What's really happening?

Some random thoughts about "the real deal" going on with our family right now:

This morning, while cuddling with Sophie and Katie in our bed (keep in mind, I'm not awake until halfway through my shower), Sophie starts saying "Josh-e Ni Ni". We're trying to tell her Josh is at school, not in bed.. is she upset with us that we can't understand her....now she looks sad.....then we realize she's saying "Nai Nai" which is what she calls her foster grandma....and then realize that she's saying "Jiangxi" (her province, which does sound kinda like Josh-e)...."Jiangxi Nai Nai"....she is missing her granny. :( The mama she's lived with for almost 7 years. Oh, baby. This is the FIRST we've seen of her being sad and missing her. Though it broke my heart for her I am really glad to see her missing her Nai Nai. I'm glad that she has loving feelings for her. We met Nai Nai 19 days ago and I got the feeling that they did really care for each other, even though Sophie waved goodbye without a tear then. My girl is SO BRAVE. Nineteen days ago seems like months right now to me....wonder how it feels to her. We just hugged her and within less than a minute she was saying "eat-a".

So our big doctor visit was today. Saw the pediatrician, had to take off all her clothes (she's so embarrassed!). We went to the bathroom for a urine sample and it turned into a huge giggle-fest! I'm getting pretty good at charades! I was showing her what we were going to do and she looked at me like:
WE'RE GONNA DO WHAT? She broke out into hysterical laughter! She laughed all the way through the whole thing! She could hardly pee, she was laughing so hard! By the time we were on to washing our hands, the laughter was finally diminished....But then when I put it in the little door she had to open it and check it out. She started laughing again. Then I showed her how there was another door on the outside of the bathroom, more laughing! What must she think!

She didn't like the flu shot she got. I was able to explain that the x-ray was like a camera, and showed her to stay still! She did great with that. She really protested about the bloodwork. Can't blame her. She knew that the poke was going to hurt...and they took something like 9 viles of blood. Katie and Zack had to help hold the tubes and hand them to the nurse. We saw our interpreter at homeschool choir and the first thing Sophie said was "hurt" (in Mandarin) and pointed to her arm from the shot. Another word to add to my list...a good one to know too.

Which brings me to tonight. I left to take Zack to piano lessons, and Sophie wanted to go with me, but needed to stay home to get ready for bed....she was upset and took a big and hit Katie with it, who of course screamed like she'd broken a bone! That was resolved rather quickly.Shawn said she really missed me! Then tonight at bedtime even more drama unfolded! Sophie wanted the bunny that she has grown quite attached to. Now understand that Katie has played with bunny in the past, when she was new, which was, hmmmm, probably 3 years ago. Bunny doesn't get much attention from Katie these days.....until now. We've had the girls "take turns" the past 2-3 nights and we thought that it was Sophie's turn again. So when Sophie asked for bunny, Daddy went to find it and gave it to her. Then the tears and crying began.....from the OTHER GIRL!! It took a good 10 minutes in the living room with Katie and then laying with her in bed to help her to calm down to be able to fall asleep. (While bunny was safe in the arms of Sophie, sound asleep.) The really ironic thing is I expected to console my crying newly adopted daughter......not Katie! But her world has been rocked! She loves her sister, is great at sharing most everything.... Bumps along the road....but all in all doing good!

Finally....major tears!

And her grief was over a $2 Princess phone!

At Walmart Friday I let Sophie and Katie each pick out a play cell phone. Sophie chose Minnie Mouse and Katie of course, Disney Princesses. All was well until we got home where it was quieter and Sophie realized that her phone didn't play songs like her sister's phone did. (I didn't realize either.)

Well, poor baby broke out in MAJOR tears! She said in Mandarin, "My sister's phone is better than mine!!" Yes, I was able to understand her completely!! Well, at least the "mei mei's  phone" part!! She was devastated!! I just had to pick her up and take her to the recliner and rock her and wait for her to settle down. She was very upset for several minutes (or it seemed that long anyway!) While she screamed and grieved I tried to convince Katie to share her new phone, not totally give it away, but share for a minute and then....Katie lost it! So now the phone is in Sophie's hands.... she quit crying pretty quickly once it was in her hands, but now Katie was inconsolable! It took over 30 minutes before we got both girls back in good moods and understanding that they COULD share one favorite phone and one NOT favorite phone!

