Tuesday, November 27, 2012

First days

This is Ginny.

In the last 3 days Mia has gone to her first day of Sunday School at church and her first two days of Kindergarten.  Amazing!!!

Before getting Mia I had no idea how we would transition her to school.  Should we start her right away (this was what the school wanted), at least wait until the new year (this was my thought), or wait for the new school year so she would at least know some English.  Our social worker suggested we might even need to wait a year or two.  Come to find out there is really no right answer to this...everybody does it differently. 

Last week Ryan and Ashlyn had school on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday as they were getting ready for school I noticed Mia was getting ready too.... uh oh.  How do I explain this to her???  We had tried using Google translator during our time in China and she paid no attention to it so I had no way to tell her what was happening.  She even put her shoes on and found her backpack.  She smiled big and thought she was going too.  She even tried to stuff Ryan's lunch into her backpack.  I had no idea what to do or how to explain to her what was going on.

As they ran out the door for the bus, Mia stood looking out the window with the saddest face.  After a few moments I remembered her love for baths and announced bath time for her and Austin.  Of course, I had to show her for her to understand but that definitely did the trick and her frown turned into a smile.  Later she got to go shopping with Nana to get new sneakers and new boots (we held off from buying new shoes in China) and so the day turned into a stellar one for Mia.  She loved shopping!  She loved getting new shoes!  And she loved getting new boots!   

Based on her reaction on Monday, I decided to let her "visit" her school on Tuesday.  Adam and I both brought her in and she met many adults.  It was a bit overwhelming for her (and for me) but also very sweet and touching that so many of the adults in the building were excited to meet her.  It was decided that she should start school on the following Monday (after the Thanksgiving holiday).  Mia seemed confused as to why she couldn't stay longer that day. 

I was glad when Wednesday came and everyone would be home.  Adam's parents have been with Ryan and Austin since before we left for China and continued to stay with us to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Danielle (Adam's youngest sister came) as well as my sister Leandra.  It was a full house and Mia loved it.  Basically, she went from family member to family member begging for whatever electronic they would let her use.  Laptop computer, ipad, iphone, DSI, Leappad...yep, just one to another.  Can you think of a better way to bond?

At one point Leandra started using the google translater with Mia.  I tried to let Leandra know it wouldn't work and not to waste her time but before I had a chance she was already using it and Mia was responding to it.  Maybe it is working now because it is the only Chinese she is hearing so her ears are more attuned to it?  But whatever the reason it has made things so much easier.

We are communicating with her in a couple of ways.  She has already learned lots of English words (she knew no English when we got her).  She understands- eat, all done, bye bye, hello, brush teeth, time for bed, potty, just a minute, go get a hairbrush (lots of simple things).  And words that she says a lot in Chinese that we have learned- all done, mine!, pee pee, look at me!  We usually have hand signals that we use too....running our finger back and forth along our teeth to demonstrate brush teeth, rubbing our belly to demonstrate being full, etc..  She has learned to do this as well to help us understand her. 

For the most part I think we are understanding her basic needs (hungry, tired, thirsty, bathroom, want to watch Ni Hao Kai Lan (you know the important stuff) but there is still so much she says that we don't know and all we can do is nod and tell her yeah.  That works some times and other times she just keeps repeating the same thing over and over with obvious frustration.  Fortunately, those moments are fairly few and far between but whenever they occur I wonder how much longer till she learns English and then I start thinking about that and trying to tune out the fact that I can't answer her correctly.  And to be perfectly honest, those moments have been by far the hardest part for me and I am sure for Mia too. 

But ahhh, the google translator has become our life saver!!!!  It has saved us from several melt downs I am sure!  Being able to speak into it and tell her what is going on or telling her that yes, she can do X but first we need to do Y has been invaluable.  We have tried to also have her speak into it but maybe because she speaks Mandarin with a Guizhou accent or because she isn't speaking slowly or clearly enough that just isn't working. 

