Home at Last!

Sunday 9:00pm

Thursday in China went well, we didnt really have a lot of time to do much. We took the red-couch picture and then we had to check out of the hotel and head to the US Consulate to pick up Saiya's Visa. After that, Connie took us to the train station and we left GuangZhou for Hong Kong. Saiya did great on the train. She loved to look out the window and read through the magazines. Then she discovered a new game. She took Chris's book, randomly picked a page and had me start to read to her. Then after about a paragraph, she would take the book back, flip to a different page and let me read some more. This went on for about an hour and a half. She loves being read to! I think she is going to pick up english very quickly!

Friday we spent wandering around Hong Kong. For our last day, we took it easy. It was the one day we were in China where we didnt have to be anywhere or meet with anyone. So we wandered through the shops and restaurants near our hotel and stumbled upon the Hong Kong Science Museum. We took Saiya to the museum and she LOVED it!! She had a blast there! The museum was huge with lots of things for her to play with and experiment with. She was a little young for understanding most of it, but she had fun nonetheless.

Saturday was the LONGEST day ever... Because we didnt sleep on the plane, we were up for over 24 hours straight. Enough said.  Immigration was a bit of a hassle as we were told that we could be processed all together in the US Resident Line, which was not the case.  Saiya had a bit of a melt down while we waited in line, not that I can blame her.  We were all very tired and exhausted from the long flight and now we had to wait in line... twice... and then go through Customs.  So, yeah, we had to wait in yet another line.  If I were her, I would have done the same thing.

Saiya did great on the extrememly long plane ride.  We really didnt hear much out of her besides the little songs she sings to herself.  She watched several disney movies (without the sound because she refused to wear the headphones we brought for her) and colored and played.  None of us slept on the plane, which was a good thing and a bad thing.  Good because that means we sleep the night through and will have little to no jet-lag, bad because we were all CRANKY!  Haha, especially little Saiya.  But she loves Auntie Tami, she cried when she left for the night.

Today was our first full day home.  We landed in Orlando last night at 8:15pm.  After an hour ride home and a quick bite to eat at McDonalds (Chris was in Heaven!) we finally got home around 9:45pm.  We came home to a spotless house (thanks to my loving sister!) and balloons and a cookie-cake for Saiya that said "Welcome Home".  We spent a little bit of time introducing her to the animals.  She didnt really like being on the floor with the dogs (I think it had something to do with them being eye to eye with each other), but she slowly got over her anxiety and we finally went to bed around 11:30pm.

We decided to put her in bed with us as that would be the easiest thing to do and it was late, we were all very tired, and all we wanted was sleep.  She insisted on sleeping on my left, which put me in the middle between her and Chris.  I knew that was a bad idea from the start, but she threw a fit when I tried to move her to the middle.  So I let her be.  Around 6:30 this morning, I woke up to a *SPLAT*.  Yup, she rolled off of the bed and right onto the floor, landing in a face-down froggie position.  I jumped out of bed and picked her up.  She was still ASLEEP!  Talk about your heavy sleeper!  I put her in the middle of the bed and she only woke up and started crying after a few minutes when she realized her poor little nose was bleeding.  It wasn't broken or anything and she calmed down quickly after we got her all cleaned up.  She refused to lay back down on our bed though and decided it was much more fun to bounce around and crawl all over us while we struggled to fall back asleep.  Since we were all awake anyway, we decided to crawl out of bed around 7am this morning.

We made a run to Walmart this morning to get some essentials for Saiya and pick up some food.  Saiya likes to help Chris push the cart, so it took us a little longer than we planned because her little legs can only go so fast and she can barely reach the handle.  But she was having fun, so we went with it.  We had lunch, and tried to put her down for a nap in her room, but she wasnt having any of that.  She cried and whined for about an hour (although she stayed on the bed).  We gave up on the whole nap idea and let her play in the living room.  I went to take a nap for a couple of hours and she did great with Chris.  She even let him take her outside for a short walk.  After my nap, I took over while Chris went to lay down for about an hour and a half while I made dinner.  She played in the toy room.  She finally discovered the goodies in the toy-box.  :)  We gave her a bath, I trimmed her hair and put her down on the mattress we put on the floor in our room.  She fell asleep almost immediately.  Poor thing was so tired.  I'm just glad I dont have to worry about her tumbling off of our bed again.  I like the idea of having her on the floor much better.