Ah, the lessons in life! Sharing, being content! Not being jealous!

Days 5 & 6 at home

Yesterday it was nice out so we went for a walk around the block. She complained about the whole in her leggings as we got closer to home! After putting some tights on under her leggings we went back out and she and Katie  rode scooters and went on the swing set. Then I brought out the tricycle for Sophie to try. She squealed with delight when she saw it. Just wait til the weather gets warmer and we show her her Princess training wheel bike! I saw a couple kids on bikes in China and told her, "Sophie has a bike at home!" I think she understood!

We have been setting limits especially for safety and respect issues, but I really went out on a limb to get this picture! I really wanted a picture of her *smiling* with her welcome home sign. She knew exactly what I wanted and would hide behind the sign, or stand in front and scowl!

 I wouldn't let her ride the tricycle after Katie's turn until I got a picture with a smile!  We (me and Zack) had to be really goofy, but I finally got one! Crazy what a parent will do huh?

(Close enought! I win!)

Shawn and I had a great time giving piggy back rides to the girls and wrestling and playing lao hu (tiger). It was a great bonding activity!

She was ready to eat dinner and wanted to help Mommy. She is a very capable little 6 year old! She stirred the oil mixture with the whisk to make oriental salad. We had what I thought was a sort of odd combination of pork tenderloin, oriental salad, and ramen noodles! But it turned out to be really good! Sophie ate lots of everything. She is eating meat now! We started with dark chicken meat and she hasn't stopped. She is really willing to try the foods we eat all of a sudden! At lunch I was heating up some leftover chicken noodles for her and she wanted the turkey sandwich! I know she doesn't like cheese so I took that off her piece and she pointed at it and wanted it on her sandwich, then proceeded to eat the whole thing! I'm delighted. She is eating SO much that she'll HAVE to fill out! If she ever stops moving! Though she and Katie are the same height, they are about 8 pounds different...that 8 pounds FEELS very different on a little body! I have to use a shoe lace as a belt to keep her leggings on her tiny booty!! Not kidding! But it works! And she's so amazing she can tie the shoe lace in a slip knot after going potty and get it off before going potty!

Praising God!

We just can't believe how well Sophie and everyone else in the family is doing!

Our new little girl loves to play! She likes to play baby dolls and  dress up. She likes to play with her mei mei Katie. I went to check on the girls today and found them in their princess dresses in the bathroom putting clip barettes in each others hair! She is quite the crafty girl too, making bead necklaces and painting and drawing and cutting! Even the boys get in the action, playing with the girls, tickling, hiding and jumping out to scare them, running around chasing them! They are really enjoying each other. I am seeing Jake enjoy Sophie more than he did in China!

We had a busy day. First we went to the nurse practitioner to have her look at her rash. We are now treating Jake, Shawn and me for scabies since that is probably what her rash was from. We treated Sophie in China, but not until into the second week and we could yet get them. Better to prevent than have to treat the whole family.

Then Shawn and I took her shopping at Walmart for groceries. We wanted to give her a chance to pick out some food that she thought she would like. She did great. I would never have thought 2 weeks ago that this little girl would do so well on a Walmart run!

After an early lunch we took a trip to the library and Sophie enjoyed playing with the toys. Her eyes got huge when I picked up a panda puppet and held it like it was real and made it say "ni hao" to her!

We picked up our new friend Hannah who is a 15 year old homeschooled girl who used to live in China and is fluent in Mandarin. Sophie enjoyed talking with her and I was able to have Hannah ask her a bunch of questions, like what meats do you like (since she hasn't eaten  really any in our 2 weeks together) and she answered "rabbit". Don't know that I'll find that at Walmart! I had Hannah explain to her that we will homeschool her and she asked, "is that ok to do that?" and "when will we start?" and "how many days will I have school?" She just cracks me up! She told me that math is her favorite subject.

Praising God for how happy Sophie is and how well she seems to be doing! The other kids are doing well with her too. Thank you, Jesus for these treasures! This is one happy momma (and babba too!)

Homecoming

Sophie was entertained in the backseat of the van the whole way home from the airport by Matt. Thank you, Matt! She "talked" to him and showed him her animal cards and told him the names of all the animals. They looked at pictures on the computer and she told him about our trip. So wish we had ears to understand it all!

