I want to tell you about her...

It's 5:30 AM in China, and this is my first chance to document my heart and tell you about our new love. Li Li is so... amazing. There's not one word to describe her - but I can tell you a little bit about her. She sucks her tongue. Especially when she is tired. She is very curious about the things around her and she LOVES pulling Dodger's hair. Her cries are very lonely at bedtime - kind of a distant and unconsolable whine. But the best part of all for me is that I have gained her trust. My heart floods with butterflies when I think about the way she wants me to hold her - no, not even the way, but the amount of time that she wants with me. The moment I put her down she wants me...she looks for me....she wants my touch. So, really, I can't set her down. And I don't want to. And although my arms are so very sore, this is one of my first prayers answered. She loves to cuddle and she loves to sleep on me . So I would have to say, the hardest part on my bod is that I haven't had much of a break in the past 24 or so hours because even when she sleeps she wants to be on me. We have very quickly become a co-sleeping family. But what do you call it when the children hop in the bed, and kick out the daddy? :) I had one arm under Li Li last night with her head on my chest (she was snoring). Then Dodger was having bad dreams and said "mom, I want you. someone just shot me" (too many violent Chinese movies). So now they are all asleep and this really is my only thinking time. But I don't even care. How does God know how to give you MORE than you could ever ask for? The crazy thing is, every parent here (and there are 10 of us) feels the same way. I can't believe it has only been hours. It feels like a lifetime already, but maybe because we're back into the days of interrupted sleep. What else can I tell you about our girl? Oh - that wah wah means baby doll...bao bao is baby and to console her i say bocu bocu (like french, beaucoup) which means don't cry - or howla howla when she is getting a diaper change and you want to tell her "almost done". We are quickly learning Chinese. The pronunciation of her name sounds like "Lootsuh". And although I thought she would be chubby tubby baby doll, she is thin and LONG. She does have the most kissable cheeks ever and 4 teeth. THANK GOD I'm not breastfeeding. Her bite is solid. She loves to eat congee which is soggy rice and the bottle thing was a little stressful because she didn't like our western ways. Only when Troy made it scalding and thick would she attempt it. I ONLY THOUGHT BOYS PEED WITH THEIR DIAPER OFF. Enough about that, but we are definitely first time parents all over again. I am back tracking, but as of yesterday morning and all the signatures and photos, she is officially OURS. We met the Orphanage Director and thanked him for taking care of our daughter. He said that all of the nannies cried when they said goodbye, and that's why we do not get to see them...other women brought the babies to us from Yifeng, 3 1/2 hours away. I started to blog last night, but Dodger left with our guide to the grocery store and Pizza Hut. After an hour or so I started to get the mommy jitters as I thought about my precious first born outside with millions of Chinese and no one else to help if he got lost...but they came back - after a TAXI RIDE which I had no idea they would take. I don't even want to tell you what traffic is like here- or maybe I should so that you will be on your knees interceding on our behalf. NYC is like . . .I don't know... Driving in slow motion compared to here. You just have to smile at the car that is inches from you, and thank Jesus. A lot. Lots of honking and near misses. Selah. So...I can't believe I haven't talked to anyone yet! But my one goal has been to establish my mommyhood with Li Li and it's been successful thus far. There's a stirring in the covers. I better go see what's up. xoxoamy

Dodger took the below pics....