Pray For Lilly!!

Well, Lilly has pneumonia accommpanied with cough and off and on fever. She has had IV antibiotics for the past two days and will continue today and tommorow. We leave for Gaungzho (sp)the day after tommorow. We will most likely be in the hospital there also for daily IV antibiotics. We are calling the shots on this situation because the healthcare is not near the quaulity of the US healthcare. So, we ask that you pray for wisdom in our decision making for Lilly's healthcare along with praying for Lilly to show improvment by having the fever go down,coughing to stop, and Lilly to drink plenty of fluids. We are doing alright, just continue to pray for us.

The Bryant's

A Gamecock!!!!!-----Walmart Anyone????

Lilly already wants to go to a game!! I'm teaching her to say Go Gamecocks!!

Yes, Walmart is here and it is very popular. They have just a few culture differences. Fish..alive,dead in ice,or smoke dried. Eel,turtle,snake,rabbit,chicken(in the picture...Shelby wouldn't let me buy one) and many other strange type of animals we could buy to eat. There were no medicines in the store, but they had most anything else.

The girls continue to draw huge crowds. (I'm making sure it doesn't go to their heads)I just don't think most of the Chinese have ever seen blonde or light brown hair. At the park by the river and at Walmart today, many would either come up to them and touch their hair or just try to talk to them. Surprisingly, it has been easy to communicate with someone who speaks a different language.

Lilly has had fever today and we have given her some medicine and it has helped. We pray the medicine continues to work. Other than that, she is adjusting very well.

Shelby and Katie are swimming in the hotel indoor pool as I type this and Lilly is taking a nap. Everyone is doing fine, but we are just killing time until Saturday.(touring in the mornings and our guides are great) That is when we will get Lilly's Chinese passport. It takes five days to process it. Then we head to get the US passport paper work started on Sunday. That is it for now.

David, Jan, Shelby,Katie,&Lilly

Tuesday update....

Hi everyone-it's Jan typing for the first time since we got Lilly. She is napping now so I have a few moments to update you with some specific info about her. God has truly answered the many prayers which have been lifted up for this precious child over the last 5 months. We are so grateful to Him for His provision over her until we could be united with her. She is very active!!! She should fit right in with her big brothers Fulton and Ethan at home. The VSD does not seem to slow her down. She will walk while holding onto our fingers, but she is not real steady standing freely. That's exciting for us because that means we, her parents, will get to have the joy of her first independent step! She rolls on the floor to get where she wants to go. We have not seen her crawl. She loves her reflection. Thankfully our room has a large full length mirror, and she really enjoys standing up looking at herself. The floor by the mirror is a granite-type floor and is real shiny. When she is walking on it, she bends down to see her reflection- it is SO cute!!! She has made great eye contact with all of us which is a good sign of attachment. She enjoys being held and loves to rub my shirt- almost like a blankie. Very sweet. She is very tickelish and has laughed out loud several times!! So precious! She has a beautiful smile which we have waited 5 months to see because she never really smiled in any of the orphanage pictures. I am so in awe of the goodness of our Heavenly Father. All glory and honor and praise are His.

Lilly was called "Su Su" in the orphanage. Her Chinese name is Kai Shu, but the "Shu" is pronounced "Su" (like Sue) so we have been calling her Su Su or Lilly Su Su. Shelby said we could call her Lilly Sue at home, but she may not like that when she is older- LOL! Many of you remember that she had some reports of respiratory issues while we were waiting to get her. She does have a wheeze. Nurse Jan brought her stethoscope, but sometimes the wheeze is audible without it. She is not sick now per the orphanage doctor nor does she act sick at all. I called The Pediatric Clinic yesterday to talk with Joy (my favorite nurse) about the wheezing because Dr. Macpherson had actuallly suspected that she was wheezing from the medical info we shared with her at our consultation appt. Dr. Mac gave me a prescription for a bronchodialator. I wanted to know whether I should give her the medicine even if the wheeze was not affecting her. Joy said that I should not give it unless her breathing is affected. So Lilly may have asthma, but we will have to wait until Dr. Mac can check her out. Lilly also sweats a lot! In China, they believe in dressing the babies very warmly. Lilly's outfit from the orphanage when we got her was fleece on the inside. She and I were both drenched when we got back to the hotel. The orphanage Dr. said keep her dressed warm so she won't "get a cold". I didn't argue about that, but of course a cold or respiratory infection is caused by a virus or bacteria not the cold weather. And believe me, it is FAR from cold here now!!

