Week 1

We have been home one week. I am sorry that we haven't posted a real update until now, but our internet was out until today.

We returned home on July 23rd. It took us over 30 hours in airports and on 3 airplanes to get to Richmond. Michael did well. He slept 9 hours on the plane from Beijing to Chicago. We spent those 9 hours keeping the wiggle worm from falling off the seats. It took us approximately 2 hours to get through Immigration and Customs in Chicago. We made it onto our Richmond bound plane with about 5 minutes to spare. We were bound and determined to make that flight. When we arrived in Richmond, we found out that we made the flight, but our luggage did not. United would have to deliver it to our house the next day. We thought they meant at a reasonable hour the next morning. They called us from our driveway at 4 a.m. to tell us they were delivering our bags. At least, all of the bags showed up and were not damaged.

We are all doing well and are pretty much over the jet lag and time difference. Michael is sleeping about 11 hours a night. He still will only take the bottle. We have been mixing his formula with rice cereal and baby food. We also found liquid vitamins that we can put in with his food, so that we know he is getting all the nutrients he needs.

Since we have been home, he has met many of his new family members. He loves to play with them all. He is such a smart, sweet, and loving boy. He has such a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing all day long.

Here are a few pictures from the last week:

2/3 of our welcoming committee

(Mom is taking the picture)

No more airplanes!!! YAY!

Can you tell I am glad to be home??

Exploring his room

"Riding the Horsie"

Learning to Color with Aunt Carrie

Meeting Chloe

Reading the Menu

Deciding to stick with the bottle

First successful (tearless) bath time!

Just hanging out

Our future golfer

Home!

We have been home since Wednesday night. I am sorry that we have not been able to post until now. We came home to find that our internet is down. A technician is coming out on Monday to fix it. We are all tired, but doing well. We are now sitting in a WiFi hotspot having lunch, so I am going to keep it short. We will write more when our internet is back up.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.

Bill, Felice, and Michael

Our last free day...

Today, we stayed around the hotel and relaxed. This morning after a late breakfast, we took a walk to the park. While we were there, we found Starbuck's. Bill had a cup of coffee and I tried the Peach Pomegranate Tea. We left Starbuck's and headed back to the hotel. We had to be in our room around noon to see if there were any problems with Michael's visa application. If there were problems or questions, we would have a message on the phone in our room. We put Michael down for a nap and stayed in the room until around 2 p.m. We did not get a message, so the paperwork must be fine. YAY!

After Michael's nap, we headed to the pool. He has so much fun in the baby pool. He "swims" from Mama to Baba and just giggles. However, he lets you know when he is ready to go. He starts to climb out of the pool. After finishing our time in the pool, we went back to the room and changed. We had dinner in our hotel. Then, we headed out for a little more shopping and dessert. There is a little shop right off the hotel that has the best cakes. They have small pieces for just under $3. They are delicious.

We brought the cakes back up to the room. We put Michael to bed and started packing.

Tomorrow is a full day. We have pictures at 10 a.m. and go to the consulate in the afternoon to take an oath for Michael's visa. Our bags have to be packed by 9 p.m. We leave the hotel Wednesday at 5 a.m. and head home. We do not look forward to the trip home (over 24 hours on planes and in airports), but cannot wait to get there.

This may be our last post from China. I am not sure how much time we will have tomorrow. We will make sure to let everyone know that we arrived home safely.

The pictures below are of Michael and from around our hotel. One is of a couple having wedding picture made. We have seen many couples getting their pictures made here.

Michael likes to pretend he is drinking our soda.

This little girl was blowing Michael kisses.

Yep, we are going to have to lock him up until he is 40!

Taking a break at Starbuck's

Hanging out after our pool time.

Playing with his reflection

What day is it?

We are officially losing track of our days. We have to look at our watches every now and then to remember what day it is. However, it is now Sunday evening in Guangzhou, and we have had a full couple of days.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a long day for us. Michael woke up around 7 a.m. We got ready and went to breakfast. It was the best breakfast we have had since we have been here. They actually had foods we were used to.... no more noodles and rice for breakfast for us! YAY!! After breakfast, we met our guide Shiyan and the other 16 families in our group. We all headed for the clinic to have the kids medical check ups. Let me tell you. That was fun! Can you hear the sarcasm in that statement. Each kid had to go to three stations. Our first one was the ENT. Michael does not like anyone messing with his ears or mouth. Our second one was height, weight, and temperature. Michael is about 32" tall and weighs about 30 pounds. Last, we went to where they checked his breathing, heart sounds, tummy, etc. He checked out fine and is very healthy.