Visa Appointment and Oath Day

Thursday 10:00am

Our Visa appointment went off without a hitch. On Tuesday, Connie went to the embassy in our place and we stayed in our room and waited for her to call. She called around 11:30am and told us that one of the forms we filled out was expired. Strange since that form was printed directly from the USCIS US Consulate website. It was not a big deal and we filled out the newer form for Connie to give to the consulate. After that, we were free to wander the island. We wandered around and when it got too hot, we retreated to the air conditioning.

Yesterday we had the morning free to wander the island, we went to Lucy’s for lunch, where Saiya had her first peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and then we met up with Connie at 2pm to head to the US Consulate for the swearing of the oath. The oath process was surprisingly simple. The consulate officers compared our passports to our paperwork and then when they were finished with all of the families, we all swore an oath. It was super cute. As we raised our hands and began repeating after the consulate officers, Saiya raised her hand and gibbered along. After the oath ceremony we met Connie with a big hug and headed back to the hotel. After about an hour to refresh and drop stuff off in the room, we headed back down to meet Connie for the dinner cruise.

The dinner Cruise was awesome! It was absolutely beautiful on the river. Many of the buildings have lights that flicker and change so that passing boats and river tours can be amazed by the bright colors and beauty of the river front. The river cruise was very much a highlight of the trip. Connie even managed to get us really good seats right in the front of the boat. It was very hot and humid, even at night, but the boat tour was still very nice. Saiya loves boats!! She spent a lot of time hanging out on the deck, watching the boats and river front go by.

Today we are taking to red couch picture, pick up our Visa, and then we head to the train which will take us to Hong Kong. We will be in Hong Kong for one day and then its off to home! We are really excited to finally be heading home.

Paperwork and the Jade Market

Monday 6:00pm

Yesterday we didnt do much here in Guangzhou. We met our guide, Connie, at 10:30 and went through all of the paperwork needed for our Visa appointment. After that, we were free to wander about the island. We had lunch at Lucy's and headed back to the hotel for a nap. Saiya refused to go to sleep. That child can entertain herself for hours. We met the other families at 6pm for dinner at a local chinese restaurant. The food was wonderful! Chris was not impressed, but they had tashu baos so he was happy! Saiya really likes them too! After dinner we went to a local bakery and had some cake for dessert. Then it was time for bed.

Today we met Connie at 9:30am to head to a local Budhist temple for a tour and do some shopping at the jade market. Since it is a national American holiday, the consulate was closed today, so we had all day to explore and really get to know China. On the way to the temple, Connie explained a little bit about Guanzhou and some of China's holidays. The mid-autum festival starts next week and the traditional dessert for that holiday is the moon cake. So we stopped off to get some. Yum Yum! The temple was awesome and very relaxing. The monks even did a traditional budhist blessing for our children. We were very grateful! I'm so glad that Saiya is old enough to be able to experience things like that. maybe she will remember it when she is older.

We bought a few gifts for family back home at the jade market, although not alot because it is expensive. We got back to the hotel about 12, had lunch at Lucy's and then it was off to the room for a nap. Saiya crashed hard. Poor girl was so tired. After her nap, we attempted the pool. She wasnt really interested in playing with the other kids, but didnt really throw a fit when we put her in the pool. I kept her in my lap for the most part and she refused to leave me to go splash around on her own. I'm certain that she is going to love the pools at home, we just have to get her more comfortable around other children.

After dinner, we headed back to the room for a moon cake dessert! Saiya loved them! :) Yum Yum!

