Saturday, May 14, 2011

Good morning America! We are coming to you exhausted from a busy day
in beautiful Guangzhou, China!
Today was a full day!!! We met our guide and the other families at 9:00am after cramming down a quick breakfast. This hotel is BUSY it takes a while here to get a table for breakfast and navigate your way around the giant breakfast buffet! Lesson learned, get up and out the door earlier. I do believe this is my life long motto! We were happy though, we found french toast which was delicious Emma stuck with her scrambled eggs! We were off to get our children's visa photo taken. It didn't take too long and I'm glad we got there early, as we were leaving a line up of adoptive families was out the door and down the< sidewalk!

Let me back up for a minute! This morning while we were getting ready Miss Emma ventured into our bathroom (with Marble floors) and slipped on some water drops and smacked the side of her head into the toilet. She cried so hard and it instantly turned purple around her eye. I was a wreck, crying too, feeling guilty for letting that happen and knowing we were off to have her medical exam in just a few short hours! AHHHH!!! When we saw our friends Dan and Wendy they reassured us that it would be alright and at least she wasn't bleeding or worse yet needed stitches. Yes, they were right. I needed that reminder, things could have turned out much worse! It's just a hard pill to swallow, being reminded that today isn't the day you're going to win "mom of the year" award!
After the Visa photos were taken, we met back up to walk to the dreaded medical exam. I think this is most adoptive families worst nightmare......a HOT, VERY crowded, NOT so sanitary place we are required to take our children before we can bring them home. Our appointments were at 10:00 am with about 30 other adoptive families there as well. We were to take our child's medical records and stop at 4 different stations to see different doctors and get height, weight and temperature. Things at the clinic are very chaotic with lots of scared, crying children. It is a stressful time for everyone and of course we were worried that they would be concerned about her recent eye injury, but not a word was said and Emma Claire passed everything with flying colors!!! THANK YOU LORD!!!! She was VERY brave and let all the doctors do their jobs, really without any fussing. Of course, this experienced mama came prepared with lots of snacks and juice, and that seemed to keep her occupied while being examined. She also had to receive a TB test (poke in the arm) and that will be read in 2 days to check for a reaction. Please pray with us that she will have no reaction and she is in the all clear so we can come home.
We then got some lunch at the famous Lucy's restaurant and walked around for a bit. It is so enjoyable being here on the island. The pace of life is much slower here and there aren't near the number of people here. The architecture is beautiful and reminds of a European city. People here are very friendly and it has been a blessing being with our group and also meeting other adoptive families and hearing their stories. We talked with one family, and the father said it is so nice being here because you are able to decompress all that has happened in the past week. We couldn't agree more!!! Thank you Lord for knowing our needs and providing for them!
We had a 2:00 meeting with our guide, Shiyan, to go over final paperwork and get everything in order for our U.S. Consulate appointments. We had all the necessary documents and can now rest easy knowing everything is in order. We came back to the room to nap. Emma napped and I laid next to her listening to someone playing a drum set!!! WHAT?!?!?!? SERIOUSLY?!?!?! A drum set in a hotel?!?!?!?!? It was SO annoying!!! The only thing we can figure is an adoptive family thought it would be a really great idea to bring it along for their older child they adopted, and didn't think about ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE staying in the hotel!!!!! After a while it just beacame downright funny and we were laughing so hard we were trying not to wake up Emma. When I say drum set, I mean the kind that is in a pad thing that can be rolled up. I'm sure it travels well, but COME ON PEOPLE!!! LOL! I'm sure there are many more drum concerts to be had......if so, party in the Kaiser room at nap time!!!! :)

After our "naps" we met at Lucy's with our entire group for a 5:00 reservation. I believe there are 27 of us all together. Six are newly adopted children, and the others are families and their children they brought with them. I have to admit, it makes us sad to see their kids here having a great time. We are missing our kids so much! We talked with them on the phone tonight and it was hard. There were a few times I had to hand the phone back over to Jay, no words were coming out, just tears. Please pray for strength for us the next few days. This last week is going to be hard, but we are determined to enjoy it. Tomorrow we are looking forward to visiting a Folk art Museum with our group.

Many Blessing to you all! You are all loved and missed! Thanks again for all your posts! We LOVE reading them, it makes us feel so connected to home!

Avarie, Evan and Ella Fern...........WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!!!!!!! We are going to look for a fun souvenier for you tomorrow!!!! Be good for Grandma and Grandpa this week! Only 1 more week and you will be meeting us at the airport to meet your new Mei Mei, Emma Claire!!!! She can't wait to meet you! She looks at your pictures all the time and she even tries to say your names! Daddy is trying to teach Emma to say "Go Blue"! It is really funny! Lots of hugs and kisses being sent to you from China!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo Dad and Mom