Consulate Appt.....DONE!

Monday April 1st, 2013
     We were up bright and early this morning for our Consulate Appt. at 8:30. Much different from 10 years ago. We are not staying at the White Swan on Shamian Island   this time and the Consulate has moved to a different building than before. We were sent upstairs with about 20 other adoptive families.  We took our "oath" and then an officer checked all of Sophia's documents for her travel visa. That process took about an hour and then we had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. We decided to take the drive to Shamian Island and see how things might have changed. We recognized the medical examination building we went to with Olivia. "Jennifer's Place" had moved. This is where we bought the chinese silk dresses for the babies. We watched some people playing Mahjong and watched LOTS of people young and not so young playing jianzi (Chinese hacky sack).  It was amazing to see how long they could keep that thing in the air. We also watched some folks doing tai chi . We had lunch at Subway and then headed back to the hotel for naptime. ;o) Tonight we ventured out again with the Garner family and found Burger King. Everyone is feeling better. Terry and I both have a head cold but the girls are doing better. Olivia ate pretty good today but she still had the fear of getting sick everytime she ate. :( We walked around the hotel thinking the pool was inside but the pool is outside. Liv thought about swimming but she DID NOT want to wear the swim cap again. LOL!
Here are a few pictures of our day....

Consulate Appointment

Thank you Sandy Hunter for my new dress!!

Crowd outside the Consulate

Sporting my RED, WHITE and BLUE!!

Van ride to our appt.

Getting sleepy....

White Swan being renovated

This is how "lil miss" sleeps. Hilarious!

Playing Jianzi (hacky sack)

on Shamian Island

Olivia made a friend...

Sleeping in the stroller

Being silly with big sister

"this is how I roll"

Beautiful arrangements in the hotel lobby

Playing in the hotel room

This girl is cra cra!

I love the animals the Easter Bunny left me

Happy Easter!

Sunday March 31, 2013
     He is risen! I sure did miss hearing this today at church. This is the first Easter Sunday I have not attended a worship service since I have been married. The first thing I thought about today was how grateful I am to be able to be in this place at this time. We have been blessed beyond measure on this wonderful day. The day Christians celebrate the risen King, our Lord. I want to say a special hello to all of our church family and hope you enjoyed a wonderful church service where we have the freedom to worship. We hope everyone will enjoy Easter with their families and friends.
     Olivia is feeling much better today. She was able to get out of bed without feeling "woozy".  We brought her some breakfast from the buffet downstairs but she only ate an apple. We were supposed to tour today but Terry stayed in with the girls and the other family and I decided we would just do a little shopping instead. Liv was able to eat a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and a slice of pizza for dinner. So far, so good. Thanks for the prayers. We have our Consulate appt. tomorrow morning at 8:30 am.
Here a few pictures from today....

   

Olivia is down with the bug...

Sat. March 30, 2013
     Well, Olivia is sick. We overslept this morning due to the wonderful blackout curtains in this awesome hotel. We have been waking up every morning in Jiangxi around 6:30 or 7. We never had to set our alarm because the sun was so bright in our hotel room.  Here, that is not the case. We only woke up this morning because housekeeping rang our doorbell.  It was 9:30 and we had an appointment for Sophia's medical exam and visa photo. We were suppose to  be in the lobby at 10:30.
Olivia was moving mighty slow and said she was feeling hot. I gave her tylenol, we didn't have time for breakfast and headed out the door. We made our appointment, went to the grocery store and came back to the hotel. She fell right to sleep, woke up 2 hours later and was feverish.  I gave her some sprite and advil. Within an hour, she was vomiting. I was so hoping the rest of us would not catch the bug, but so much for that.
      We have been in the hotel room the rest of day. It rained and stormed most of the day anyway.
Here are a few pics of our day....

Heading to Sophia's medical exam

No crying yet...

Still ok....

Not so bad...

It takes 3 nurses to weigh a baby!?!

Forget this, I'm outta here.....

all better sitting in daddy's lap

waiting....

Hey! Walmart Great Value brand ;o)

Another one down...poor sick baby girl :(

ready for bed

Taxi's, buses, vans and planes oh my!

     I hate motion sickness!! I have been dealing with it the entire trip. I have tried to sit in the front seat of all the vehicles we have been riding in. The taxi's in China are the worst. They would be awesome Nascar drivers, weaving in and  of traffic coming within inches of every car they pass.  Thank God for Meclizine. Today we had our flight to Guangzhou. It was delayed, which meant no lunch. We finally board the plane and thankfully Sophia slept the entire flight. She only woke up while we were boarding the bus to get to the terminal.  She was facing out in the carrier and proceeded to scream and try to turn her head around to make sure I was still back there. I assume she saw a sea of chinese people and wondered where her blonde white mama was.
    We checked in to our last hotel! The Garden Hotel is beautiful. So many different types of gorgeous flower arrangements. We decided on the "Tekila" mexican restaurant. NOT so good. Terry's  mexi-burger was raw in the middle and Olivia's meal was never served.  We are sure missing Guiseppes and El Caporal!!! Our friends, Adam, Stacie, Riley and Maggie head home tomorrow. Stacie came up to our room tonight to meet Sophia. Getting ready for bed as we have Sophia's medical exam and visa photo in the morning. Night, night from Guangzhou, Guangdong China. ;)
Here are a few pics of our day...

 She sleeps with a blanket in her mouth LOL!

 Waiting for our flight from Jiangxi to Guangzhou

 Hanging on my mama's leg

 My big sister loves to hug me ;)

Thank you Matt and Donna for my ladybug outfit ;)

 Lily (our adoption facilitator) in Guangzhou

 My family is crazy....

MMmmm, a see-through shower...

A Day at the Park

Thursday, March 28

     Today in Nanchang, we took a cab to the "Peoples Park". It was very lush and green.  Olivia was able to do a little pitching practice. She actually drew a little crowd. I sat with Sophia and Terry was catching her pitches. Echo, our facilitator, wanted to give it a try too. She was hilarious. We also sent out some laundry to be washed today. It was AWESOME!! I wish I had laundry service at home. Put it in a bag, the lady comes to get it and the next day, your laundry is delivered, washed dried and folded. We received most of Sophia's official documents today and the rest will hopefully be ready in the morning before our flight to Guangzhou. 

     We did find out today the little miss has a TEMPER.  She has not been to fond of getting a bath but tonight she loved it.  She splashed around, played with her toys and laughed and giggled. When I tried to lift her out of the tub and hand her to Terry  she started bucking and screaming. Took awhile for her to calm down. We finished packing for our flight tomorrow. So, we are 3 flights down and 3 to go! Can't wait to get home to a refrigerator that is COLD and ice I can actually not be afraid to drink.

Here are a few pics of our day....

us ;)

blonde lady with Chinese baby always draws attention

a little pitching practice

beautiful scenery

Echo trying her hand at pitching

lots of fish

listening to Daddy

toys in the window

luv'n the tub before the tantrum ;)

helping Daddy pack