is Bri writing for today(: Ainsley has adjusted amazingly and we praise God because of His beautiful work. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement, they are a blessing for all of us! This morning she finished off a bottle and had another bottle at lunch time. We are so glad that she is getting food in her little body! Another stepping stone for us today was walking. Yesterday, she wasn't sure about it and just wanted to be held. But today was a different story, she took off walking and pulling Ellie behind her. It was adorable to watch Ainsley not let go of Ellie's hand and walk.

 

 

If you look closely in every picture Ainsley holds on tight to her keys. The day we met her, we gave her the keys to play with and she will only let go of them when she sleeps or eats. She rarely lets go of them. In fact, she is holding them as she sleeps now. Everyday presents new things for little miss Ainsley, a hotel, a pool, a restaurant and much more. After all the paperwork was finished for the day, I was more than happy to cuddle up with Ainsley and a book.

To quote Ellie, "I'm so glad she is my sister!"



Welcome to the family, Ainsley Hope!

Wow....we are mush.
Sooo happy to have our little girl sleeping here next to us!
Today went amazingly well.  Ainsley walked in to meet us at the Civil Affairs office.  We were able to hold her for the next hour while we talked to her caregivers and did paperwork.  Initially, she was quite shy and understandably overwhelmed with all of us... but consolable.    Later back in our hotel room, we saw all smiles with a bath.  And then more tears(silent tears) that break our hearts.  It's so hard to see Ainsley's sadness, although we know this is a healthy thing in the long run...that she was attached to her caring nanny.  She won't drink a bottle from us yet, and apparently hasn't eaten any solid foods at all.  She is a tiny little peanut.  Praying that tomorrow she will take a bottle.  But for tonight, we have so, so much we are praising God for!  Having all 4 of our big kids here has been a huge help, we are amazed at their hearts!! 

Beijing!

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." Genesis 28:15
What an amazing God we serve!

It's  a sunny Sunday morning here.  We made it to Beijing with no problems.  We just haven't been able to post, because Google along with Facebook is restricted here.  But, thanks to Scott Woltjer, who can fix anything, we now can! 
The kids are doing great.  This is bringing back many memories for Greg and I, as we're staying at the same place we did 8 years ago.
We have been able to visit many places here... our favorites being the Great Wall, and a visit to a family's home in a local "hutong" (neighborhood) by rickshaw, along with the acrobat show.  It was 104 degrees here yesterday,(Ellie almost melted :)) hot but clear blue skies without much smog- which is rare here. 
Tonight we fly to Guangzhou...tomorrow morning we meet Ainsley!!!
Thank you for your prayers!! 

I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.  John 14:18

This is the first verse I heard Sunday Morning...What a promise God gives to us! It's more than I can comprehend that our Heavenly Father adopts us into His family, loves us unconditionally, offers us forgiveness freely through Jesus, even rejoices over us. And it's ONLY through Him that we are blessed to be on this journey to Ainsley,  thus the title of this page...Only through His Love....not to us Oh Lord, but to Your name be glory!!

We are on our way to Chicago, and overwhelmed with God's grace at how He has worked out all the details. We are truly humbled by all of your prayers, kind words, and notes of encouragement! Thank you! 

If all goes as planned we will arrive in Beijing Thursday evening (Beijing time is 12 hours ahead of us), where we will be staying until Sunday. We will then fly to Guangzhou on Sunday evening, and hope to meet Ainsley on Monday morning!