We drove up to the house to a welcome home sign with her picture on it! Thanks, Dirrs! She was excited! Zack ran out barefooted, and Katie waited inside the house. Grandma had the house ALL CLEAN! Thanks, Grandma!

Sophie ran into the house and was more interested in seeing the house and the toys than the people at first. She flitted from toy to toy and said Ni hao to everyone as they crowded around her. We took her up to show her her room. She tore everything our of the dress up basket and stuff off the shelves checking everything out! She was elated! She spent a good hour exploring; I can't even really call it playing!

We served her some noodles and decided we had better get this girl to BED! She's slept so little in the past 24 hours. I gave her a bath and Katie decided to jump in! They both loved it. My little girl Katelyn did just awesome. She willingly shared EVERYTHING and gave even her most prized possessions to her sister to check out. We tucked in both girls at about 3:30 in the afternoon. We told Katie she could get up as soon as Sophie was asleep. After singing to each of them, Sophie was asleep in less than 1 minute!

Jake went to sleep right after her and Shawn and I weren't far behind. I was feeling really dizzy like I was still moving! It was so good to be in my own bed, but we really didn't sleep very well! Crazy. We woke up at 10:30pm to find Sophie and Katie awake in their room, playing on the floor in the dark! We slept on and off and finally I got up at 3:30 am to eat a bowl of cinnamon Life with Jake who is also up and start some laundry!

Now it is 4:30am and Sophie is up so gotta go!

HOME!

We’re HOME!

We got up at 3 am in Guangzhou, China, drove to Hong Kong which took 3 hours. Our flight left Hong Kong at 11am Saturday, February 18, 2012 and we landed at O’Hare at 10:47am on Saturday, February 18, 2012!

We stood in a long line at immigration, waited only a couple minutes in the room at border protection services for Sophie's paperwork to be handed over. (and she and I were in the bathroom the whole time!) We got to the baggage carousel and our luggage was right there. We zoomed through customs and greeted Matt and Pastor Rick who came to pick us up.

 Poor Jake has an upset stomach again. I think the lack of sleep and lack of food for him is a bad combination. Shawn, Sophie and I are doing well. Sophie should be tired and sleeping right now. She’s only slept about 3 hours in the last 24. We are just minutes from home.  It’s SO GOOD TO BE HOME!

Safari Park

 At last, the day we have been waiting for (except for getting our little girl!)We were supposed to go the the Safari Park with our group on Monday, but since Sophie had a fever we didn't go. Today we got to go and what a good way to spend the last day! It was awesome, probably one of the best zoos I've ever been to!!

This one's for you, Zack! 

Feeding the giraffes!

The giant pandas getting fed huge carrots.

We only had time to see one show, this was the African animals show! It was AMAZING!!

Someone above us was throwing meat to the tigers!

This one's for you, Katie! 

We rode in the van we need at home, it was like an extended van, 3 rows of 2, back row of 3! But it was like a regular van, not huge 12-15 passenger like we used to have! Jake let Sophie sit next to Baba so she wouldn't put her feet on the back of his chair and push him! She talked to the driver for at least 10-15 minutes straight, telling him about the zoo. I wish she could have told us. I will be so excited for the days when we can really communicate! I think she is/will be a chatter bug!

We are having a really late lunch of Papa John's in our room and talking about packing and getting all the electronics ready for travel! I hope this little girl plays her DS a long time. We only let her have it a couple times so it will still be novel for the LONG airplane trip.

Our guide should be here soon with her passport with visa!! We leave our hotel in 13 hours! Flight leaves in 19 hours+14 hour flight+1-2 hours for customs and immigration+ drive home=

HOME IN 36-37 hours!!

Consulate Appointment

Praise God! Sophie is fever- free!!

Warning:  picture-less post! Sorry!

Our appointment at the US Consulate was today. I was expecting a separate building like the Embassy in Guatemala, but in China, you go up and elevator and through a hallway and without much fanfare you're at the Consulate. Like Guatemala, there are no electronic devices allowed, so no pictures. I finally had some tears. I got kinda choked up when the officer was explaining the process about taking the oath that everything in our paperwork is accurate, including taking  care of our children and loving them and never abandoning them. She explained that as soon as our child(ren) hit US soil they become US citizens. Just the thought of finishing this part of the journey and being in the airport in Chicago and beginning the new journey of becoming a family brought tears of joy.

