Home Sweet Home!

We made it home late Saturday night. Once we made it to Hong Kong, we did not have any delays or difficulties. The airport in Guangzhou was a different story though. The flight from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was only about 45 minutes, but going through all of the security checkpoints and immigration was really exhausting. Then after our flight was delayed, we did not make it to the Hong Kong hotel until 1:00 a.m. for us to get a few hours of sleep and then head back to the airport for our early morning flight. Anna Grace did great throughout all of the flights. None of us slept very much on the plane, but she was very good considering the number of hours we traveled. The best sight of all was when we found our family waiting for us after security in Atlanta. It was so great to finally be able to give Cole & Alex a hug! Mike's dad had a van with a driver ready to take us all home. It was Anna Grace's first time riding in a car seat, so she fussed a lot on the way home. When we got home several of our neighbors came over to meet Anna Grace. Our mailbox had a pink ribbon and the boys and Elizabeth had made signs to welcome us home. Anna Grace was excited to see all of her toys and explore her room before we finally put her to bed.
Adjusting to the time zone has been hard (I am typing this at 4:00 a.m.), and Mike is sick. We think he has a sinus infection that has gone to his chest. He spent most of yesterday in bed. I really hope he is feeling better when he wakes up this morning. Anna Grace has been pretty sleepy, but I am trying to keep her on a schedule. We are having a hard time because she does not like her crib, and I don't want to put her in our bed while Mike is sick. She and I slept in her twin bed in her room for most of the night, but she moves around a lot in her sleep and wakes me up a lot. My mom stayed most of the day yesterday to help out with some of the cooking. If Mike is still sick when he wakes up this morning, it is going to be a hard day keeping everyone happy while my head is feeling foggy from jet-lag and lack of sleep. Mike has to go back to work tomorrow, so he really needs to get well.

Cole and Alex have been great with Anna Grace. Cole has not been quite as hands-on as Alex, but he is enjoying watching her. He is happy she is not a tiny baby and can play with toys and talk. Alex has really enjoyed playing with Anna Grace. I think he is happy to finally be a big brother. They helped my mom plan a little birthday party with a ladybug cake and presents. They kept it simple so that Anna Grace did not get overwhelmed. Alex spent part of his birthday money buying Anna Grace some blocks and a boat for the bathtub.

I promise to post pictures as soon as I finish going through all of the luggage that is strewn through the dining room. I have to find the cord for the camera. I will also post an update after Anna Grace's cardiology appointment tomorrow morning. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us to have safe travels home.

Last Post From Guangzhou

We are finally getting ready to leave tomorrow evening! We have really enjoyed our time here in Guangzhou, but we are more than ready to get home to see our boys. The last 2 days have been fairly slow paced but productive. Yesterday, Anna Grace finally decided that the pool was not going to hurt her, and she cautiously played in the water for about an hour. When we came back to the room she actually got into the bathtub without screaming. She was eager to take a bath again this evening. That is a lot of progress from the screaming baby that we had a few days ago!

We had our consulate appointment today. We had to take a bus to the consulate office about 40 minutes away. The room was filled with 40 kids and families all getting ready to travel to the United States. It was really noisy and we had to listen closely to hear them call Anna Grace's Chinese name over a speaker to finalize our paperwork. Then all the families had to take an oath. Once Anna Grace lands on U.S. soil, she will officially become a U.S. citizen.

I am teary eyed as I type this message tonight. This has been such a long road for us, and we are finally ready to go home with our little girl. We have waited so long for this precious child. I already can not imagine life without her. God has chosen such a perfect child for our family. She is so loving, sweet, outgoing, and sassy all at the same time. She does have some minor delays that we will work on, but she is so smart and quick to learn. Tonight as I was tucking her into bed, I was singing "Jesus Loves Me," and she was doing the motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while I sang! Then she started a round of "Jesus Loves Me" in her own little baby babble. Sometimes she will spend an hour or more babbling what we think is a mixture of Chinese and baby babble. She is going to fit right in with Alex's love to talk! We feel so blessed to have Anna Grace a part of our family.

Since I don't know if I will get to post again once we make it to Hong Kong, I want to be sure to thank all of the people who have supported us. My mom has been amazing in her willingness to sacrific her vacation time to take care of Cole & Alex. Kevin & Elizabeth have also been so giving in their time babysitting (and getting teeth repaired!). Ronnie & Dena are keeping the boys for us tonight and have been so great about the time that Mike has taken off of work. We are also so thankful for everyone that has helped out behind the scenes and for those who have prayed for us. We hope that everyone will continue to pray for us as we travel home and then try to adjust to the time zone and life with another child in the house. I will try to post in the next few days and add some more pictures.

2010-05-26

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Monday & Tuesday in Guangzhou

We have not had any appointments or planned trips during the last two days, so we have just been hanging out with friends and spending time walking on the streets. We are staying on a small island surrounded by the Pearl River. The entire island is under construction right now, but the gardens are still kept up and the buildings here have a European look to them. Yesterday we ventured off the island with another family to find the market where they sell all sorts of things used for medicine. After we crossed over the bridge, the streets were lined with small shops selling huge mounds of dried mushrooms and roots, piles of starfish, stacks of dried lizards and snakes, and tons of things that we could not identify. There were several roads and a huge building all selling the same types of dried creatures and plants.

