The Night Before Poppy!

I feel like it's Christmas Eve!  We have been preparing for our sweet little girl for months!  Tomorrow, September 18th, our family will grow.  Tomorrow happens to be my birthday, and I know Poppy will be my best birthday gift ever!

On Saturday, we continued our tour of Beijing and learned all about the deep Chinese history.  Wow!  We started our day very early at Tiananmen Square, and continued through the Forbidden City.  The amount of land that these two landmarks take up is astounding.  Thousands of people visit every day. Our sweet guide, Alice, lead us through the tours, therefore we never felt overwhelmed with all of the people.  The tour of a silk factory followed, where we learned how silk is made. The children got to hold silkworm cocoons and watch a large machine pull strands of silk.  After stretching and layering the silk  the end results are comfy blankets, beautiful clothing and pillow cases, and elegant scarves and tablecloths.  On to another delicious family style traditional Chinese lunch.  By the time lunch rolls around each day, we're all very hungry and excited about the food.  Bennett has been wearing his Fitbit, and reminding us that we are reaching well over 15,000 steps each day.

One of the highlights of Saturday was an acrobatic show.  The acrobats were amazing and the show was fantastic, but we got the greatest entertainment people watching.  Just as we were heading into the theater, we were stopped by several Chinese tourist who wanted pictures with our children.  This happens nearly everywhere we go, even in airports, so we were not surprised.  Within in five minutes, the theater doors opened, a man yelled something in Chinese, and without hesitation every person, all 500+ rush into the theater.  We stood on the steps until Alice told us that we needed to hurry to get a "good seat."  Oh my!  The sight was captivating.  People of all ages were pushing and shoving, racing to their seats.  We found 8 seats together because we went up to a second level, where I assume were not the best seats, but they were great for us!  We sat in our seats and watched people scurry all around looking for seats, and then a very serious security guard came out to direct people on where to sit, and telling (er yelling) many that were sitting to move over.  Now, we can only assume he was giving these directives, but at this point, actions spoke even louder than words.  Honestly, I cannot describe the situation well enough, but Bryan and I giggled until tears were flowing from our eyes.  After the show, all eight of us sat in our seats until most had left the auditorium.  :-) The show was great, but the people watching was even greater!

The kids were tired, so they went back to the room with my mom, while Bruce, Bryan and I set off on an adventure to find the Olympic Sports Complex.  The subway was our mode of transportation this time, and it did not fail us.  Although very crowded with little or no room to move, the subway system was very manageable.  We made it!  The Olympic Sports Complex is incredible!  The structures are huge!  We took photos of the Bird's Nest and the Cube.  The Chinese have taken very well care of these stadiums, and continue to use them.  It just so happened that the Beijing Marathon was today and the Olympic Sports Complex was the finish line.  All was set up last night and ready to go for the runners.  I must say, I've been to several finish lines of major marathons in the U.S. and this finish line may have taken the cake (or medal :-)).  The celebration area went on for a mile.  We have decided that the Chinese do nothing small.

After some sleep, we woke up to another big day.  Bryan and I squeezed in a quick run and somehow ended up in the security check line for the marathoners.  Nevertheless, we casually backed our way out and found a different route.  Admittedly, we were excited for the runners, and a bit jealous that we were not running with them.

We boarded our flight before noon and arrived in Nanning, Guangxi at about 3:30.  In this province, we will become parents of our fifth child.  We will meet her tomorrow afternoon at approximately 2:30.  To say the least, we are excited yet nervous.  We know that tomorrow, Poppy's life is going to be turned upside down, and for that, our hearts break for her. She will be scared and forced to experience one more traumatic event in her young life.  We will love on her as much as she will allow us, but we also know this process takes time.

I will post photos as soon as I get a chance.  I have no idea exactly how tomorrow will go, but I do know we will gain another piece of our hearts.  With each additional child, I have learned that we really and truly have so much love to give.  I hope my children grow to know that they have always been and will be loved, and I also hope for them to allow their hearts to love big, too!

Okay, 15 hours and counting!

xoxo