Now in Guangzhou

Ni Hao from Guangzhou. This is a very busy place, for this is the second night of the Asian Games. We were supposed to come last night, however our hotel was overbooked. I found out earlier that the President of Pakistan was at the same hotel last night that we are staying. I'm kind of glad we weren't here for all of that. I thought I saw some secret service looking people here earlier. I told Bill they had ear pieces and everything. Now I know why.

I apologize if I miss-communicated. Some of you may have thought that we were heading home, no, just here to Guangzhou. In Fuzhou, Fujian we had to address all the legalities for Nina to leave China according to the China govt. Here in Guangzhou is where the U.S. Consulate is. Now we have to address all the legalities of her coming home according to US law. I will try to give you the cliff note version. Every hour things change, progress, two steps forward, one step back. I love sharing these things with you. I hope I am not putting anyone to sleep.

O.K., so we're in Guangzhou. Our morning in Fuzhou wasn't smooth sailing. First of all, I had to wake Nina up at 5:30 AM. Not easy for any kid. But, especially for a kid who doesn't understand why she's being woken up and by someone who is claiming to be her mom after 7 days. So, understandable. However, once she saw our guide, you know it, she cried. She cried the hour long ride to the airport, at the airport and on the plane. This difficulty was two-fold. One, I could do nothing to ease her pain and reassure her. Two, the Chinese are very loving and very concerned. The stand and watch and stare for long periods of time. While Bill and my dad were checking in at the airport I was encircled by these sweet caring people staring at us wondering what was wrong. Fortunately, at our gate, two young moms knew enough to understand the problem and helped me reassure her. Then, on the plane the helped. The flight attendants helped and the lady behind us helped. God sent many helpers my way (God is meeting our needs, thank you for the prayers). On the plane she would have been fine other than the seat belt. Didn't like it. (That's going to be a challenge in the van!) 1/3 into the flight she was fine.

Once we arrived in Guangzhou, Nina was quiet and mad but not crying. We had to go to the medical clinic first thing for a TB test. This test is where the inject something under the skin layers to see if there is a TB reaction. I was certain we were going to hear screams. The orphanage reported she cannot stand going to the doctor. However, it was smooth sailing, piece of cake.

The week in a nutshell:

Monday we go get Nina's picture taken for her travel Visa.
Go to Medical Clinic for exam (yeah! what fun!)

Tuesday is our US consulate Oath-taking Ceremony. Official family day. However, no pictures, allowed.

Thursday we pick up her Visa and we are free to go.

Which we will on Friday. We fly from here to Shanghai, then to Chicago and then home. We will finally hit our door step around 1:00 AM on Saturday. After 30 hours total of travel time. Oh begin praying for that one. I just calculated those numbers for the first time.

So, may I bore you more and tell you about my daughter. She is incredibly meticulous. She takes at least 4 minutes to brush her teeth, with a very strict routine of brushing and rinsing. Then she washes her little sweet face. She can wring every drop of water out of a wash cloth. She doesn't like anything on her, at all, and wants her socks & tights very straight and even with her toes. She giggles so adorably. And runs and skips like any other little girl. However, this little girl has had her world rocked, and she can still find moments to giggle, skip and hop. Yeah! She adores my dad and doesn't want to leave him behind when we go places.

I look forward to when she can call me mama and say a few words other than a! (short a). But, we understand that, and some of her Mandarin and have our own little charade interaction going on.

Nina is warming up to the name Nina and responding when we call her that. She also is warming up to Bill. He taught her 'give me 5'! So, thank you thank you for your prayers. They are being answered and giving me strength.

Sorry no pics right now. We will get some tomorrow.

Love to you all!

P.S. Stay tuned, Bill is going to send an update.