Saturday, September 27, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
CONSULATE DAY,SHAMIAN ISLAND, AND SAFARI PARK!!!!
Yesterday was our day to appear at the U.S. Consulate to complete our visa
application for Eiley Joy so we can bring her home. We had gotten a scare a
couple of days ago when the computer system there crashed, but prayers were
answered, and everything went just as it was supposed to. This afternoon, our
CCAI guides went and picked up the passports for our kiddos. Eiley Joy now has
a passport AND a visa so she can enter the United States. The minute she steps
foot on American soil, she will be a U.S. citizen!!! I will post pictures later
of EileyJoy in her red, white, and blue that she wore to our appointment!!!
Yesterday afternoon, we spend some more time on Shamian Island. Another couple in our travel group went with us, and it was nice spending some time with new friends, who feel like old friends. I had to purchase a FEW MORE pairs of squeaky shoes, and I finished outmy list of things that I wanted to get for the girls. We enjoyed lunch at Lucy's (I just can't get enough of the ICED TEA after not being able to drink anything with ice in it for over two weeks!!!) Last night, we ate dinner at the Macaw which is a Portuguese/Cantonese restaurant. It was another great meal.
Today, we went to Safari Park with the couple we spent time with on Shamian Island yesterday. It is an interactive zoo, and it was nothing less than PHENOMENAL!!!! The girls really enjoyed it. Molly Kate and Callie Beth got to feed the giraffes. They wanted to ride an elephant, but they weren't quite tall enough. They were both disappointed, but a carousel ride lifted their spirits. They really loved getting to see the pandas. It was a VERY HOT day----around 90 degrees and very humid, but the park was worth all the sweat!!!
Today is our last day in Guangzhou. In 4 hours, we will be leaving for the airport. A few families left this afternoon to go by van to Hong Kong to fly home from there. Several more of us will be leaving shortly, and others later in the afternoon. It is a bittersweet time. We have spent over two weeks with these families, and the ties among us have grown close. We have families in our group from California, Texas, Wyoming, Ohio, Maine, Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky. We all come from different backgrounds, different careers, different family dynamics. BUT, we all share one thing in common......we traveled half way around the world to be united with our son or daughter, and the bond that adoption forms among families just can't be explained. Not only are Roger and I blessed to have another daughter.....we are also blessed to have formed new friendships, some of which will last a lifetime.
We are amazed at how much Eiley Joy has changed in the eleven days she has been with us. She is SOMETHING ELSE!!!! The blank stare is gone, and her little eyes are bright, MOST of the time for her mischievousness!!! This afternoon we made group pictures, and we sat all of our little ones on a couch to make pictures. She was the only one who kept trying to turn a flip off the couch!!! You can see in the picture how tiny she is for her age. The little boy sitting to her right is 15 months old, and the little girl on her left is 19 months old. At 28 months, she was next to the oldest child in our adoption group. We just love her SO much!!!!
We will be flying to Shanghai today to spend a couple of nights and days. We are excited that we will get to visit the Shanghai Healing Home on Saturday. That is where Eiley Joy spent all of her time except for her first month of life. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to visit there. We didn't get to go toher finding place because it was too far away, but this will mean just as much to us.
Please pray for our safe travels......and that all THREE girls will sleep a lot on the plane!!!! It is only about a 2 1/2 hours flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai. We will fly out Sunday afternoon and head for HOME!!!!
Vicki :)
Yesterday afternoon, we spend some more time on Shamian Island. Another couple in our travel group went with us, and it was nice spending some time with new friends, who feel like old friends. I had to purchase a FEW MORE pairs of squeaky shoes, and I finished outmy list of things that I wanted to get for the girls. We enjoyed lunch at Lucy's (I just can't get enough of the ICED TEA after not being able to drink anything with ice in it for over two weeks!!!) Last night, we ate dinner at the Macaw which is a Portuguese/Cantonese restaurant. It was another great meal.
Today, we went to Safari Park with the couple we spent time with on Shamian Island yesterday. It is an interactive zoo, and it was nothing less than PHENOMENAL!!!! The girls really enjoyed it. Molly Kate and Callie Beth got to feed the giraffes. They wanted to ride an elephant, but they weren't quite tall enough. They were both disappointed, but a carousel ride lifted their spirits. They really loved getting to see the pandas. It was a VERY HOT day----around 90 degrees and very humid, but the park was worth all the sweat!!!
Today is our last day in Guangzhou. In 4 hours, we will be leaving for the airport. A few families left this afternoon to go by van to Hong Kong to fly home from there. Several more of us will be leaving shortly, and others later in the afternoon. It is a bittersweet time. We have spent over two weeks with these families, and the ties among us have grown close. We have families in our group from California, Texas, Wyoming, Ohio, Maine, Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky. We all come from different backgrounds, different careers, different family dynamics. BUT, we all share one thing in common......we traveled half way around the world to be united with our son or daughter, and the bond that adoption forms among families just can't be explained. Not only are Roger and I blessed to have another daughter.....we are also blessed to have formed new friendships, some of which will last a lifetime.