We decided to go to church yesterday.  I had no idea what to do with her.  Would she go to a class or sit with us in the big service.  Should I stay with her in her class or have Ashlyn go with her or have her go to Ashlyn's class or maybe have Ryan go with her.... so many possibilities and again I didn't know the right answer.  So before we left I got out the google translator.  I first told her, "we are going to church today."  Then, "Ryan will go to his class," "Ashlyn will go to her class," Austin will go to his class."  Before I could go any further, Mia said, "Jin Guo Guo wada ........." and I recognized her name and the word "mine" and knew she was asking what about her and her class.  So, I then told her, "Mia will go to her class" and she got the biggest grin on her face. 

We got to church and dropped Austin off first.  As we were rounding the hallway for Mia's classroom we saw all these cute faces peering out of the door of her classroom just waiting for her.  I wish I had a camera ready because it was the cutest thing.  Mia was basically beside herself to go and waved and smiled at us when we said goodbye.  When we came to pick her up the teacher had a big smile and said she did great!  We honestly had no idea how she would do and were so relieved and also felt better about sending her to school the next day.

We got in the car and then out of nowhere (well I am sure somewhere but we couldn't understand) she completely melted down.  I have no idea why but she cried (similar to how she cried that one day in China) and then after a few minutes settled down and was absolutely fine again.

On Monday she was so excited to go to school.  She got herself dressed and ready in no time.  Ryan and Ashlyn left first on the bus and then Adam and I drove her to school.  We walked her to her classroom.  Her teacher showed her where her backpack and coat go and where her seat was.  Mia was ready and we said goodbye.  When I picked her up her teacher told me she did great and will adjust very well!  yeah!!! 

We got in the car and she was definitely trying to tell me something and I definitely did not understand.  We got home and she melted down (again not sure why??).  Fortunately, after a few minutes she composed herself and was fine. 

We had a great afternoon while Austin napped.  We watched the Letter Factory video while eating Ramen Noodles, colored, did a puzzle, played starfall on the computer, read a couple of books and just hung out together.  After spending close to 2 hours with her and Austin was still sleeping I thought I would slip away to clean bathrooms.  Mia followed me to the bathroom and insisted on helping...ummmm really I thought, she will be bored after the first bathroom (there are 3 to clean).  Nope, she got more into it with each one and seemed to enjoy herself more cleaning toilets than during any of the other activities we did earlier.  I am still not sure what to make of that.   

And today she went to her second day of kindergarten.  I was a little bit nervous that the meltdown the day before might hinder her wanting to go today and wondered if she would still be as excited on the second day.  I shouldn't have worried because she dropped off great again.  When I picked her up the teacher again said she did great, did everything she was suppose to, and will adjust really well. 

And the best part was there was no meltdown afterwards!  I know things are overwhelming and I can't wrap my mind around it but she is determined to move forward and to enjoy herself despite all the obstacles trying to hold her back.  Can I just say she amazes me!

Tonight she watched the tail end of Ryan and Ashlyn's Tae Kwon Do class.  She LOVED it and was trying to mimic the kids in the class.  I have a feeling she will be asking to start that soon too.

Some have asked how she is making out with one hand.  We like to call it a big arm and a little arm.  And she uses both to do everything she needs to do.  There are a couple of things she has trouble with (starting the zipper on her coat, taking caps of markers, buckling her seatbelt and honestly those are the ONLY things I can think of) but I am realizing they are things she probably didn't have to do in China and so they are new to her.  Most things she can do by herself.  One thing she can do by herself is peel an orange...have you ever tried to peel an orange with one hand?  Mia makes it look easy.  If she wants to do it she will find a way. 
 
Getting ready for her first day of school.
Hurry up mom!
 
 
 
 




Friday, November 23, 2012

Thankful

Here is an update of Mia from the Nana's viewpoint for all those going through withdrawal of posts.

I know this is very prejudicial but this little girl is amazing! Everything in her world has changed dramatically and she is rolling with it. There are times she gets upset but it is usually because she doesn't understand what is happening. That is not a frequent thing thankfully & her attitude quickly adjusts which is impressive. She has a fun personality that can be seen through the language barrier. She is like a little sponge soaking up all our love.

