A Great Day!

Today was another good day filled with lots of progress. The new flooring for Ava’s Room was delivered and installed, as well as the curtain rods. The Aunties uniforms were delivered as well and we unpacked the toys that all safely made it to China through the US Postal service. We have purchased lots of nice wooden toys made by Melissa & Doug through Gummy Lump. Gummy Lump was very helpful in getting these toys shipped and passed through customs without a hitch, and for that we are so grateful! Thank you Gummy Lump!!

The room is just about complete, and I am happy to report that Open Arms will be officially running live tomorrow!! We took a few of the babies into Ava’s Room and the first thing they did was look up at the butterflies. The orphanage staff loves the theme that we have selected and they really love the beauty of the butterflies that we have hanging from the ceilings. We had a few extra left over, so Ms. Yi asked if we could hang them in the nurseries since the babies seem to love them so much. Of course, I was thrilled to be able to do this for them.

I cannot say enough how excited the Aunties and the Directors are about the Open Arms program. They have been so helpful with every little detail. The staff is always coming in to the room asking if we need help, and it has been much appreciated!

I also wanted to comment on the music that is in the nurseries. Of course they always have it playing very loudly, but the babies absolutely LOVE it! They are always standing up in their cribs swaying back and forth to it. They always have lots of smiles on their faces and I think that the music does a lot for setting the mood for the nannies as well. They seem to really enjoy the music and are always singing and laughing. What a huge difference such a small item has made in the everyday life of ZJ. Thank you again to those of you who donated to this project last fall!

Well that is all I have for today, wish us well for tomorrow and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

The ZKO Team