Last days in China

Our last post was Monday,12/10. After that we were unable to access the blog..then we got home and well, all the visiting and visitors, being sick, and then our glorious Christmas just put me behind on posting. To try and catch you up, the last two days in China were great in one way - we got to spend a lot of mellow time with Sophie, but really tough in another...seems I caught some kind of stomach bug and brought it home.

The flight home was MUCH better than the flight to China...other than my tummy issues. No crazy happenings...but about 20 minutes into our first flight, though, Sophie did a "number" and my fabulous husband, feeling sorry for me, volunteered to do the diaper change. He had not changed one poopy diaper, then had to do it in an airplane bathroom. I felt so bad for him...only for a few seconds, though :) Out of about 20 hours of flying time, Sophie had about 3 rough hours. She made lots of friends!

I'll never forget this trip and will tell Sophie about it often. She comes from a very beautiful country, with a very rich history.


Our last group picture.


Sophie suddenly becomes a "cling on" baby.


But we had to get the famous Red Couch picture.


Ahhh, I have my mommy again. All is good!


Can we remove the hair accessory now???


I love my family!!


Feeling brave...no one around except for mommy and daddy.




Our gorgeous daughter...we are so in love with her.


Hope to see you again soon, Gemma!


Hmmm, tell me more about Christmas....




Building renovation next to our hotel.


The scaffolding is made of bamboo and twine...Can you say OSHA violation??


Sand worms available at the restaurant around the corner...if only my stomach had been feeling better, I would have tried some...sure, yeah, I would have..


Which one did you want for dinner? This one? No, that one...I never did figure out how they resolved that situation...


The inner cities are dense with high rise apartment buildings.


Big girl riding a bus home after the American side of the adoption is final.


Not so big girl wanting to know "How much longer??"


My last bath in China.

All is going well at home. Sophie is having a time getting used to sleeping in a room alone. I spend a lot of time in the rocking chair with her in her room. She did sleep with us twice and it was wonderful, but we feel it's best for her to feel comfortable in her own room. Say a prayer for her...and for me, it's tough hearing this baby I've waited so long for cry...

Will give another update soon. Love to all...

Having fun before bath time...

She was full of giggles before her bath tonight. I just didn't want to stop, but trying to stay on the 8:00 bedtime routine. Hope we can get on a schedule easily when we get home...



Can't wait for the 13th!!!!!

Love, Love!!

Monday, 12/10/07 in Guangzhou

Today was our first full day here. At 9:00 a.m. we all met in the lobby to walk over to the visa photo office, then to the medical exam office. She was quite solemn for her photo, then as we were waiting for our turn in the VERY busy medical office, she fell asleep. I got all teary watching the other babies, crying in fear, and I dreaded seeing Sophie go through this. I'm so thankful she doesn't have to endure a doctor visit until we get home:) Anyway, today was a great day! Sophie is becoming more relaxed around us, yet also becoming more dependent and attached. It feels so good to know that we comfort her when she is scared (it happened at the temple visit today - some ladies were trying to give her some small gifts and scared her...she just wanted me to hold her and she immediately calmed right down) or tired.

Hope you enjoy the pics...


Hangin with my Daddy!


Sophie's friend, Gemma, with her mommy, Mary.


Mom's and babies before the dredded exam.


Thank goodness she slept through it! She weighs 19.2 lbs and is 29 inches long.


Talking on the phone to Aunt Tracey! Can wait to meet you!


Sittin pretty...


Visit to the Six Banyan Temple. Named after 6 huge banyan trees on the grounds. What beautiful craftmanship! So sad to learn that all the temples/buildings and 3 of the trees were destroyed during WWII. All was rebuilt after the war. So heartbreaking to imagine what war does to lives and cultures..




More from the temple.


One of our AWESOME guides, Kathy. Sophie just loves her!


Seafood resaurants feature LIVE seafood!!


Spitting in public is quite common...


Havin fun with mommy!


Did you know I have 6 teeth???!!!


Still back there, mom?

Love to all,

Made it to Guangzhou

So if you were tracking our flight, Mom and Tracey, you probably thought, ahhh, they're on their way...flight takes off on time, takes no detours, and lands on time. HAH! Fooled you...we had paper tickets, but upon baggage check in the computer shows that we have e-tickets. Big problem - everything must match. We must go back to ticketing to have the discrepancy corrected before we can check our baggage and board the plane. Don't feel bad for us. Mary and Bill had e-tickets, but the computer showed they had paper tickets. VERY big problem - the only way to fix their situation was to actually purchase new tickets - AGAIN! Yikes! We all made it to boarding, Mary and Bill in the nick of time!

The pics below are from our last day in Nanning, Guangxi - our daughter's city, province.


Who ordered the chicken basket??


Heading to the alley to hide from the police.


Not allowed to sell outside of the market...


What are they doing with all those chickens??


Barry shouts "Baby, just keep walking...don't look".


Sophie attracts more attention.


Oh, not the dogs...


I'm going vegetarian!!


Just thinking of Lilly...we come home on her birthday...and Gracie's birthday!!


Outback, here we come!!




City life...


Chicken feet...and not sure what else...


Imagine everyone leaving at the same time!


Ahh....back home, well to the hotel that is. Notice the bow. Someone asked me if Sophie was a boy or a girl!!! My heavens to Betsy!! I went straight to the store and bought a couple of clips for her hair!

Love to all...Night, Night!