Mia had no knowledge of computers or technology before she came into this family. Can I say she is adjusting just fine. She is Ryan's little sister and Adam's daughter after all :-) She loves some of the apps on our phones, games & such on the iPad.  She often comes to me to climb on my lap...only to find out she wants to check my computer. She has watched the video of herself coming down the slide about 100 times...and counting! She repeats..."Ryan said ok" which is heard in the clip. 

Tuesday Mia went to school to meet her teachers and see her classroom. She was a bit overwhelmed by  the entourage' of 10 adults all trying to see her at the same time....needless to say they are very excited to have her in school.  She will get quiet and appear shy when in those kind of situations, but she seemed generally disappointed she didn't stay longer. 

Ginny was very pleased with her teacher/teachers who will be working with her. They are very caring & willing to make sure she is adjusting.  Mia will be in kindergarten for the mornings starting next week! She is an eager learner and I am sure she will do great.

When Mia is excited it is funny to see her get louder and louder trying to make herself understood. She also will go to each of one of us to tell the same story over and over again. Wish we knew what she was trying to say....that time will come...just not soon enough.

Mia is bonding very nicely with all of us. She calls us by name usually rather loudly. She is genuinely happy most of the time...downright silly about simple things and just a joy. 

Ryan is very gentle with her and you can tell she enjoys her "gaga", big brother and vice versa.
"Deedee", little brother is Austin. Mia has quickly learned to say "no" to him as he tries to steal the iPhone or iPad from her. They both converse in a language unknown to all of us. 
Hopefully, Mia will learn English instead of Austin learning Chinese...although anything is possible:/ 



Ashlyn, Jiejie, is happy to be home with all her friends in the neighborhood. She is willing sharing them with Mia who is quite the celebrity with the little girls.  The other day a little girl came to the door to play with Mia...she had never met her before but wanted to play.  Then another little girl came over and she quickly started counting in Chinese to Mia to show off her skill of the Chinese language.  The school where the kids attend are having after school classes in Chinese & the first graders are all doing it as a special during their school day. 

Five years ago,  Adam and Ginny told us of their plans to adopt from China. At the time, we had to keep it a secret from the rest of the family until they could announce it to everyone else.  
During that time, Danielle and I would just look at each other and our eyes would fill with tears!  
I think we get to feel the very heart of God when we love on an orphan which is why it moves our hearts to tears.  Just a small piece of His amazingly love.
To see her precious face and be able to wrap our arms of love around her is an amazing gift to us.  
As the blessed Nana, I am privileged to be a part of this whole adventure.  


 Intense iPhone playing
 Silly faces...well, at least for me
 She took this picture of Ryan...she was having fun with my camera phone
 Self portrait


She was making Ashlyn say "cheese"



Sunday, November 18, 2012

HOME!!!

Hey everyone... sorry for not posting for a few days. I'm going to blame the jet lag for my procrastination...

Anyways, we made it home!! Our total travel time was over 24 hours from when we left our hotel to when we arrived back into Columbus, OH. Thankfully, our daughters both did great coming home...  our 14 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago went about as well as could be imagined, with the minor disappointments of turbulence for the first 2 hours (i.e. no food/drink service for a while), and also not having the personal entertainment consoles in each of the chairs like we had going over... I know... minor minor issues. We ended up going thru customs, which was remarkably EASY! We handed the customs official our sealed envelope from the US consulate, and were ushered over to a separate room, where another nice official came, stamped the papers a couple of times, and congratulated us on her citizenship. After that, we had to go back through security, and then, we ended up at the nice playground in O'Hare for about 3 hours. Overall, it was an exhausting, but uneventful day.

We finally brought Mia home around 7:30 pm and she was somewhat overwhelmed with the jet lag, meeting new family members (brothers, grandparents), and from seeing her new home. She was ecstatic, but also exhausted.

Now we're onto the part of the adoption called real life :) We're going to be keeping her home this next week during Thanksgiving holiday, and then getting her enrolled in school starting next week Monday... so it should be fun!