Visa Physical

Sunday 10:00am

Yesterday we had our Visa Physical in Guangzhou. The physical part wasnt so bad. We had to take a picture for the Visa application first, which Saiya did great for. She loves to have her picture taken. I wish I had known we were going to be taking pictures yesterday or I would have put her in the dress I brought for her. Oh well. :( After the pictures we walked a little down the street to the Visa clinic where there were hundreds of other families with children waiting to be examined. Saiya did great at the physical. She needed to have 7 vaccination shots, which was the most out of all of the children in our group. When it was our turn for vaccinations, I held her in my lap while she cried and cried. It was so sad, I wanted to cry too!! After receiving two shots in one arm, one in the other along with the TB test, and two shots in each leg, she was a miserable little girl. Tears like waterfalls down her face. We handed her some candy and she was a little happier. Once she was happy with the candy, she chowed down on some oreo cookies we brought.

After the physical, we walked back towards the hotel. The island we are on is absolutely beautiful! There is a very nice park next door to the hotel where we wandered around for a little while. We had lunch at Lucy's, which is a very good diner that caters to american tastes. Chris fell in love with their hamburgers! After lunch it was back to the hotel for a nap.

After Saiya's nap, we went out in search of McDonalds. We got directions from the CAWLI doctor. Apparently, we didnt walk far enough, because we never found it. We ended up wandering through a traditional chinese market street. They were selling all sorts of things, mostly dried herbs, vegetables, and a variety of animals for meat. Among the animals were live chickens, turtles, and scorpions (yes, scorpions!!). There were barrels and barrels full of scorpions and other creepy-crawlies! eeeeeeeeeeek! Once we figured we had enough of the traditional chinese market (which wasnt long) we headed back to the island and straight for Lucy's for dinner! Haha!

We did a little bit of shopping while we were out. We bought a couple of gifts for my niece and nephew and a new hat for chris and an outfit for Saiya to wear for the famous red couch picture.

Today we meet the guide at 10:30am. No one really knows why, but we are assuming we are going to be filling out paperwork for the Visa Application. After that, I think we are free to wander around again today. The sun is out and it finally stopped raining, I am very excited to be getting out of the hotel room!

Plane trip to Guangzho

Saturday  9:00am

Yesterday we left Ningxia for Guangzho.  We were very happy to be leaving Ningxia.  The guide dropped us off at the airport and we had to wait about an hour before our flight took off.  We got Saiya's Chinese passport and we will get an American Passport for her at the US Consulate after her Visa Appointments.

The plane ride was quite an experience for our girl!  She is a really good flier.  She had this look of utter shock when the wheels left the ground and when we landed, but other than that she didnt seem impressed.  She liked looking out the window but had difficulty doing that while buckled in.  We had a brief stop in Xi'an and then it was off to Guangzho.  The flight into the Guangzho was a little more traumatic as it was way past her nap time and she was really hungry.  She had a hard time falling asleep on the plane and finally knocked out about a half hour before we landed.  So that made her really cranky by the time we got to the hotel to get some dinner around 9pm last night.

Dinner at the White Swan was AMAZING!!  Chris had the best hamburger ever!  Saiya was too tired to really be interested in any food, although she ate a little bit of my dinner.  Breakfast this morning was everything we hoped it would be and more!  There were even tater-tots!  Chris was in heaven.  We met a few of the other families, although we are all really too wrapped up in our children to be interested in finding common ground.  There are literally HUNDREDS of chinese adoptees at the White Swan.  I can only imagine that the US Consulate is really close.  There are families from all over the US who used a variety of different adoption agencies.  The hotel is swimming with kids and American parents.

It was raining last night when we arrived and according to the local people here, there is a typhoon which is going to be dumping TONS of rain for the rest of the week.  Thats a shame because we were really looking forward to exploring more of the city and maybe doing some shopping while we are here.  :)

Today we have our visa physical and other appointments.  I'm not sure how long that will take, but maybe we will be free this afternoon to do some laundry and exploring and just get out and about.

Saiya is doing so much better with Chris.  Especially in our hotel room where things are not so new to her.  She plays with him and laughs and lets him tickle her.  They have been playing together all morning.  A refreshing change from the melt down we had last night.  Both Saiya and mamma had a pretty hard time last night.  But I think we are seeing the silver lining at this point.