We are amazed at how much Eiley Joy has changed in the eleven days she has been with us. She is SOMETHING ELSE!!!! The blank stare is gone, and her little eyes are bright, MOST of the time for her mischievousness!!! This afternoon we made group pictures, and we sat all of our little ones on a couch to make pictures. She was the only one who kept trying to turn a flip off the couch!!! You can see in the picture how tiny she is for her age. The little boy sitting to her right is 15 months old, and the little girl on her left is 19 months old. At 28 months, she was next to the oldest child in our adoption group. We just love her SO much!!!!
We will be flying to Shanghai today to spend a couple of nights and days. We are excited that we will get to visit the Shanghai Healing Home on Saturday. That is where Eiley Joy spent all of her time except for her first month of life. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to visit there. We didn't get to go toher finding place because it was too far away, but this will mean just as much to us.
Please pray for our safe travels......and that all THREE girls will sleep a lot on the plane!!!! It is only about a 2 1/2 hours flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai. We will fly out Sunday afternoon and head for HOME!!!!
Vicki :)
SHAMIAN ISLAND
It's funny---when we made Molly Kate's and Callie Beth's pictures with
these statues right after we adopted them, they both cried.......but look at
THIS little toot. I think she's poking the little boy's eyes out. WOE IS
ME........ :) AND, by the way, I DO put bows in her hair......they just don't
always stay in a LONG time!!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
PEARL RIVER CRUISE
Last night was the Pearl River Cruise. We have been
on the cruise twice before, but it is such a BEAUTIFUL and relaxing time, that
we didn't want to miss it. In the past, we have eaten dinner on the cruise, and
let me tell you, the food was quite gross!!! This year, all of the families in
our travel groups opted to order Papa John's pizza instead!!!! Molly Kate and
Callie Beth really enjoyed the cruise. They loved it when we went out on the
upper deck, and the wind was whipping through their hair. Everything is SO
beautiful. Many of the buildings are lit, and there are boats passing by with
bright lights. I don't remember the name of the tower, but it is the 3rd
tallest building in the world. The lights on it are just unbelievable!!!! Eiley
Joy enjoyed the cruise, too. I am including a couple of pictures where she is
smiling really big. The REASON she is smiling like that is because one of our
adoption friends, Sarah Lynn is holding her, and she has a hold of Sarah Lynn's
hair. The harder Sarah Lynn tries to get her to let go of her hair, the harder
Eiley Joy laughs!!! She is a STINKER!!!! I am also including a picture with the
four little ones from Shanghai Healing Home. The little girl on the right in
the man's lap isn't from SHH, but she is an adopted sister of the one on the
left who IS from SHH. (By the way, those two girls are children number 10 and
11 for this gentleman and his wife---the 6th and 7th adopted from China. His
wife couldn't come because she is 7 months pregnant!!!)
Eiley Joy was able to get down and move around some on the boat. She is like a streak of lightning, though, and is hard to catch. She doesn't walk---she RUNS!!!! She LOVED the balloon animals, but she kept trying to chew on them and I was just sure she was going to pop them!!! We had three tired little girls by the end of the cruise, but a good time was had by all!!!!
Vicki :)
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Eiley Joy was able to get down and move around some on the boat. She is like a streak of lightning, though, and is hard to catch. She doesn't walk---she RUNS!!!! She LOVED the balloon animals, but she kept trying to chew on them and I was just sure she was going to pop them!!! We had three tired little girls by the end of the cruise, but a good time was had by all!!!!
Vicki :)
PHYSICAL DAY
I'm a little behind in writing, so I'm going to
try to catch up. Yesterday was our day for everyone in our group to take
their babies for their physical examinations. Also, any children over two had
to have blood drawn for a TB test. Apparently, Eiley Joy sensed what was
coming, because she chose to show her true colors once we arrived at the
medical center, and have a total meltdown. Actually, she wanted to get down
and run around, which wasn't necessarily a problem---it was just hard to
catch her when she took off. Surprisingly, she liked the doctor, and fully
cooperated with all of her exam. She is a whopping 22 lbs and 77 cm tall. I
didn't figure out how tall that actually is, but I know her height for her
age isn't even on the growth chart. She also has a little head (with plenty
of smarts inside!!!)
We had a little scare as we were going into the medical center. It is located next door the the U.S. Consulate. A man we had met earlier this week came up to us and informed us that the computer system at the consulate had crashed again. This happened about a month ago, and resulted in MANY families having to stay an extra 5 to 7 days in China, waiting for their child's visa. Needless to say, we didn't want that to happen. Our guide said that the news was NOT good, but hopefully when it was time for us to go, which is tomorrow (Wednesday) it would be fixed. We just prayed about it, and decided what was to be, was to be. We heard later in the afternoon that everything was back and working. After we got back from the physicals, we decided to take the girls to a nearby park. It was a beautiful place, and we enjoyed the walk. The girls were disappointed that there weren't swings there. Actually, there don't seem to be swings in ANY parks in China. They still enjoyed the time out and about. Vicki |
Sunday, September 21, 2014
WE ARE IN GUANGZHOU!!!!