We have weathered this trip well, I think! All four of us here, and the others at home. Thanks to Matt, Josh, Aunt Diane, Grandma, Papa, Jennifer, Christie, Diane, Marianne, Coach, and all the others who have helped with childcare, praying, donating finances, encouraging, emailing, and commenting on the blog. You all have helped to make this not only possible, but doable and we give God the glory! This has been His plan from the very start. We are but weak and sinful people, and He has brought something glorious! A new family member, a new daughter, a new sister, a new friend, no longer an orphan! Just as it says in James 1:27 "Pure religion is this, taking care of orphans and widows in their distress." A HUGE THANK YOU to ALL of you who have been a part of this journey of faith."Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and  certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 You all stepped out in faith with us. We didn't know how we would pay for this adoption. But it is almost totally funded! We didn't know what our little girl would be like, but she is AWESOME! We didn't know how manageable her special need would be, but so far, it's really been pretty easy. (Only a couple of accidents, and I'm not sure that they weren't because of fever and the other because she didn't want to stop watching tv!) We didn't know how we'd be able to handle being gone for 14 days, and now we're almost at the end of our 16 day trip. We are all ready to return to the US, our family, the clean air, the good food....HOME!

 I'm sure that in time, she will be doing school right along side her brothers and sister, and speaking English words, and understanding ours! It is just such a blessing to be a part of something that God has done!

After praying and listening the the wise counsel of others, we've decided to wait for a welcome reception until later in the week, or next week at church maybe. We need to reconnect especially with Katie and Zack who have really missed their mom and dad. We'll need some sleep! We need to show Sophie who her immediate family is! We plan to stay home from church this week because of jet lag, but we'll let you know when we are ready to introduce Sophie to you!

Tomorrow we are planning to go to the Safari Park that we missed on Monday. I'll try to get a post out tomorrow, but we also need to pack and get ready a 5am departure Saturday morning. Our flight leaves at 11:00am and arrives at O'Hare at 11:16 am (just 16 minutes later, or 14 hours and 16 minutes later!)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be the glory! Amen!"

Loose tooth, new shoes and ham sandwiches

We found another place we like to eat! The White Swan Deli has ham and cheese buns. It's like a puffed up pastry with one slice of ham and some kind of cheese. Jake loved it. Sophie not so much. We had to go to 7-11 to get her some noodles! While we were there Shawn noticed some DVD's at the next store for sale. We bought Bambi for $6!

We did a little more shopping. Got some cute dress shoes for Sophie. She doesn't have any yet, only tennis shoes. She was so cute telling the shop owner which ones she liked and if they fit or not! The shop owner, Sherry, spoke pretty good English so I asked her to tell Sophie that we'd be leaving in 3 days to go on the airplane to go to America. Sherry told me that Sophie said, "I know I am going to my new home." She is as ready as us I think. I am delighted with how well bonding is going and communication too! My Mandarin vocabulary at entry was 6 words: (I'm going to write them in English since I don't know how to "spell" them!) thank you, little sister, big sister, big brother, daddy, mommy) I now know purse, sit, stand, tiger, elephant, bunny, lion (which is really hard to say!), grandma, grandpa, potty, fan...so I've doubled my vocabulary! Sophie knows the following English words: eat, wash hands, wait, stand, let's go, no, go potty. A good working vocabulary to start with!

We are having a blast with her! She has a hilarious sense of humor. She is dramatic. She is quite the entertainer! And have I mentioned how smart she it! She is impatient at times, when she wants something, she wants it now! I have no doubt that she will grow in character in these areas! She is loving and sweet and still energetic, but more obedient. We thank God for this perfect blessing that He's put in our family!
She's a keeper!

Having fun dancing with her fan and her Baba! 

She had lost 2 teeth, one on the bottom and one on the top (strange combination) but the wiggly one on the bottom was ready to come out! I had been playing around with her all day about momma pulling her tooth and at bedtime, it was so loose I didn't want her to go to sleep like that. She had quite the hysterics for a couple of minutes, then finally was laughing with us. I put her tooth under her pillow and then at bedtime I showed her there was money under there. (We did immediate gratification tooth fairy version!) We gave her her purse to put her money in. Not so bad of a deal after all!