Shelby and Katie are doing great! They have been real troopers with little if any complaining! Our family has adopted Phillipians 2:14 as our motto. "Do everything without complaining or arguing." So far the Holy Spirit has really been equipping them to obey God's word.

She is still sleeping. She is very tiny but many Chinese people that we have seen are very small. Her hands and feet are probably the size of a typical 6 month old in the US. We haven't weighed her yet, but the measurement from the orphanage regarding her feet was incorrect. I purchased sizes 4 and 5 for her, but the 4 tennis shoe slides off easily even when double knotted. She actually kicked it off at breakfast this morning. They have cute shoes here called "squeaky shoes" because they squeak when the child walks. We will have to get her a few of those.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, love, and support. This is amazing and we are truly blessed to have been chosen by God to be Lilly's mama and baba. (Chinese words for mom and dad)

Bath Time!!

Bath Time,New friends at the airport yesterday, and leaving Beijing yesterday.

She slept well from 9:30 until 5:30am. She is definately tiny. Nine month pants don't fit. Today we will head out to begin paperwork at 8:30 and should have the afternoon for free time.

The Bryants

Lilly!

The first picture is Lilly being given to us. The second is Lilly and Lanie (they were in the same crib room)

She has had some crying episodes, but now is doing well. It has definately been a whirlwind of a day. Wow!! We are getting ready to put her in the crib and see what happens. Shelby and Katie are passed out in the bed with the lights on and Jan and I are hoping to get some shuteye soon. We and our friends the Barbees(Lanie's Family) are getting tired of Chinese food (some is fish with the head still on it) and will go to KFC or McDonalds tomorrow. They even have rice and noodles for breakfast. Anyway, it's been one exciting day!!

Gotcha!!!!

The great news is we have Lilly! The bad news is I can't get the pictures loaded right now. Has to do with the connection or server. I will try to get some on here somehow in the next few hours. Also, it is very hot and humid here.

The Great Wall and The Forbidden City.

Today was lots of fun! We visited The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, and Tiannemen Square.

The weather was a bit warmer than we were expecting, and we are heading south tomorrow. We may be purchasing more pairs of shorts! We experienced a few new things today and learned a great deal about Chinese culture. First, Shelby and Katie are a curiosity to the Chinese people. Too many Chinese people to count came up to them and asked to have their pictures made with them. They just smiled and laughed at the girls especially when we spoke a few Chinese words. Then they would start speaking Chinese thinking we really knew the language. I guess our southern accent didn't get in the way! Shelby said now she knows how movie stars feel. Also, we learned that you have to be very assertive to the many street vendors who come up to you trying to sell souviners. We even had one lady follow us to our bus and then stand at the window showing us her items. She didn't budge until the bus started moving!! The Chinese people are very friendly. Tom, our guide who is Chinese with an American name, has been wonderful. The food is pretty good too although it is very different from the Americanized version that we call "Chinese food" back home. We also visited the jade factory and learned quite a bit. We made a few purchases there with one being a ring for my Mother's Day gift. We also got Lilly a rooster pendant to give her when she is older. She was born in the year of the rooster if you are wondering!

We also got to know the other couples in our group. We are all Christians, and we held a prayer meeting in our hotel room tonight. It was very special since we are in China and know that so many Christians here suffer persecution. We praised God for calling each of us to this journey, lifted up our concerns for our adopted children as they begin a new life tomorrow, and asked for wisdom and patience as we try to comfort them during their adjustment.

Tomorrow is David's birthday and "Gotcha Day". Our day begins early as we head to the airport at 7 AM. Our flight leaves at 11:10 and we should arrive in Changsha at 1:35. We will meet Lilly soon after arriving there. Please pray for Lilly and her adjustment and attachment to

us. We are so excited!!! Better try to sleep now. Hope everyone is doing well back home. Thanks for all of your prayers!