We arrived in Guangzhou on Saturday evening
around 5:00. It was a little bitter sweet leaving Zhengzhou, ALTHOUGH I
was SO ready to be back to civilization!!!! (By the way, civilization
in China, to me, is an above the ground commode
WITH toilet paper in the stall!!! That was something I hadn't seen since
we left the good ole USA, except for on the plane.) Our guides in
Zhengzhou, Vivian and Rita, were simply awesome, and a close bond was
formed because they were the ones who were with
us on Gotcha Day, and who helped get all the necessary paperwork done to
make the rest of the paper chase go smoothly. Actually, Rita was our
guide, too, when we adopted Callie Beth, so she already had a special
place in our hearts.
Probably the worst part of our trip has been at the airport. We have five large suitcases with us----throw in two strollers, one of them being a double one, and three little girls, we have a LOAD!!! THEN, add to that, a little 28 month old spitfire who can throw one heck of a tantrum-----it CAN BE TOUGH!!! Eiley Joy did just that at the airport in Zhengzhou. She was hot, she was hungry (we couldn't take bottles on the plane), she is still recovering from her cold, and she DID NOT want to be in her stroller. In everything bad there is something good, though, and the good that came from the extensive screaming and crying and flailing, and basically giving me a run for my money at the airport, was that she slept the entire flight!!!
When we arrived in Guangzhou, our guides, Raymond and Jocelyn were there to meet us. We got on a NICE bus with AIR CONDITIONING that worked (not always the story about our buses in Zhengzhou) and headed for the hotel, the China Hotel. Once we arrived here and checked in, we were starving. There just happens to be a McDonalds (Ocdonalds, as the girls call it) right by the hotel, so that's what we had for supper, and I might add, it was pretty tasty!!! Our room at this hotel isn't quite as nice as our last room, but it is a little more practical with some storage places for our suitcases, QUEEN SIZED double beds, rather that 3/4 sized ones as we had in Zhengzhou, and room for Eiley Joy to move!!! We had VERY good night's sleep. Each day, Eiley Joy has slept a little later. She is a good sleeper, and sleeps anywhere from 10 to 12 hours when I put her to bed. She isn't a problem to get to sleep. I LOVE our cuddle time each night before she goes to bed.
Today, we had morning tours of the Banyan Temple, Chen House, and the Arts and Crafts market. Eiley Joy did really well UNTIL we got to the last stop, and then she started in her restlessness in her stroller----and when that happens, she can flip the whole thing over. Well, she had a pretty good reason to be mad because she had had a blowout diaper!!! I ended up having to totally strip her down, and when we came back to the hotel, all she had on was a diaper!!! It's funny----when I get her ready each day, I dress her, put her shoes on, and of course I put bows in her hair. Well, usually before long, we have shed at least one of the bows, sometimes both of them, and at least one shoe. She usually pulls her pigtails out , too. Today, she just managed to shed EVERYTHING!!!!
Once we got back from our tour, we took the girls to the playground here at the hotel and let them play for awhile. There is also a little indoor playroom, so we spent some time in there, too. Roger had to go do some paperwork this afternoon, so the girls and I just chilled in the room. I though Eiley Joy would go to sleep, but she didn't. I decided she need another bath after her morning blowout. This time, I just sat her in the bathroom sink. Let me tell you, that girls LOVES water!!!! She is a WILD WOMAN when I put her in the tub. She wants to stand, sit, roll, lie down.....and today in the sink, was no different. I tried to bathe her quickly, and when I got her out, she tried to climb back up the cabinet. I can't wait to see her in a swimming pool---she may be our little fish!!!
Tonight, we took a taxi and went to eat at a Mexican restaurant!!! It was definitely a nice change from Chinese!!!! Eiley Joy does NOT like a highchair, so usually I just hold her and feed her when we eat. She was asleep tonight before our food ever arrived, and she slept through the whole meal. She woke up as we were leaving, and was awake during the taxi ride back, but she was ready to go to bed once we got here.
Tomorrow morning we will be going to get her physical. Please pray that everything goes well, and that her congestion will not be a problem. She is feeling much better, and sounds a lot better. She will have to have a TB skin test. Pray that it will go okay, too. We will have a little bit of free time tomorrow afternoon, and then we will be going on the Pearl River cruise tomorrow night. It was one of my favorite things to do here in Guangzhou. Luckily, we are going to order Papa John's Pizza instead of eating the buffet on the cruise---that buffet is one of my LEAST FAVORITE THINGS!!!
I am attaching some pictures taken the last couple of days.The first pictures are of our guides. Vivian is in the first picture and Rita is in the second picture. The rest are of our girls!
Vicki
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