After the medical exam, we headed back to the hotel. At 1 p.m., I went to do paperwork for Michael's visa while Bill and Michael stayed in the room. I expected Michael to take a nap while I was gone, but that didn't happen. Actually, he did not take a nap all day long. We tried to make him tired. We took him to the play room two times. He went for his first swim in the pool. Nothing worked. At 10 p.m., we finally put him in the crib and turned out all the lights. He fell asleep within 10 minutes. We were not far behind.

Today was a free day. Bill and Michael stayed at the hotel. A group of us hired a shopping guide for the day. She was wonderful. We shopped until we dropped. She was able to get us wonderful deals. I bought jade, pearls, clothes, toys, embroidery, chess sets, mahjong sets, etc. There are still a few more things that I want to buy here, but I think most of my shopping is done.

Tomorrow is another free day. I am not sure what we will do yet. Bill has a bad cold. Hopefully, he will feel better in the morning.

Here are a few select pictures from the past couple of days. I just downloaded about 1,000. Therefore, it is really hard to pick just a few out. Also, there are a few that our friend Gayle took for us, too. Thanks Gayle!

Enjoy!

Ready for my first airplane ride.

Don't let me fool you. This didn't last long.
We finally found the sun.

Waiting room for the medical exams.

More of the waiting room and down the hall.

You want me to do what?
I really do not like this. I don't care for this either.
Are we done yet?
Finally! All done!

Statue in the Park

Statue in the Park

Another statue

In the play room

Having fun!

Am I cute or what?

Watching the fishies
Waterfall in the White Swan

Boy, do I like the playroom!

First trip to the poolTrying to figure this out

I do like this!

We are in Guangzhou

We had a full day today. Bill and I woke up around 6:30 a.m. Michael slept until around 7 a.m. He slept almost 11 hours last night. After making sure everything was packed, we headed down for breakfast. We checked out of our hotel around 9:30 a.m. and were on the bus at 10:00.

We headed to the Shanxi provincial museum where we spent about 90 minutes. Shanxi has the oldest history of any province in China. The museum was very interesting. We were surprised that Michael did so well. As long as he is being pushed around in his stroller, he is content.

After leaving the museum, we headed to the airport. Michael took his first airplane ride. He did very well considering that he missed his morning nap and only slept for 30 minutes on the plane until turbulence woke him up. When we arrived in Guangzhou, the hotel bus was waiting for us. We finally arrived at the hotel at 6:30 p.m.

After a trip to the 7-11 across the street, we headed to Lucy's for dinner and then back to the hotel. We finally got Michael to sleep. Now, it is bed time for us.

I will try to post more pictures tomorrow, if our schedule allows.

Oh.... there is one more thing. Michael said the first word we could understand today. It was "Mama." This surprised me because he is such a daddy's boy. Everyone on our bus headed toward the hotel heard him. We all clapped and made a big deal about it. He said it a second time. Then, that was it for the talking. He had more important things to do, like sightsee from the bus window. This little boy is such a people watcher.

Good night from the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.

Last Day in Taiyuan

Today was our last full day in Taiyuan. We toured the Double Pagoda Temple and found out that we will tour the Shanxi provincial museum tomorrow before we fly to Guangzhou.

I found the Double Pagoda Temple to be a contrast to the rest of Taiyuan. Taiyuan is a very polluted and crowded city. Here in the middle of this city the temple and the land that surrounds it. It was built in 1608 in the Ming Dynasty. Even though it was drizzling, it was very beautiful.

After returning to the hotel, we put Michael down for a nap. He slept about 2 1/2 hours, which meant he didn't go down for his afternoon nap. He did very well considering he was very tired this evening. He has really started to show his personality today. He giggled and threw the ball. He climbed around on the bed and played in the floor. He took Bill for a walk up and down the hall. He is such a sweet, smart, and silly boy.

Our guide/translator Jerome met us this afternoon. He delivered all of the adoption paper work from the notary and Michael's passport. Now we can fly to our next destination.

We have been packing tonight. We have to check out of the hotel in the morning. After we go to the provincial museum, we will fly to Guangzhou. This is where we do the paperwork to get Michael's visa, so that he can enter the U.S. with us. Our flight time has changed a few times, so we are not sure exactly when we will get to Guangzhou. We also have a few busy days ahead of us. We may not post anything tomorrow, but will put something on here as soon as we can.

The pictures are from the park we went to yesterday and the temple today.

Looking across the lake at the park

The little emperor in his new stroller

He loves it and so do Baba's arms!

Fountain in the Park

Flowers in the park

Rocks in the park

Statue at the temple

Double Pagodas

Just past the entrance way