Last Full Day in Ningxia

Friday 5:30am

Yesterday was our last full day here in Ningxia.  We have a 1pm fllight from here to Guangzhou this afternoon which means we have to meet at the airport around 11:30.  We can't wait to get to Guangzhou.  Hopefully the beds will be softer.  :)

Yesterday we went back to the notary to pick up all of our paperwork and receive notarized translations of all of our documents.  After that, we headed to another park, called "Forest Park".  This park was much bigger and nicer than the other one.  There was even a train that went all the way around the park.  Saiya seemed to liked the train ride around the park.  The weather in the morning was perfect for it.  After the train ride, we tried to get her to play in the ball pit and on the trampoline, but she wasnt interested.

After Forest Park, we went to a Budhist temple.  The temple was beautiful!  There was a large pagoda in the middle of the grounds.  We didnt stay there long, but we did get a chance to wander around a little bit.  The temple is fully functioning and according to our guide houses 20 monks and priests.  There were several people there praying and making offerings.

Lunch was the best food we have had since coming to Ningxia.  We were not sure what to have, so we asked our guide for some suggestions.  He took us to a nice chinese restaurant where he made suggestions and ordered for us.  The food was absolutely wonderful!  It almost made up for the surprisingly disappointing food we have been having most of the week.

Saiya is doing great!  She still doesnt want to play with other kids, but she is slowly, VERY slowly, coming around to Chris.  She loves the computer.  Everytime I sit down to it, she tries to crawl in my lap so she can see what I am doing.  Its cute.  She lets me work and just likes to watch the screen.  Last night we watched Mulan in chinese.  I'm not sure if she really understodd it all.  She didnt make a sound while we were watching it.  She didnt even laugh at the funny parts.  But she sat there and was sort of mezmerized by it.  I would give anything to know what she was thinking...

Today its off to the airport for her first plane ride.  We will see how that goes!  Wish us luck!

Notary and Park - Take 2

Wednesday 7:00pm

Today we went back to the notary office to make sure that the paperwork was correctly translated.  After that, we headed back to the Ningxia Park.  Saiya did much better today.  When we first entered the park, there was another little girl there about Saiya's age.  We tried to get her to say "hi".  She was a little shy, but kind of placated us and went along with it.  Our guide, Tony, spoke to her in chinese and told her to chase the birds.  She spent most of the time there chasing the birds and running along the paths through the park.

She is still having a few problems connecting with Chris.  She would not let him hold her hand today.  At the notary office, I was handling paperwork and I plopped her in his lap and she started to cry.  She was fine there as long as I was holding her hand, but otherwise, she wasnt interested in having him hold her.  She especially gets that way when she is tired or cranky.  At dinner we tried something different and had Chris sit next to her instead of me.  She got all scrunchy faced and wouldnt say a word.  When the food came, she refused to eat or let him put food in front of her.  So we switched spots and that made her happy.  I'm sure she will come around eventually.  On the up side, he's taking it all in stride.  Good daddy!

After the park, we sat down for a small break and had some ice cream.  I'm not sure if she ever had ice cream before, but she seemed to really enjoy it.  Our guide asked us what we wanted for lunch.  Chris imediately said "hamburgers" thinking we would find a McDonald's or something.  Tony, our guide, said the only place in town to get hamburgers is KFC.  I looked at him and said "KFC doesnt have hamburgers".  He had a puzzled look on his face, so we took a gamble and went with it.  Come to find out, in China, "hambuger" is any kind of sandwich...  KFC has "chicken hamburgers" and "fish hamburgers" but no "cow hamburgers".  Poor Chris.  There is no McDonald's in this town either.

After we got back to the hotel, we put her down for a nap.  After dinner she was coloring with Yoshi.  She does this new thing where she will sit on top of Yoshi and do a little hop like she is riding him like a horse.  Poor Yoshi!!  I am trying to get it on video.  :)  So cute!!

Tomorrow we have to go and pick up her passport and stop by the notary again.  We leave Ningxia on Friday afternoon.  We really can't wait to get to Guangzhou and meet up with the other families.  Also, I think Chris is ready for some more "americanized" food... Like McDonald's.