Our 747 getting prepped for our flight home


Mia after landing in Chicago (and becoming a US Citizen)


Three of our kids enjoying cake pops from Starbucks this morning



My mother and Mia after we arrived into the Columbus airport



Mommy and Mia relaxing together at home

Our new daughter :)



Thursday, November 15, 2012

Day 15: And away we go...

We're about 20 minutes away from checking out of our hotel in Guangzhou to begin the process of coming home. We first head back over to the US consulate office to get Mia's visa and documentation package... Then it's off to Hong Kong for the night. Tomorrow, we head to the airport for our 11am flight out to Chicago - which comically lands around the exact same time... Just 15 hours later... Then a 5 hr layover in O'Hare, then our quick flight back to Columbus... Sounds easy... Right?!?

Day 14: And how is it really going???

This is Ginny.

The Sunday before we left for China we had several people at our church pray for us.  One of the main things we prayed for was our Gotcha Day.  We prayed that Mia would be "stupidly peaceful" which I know sounds kind of odd. 

But we remembered how both Adam and I were "stupidly peaceful" during our incredibly scary pregnancy with Austin.  We had lots of people praying for us and we felt unexplainably calm and yes "stupidly peaceful." 

We knew Gotcha Day was going to be an incredibly scary time for Mia and we thought why not pray this for her as well.  I have to admit it even though we prayed for it, it still worried me a little bit just how "stupidly peaceful and happy" she was. 

Gotcha Day felt very much like a fairy tale and I wondered if she fully comprehended what was happening and how long this honeymoon phase would last.  Surely she will grieve at some point and what will that look like for our daughter.  

Our entire first week with our daughter was EASY!  She was chatty the first couple of days but then quieter after she realized we had no idea what she was saying.  She did everything she was suppose to and never cried once.  We did lots of sight seeing which required lots of walking and she never complained once.     

This second week has been very different.  It is obvious that she is bonding well with us which we are thrilled with and also beginning to grieve.  We have seen so much more of her personality during this second week and we love it!  But alongside this she is beginning to grieve and that is hard especially since we still can't fully communicate with her.       

I read in one of my adoption books that whining is acutally a good sign.  It means she is becoming comfortable with us and is attaching to us.  So yeah, she is attaching!!!  She is letting me know when we are walking too far and she gets tired or hungry and I am only just today fully understanding her when she tells me she has to go to the bathroom (up until yesterday the poor girl had to jump up and down and hold herself before I got the hint). 

Actually, we found out that "pee pee" is pronounced kind of like "meow meow" expect with an "n" so it is "neow neow."  Yesterday, we were out shopping and she had to go to the bathroom (and I understood!).  I didn't know where the bathroom was so I asked an employee in English.  Lots of people in Guangzhou know some English but this person did not.  So, I said the only thing I knew to say, "neow neow."  After stifling some laughter, she showed me where the bathroom was. 

Adam wrote how a couple of days ago Mia cried (okay screamed) the entire way home because she didn't want to hold his hand so he carried her.  She will only hold my hand or Ashlyn's hand but not Adam's hand when we are out in public.  I found this puzzling since in many ways Adam is the favored parent.  It is obvious she loves him.  She is quick to share her food with him and engage him in silly antics.  She laughs the most when she is with him.  She lets him tickle her, lift her up, swing her around, and be just plain goofy, so why not hold his hand in public settings?  We recalled that she said she was with her father when the train accident occured (no mention of the mother) and wonder if he was holding her hand when the scary accident took place.  We did have a slight break through today when she was holding my hand and held out her little arm for Adam to hold as we were crossing a busy street.  Small steps.

So what are our days like?  Lots of giggling and laughter, lots of fun and lots of smiles, lots of bonding.  She is back to being her chatty self again and will get louder when we don't understand her to the point of almost shouting at us in Chinese. 