We made it!!!

After waking up at 3am Friday,we finally landed in Beijing at 2pm Saturday and walked into our hotel room at 5pm. Exhausted but happy to be here. As we write this, it is Sunday 7:48 am in Beijing(7:48 pm Saturday in South Carolina). We have slept for about 9 hours and are heading to The Great Wall and The Forbidden City in about 30 minutes.

If you are wondering, the little girl in the picture is not Lilly. She is an adopted child of another family. Her name is Lauren, and Shelby and Katie have become good friends with her. Her family is from Beaufort, and they are here to adopt a son who is 7 years old.

We are so excited to finally be here. Shelby and Katie did great on the plane. They met several new friends and had fun walking around, playing card games, and talking to all the other passengers. We will post again in about 13 hours.(get ready for the picture of us on The Great Wall)

Our Itinerary

It is hard to believe that we are now only 5 days away from leaving for China and just a week away from meeting Lilly. The time has really been flying by as we have been so busy making all of the necessary preparations. The picture above shows the paperwork that we have been working on to take to China. This stack of papers is actually rather small compared to the dossier paperwork that we did at the end of last summer. We have been packing and making arrangements for the boys as well as our dogs, cats, and chickens. Thank you to those of you who have been so kind and generous in offering to help while we are away. Thank you Granny and GG, and Mimi for watching our boys. Thank you Kim, Karla, and Kim for having the boys over to play. Thank you to Barbara for caring for our pets, garden, and plants. Thank you to Kendall and Olivia- 2 great babysitters for helping to watch the boys and ease the load on the grandparents. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us. A special thank you to my sunday school class at Trinity. You all have been such a constant source of support during these last 5 months, and I have certainly felt your prayers. I'll miss you, but Lilly and I will be back soon.

Itinerary:

May 11: Depart at 6:00 AM from Columbia for Washington, D.C. Depart for Beijing at 12:23PM

May 12: Arrive in Beijing at 1:55PM (this will be 1:55 AM back at home)

May 13: Sightseeing at the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China (Happy Mother's Day)

May 14: Fly to Changsha, Hunan at 11:10 AM and arrive at 1:35 PM. We will meet Lilly in the afternoon- exact time unknown. (We will meet Lilly while you are sleeping so please pray before you go to sleep)

May 15- May 19: Some paperwork and appointments concerning the adoption and lots of bonding time with Lilly. Sightseeing and shopping as Lilly allows.

May 20: Fly from Changsha to Guangzhou arriving at 3:35 PM.

May 21: Photos for Lilly and her physical exam (standard for all babies being adopted).

May 22: Visa appointment at 11:30 AM at the US Consulate.

May 23: Swearing ceremony at the consulate and receive Lilly's visa.

May 24: Fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong at 8:30 AM. Depart for home at 12:45 PM. Arrive in Chicago at 2:20 PM. Arrive in Columbia at 7:46 PM.

A Suitcase Filled With Love

We have all been busy here getting ready for our big trip to bring Lilly home. For many months now the girls and I have been collecting items to take to the orphans who live at Lilly's orphanage. Shelby and Katie put a lot of time, energy, and most of all love in preparing this suitcase of clothes, toys, stickers, candy, bubbles, and other items. We have requested to visit the Chenzhou orphanage where Lilly is, but we have not been given an answer yet. If we are not allowed to visit, we will deliver the items in bags to the orphanage representatives that bring Lilly to us. Thank you to friends and family who contributed to our collection of much needed items for these precious children who still wait for their forever families!

We are set to leave on May 11 and will soon post our itinerary. Please continue to pray for safe travel, good health, and for Lilly's attachment to us as her parents. Lilly will be leaving everything and everyone that she has known for a year and a half. She will need to grieve for this tremendous loss before she is able to begin bonding and attaching to us. The first 3 days or so will likely be difficult for her. We will of course do all that we can to comfort her, and we specifically request your prayers for her. Thanks so much to each and everyone of you who have supported us thus far in our amazing journey to Lilly.