China Trip - December 6 - Free Day

Today was a “free” day, so we didn’t go down to breakfast until around 9:15am. We were meeting the other families at 10am to make a trip to the department and grocery store. They are in the same building, just on different floors. We are also took up a collection of money from the families to buy some things for the orphanage that they need. The director told us they needed cribs and walkers. We had $6000 yuan ($750 USD) when everyone had donated, and Shiyan said we would really be able to buy a lot with that. We were all very excited to get the the department store to see how much we could buy for the orphanage. We walked about a block to get to the store, and created quite a scene. We rode the escalators to the fifth floor, where the baby and children’s departments were. We decided on the crib we liked and figured we could buy at least 10 cribs! Then Shiyan asked if we could get a discount since we were buying so many, and the clerk said we could get a 10% discount. So, with those savings, we were able to buy 10 walkers, too! We were so happy that we were able to buy so many things that they needed. Shiyan called the director, and they were still in Lanzhou, so they came and met us at the department store. We were able to thank them again for our healthy babies and Shiyan told them that the cribs and walkers were our way of thanking them. The orphanage staff was very surprised and pleased that we were giving them so much. I also bought 3 outfits for them to take back to the orphanage, to replace the clothes that Graycen had on when we got her. I want to save them to show her when she’s older how cutely she was dressed the day we got her.

Now we are back at the room, and Graycen & Kevin are taking a nap. Graycen didn’t sleep very well last night. She woke up at midnight and 4am with a stuffy nose. I think it is either a little cold or maybe from teething. She is not running a fever, and you can see that the 2 teeth she has are just through, and 2 more are on the way.

Tomorrow we are all going to a park in the afternoon when it warms up a little. We’ll see how Graycen is doing before we take her out in the cold. I’ve been putting her in her Snugli carrier and wrapping her in a blanket and she seems to be very warm and even took a nap that way today. We will be happy to get to Guangzhou where it will be a lot warmer, and we’ll have places to go and shopping to get done!