More photos!

One happy baby!!!
One happy family!!!
One sleepy baby!!!
Nap time. HG is a great sleeper.

She slept through the entire night last night.

She is also very good at taking her nap.

The Dreaded Medical Exam!!!

Here we are for the medical exam. Not much of an exam. Just procedures!! Checking out her ears. They should have check Steph's and mine for all the screaming HG hs done!!! LOL!
She wasn't too crazy about this part. Bless her little heart!
I could have told them that her mouth was okay.

This baby takes after her daddy...she loves to talk!!
HG did great today with her medical exam. Only one fit, as you could see. The rest went very smooth. I thank Thomas for getting us there early this morning. We were the first ones there. It only took about 15 minutes. Some people have taken hours to get through. The doctor said that HG was a beautiful little girl. Imagine that! I agree!!!!!!!!!!

New Clothes!!!

Just like all babies. She goes for the bag!!!

I went shopping for her after dinner. When I walked in the room with a new dress and shoes, she went nuts!! She just smiled and screamed! She is definitely all girl. Buy her some new clothes and she will be happy!!!

She new this was supposed to do something. She just couldn't quite figure it out.

This is how happy a new outfit made her!

I had to throw this picture in. Just too cute. I also bought her a pair of squeaky shoes. She loved them. She would sit down and just stomp her feet to make them squeak and giggle. After Steph took them off, she got down and found them and put them back on by herself. She was determined to keep them on. I am glad that she likes them!!

Beautiful Hair Day!!!!

All smiles!!!

HG's hair after playing. She likes messing up her hair!

This is something we did that our friend Lisa did with her daughter, Ana Claire. We thought it was so cute that we sould give it a try.

She really liked it! Can't you tell??

It turned out to be pretty cute!!!

Hannah Grace Ragland

This is us. One new, happy family!!!!

We love kissing on our little girl. She seems to like it too!

HG picked a flower in the hotel. I don't think she was supposed to, but it didn't really seem to matter to her. LOL!

We bought HG a new stroller. I can't believe how cheap they are. This one is pretty nice and it was only $18. We weren't quite sure how she would do in it. She seems to like it a lot. Thank goodness. Steph really needed a break. She still will not let me carry her around. Poor Steph!

Daddy's Prayer For This Little Hand

Dear Lord,

I pray for this little hand. It looks very small and it doesn't seem like much, but to me and you it is very large. For this is the little hand of my little girl. This is the little hand that will reach out for me she she is crying. I pray that I will always be there to comfort her when she is upset. This is the little hand that will get scratched up when she falls. I pray that I will be there to pick her up when she falls and to kiss this little hand and make it feel better. This is the little hand that will reach out for money when she wants to get something. I pray that I will always be able to provide her with all of her needs. This is the little hand that will wave goodbye to me when I go to work, when she goes to college and when she heads off on her honeymoon with her new husband to begin her own family. I pray that everytime she waves goodbye, that she will know that it is only temporary and that I am just a phone call away. This is the little hand that will one day be the hand of a mother of a child. I pray that I will be a parent that she can use as a model someday when she is a parent. This is the little hand that will reach around my neck and hold on tight when she is scared. I pray that I will be a father who can always give her the comfort that she needs whenever she is scared. This is the little hand that will be into things that it shouldn't be in. I pray that I will always discipline her and teach her what is right and what is wrong. This is the little hand that reached out to me from halfway around the world. I pray that my hand will always reach out to her and care for her and be the loving father that I should be. This is the little hand that will reach up to hold her daddy's hand to feel safe. It is my biggest prayer that I will teach her that she has a Father much greater than me and He will always be there to hold her little hand no matter what! Lord, bless this little hand and help me be a big hand that will always guide it in the right direction. AMEN

First day in Guangzhou

Here we are in Guangzhou at Lucy's Diner. It was about time for some American food. It is very nice here. A totally different world than Guiyang. There are so many people here that are adopting. You feel much more comfortable. A lot of the Chinese people speak English. We are on what they call Shamian Island. It is really neat. Although it was tough leaving Guiyang, it is very nice being here. HG has had an awesome day. She is a bit cranky, but she didn't have a nap all day. What a trooper!! No matter how ill she is, she still will smile. She is so amazing!!!!

HG eating cheesecake. She really liked it!!!

This is how much she loved the cheesecake. She picked up the whole thing. I just happened to have my camera in my hand. Now that is a Kodak moment!!!

Heading to Guangzhou

HG on her first plane ride. We were leaving Guiyang and headed to Guangzhou. She was awesome! She didn't cry at all. The flight was about 1hr 15 min and she played and looked at books the entire time. Whe is really coming out of her shell!