Today as we were passing the park, we noticed that at least a hundred people young and old had gathered together to play a game that is kind of like hackysack. They were gathered together in small groups kicking back and forth these weights with feathers attached. As we were watching, a man came up and kicked one to Mike. Soon there were several other people gathered around and Mike was playing the game! He said that it was a very good workout, and the people playing all seemed to be in very good shape.

Anna Grace made some progress today at the pool. She has been screaming every time we get near the water, but today I brought mini M & M's. She finally let me get close to the pool while she whimpered and ate her chocolate. Finally, after a while she stopped whimpering and let me get close enough to put her feet in (for some more M & M's of course). Before we left the pool, she was happily splashing her feet in the water. Maybe we will be able to get into the pool soon.

We have been enjoying eating at Lucy's each evening with our travel group. The restaurant serves a mix of American and Chinese food, they play American music, and you can eat outside in an area connected with the park. Tonight Anna Grace had a great time eating noodles with one of the older children in our group. She is 8 years old, and she really adores Anna Grace. Anna Grace was so cute copying her as she slurped up her noodles. The rest of our travel group was laughing tonight about how much Anna Grace's personality is coming out. We have decided that it is a good thing that she does not speak English, because she would be in big trouble if we knew what she was saying. The way she points her finger at you and narrows her eyes as she babbles lets you know that she means business! We really are working on manners and we have already had quite a few time-outs from her little attitude. Our travel group says that we better hold on because she is going to give us a run for our money!!

We just have 3 more days left before we can come home. We are really looking forward to hugs from our boys, sweet tea with ice, and a soft bed!

2010-05-23

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Saturday & Sunday in Guangzhou

We finally had a day of good weather today in Guangzhou. We went to the pool (although Anna Grace screams if she gets too close to the water) and had supper in the park with some of the families in our travel group. Anna Grace also enjoyed her first Happy Meal today from McDonalds. She acted as if she had been eating chicken nuggets and French fries her whole life and refused to eat the corn that came with her meal!

Yesterday was filled with paperwork, a trip back to the medical exam office, and a traditional Chinese supper with our entire travel group. Anna Grace had to go back to the medical exam office to have her tuberculosis test read, and thankfully it came back negative. Then, our guide took us to a yummy Chinese restaurant and ordered traditional food for us. He promised to keep the food "tame" and he did. Although, the entrance to the restaurant had big tubs and pools where you could select what you wanted to bring into the restaurant (still living) and have killed and cooked right in front of you. You could chose from a variety of fish, turtles & silk worms! Thank goodness our guide knows American tastes and did not order any of those things for us!

We will be here until Friday evening (Friday morning your time) and then we will fly to Hong Kong. We will leave early in the morning on Saturday to come back home. Until then, we will just hang out here in Guangzhou and hope that the weather is nice enough to go out for a while each day. We have our consulate appointment this week and we have to wait for Anna Grace's visa to be able to come home. Anna Grace has been enjoying the playroom here in the hotel and she also enjoys walking around looking at the fish in all of the ponds and birds in the hotel lobby areas.

Guangzhou Day 3

We took a tour of the city yesterday that included a Buddhist temple, an art museum, and a little shopping. The Buddhist temple was extremely busy and crowded. Our guide said that it was not normally so busy, but people were coming to celebrate a Buddha's birthday. People were bringing gifts of money, apples and drinks. There was one area that had a bunch of live animals for the Buddha- including fish, eels, turtles, snakes, and even baby chickens. We were told that these animals would be blessed and then released into the Pearl River and surrounding areas. While we were there one of the eels decided that it was ready to be released, and it flung itself out of the bucket and started slithering all over the ground! And of course, everyone there was staring, pointing, and trying to crowd around all of Americans with Chinese babies! The temple was quite an experience!!

The store that our guide took us to had a lot of beautiful artwork, jade, porcelain, and silk. We did not buy much since the prices seemed really high, but we did buy some paintings for our bathroom. There was a man doing what he called "finger painting" with black ink on white paper. He was creating very intricate, detailed pictures with his fingers, knuckles, and palms of his hands. We bought 3 of his paintings for about $45.

Anna Grace continues to bond more and more with Mike and me. One of the shop keepers tried to hold her yesterday, and Anna Grace looked at her and said, "Boo Ya" (sp??) with a very serious look on her face and her eyebrows furrowed together. That means "don't want to." The shop keeper said, "Did you know she speaks Chinese?" I thought that was so funny because of course she speaks Chinese! Anna Grace had a full conversation with the lady, and I have no idea what she said. The shop keeper said that Anna Grace is very smart, but maybe she was just trying to get us to buy more from her. At any rate, I was very pleased that Anna Grace did not want to be held by this stranger, and she wanted to stay in my arms. While we were there, Anna Grace picked out yet another pair of shoes. She now has 5 pairs of new shoes! Most of them are squeeky shoes, so wherever she walks she goes "squeek, squeek, squeek!"

Today I have to complete a bunch of paperwork in our guide's room, and then tonight we are supposed to eat at traditional Chinese restaurant with our group. It is supposed to rain- again. The climate here is very tropical and this is the rainy season. Our hotel room is on the 17th floor (out of 49 floors!) and all we can see is fog this morning. Hopefully it will dry out enough for us to talk another walk in the park this afternoon.