Savannah in front of Lucy's--a bit of a staple for homesick westerners

Tonight (Tuesday night) is our last night in China. Today we took our oath in mass (there were maybe 30 families taking it at the same time) to say the information we provided the US Consulate was true to the best of our knowledge. Tomorrow, our guide will pick up our visa and at 9:00 pm we will fly out of Guangzhou to L.A. We are ready to be home and can’t wait to see our family and friends. We’ve had a great time, but it’s time to go and we are ready.

I’ve posted some pictures for you to see, of our second-to-last day here in Guangzhou. We hope you enjoy them. We may get a chance to post tomorrow since we are leaving in the PM, but I’m not sure if we will or not. We still have to pack tomorrow, which should take a bit of time (lots of planning surrounding that–what to put in the carry on, what to check). For those of you that would like to, we could use some prayer that our medications for Jade will go through okay. We are putting smaller portions into smaller bottles to take with us. Hopefully we will have no problem with them. ;o)

One last cool thing to tell is that tonight Mark was a bit exhausted after a dinner where Jade couldn’t be contained very well, and so he couldn’t eat very easily (since I can’t hold Jade without her crying, it’s frustrating for him because he’s always on to hold her where ever we go) I was playing with Jade in our room to try to get her doing something and out of Mark’s hair for a while. She ended up falling asleep on me. We continue to see small signs like this (it’s always two steps forward and one step back, but the progression overall is forward) that give us encouragement. I still cannot just pick up Jade and hold her for an extended period of time, but at least I can be a taxi for her for short holds and at least if she can’t have her favorite person (Mark), she’ll settle for me when she feels she is in need. I am so glad for this, and continue to work toward having her trust and rely on me more and more. Each day is a new day and many more chances to show her that I love her and can be trusted–knowing something like this takes time, patience and persistence–which is something I can do. ;o)

To everyone, all the friends and family, who has followed our journey, we appreciate all of your wonderful feedback and we love all of you. Zai Jian.

Melissa, Mark, Savannah and Jade

Savannah at the thai restaurant we ate at tonight.

Today our paperwork was reviewed by the American Consulate (through our guide, we didn’t have to go ourselves) and our guide said there were no problems with it. Yay!!! Tomorrow at 2:15 we will be going to the Consulate to take our oath with Jade. Quite honestly I can’t remember what the oath is about, but it’s a formality we do to finalize our adoption. It is the last step in the process here in China (when we get into the US we will have one last hurdle and that is going through US Customs and Immigration). Then Wednesday we will get our visa for Jade and Wednesday night we’ll be in the air!

We are actually going to begin packing tomorrow, it is really starting to feel like our time here in China is officially winding down. We are ready to be at home, and can’t wait to get there. There are many oceans between us and home, but as I said to Mark on our last journey home “It’s inevitable, we will eventually get home.” Thanks be to God!

Melissa, Mark, Savannah and Jade

Stopping to smell the flowers

Well, last night we flew to Guangzhou, China (after a short delay of our flight–maybe 1 hour or so), and so far the only negative weather we have experienced from the typhoon that has made land fall here is just rain. We have had rain today, but it hasn’t put any kind of a crimp in our schedule. This morning we met our guide and made our first stop at the photography store where all of us GWCA (Great Wall China Adoption) families got our visa photos for our babies/children (one child is 13 who is being adopted the rest are 4 for younger). After that it was off to the medical office where our children got their “medical exam” (I put this in quotations because it’s a pretty cursory thing–basically making sure we are not bringing any communicable diseases into the US). So, medical exam–check.

By this time it was around lunch time and we were done with most of our official business for the time being, so Mark, Savannah, Jade and I went to get some lunch. We had a good surprise, in that we found out that Jade will eat congee (a rice poridge that many Chinese babies like). Since it’s been like pulling teeth to get her to eat anything else but Cherrios we were very happy to find this out. Yay!

After this, some more business. I (Melissa) had to go do paperwork with our guide, Helen. It all went very well (Helen is very efficient and detail oriented…thank goodness someone in this world is…if that were my job I’d be forgetting things left and right!). After this it was almost dinner time, for which we went out as a group. I’ve posted a picture of some of our dinner…cute, but unfortunately for those birds they are just too delicious to remain alive long (at least in China anyway).

