~ Smiles ~

Whoa! We truly enjoyed waking up yesterday to all of the comments on our blog, congratulatory emails and notes on Facebook. Thank you!

Sorry about the delay in posting more pictures. For some reason the Internet at the hotel was running extremely slow, so slow that we weren't able to download any pictures. I could barely sleep last night knowing I had so many cute pictures to share with everyone, hence that is why I am up for 4:30 in the morning. :)

We had a wonderful day with Levi yesterday. We were out and about quite a bit, but still came back to the hotel for his nap times just to trying to keep him on a schedule that was familiar to him. We were able to get lots of smiles and some giggles. We are still waiting for him to babble as we have yet to hear any of that. He loved the swimming pool so we will definitely be spending more time in the pool again today.

The first night went really well and he went right to sleep in the pack-n-play crib in the hotel right away. His nursery schedule showed that he would wake at 5:00. Wes and I were dreading that a little so we went to sleep fairly early too. Levi woke up at 4:30 because he was really wet (so wet that it leaked through his clothes) and so we were up for good then.

We did a bath first thing in the morning (the pee smell had to go) and he did really well in the tub. We weren't sure how he would do as he has always just had a bath in the baby tubs up to this point. Levi just hung out while Wes washed and rinsed him. The caretakers were right as he ate everything we fed to him at breakfast. I think the only thing he spit back out was a tiny piece of pineapple and I think that was only because he couldn't chew it. He was very squirmy in his high chair and kept sliding way down in the seat. Now I know why they had a towel tied around his chest when we got to feed him at the orphanage. Oh the joys, of eating out with a toddler again. :)
Bathtime!

Levi loves just hanging out looking at all of the board books and picture books we brought along.




We did some shopping in the morning to get things like formula, sippy cups, and a jacket for the plane ride home. He was quite the trooper while shopping, but mainly because I think everything is so new to him. I am pretty sure this will change.

We ate lunch in the mall at Jollibee. Jollibee is a fast food chain that is even more popular than McDonald's here in the Philippines. I think that Red Ribbon was also combined with the Jollibee because we were able to order some pasta. Wes and I figured that we would just share a portion of each of our plates with Levi. Wrong! Levi chowed on the spaghetti! Wes ended up ordering a cheeseburger and fries for himself. We did encounter some rude people in here. When we first lined up behind the cash register Wes and I were looking up at the menu to tell the cashier what we wanted when someone just snuck in front of us and started ordering. We didn't say anything because we figured that obviously he had somewhere he needed to be soon. Also when Wes went back the 2nd time to order his cheeseburger a lady and her son tried to cut right in front of him. This time, he flat out told them that he was next and started ordering. Weird! I guess if you want any food at the Jollibee you have to be fairly demanding.

Spaghetti Face!


Levi still wasn't finished eating.


Full belly! He loves waving at everyone.


Goodbye, Jollibee!


Strolling the Glorietta Mall.


Levi's walking technique reminds me of E.T. He takes short little choppy steps with his feet turned slightly outwards. He has a little waddle that babies have when they still wear diapers and he looks like E.T. when he walks. I was following behind saying, "E.T., phone home".

After his afternoon nap we thought we would try out the pool. He loved it! He is going to fit in so well with his "waterbug" sisters. Wes taught him how to splash and now there is no going back. We got tons of smiles and lots of giggles out of him while he was in the pool. It was actually raining most of the time they were in the water. I didn't get in, but instead sat under the big umbrella and took lots of pictures and video.


He's feeling pretty cute in his swim trunks (and of course he is very cute).


This is one of my favorite pictures so far of Levi and his Daddy.












This is my favorite picture of Levi and Mommy.


Levi's wrinkly hands from staying in the water so long.

For dinner we went to Guilly's which is in the Glorietta Mall and has seating outside. It is right beside our hotel so it was nice to sit outside and watch the hotel traffic and night-life going on. We also loved the upbeat music they played through dinner. The food was pretty good, or at least good enough that we might go back and eat there again the night before we leave. We liked the convenience of it being so close to our hotel and the atmosphere.


Levi entertained himself while waiting for his food by watching the cars go by. In this picture you can see our hotel in the background and our room is one of those in the picture. I also strategically got the girl in the green shirt in the picture as she reminded us of my brother's girlfriend, Carrie (only an Asian version). :)


Waving!




Ready for bed!


Hugs and Kisses! He looks thrilled doesn't he? :)

Yesterday, we tried to bump everything up an hour from his normal schedule. We napped an hour later, we ate and hour later, and went to bed an hour later. All of this was in hopes that he would sleep until at least 6:00 this morning. It is a quarter til 6, so I think our plan worked.

Two more days in the Philippines! Hopefully, we will be able to post more pictures again tonight if the internet speed will cooperate.

~ Gottcha Day! ~

Finally, he is in our arms!! It has been a long day...full of joy and full of emotions. Heart of Mary Villa had a very special visit prepared for us. While it was a short visit, it will be very memorable for years to come. Very emotional. They prepared a life book for Levi which has pictures and notes throughout each month of his stay at Mary Villa. Included were several pictures of his birth mother, pictures of his special caregivers, and playmates. They also included the nursery schedule with the routine that Levi has followed his entire life. Levi's birth mother also left us a letter and a letter to Levi for when he is older and the time is right. We also received a complete updated medical report to pass along to our physician. Before leaving they had a little prayer ritual ceremony praying for blessings during our journey with Levi.

