12.19.2011

Consulate Appointment

So we had Li Rose's consulate appointment this morning, where her documents are reviewed by the US government to make sure everything is in order before she is issued her visa and immigration paperwork.  We had to swear an oath that all the information we provide is correct and then do a quick paperwork review.  Our wonderful guide Aron will pick up her passport and visa tomorrow and we are ready to come home!!  When the plane touches down in Atlanta, Li Rose will become an American citizen!  We are super excited to have finished up this last step in her adoption process.

We spent this afternoon doing some shopping at a wholesale market in Guangzhou.  We were pretty pleased with the things we were able to get, including some dresses for Li Rose to wear both now and later on.  We are planning on finishing up our shopping and doing some sightseeing on "The Island" tomorrow.  I am hoping to be able to find some Chinese music and books for Li Rose.  We are hoping to meet up with some other families we have met while we are here and just enjoy walking around.

Yesterday morning we went to tour Yuntai Garden, which was just beautiful!  I am not sure even pictures will do it justice, it was one of the prettiest botanical gardens I have ever seen.  As we were leaving the garden, we had an older Chinese woman come up to our guide and tell Aron that she could see how much we love our children - it was the same as she loves her son.  We felt blessed to hear that from this woman and glad we were able to convey through our actions how much we love our daughter. 

In the afternoon we got to take a great trip to New Day South foster home with our good friends Scott and Haley and meet Doug and Janice, who I have been emailing with for the last few months.  This is the foster home where Asa is living (yes he is real and even cuter in real life!).  It was such a blessing to get to see the foster home in action - they are doing a great job with these kids!  After just a few minutes, you could tell that the children are well loved and well cared for.  We spent the afternoon playing with children and talking to the staff.  We also got to deliver medical supplies we had collected and I (Chrissy) got to teach them how to use them.  What a blessing to be able to help out a such a great ministry and to use my nursing skills too!

Li Rose is doing amazingly well.  She is a great sleeper (at least so far!), sleeping through the night and napping well during the day.  Today she started "talking" to us more and laughing loudly at things.  It is neat to see the changes in her already and to see how much more she trusts us already.  She is coming out of her shell more and more each day.  It is fun discovering new things about her too.  For instance, we have discovered she doesn't like to hold still for long periods of time, she likes to be moving and seeing new things.  She also loves to be outside and is quite content to just look around.  We think she is a people watcher because she loves to stare out the window and look into cars when we are driving.  She likes to press her face against our's when she is tired and in the front carrier.  The list goes on, we are very blessed to have such a sweet girl in our lives.

Josh continues to do well, although he has been quite tired the last few days.  We think all the travel and perhaps some culture shock is catching up with him.  He continues to love his sister and likes to talk to her.  He is starting to enjoy trying to play with her, but will grab his toys back too when he wants.  He really likes to try to feed her, but we have to watch him because he stuffs the food into her mouth.  We are thankful he seems to be adjusting so well. He is very much the big brother we thought he would be.

We have really enjoyed our time in China but with any long trip, we are also looking forward to being home soon too.  Here are some new pictures, although we are sorry to say we didn't get pictures at the foster home...we were too busy playing with babies.

(2 of the 5 families with us in Guangzhou - this is Yuntai Garden)



(Family picture in the garden's greenhouse)

(Look Mommy fish!!)  

(very excited Li Rose checking out the fish)



(Li Rose trying out the snack holder - she really needed a snack!)

 
(Sweet girl was laughing and playing on the floor)

(Cheese!!)

(playing together - right before Josh tried to force feed Li Rose)

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