We're home!

Just a quick post to let everyone know we're home.  It was a very trying journey but MeiLin did a great job on the plane.  She didn't sleep much over the last twenty-seven hours so I'm hopeful she sleep tonight.  I plan to post more pictures tomorrow. 

I have to say -- we are absolutely the most secure family in the world.  We had to go through two security checkpoints in Ghangzhou.  We landed in Tokyo, took a bus from the plane to the terminal and went through another checkpoint (they took my water that I had purchased in China -- I was not happy because MeiLin needed a bottle).  Therefore, I had to purchase water in Tokyo -- I had no yen and didn't know where to exchange money so I ended up using the dreaded credit card.  I can tell you that I do not recommend buying McDonald's in Tokyo -- while the water was only $1.40 in USD, a Big and Tasty combo meal and child's chicken nugget meal cost $16.00 USD.  However, the food tasted out of this world (I'm just not sure it was worth $16.00). 

We finally landed in Chicago after riding the airplane for 11 hours.  My ankles are as large as grapefruits from sitting so long -- I even got up and walked a few times.  We went through the immigrants/visitors line where an immigration officer quickly glanced through our paperwork and then directed us to a line.  That immigration officer looked through our passports, scanned them into the computer and then stamped them.  He then looked through MeiLin's paperwork, stapeled a few things to a pink folder, put a bunch of papers in the pink folder and directed us to the baggage claim for international.  We claimed our bags and then went to another immigration officer who looked through the pink folder and he directed us to another immigration officer sitting behind a desk.  He looked through all the paperwork, stamped a few things and returned only MeiLin's passport.  We took our bags through customs and then to the connecting flights desk.  A very kind United agent asked where we were going and took our bags for us.  We then were directed to the domestic flights part of the airport and went through security again.  While I'm glad that airlines and governments are taking precautions, it quickly moved from the ridiculous to the sublime today especially after traveling for twenty-five hours by the time we debarked from the last plane!

Hope everyone gets a good night's sleep tonight.  I know I'm looking forward to it!

We're on our way home

The appointment at the consulate went off without a hitch and MeiLin is officially our daughter and new little sister.  We all received our brown packages which means we can leave today instead of waiting until tomorrow which is also good.  As soon as MeiLin touches her feet or any body part on American soil, she is officially a US citizen. 

We're getting ready to leave in a few hours.  The bell boy will be by in about forty-five minutes for our checked luggage.  We'll eat breakfast from six until six thirty and then board the bus for the airport and in a short twenty seven hours or so, we'll be at our home airport.  Prayers for safe flights would be greatly appreciated!

Not too much to write about today

Allison said everything went fine at the consulate and we have our appointment there tomorrow to take our oath and collect the babies' visas.  Hopefully there will be no printing problems and we will be able to leave as scheduled early Wednesday morning.

Today was pretty low key for us.  We spent time walking around the island and swimming.  I went to the pearl shop with several other families.  It was rather interesting and the pictures do not do it justice! 

Ghangzhou

Ghangzhou is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday we went to church -- it was a Mandarin/English service.  As expected, it was much different than the tranditional Masses we attend at home.  We didn't do much else yesterday.  MeiLin didn't sleep a whole lot the night before and we were rather tired.  We did have the babies' pictures taken on the Red Couch.  It was hysterical watching all these parents keep their babies propped up (some still cannot sit up) and smile.  While we were taking photos, there was a rush of other people staying in the hotel taking their pictures also.  It was interesting!

Today, Allison will go to the consulate to go through our paperwork and this afternoon I will be going to the pearl factory with some of the other ladies from the group. 

MeiLin is working on sitting up still -- she can do it and will do it when propped against some pillows on the bed.  She still hasn't figured out rolling over yet but she's getting there.  JD absolutely loves his little sister and is always willing to play with her, comfort her or feed a bottle.  He continues to run when we offer him the opportunity to change a diaper.

The White Swan Hotel is absolutely wonderful.  There just aren't enough words to sing its praises!

Ghangzhou

Note -- some pictures are from Nanchang and some are of Ghangzhou.

We made it to Ghangzhou!!  Last night was a late and tiring night.  We arrived at the airport in Nanchang aound 3:15 and waited for our flight to be called.  It was delayed so we had to wait longer than expected.  The flight was absolutely packed!  MeiLin did a great job.  She cried a few times and by the end of the flight was asleep.

After we collected our luggage, we walked outside where the humidity slapped us in the face.  The feeling was similar to being in The Florida Keys in July but more humid.  It's nuts.

We're staying in the White Swan.  Only one word describes it -- WOW!!!!  The room is gorgeous and the view is out of this world.  We have a grreat view of the Pearl River.  At night, the shoreline is lit up like a Christmas tree.  I wasn't able to take a picture of it last night that did it justice due to the humidity on the windows.  I'll try again tonight. Now, back to the hotel.  Our room has granite coutertops throughout and marble on the floor.  There is carpet under the bed.  MeiLin has a crib and JD has a trundle bed.  We had turn down service last night and tonight AND they left chocolates for us both nights.  The staff has been great -- when we came in this afternoon we asked at the front desk if someone could empty the refrigerator so we could put our drinks in it.  By the time we came upstairs, someone from housekeeping met us at the door and proceeded to empty the refrigerator for us. 

Today MeiLin had her medical exam.  She did fine during two of the three stations -- she struggled when the doctor poked and prodded her but she did fine during the ENT portion and the measuring portion.  We did a little bit of shopping today.  It was interesting haggling with the shop owners.  Two of the shop owners said they were discounting their prices because we were the first customers of the day. 

Tonight we had dinner at a local restaurant.  Again, the food was great.  Allison, our guide, ordered everything for us as the Cantonese are known for eating anything that swims, walks on four legs or flys.   

MeiLin is growing by leaps and bounds.  Today she sat up on her own and played for about seven minutes.  This is the first time she's done this.  She is getting close to rolling over but is not.  She is such a sweet baby.

Goodbye, Nanchang

Today will be a short post as we are getting ready to leave Nanchang and are in the process of packing and checking out.  This is very bittersweet for me as we are moving forward in our journey in parenthood and as a family but we're taking MeiLin from her home province. 

As cooky as it sounds, MeiLin has grown leaps and bounds just in the few short days we've had her.  She has noticeably put on weight since Sunday (she weighs all of sixteen pounds), she smiles and laughs, she can move a toy from one hand to another, although it is slow and she can bang two items together.  She has two teeth coming in on the bottom.  She cannot sit up nor can she roll over yet but she will get there. 

Remnin part 2 with the pictures

Remnin Part part 2

Renmin Park part 1

Today we visited a porcelain shop and Renmin (People's) Park.  It was a great day.  The province of Jiangxi is specifically known for it's porcelain. We purchased a few items as they are from her specific province but are holding out for Guangzhou due to the weight limit of our bags while flying inside China.  We were successful in keeping our bags around the 38 pound mark when we flew here and we have used several supplies so hopefully there will be balance between what we've used and what we've purchased.

Renmin or People's Park was absolutely beautiful.  We were constantly stopped by people to have our photos taken -- especially JD with his red hair.  Several moms stopped us so their children could talk to JD.  It was so sweet.  The park was developed because many Chinese people cannot afford to go to the gym.  The government built this park and several others for the people to have a place to go to socialize as well as work out.  We saw several groups of people exercising in the park. 

JD had an opportunity to walk on water today although he spent more time crawling.  He and a few others took the opportunity to go on the water in a ball filled with air.  It was much harder than it looked at first but JD said he had a blast!