She is a very happy and adventurous kid.  We really haven't found her to be afraid of anything.  We took her to the pool today (it was kind of cold) but she loved it!  Even after she lost her balance and fell in and needed help getting out she went right back in.  She loves animals and was disappointed she couldn't be inside with the animals at the zoo.  She will love the petting zoo.  She loved the amusement park rides we took her on yesterday.  I get the impression that she will try anything.

Alongside this happy and adventurous kid though is a kid who is grieving.  It is coming out over little things.  No, you can't have a bath before you get dressed because we have to get breakfast and meet our guide soon (nevermind that she had 2 baths the day before).  No, you have to go to bed now (fortunately, she is tired by 7:00 and will fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly for 10-11 hours each night).  No, you can't tell Ashlyn which headband she will wear today.  No, we don't have matching clothes today (choices of clean clothes are getting limited at this point).  Each time she reacts the same way with a somewhat adorable pout and soft crying.  The crying usually last 5-10 minutes and then she complies and is happy again.

We recognize this for what it is.  Not as a child who is spoiled and use to getting her way but as a child who has lost everything she knows and is being forced to completely start over (language, customs, food, clothes, etc., etc).  It is mind boggling really when you think about it.  And when I try to wrap my mind around all of the changes she has incured these last couple of weeks I am in awe of this child of ours.... strong and determined, a fighter, loving and fun....OUR daughter.     

 Right outside the US consulate appointment (the reason why we needed to stay here this long).

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Day 13: Lake parks and Shamian Island (again)

One of the things that I have found to be really cool is breakfast here... not because it is about the best breakfast buffet ever, but because of the company we have whenever we go downstairs to the restaurant.

Today, we were seated back in the "adoption family" corner of the restaurant, where about 10-15 different families are seated - all adopting a child from China. I think there was a Spanish family, and the rest were Americans (or maybe an English family as well ... I couldn't tell). Most, if not all, of the children are special needs (including ours)... which makes being near these adoptive families at this moment in their life... so so special.

Since we are going on Day 13 here, my selection of "clean" garments is limited... so today, I chose to wear my Ohio State t-shirt. That shirt opened up 2 conversations with families today because they either live in Ohio, or have in the not-so-distant past. If you are interested in seeing these families at the same point in their adoption processes as us, you can check out their blogs in the "Blogs I follow" section...

After a quick Facetime call home to my parents to say "Hi" to our boys at home, we met our guide to go out to the lake park over by the China Hotel (the hotel we were supposed to be at, but got bumped to the Garden Hotel instead). It was quite beautiful with all the palm trees and such - this area reminds me so much of Houston, TX - except for all the Chinese everywhere. We walked around the park/lake - and one thing that I really think is cool here is watching all the older folks here exercise. Many of them will dance and do Tai Chi to music here in groups... which is just fascinating. Another thing we came across here was a public gym - including outdoor cardio / weight training equipment. There were also badminton courts, as well as table tennis games going on.

Towards the end of the park, we came to the playground for the kids... except that it's closed for renovations. There were several amusement park-like rides available for the kids to ride... so we bought tickets for the girls to go on 3 different rides. It was fun, but kinda sad in a way seeing all this stuff available for the adults, but almost nothing for kids. It made us homesick for our parks back home.

Anyways, after we were done there, we went back over to Shamian Island to get a few more souvenirs... but while we were over there, we came across 8-9 bride/groom couples getting their wedding photos taken. It was Wednesday lunch time... we were just amazed at how many were running around having photos taken there.

So tomorrow is our big day - our US consulate appointment... 10 AM sharp. Hopefully, we'll be in and out in no time... then Friday we check out, get our US visa for Mia, head to Hong Kong for the night, then fly home the next morning.... so our time here is quickly coming to a close. In so many ways, it seems like our trip has just started... but also feels like we've been here for so long. We can't wait to see our other kids again... and have them meet their new sister :)

Our girls by the lake in Guangzhou

Mia and Ashlyn on one of the amusement rides


The girls found a parrot and wanted to feed it


Three brides trying to share the street for pictures... glad Bridzilla wasn't there

One of my favorite stops... Starbucks :)

Looks like Starbucks, but it's alittle different

Here I am sporting my OSU t-shirt that helped us meet two new families today :)



Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Day 12 continued...