Levi is wonderful! The caregivers had so many great things to say about him. They would laugh as they told us about his eating habits...anything and everything. Whatever we want to sit in front of him, he will eat. They have tried to reduce his bottle feeding to one at night since he has mainly been on solids since he was 6 months old, but they said he gets upset when he sees younger kids with their afternoon bottle so they usually give him one to. He also runs to the door as soon as it is feeding time so that he can be one of the first ones to eat. When they were talking about the multi vitamin they have been giving him, they also made the comment that he probably doesn't need a multi-vitamin because they were pretty sure he was getting in all his nutrients.

On the ride to the hotel from the orphanage he never made a sound. He sat on Wes's lap for most of the trip and his arms were stretched out to his side as if he was afraid to move. His eyes were so big and he would just look out the window at all of the vehicles that would pass us by. He finally relaxed a little and fell asleep for part of the drive. Our social worker who went with us to meet Levi was surprised that he never made a sound on the way back to the hotel as last week when he went to his visa appointment he babbled the entire time. She also said that he is very mobile and wanted to be walking around.

Tonight, we have yet to hear him make a single vocal sound. He hasn't even cried. Levi has finally relaxed and has been sitting up on the bed playing with several books that I brought. He really likes the musical greeting card that I brought along. I am not sure how long that will hold up as it is starting to looking like a crinkled mess, but he is enjoying if for now. Wes finally did get a smile from him about an hour ago. We fed him fresh Mango pieces and tiny pizza pieces for dinner and he ate every bit of it. We have taken several trips up and down the hallway of our hotel room to let him walk. He likes to walk, but only if he can hold one of our hands...very cute!

That's all I have to report for now as I really just want to go snuggle with him before we lay him down for the night. Enjoy the pictures!

Pagsanjan Falls

Today we went on another Grayline tour to the Pagsanjan Falls of Laguna. The drive to our destination was a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Metro Manila. The drive itself was very eye opening. Wes and I barely said a word to each other as we just looked out the window at the living standards that the people of this country endure every day. Today, we truly witnessed how the poorest of the Philippines live. Sadly, most of the homes were made of things that Wes and I throw away...holey plastic tarps, old towels as curtains, and scrap metal pieces as roofs. Several had old tires on top to keep the metal pieces down. We passed tons of road side stands selling anything from cocunuts to escargo and saw many rice fields and harvested rice drying on the side of the road. I think many of my pictures will speak for themselves.

The highlight of our day was getting to "Shoot the Rapids" on a native banca (canoe). Wes and I have taken many canoe trips back in Missouri, but this is an entirely different type of boating than we have ever experienced. Our boat was first attached to another banca that actually had a motor. They took us a little ways upstream and then we and our 2 boatmen went to work maneuvering our boat upstream through rocks and boudlers between steep gorges. They worked their booties off to get us all the way upstream to the falls. I was sweating profusely in the boat and I was just sitting there. Our boatmen said they only do one tour a week because it is so strenuous. Once we reached the falls we were able to swim around a little. Wes and I also were able to take a ride on a bamboo raft that has a rope connected from the rock shore to inside the cave under the falls. They pulled us right underneath it. Now I know why we had to wear those dorky hard hats the whole time. Once we passed underneath the 300 foot falls, we were able to swim around in the cave opening. The scenic view of smaller water falls and lush green tropical vegetation throughout the boat trip was beautiful.


Here we are with the other couple in our tour group. They were from Moscow...and quite an interesting pair.


About half way we stopped at a nursery to walk around and stretch out our legs for a few minutes.


The caretakers of the plants live inside the garden center along with all the plants.


We were served lunch as soon as we arrived. First up, clam soup. Just seeing the looks on the faces of the couple from Moscow was priceless. Wes was the only one who would try a piece. These were little river clams with the shells, and clams soaking in what looked like river water. Wes did get sand/dirt in his teeth on his first bite, so he too was done with it after that. On our actual lunch plate we did have rice and some sort of noodle and vegetable side that I thought was pretty good. Wes and I were the only ones who ate anything from our plates. The couple from Moscow wouldn't touch it.


You gotta love the orange life vests and the hard hats. :)


A water buffalo just hanging out in the river.


Another motored canoe had a line of boaters attached bringing them back from the lower end of the Falls.

The following pictures are sites that we saw along the river banks.




















The way our two boatmen could balance one foot in the banca and then push off rocks to maneuver us upstream through boulder rocks was very impressive. None of the guides wore any type of shoes or gloves for their hands. I can't figure out how they didn't stub their toes numerous times.










This picture is for Jaidyn. She is always jabbering about something and has earned the name Jabber Jaws Jaidyn and for short we just call her "Triple J". We had the tour guide pull over just so we could take this picture.


For dinner tonight we were craving some Mexican food so we decided to eat at Mexicali which is not far from the Intercontinental Hotel. I would give a better description of our eating experience, but my stomach hurts just thinking about the few bites that I had from my plate. Just wanted to let all of you who may be traveling soon that this is not some place for Mexican food that we would recommend.

Tomorrow is our big day! I hope I sleep tonight. I can't believe that after all this time of waiting that we will finally get to hold our son. The feeling is indescribeable. I don't care how tired I am tomorrow night, I will be sure to post a few pictures of Levi.