Our Consulate Appointment is tomorrow and we have to leave at 7:30, so we won't be able to skype tomorrow. :( This is the big official day and then we get her visa Friday afternoon and leave for Hong Kong on Saturday morning at 5am for the airport to come home! If her fever breaks and doesn't return we plan to have a short reception on Saturday at E. Free upon arriving in Bloomington from O'Hare. We will post to let you know the specific plan.

So far she hasn't had a fever since 1pm. Hopefully it won't spike again tonight. I finally went through all my meds and found the ibuprofen I knew I had packed but couldn't find before for some reason! Praying her fever is gone for good!

Thanks to everyone who's praying for us. Our next big request is that our flight will be on time, we'll all sleep on it for at least a couple hours and get home safely Saturday!'

Consulate Appointment

Tomorrow morning bright and early 7:25 we travel to our consulate appointment. So we will be unavailable for Skype and other communication until later in the morning. Pray that it all goes well.

Shawn

Some thoughts on yesterday... from Shawn

Yesterday, to get outside on a nice warm day, we walked over to the White Swan hotel. Deb had purchased Sophie a beautiful  red silk so we thought we would take some pictures of her in it at the Swan. 

I’ll let Deb post pictures. I had two moments at the Swan I wanted to put document.

The first moment happened as we were snapping pictures of Sophie. I noticed that an older Chinese gentleman had been watching us intently as soon as we came in and he followed us up to the level we were taking pictures. He finally began to speak to me. I understood few words, but as he spoke I began to understand what he was communicating. I walked away with the idea that he was proud of his Country and of being Chinese, but that he was happy that we were willing to take care of one of China’s daughters. I wished I could respond to him and tell him what a privilege it was. I wish I could have captured some of his expressions.

The second moment was standing at a great wall of windows at the Swan that overlook the Pearl River. Barges, sight-seeing boats, and a lone rowboat were all traveling slowly along the river. The slow movement of the boats on the river reminded me of how China has changed.  Jake and I visited the Sun Yat Memorial Hall today and viewed amazing wood and bone carvings, embroidery, and paintings at this museum. They were reminders of a slower time in China when time was taken to create these intricate pieces of artwork. The bone carvings alone had to have taken perhaps years. Our guide told us that as China has moved at a faster pace the younger generation isn’t willing to take the time to create this type of art. It saddened me not only for the people of China, but for us as a planet, for as the pace quickens for everyone will anyone be willing to stop and create beauty?

Carving on ivory is banned now, but this ivory carving is
beautifully intricate and detailed
Bone carving is now done.

This is embroidery, wow!

Beautiful Girl

Please keep praying for our little girl whose fever keeps going up after the tylenol wears off. She and I stayed in the room coloring and playing Uno while Shawn and Jake went on the tour. 

Shawn and I took her and her red silk dress over to the White Swan for a little outing this afternoon. Here are some of my favorites.

We are cracking up trying to  use google translator to communicate with her! We have learned many words from her, but I wonder exactly what they each mean! For example, I suspect the word she uses for "bathroom" means pee...I would rather say bathroom...but I guess right now I can't be that picky. We tried saying some things we "know" into the translator and "purse" came back as "cow pea". That's really what I want to be saying to her in the airport, "Sophie, get your cowpea" thinking I'm saying "Sophie get your purse."Oh well, she knows what we mean! We did get a couple things right. We are trying to teach her to sit and crawl on the bed, instead of walking on it so google translator said "crawl" and she started crawling, we told it "sit" and she sat, "stand" and she stood. It was a hoot!

This afternoon Shawn was showing me pictures of his outing this morning and we ended up looking at all the pictures of our trip with Sophie. When we got to the ones of the hotel in Nanchang with the lanterns, she said, "Nanchang"! We couldn't believe it! I don't know why we were so surprised, she continues to show us how bright she is.

I am starting to get homesick. The pollution smell, the smoking, the lack of food for Jake (and sometimes me) is starting to wear on me. And being stuck in the room with a girl with a fever doesn't help either. Others had their official Consulate appointment today and get their children's visas tomorrow and will be leaving. Some already left. We are ready to see our other kids in person instead of on a screen. But thank God for Skype and email. They have really carried us through. 