Tonight Jade is not going to bed well, so I guess I’d better get off the computer (clickety clickety of the computer keys maybe keeping her up?) so she will settle down. Love to you all! We can’t wait to be home (notice I didn’t say COME home…I’m still not wanting to think about the flight home–13 hours for the 1st flight, not sure how long for the second from L.A. to Cincinnati, then maybe 1.5 from Cinci to Grand Rapids).

Blessings,

Melissa, Mark, Savannah and Jade

At the Wild Good Pagoda

Today’s outing was to a pagoda that, I guess, is very famous in China–called the Wild Goose Pagoda (not sure why it’s called that– I didn’t see any geese there). It’s famous for three reasons–two of which I forget, but the one I remember is that the pagoda tower leans due to an earthquake centuries ago. Okay, sure, sure…so like, the leaning tower of Wild Goose Pagoda, is how I can think of this.

Anyway, Mark has posted pictures of our outing. Some of them are pretty cool–although, maybe you’ve already seen them because now that I think of it, Trisha (my sister) commented on how nice Savannah’s new dress looks, and she only just wore that today. So, if you’ve seen them, cool, if not…well they are there if you want to.

On the Jade front, everyday has been a little bit better. Her personality is really starting to come out and we are seeing that she is a strong baby girl. She loves, loves, loves to play and her laugh is so infectious! We have loved watching Savannah and Jade play together. Savannah really loves to play with her and if she can’t (because it’s nap time or something) she’s really bummed. It’s been so fun seeing our family begin to feel more and more gelled together with our new little one. We thank God for this time where all we have to do is work on becoming a family together–it’s good.

Tomorrow night (8:00 am Friday EST, for those in the US) we will be flying south to Guangzhou. On a Skype call tonight my mom said there is some kind of tropical storm that may hit there–hopefully not. But Guangzhou (Shaiman Island) is a wonderful place to stay (although maybe not in a storm, since it’s right on the coast). Adoptive families always look forward to Guangzhou because the Shaiman Island is so laid back and beautiful (Mark and I both said the first time that it reminded us of Savannah, Georgia when we were there last). Because we will be flying late, we may not be able to post tomorrow night. But it is possible that we may post during the day tomorrow.

Okay, love you all!

Melissa, Mark, Savannah and Jade

Today our guide (Kathy) took us to see the famous Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an. For those of you who do not know, they are 7000 plus earthen warriors made for the 1st emperor of the united China’s tomb (well, the surrounding area of it anyway–his actual tomb has not been excavated due to lack of technology to preserve after it is excavated). Emporer Qin (CHIN) ruled from 246 to 221 BC, and his clay warriors were only just discovered in the 1970s. It’s a pretty interesting story, which I’m sure all of you will just run out and Google about as soon as you’re done here. Heh heh heh.

Anyway, we went to see the warriors today and it was pretty cool. The pictures help to tell the story much better than words, however, I feel I must mention that in the photos today, there is one photo that is not Kosher and definitely not vegan! So, if you are squeamish about pelts of any sort (especially those of the “pet” variety) you may just want to have a buddy with you to tell you when to look away or something…I don’t know (okay, Jaime, this means you….seriously…get a buddy to help you.)

Later on this evening we went back to our room, after some more time in the Muslim District (didn’t get enough of it when we were there last time…) Savannah and Jade were having a ball playing around the room. This is a big deal because this is the first time Jade has walked around the room to play (usually she doesn’t want to walk, only stay in one place). But she is venturing out more and she and Savannah were having a ball. I was on the floor playing with them too and once when Jade came by laughing, I swiped her up and gave her a kiss. She didn’t cry (I think because she’s always in a good mood when she’s playing). I pretty quickly put her back down, but was glad to see this small step forward. Earlier in the day I tried to pick her up and she cried pretty hard and I had to give her to Mark, so I’m glad to see a little progress on the picking up front. For all of our sakes I am hoping that before we come home I will be able to hold her (because if not, she’s going to have a very miserable time–and so will I and Savannah–when Mark leaves for work that first day). But we thank God for the little steps forward.

With love to you all, and thank you all for all of the comments you have posted! I love seeing them all and reading them. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to respond to each one, but it just seems like there are not enough hours in the day to get done all that we want to! How can that be? Huh. Anyway, we love you all and are so encouraged by your comments. ;o)

With Love,

Melissa, Mark, Savannah and Jade