She really liked the safe in the room. After she saw me setting it, she had to give it a shot. She was really into it. She kept xpecting the door to come open. It was funny!!

Miss Photogenic!

HG is so photogenic! Everytime I get out the camera, she brings on the smiles. She really lkies having her picture taken and she loves looking at herself in pictures. I think we have a stinker on our hands!!

This is worth a million dollars!!!

Good Night, Sleep Tight!!!

HG fell asleep last night for the first time without crying or being in her mommy's arms. And then, to top it all off, she slept through the entire night without waking up once! Hallelujah!! She is a really good sleep buddy. She does not move at all during the night. This is our last post from Guiyang. It has been a blast!!!! We will see you in Guangzhou!

Photos of Miss Personality

HG and her mommy outside the hotel before a walk. This little girl loves to go,go,go and she loves her mommy. She is going to be a perfect fit at the Ragland residence. Tonight, while we were packing, she wanted to put her coat on because she wanted to go somewhere!

Is it too early for her to be rotten???

One of the best smiles a daddy could ever see!!!

How could you resist this??? I am in BIG trouble!!!

The Chinese Treasure...In Person!!!

HG and her daddy...for the second time!!



HG eating her chocolate right before bedtime. Didn't phase her. She was still out within 30 minutes and is still asleep.

HG on a stroll tonight. She loves going out. She also loves looking at the moon in the sky!

Last Full Day in Guiyang

Today is our final full day in Guiyang. We received HG's passport today. As I walked down the streets tonight, I thought a lot about this town. It is very, very poor. I am just amazed at what people will do here to make money to survive...clean shoes, bake sweet potatoes in a barrel on the side of the streets, carry baskets on their backs to carry goods for people, pull carts by hand loaded with furniture and many other things that most of us would never consider doing for such little money. Very eye-opening. I see these little children that are dirty out on the sidewalks selling papers, balloons, or just junk. I can't help but wonder "Where would Hannah Grace end up if we were not adopting her." I think that she would be a lot better off than a lot of these children because she was in such a wonderful foster home. I am ready to move on to the next step of bringing our baby home, but I will miss this place. It will always be very dear to my heart because of what I have seen and mostly because it is where my daughter is from. I will never forget how many people were staring at me when we first got here and how many more smile now. Or how uncomfortable I was when I arrived and how comfortable I am now. HG is doing much better. She had a very playful night. We were trying to pack. She was unpacking as we were packing. She is into everything. It is hard to believe that we have only had her for five days. Things have really changed in such a short period. A normal week of work for you has been an eternity here. Tonight, I thought about how things have been the past few days. It sometimes seems to be very frustrating when she wouldn't stop crying or won't let you hold her. What seems very difficult to us must be much more difficult to her. Her world has just been totally rocked. She has been taken from someone she loved so much and given to someone else who loves her very much. But at first, she doesn't know that. Everything has suddenly changed for her. The walls she looks at, the sounds she hears, the language she doesn't understand, the people she is looking at, her daily routine, her bed, her eating habits, the one who feeds her, and I could go on and on and on. But through all this, she has been one tough little cookie. Through all of the trauma and mourning that she has been through, she still has it in her to smile many, many times throughout each day. So, what do we have to complain about? Nothing. All we have to do is give God the praise for this wonderful Chinese Treasure that HE has given us. Praise the Lord!!!!!!

GREG

More Photos!!!

Hannah Grace in her new outfit. Only 7 US dollars. I cannot believe how inexpensive things are here. With the way we like to shop, maybe we need to move here! LOL! (not really!)

Phamily photo...Here we are at the park. This is in front of a huge wall outside the temple!


Cutie Pie!! HG loves pulling her hood over her eyes so I cannot see her and then she pulls it up and giggles like crazy. Her laugh will melt your heart!!! Mine has already melted 20 times over!!!

I dedicate this picture to my little Ana Claire. She is my monkey and I thought of her while we were at the park. She is a friend of ours from Alabaster who was also adopted from China. Her parents, Tom and Lisa, have been very dear to us throughout this incredible journey!!! Thanks Tom and Lisa (and AC, Clay and Josh)!!!

YUMMY! As I said, this baby loves to eat!! She really loves noodles and she enjoys feeding herself. Little miss independant.

Monkeys everywhere!!! It was unbelievable how many there were...And they truly were everywhere! They would come up to you and just sit at your feet. Amazing!!! Notice the lady with the bag. She is the one that I said was brave or stupid. It could have been one of these who was responsible for the pooh on my shoe! LOL!

Here is the BIG dude...Buddha! If I don't stop eating so much, this is what I am going to look like. I think that I need to start a diet!!