We had a nice prayer time tonight, for Shannon's surgery tomorrow and for the remainder of our trip. We trust God for all that he has planned.

Our Adventure Continues

It was beautiful weather today. Very comfortable to walk around in short sleeves. And SUNNY, the first sun we've really seen for 11 days!

Like Shawn said we made the most of the day considering we were disappointed we didn't get to go to the safari park. We had to meet our guide to go back to get Sophie's TB test read. Thankfully it was negative. Our guide had a "pediatrician" look at Sophie's throat and  rash and listen to her lungs since she spiked the fever yesterday and we still aren't sure what the rash is. We didn't post this before, but the itchy rash on her legs that she had when we got her was diagnosed as scabies at the medical on Saturday, but we still aren't sure that really what it is. It definitely looks like bites, but it's mostly on the fronts and backs of her thighs, not it the folds of her skin, between her fingers, toes, like scabies usually is. So far, we haven't seen any signs of it on us ( yay) but we each have had some psychosomatic itchy spells!!

I had totally planned on returning her to the room since she had a fever yesterday. I was trying to follow the 24 hour rule, but it was SO nice out that we just didn't want to go back inside the room! We just decided to carry her everywhere to not wear her out! Coming from winter in Illinois, we had such a great time just being outside and the island is so wonderful.

We met up with some new friends, Pat and Diana and their adorable identical twin girls, Meilynn and Kailynn and they invited us to walk with them to the market. I won't repeat everything Shawn posted about the market, but it did stink, and I was kinda glad Sophie didn't like the smell. She reacted so strongly that I was afraid she would throw up! I finally gave her one of her napkins that we had in the backpack to put over her nose. She even tore off some pieces and stuck them up her nose! She is very resourceful!!

We went to Starbucks for some "American sandwiches" for lunch. As we walked in, Shawn inhaled deeply and was comforted. He hasn't had a good cup of coffee since we left. Sophie, however, covered her mouth again. She did not like the smell. I took her out and she began spitting. Chinese people spit everywhere, even the girls. Sorry, but it is so gross. We will have to work on that!

We borrowed a stroller from our hotel and we walked down to the White Swan which at least 1/2 of it  is closed for renovations, but they still have the lobby open with the beautiful waterfall and the red couch!

We went back to the Chinese restaurant for dinner for Sophie (and Shawn) and she hardly ate anything! She must  not be feeling 100% that's for sure, plus she did have a rather large snack of a noodle bowl,  2 tangerines, and a banana just a couple of hours earlier!

Here is a pic of the outside of the restaurant, note the swimming pool to the left. It is full of fish for dinner. There were also boxes of turtles and eels?

Inside was a crate of rabbits. There were different ones from the ones we saw Friday night when we ate here before!

I made her a little calendar tonight, trying to explain to her how many days we have left until we go home. I wonder what she will think of home. And the 14 hour plane ride to get there. She was saying, "Con TV" which means watch TV after Shawn gave her a shower and she didn't put up too big of a fight when we told her "no, con bed"! She is out! 

Tomorrow is a tour with our group to a park. It is so nice to be with other adoptive families. Hopefully she will be fever free and we can go! 

Taking Monday's Blues and Making some sunshine

I know, corny title, but it's Shawn posting so you should expect it. Due to Sophie still having a fever we decided against going to the Wildlife Safari park. We were really looking forward to the park, but the hope is we will be able to go on Friday.

It was a beautiful day so we toured the island instead with Sophie in a stroller. Here are some pictures:

We headed over to the market, but turned back after a bit since the smell was bothering Sophie.

One of the nicer shops in the market

A Look down the market street

Mom and Sophie in the market

Typical shop in the market

Don't forget lizard on a stick. Purpose?!?

Dad, Sophie, and Jake in the market

We headed back to the island to get some lunch and walk around. It is such a beautiful, sunny day we didn't want to waste it in the room.

Catching Sophie in a genuine moment of joy!

Deb caught this spectacular shot 

A Peek down one of our streets

BaBa and Sophie cuddling

Sophie posing nicely in front of the White Swan waterfall

Sophie on a dà xiàng (elephant)

HIghs and Lows-Take 2

Today nothing was scheduled, just a day of rest. Unfortunately Shawn's stomach started feeling sour soon after breakfast, so while he and Jake chilled in the room, I decided to take Sophie on a shopping date! I was a little nervous, but she's been doing better so out we went.