Just updating with photos from our outing at the Guangzhou zoo this afternoon... We really enjoyed the zoo, even if Mia was disappointed that the animals were all behind fences and cages... remember, she lived in a city where the monkeys roamed free in a park... :)

But besides that, the zoo is actually quite nice... it's an older zoo, but a nice one though. There were even 2 panda bears there as well... One other nice thing was that since the exhibits were all smaller than typical ones in the US - you can see the animals quite easily here (i.e. tigers, lions, bears, etc.).

We had yet another Chinese paparazzi moment with Ashlyn today, but the funniest part about that was the mother who wanted to have her picture taken with Ashlyn was holding her baby - who was probably no more than 12 months old - wearing the split pants. I'll refrain from posting those for everyone's sakes...

Mia, Mommy, and Ashlyn at the zoo 


Mia and Ashlyn together 


Love this face!! :) 


Mommy and Mia together 


Mia pointing out the pandas 


Our guide Wensi, Ashlyn, and Mia together in front of the giraffes. Mia was quite disappointed though that she couldn't feed them. She was about to start throwing personal items to them to eat... I'm glad she chose otherwise...


Monday, November 12, 2012

Days 11 & 12: Just hangin' in China

We've now entered the "boring" phase of our trip - with waiting until our US consulate appointment on Thursday morning. Yesterday (Monday) we ran back to the medical clinic to have Mia's TB test read - which came back quite negative... so we're golden. After that, we ran out to do alittle grocery shopping (noodles, water, Kinder eggs). We also found decent chop sticks and children's music CD's (... yes, Dear family, we got you one too!!)

So the rest of the day was spent relaxing - which means spending time by the little playground by the hotel pool. Mia absolutely LOVES the playground... we probably spend about an hour there each time.

Today, we're about to head out to the Guangzhou zoo. Should be fun! :)

Mia and Ashlyn in bed together


Each night, Mia has been arranging the girl's slippers at the end of the bed (we KNOW it's not Ashlyn)


Mia found a new use for her little arm :)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Mia writes...

This is Ginny.

I have shown Mia how to write her new name in English a few times this week. 

I wasn't overly optimistic that she would learn it very soon.  The reason being that even though cognitively she seems very smart, writing/coloring/drawing she seems a bit behind to me.  I don't know if that is because she lost her dominant hand (not saying she did.... I just don't know) or if she just hasn't had a lot of practice. 

Also, I think she is able to read in Chinese since I have seen her point to characters and jabber on like she is reading but have not seen her write any characters. 

Today we were at lunch and I gave Mia a pen to draw with and guess what she wrote.... you guessed it....her name!  She was sooo proud of herself as were we of her.  Tonight she grabbed some more paper and wrote all over it (looks like she is trying to write letters) and then pranced over very proudly to show us. 
 

Days 9 & 10 - Guangzhou: Medical appointments and Shamian Island

These last two days have already flown by... with our first full day in Guangzhou being our medical appointment for Mia. Our guide, Wensi, made sure we were ready to rock-n-roll promptly at 8:40am in order for us to go over to the Guangzhou International Medical Offices - which has an adoption clinic in there to provide the necessary medical tests for our daughter to obtain her US visa.

We became very thankful for our guide being so persistent at going early, since we were rewarded with being the first family there. We were in and out in less than 15 minutes!!! Wow! Mia also had to have a TB test done, which she did FANTASTIC in... no flinching or crying!! By the time we left, there were at least 4 other families already starting to wait. Apparently, by 9:30-10am, the office becomes so backlogged that it often takes about 1-2 hours to complete the testing. We will head back there tomorrow morning (Monday) to have the results of the TB test read... after that's done, we're in limbo mode until our official consulate appointment time on Thursday.

After the medical test was done, our guide brought us back to the hotel and we were done for the day (~ 10am). So, we decided to head out and do some local exploring... which included stops by Starbucks (haha), McDonalds, and JusCo - a 5 story department store that also contains a supermarket. We bought a few small items there - water, ramen noodles, etc. - and headed back to the hotel.

