The Pictures Speak For Themselves

Hi everyone, sorry I have not posted lately. As I mentioned before our schedules are extremely busy with completing paperwork, running to the store for supplies and oh yeah – taking care of Dani! It is Friday evening and we departed Zhengzhou at 6:00 a.m this morning for the last leg of our journey, obtaining Dani and the rest of the baby’s Visa’s to enter the U.S. Even though it was a short flight (1 ½ hours), we were scared of how Dani would be on the flight. Needless to say, she was awesome. She didn’t cry as long as Dad was holding her and proceeded to flirt with all of the men sitting around her. We are so happy to be in Guangzhou (pronounced Guan-jo) as it represents the last stop of this journey and we are so ready to be home with Dani and our boys, but also because it is about 25 degrees warmer than Zhengzhou! It is closer to the equator and normally has tropical weather similar to Hawaii. Of course now they are experiencing the coldest winter in 12 years, but it is still tremendously warmer than Beijing and Zhengzhou. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which is pretty infamous with China adoption. It is on an island called Shamian Island and the architecture of the island is beautiful. It is a very small and quaint little island and very much a “walking” city. It is very touristy, but it is kind of a nice change, and best of all they have a Starbucks within walking distance. We didn’t know where it was but sniffed it out like the coffee addicts we are! Note for Dylan – we are looking for the weirdest thing we can possibly find to bring home to you as you requested!

It is hard to believe that Dani has only been with us for 4 days as it feels like we have had her for weeks. She has gone from only wanting me for the first day and then REALLY only wanting Dad for almost 3 days and today seems to understand that Dad is coming back when he leaves and that I’m not such a bad person after all! Each day she becomes more and more animated and lets her personality be known. She is an extremely easy baby and we truly feel blessed that she is ours. It makes me think that all of that time waiting and the delays we encountered and the paperwork that needed to be done and redone all had a purpose. Our first appointment in Guangzhou was the physical exams and visa photos for the baby’s. Dani was a trooper. They have 3 stations the baby’s have to pass through, Medical/Surgical, ENT, and Height, Weight and Temperature. She did great at the first two stations and only cried at the last when the nurse took her from Chris to get her weight. She is a hefty 21 pounds which is mostly head as she has the tiniest little body! Tomorrow is more paperwork but we do not have to get up early so we are hoping to get a full night’s sleep and our afternoon is free so we are planning on doing some more walking. We purchased a stroller today (only cost 14 USD) and Dani loved it. She of course still wanted to be near Dad as you can see. Well, Dani is bathed, fed and sleeping so Chris and I are going to do the same! Good Night from Guangzhou . . .