My plan was to walk down to where she got her visa picture taken yesterday, but instead, we started at Jennifer's, the little convenience store right next to the Victory. (Like Jake says, how convenient!) She picked out lots of little souvenirs, some Mommy was on board with and some not! Mommy told her yes to a few things, (a little wooden doll for her room, another "sansa" (fan), some animal flashcards with Mandarin and pinyin) and no to a few other things and told her to put them back and she did! No fussing, no throwing, no tantrum! It was like having Katie with me! She was an ANGEL!! That gave me great confidence!

We saw some bridal couples getting their pictures taken, so we walked over and watched, then she wanted to go into the next shop. My girl likes to shop! We bought a Chinese lantern like the ones in the other hotel so we can celebrate next year!

We then walked into the park to the statues. I actually felt brave enough (because she was obeying so well) to let go of her hand and take a picture of her. She was fantastic!! We headed back to show Baba and GeGe what we got and after eating some food in our room, she climbed onto the bed and crashed!

We skyped Ryan and she woke up and we realized she had a fever. :( We gave her some tylenol and she rested, she was definitely had an upset stomach and was at the trash can. Jake and I made a run to Jennifer's and found a close cousin to saltine crackers (I should have packed them. Tip to anyone reading who is on their way to China, I wish we would have packed some saltines, and maybe pretzels. SO glad we have peanuts, peanut butter tubs (single serving) and some snack food. We have been able to take apples and bananas and banana bread from the breakfast buffet to make a lunch out of if needed for our son who likes American Chinese food, but not Chinese food!

So now both Shawn and Sophie have had some saltines and are looking and feeling a little better. The day I was most looking forward to, Safari Park, is tomorrow. Sophie's fever was back up tonight, so no Safari park tomorrow. We are hoping maybe our guide can arrange for us to go on Friday.  But mostly I hope everyone is feeling well!

Back on a high note: Here are some pictures from yesterday. I just love these statues. And the cute kids!

She went around imitating each of the poses! She is a hoot! And smart! We just love her :)

Hello Guangzhou!

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday (Friday) afternoon after an uneventful flight. Well, only that Miss Sophie didn't want to wear her seatbelt. We are making a big issue out of seatbelts NOW so that hopefully when she gets home she "gets it" quickly.

I put her hair in pigtails after bath and she loved it!

Met up with some other families last night for dinner at a real Chinese restaurant and that was a blast. 3 families, 4 little girls, one couple has identical Chinese twin girls!

Our medical appointment was this morning along with 40+ other adoptive families! It was controlled chaos! Sophie did GREAT! She went to 4 different stations, weight, height and vision, ENT, TB test (she was fine and got a candy from them when it was done), then a doctor examination. After that our group of 5 families filled out paperwork for our consulate appointment next week.

We went to dinner at Lucy's with another family who has been here many times before, the Horners. It is so nice to be with BTDT people! Plus Bill and Pam and their adorable daughter Ellie are delightful company! Lucy's is a restaurant that caters to American families and has burgers and fries on their menu. I had a grilled cheese, Shawn  and Jake cheese burgers, and I guessed that Sophie might like Rice Noodles with Beef and she did. She also had a bite of her first burger! She loves fries, but we already knew that! She had some entertainment to watch out the window as there were tons of teen-aged Chinese girls dressed up as anime but they were gone by the time we were done at Lucy's.

Next stop: We FINALLY got this monkey to her correct habitat: a playground! She had a great time, scaring Daddy a little. She was climbing all over the place and finally her foot slipped and got a bloody lip and then she was done!

Our camera battery died after the playground, but we walked around the island looking at all the cool statues, playing at the exercise spots and doing a little shopping. (Dee, I got Milly a darling little red silk dress!)

Dancing and singing with her fan. She put on quite a show for 20+ minutes, singing and dancing! Then she played balloon tennis with "Gugula" (that's what she calls Jake) for another 20 minutes. Then the handle broke off.  :(  It was worth the $2 though!!

I am noticing her being more willing to repeat English words now. Maybe it's because we are trying to copy her words and are totally butchering her language!

She is hungry again, so gotta go get this girl some food! We are going to try to order from......Papa John's!!! :)