Let me also just say that the hotel where we're staying (the Garden Hotel) is by far the nicest place we've ever stayed in. I think staying in a 2 room suite - which cost us only $140 US to upgrade to for the entire week... I think after our overcrowded accommodations last week in both Beijing and Guiyang... this feels almost like a vacation! :)

Last night, we ventured out to have dinner at a local Mexican restaurant called Tekila - which was a nice change of pace from the Chinese food. The dinner was fine - and they accepted Visa credit cards, so that helped me to conserve alittle cash. After dinner was over and we were walking back --- it happened... the dreaded meltdown. We were walking along a very busy road when our daughter Ashlyn wanted a piggyback ride on Mommy. When she got up on Ginny - that meant that Mia had to hold my hand... which she was NOT going to do. She was pulling away from me towards the busy road. Unfortunately, I did what I had to do... pick her up and carry her back to the hotel... which was about a 10 minute walk.

... SHE SCREAMED AT ME THE ENTIRE WAY BACK...

Oh well... I made a comment on Facebook afterwards about how I should have chosen another place to stand my ground as a parent instead of a busy street in Guangzhou, China at night when she's screaming at me in Chinese... probably would have gone over alittle better in the US since no one would understand her...

Anyways, once we got back to the hotel room - the crying stopped, I dried her tears, got her bath going, and within a few minutes - she was back to being my friend. I think that we'll avoid circumstances like that for the near future (i.e. until we get home), but thankfully, this meltdown was mild compared to others I've read about...

Today, we got up and went down to the best meal of the day - breakfast!! :) These breakfast buffets are, by far, the absolute best in the world... it makes the free breakfast buffet at hotels like Homewood Suites or Courtyards seem disgusting... I mean... when a hotel offers both crispy and fried bacon choices... I think we have a winner!

During breakfast both yesterday and this morning, we've been sat near other adoptive families staying here at the hotel. One funny story was yesterday's couple - I overheard them saying they were from New York. I turned around and asked them from where in NY... they said it was a town I wouldn't have heard of... Painted Post. :) I told them I grew up in Corning, worked at Corning Inc. for 5 years, and that my parents still live in the area and so we're up there constantly. Talk about a small world!!

Then this morning, we met another couple who were here adopting 2 boys from China - they live in Washington state, and have 5 biological kiddos, along with 2 other adopted kids at home!! They seriously impressed us!! They've already been here 11 days and have gotten one of their boys - with tomorrow being their Gotcha Day for their other son. So, please be praying for them, if you can :)

After breakfast, we headed over to Shamian Island for alittle sightseeing, which included shopping for girl's traditional Chinese dresses, as well as having lunch over at Lucy's. Lucy's restaurant was a mainstay for adoptive families back when there were so many American families adopting children from China (2000-2008). The restaurant is located just down the street from the White Swan hotel, which is where all the families would come stay since it was across the street from the old US consulate offices. In the last two years, the hotel has been shut down for complete renovations, and the consulate offices have been moved across the city. But, back in it's hayday - Lucy's offered families one of the closest options for eating Western foods near the hotel. The menu had items like steaks, burgers, pizza, and such...

So we're now back at the hotel... ready to take the girls down to play at the hotel's playground... have I mentioned how nice this place is?? :)

Inside the Guangzhou medical clinic

Mia getting her eyesight tested

Inside another examination room


This is the hotel gardens - I think the waterfall is about 6-7 stories tall

Our girls blowing bubbles along the sidewalk

View of the hotel pool on the 4th floor - I took the photo also because of the Chinese flag in the background

Family photo on Shamian Island

This statue is a photo-op must for adoptive families in Guangzhou

The Chinese paparazzi found Ashlyn again

Apparently, couples flock to Shamian Island to have their wedding photos done a few weeks before the actual ceremony. This was one of 3 couples we saw out and about having photos taken.

Our girls :)

Beautiful!!

Sisters!!

Laughing at the funny daddy