First days in Guangzhou!!

Claire slept on the plane ride here- which was great since I was solo. My dad left zhengzhou to fly home and Scott left the US to fly here:). Members of our travel group helped with my luggage- I did not have to tote it at all. Our flight was late though so by the time we got to the hotel and checked in we were exhausted and went to bed. We woke up early this am and the hotel is wonderful!! Breakfast buffet was wonderful. Then Claire and I toured the six banyan tree temple- which was being cleaned in preparation for Chinese New Year, and the old Chen house which has examples of porcelain, embroidery, wood and bone carvings. Then the group went shopping and I bought a tea set. Claire then took a nap, then we went to Starbucks (nice treat- it is in the hotel!!) and played at the hotel playground before dinner with the group. I did some more bath tub laundry which is always exciting. I did send my jeans out for laundering today- so when I get them back I can wear some that no longer stand by themselves!!

Tomorrow is the medical appt and Scott will arrive in early afternoon! I know he can't wait to see Claire in person!!

China is so hard to describe though! It is beautiful and smoggy and crazy all at the same time. In Zhengzhou the scooters drive on the sidewalks- as do cars sometimes. Pedestrians do not have the right of way and it is nerve-racking. Every "stranger" we have met has been nice and curious. Many people have sent Claire good wishes. I have had my pic taken on the sly- but so far no one has asked to pose with me.

Our guides have been great! In Zhengzhou they had to deal with a passport issue for Claire. Here the guides have checked on me a lot and even offered to come sit with Claire for me to shower.

And so far I have not eaten at McDonalds lol!!! Although there is a 24 hour one right next door so that will probably change!

Some funny things are: there have been baked beans on the breakfast bar in all 3 hotels. And chicken feet on at least one. Oh and a full salad bar, including blue cheese dressing, was on the breakfast bar this am. I thankfully have not seen too much spitting- but have seen too many squatty potties.

Love this girl!!

She is so sweet and smart. She is attaching great, and points to her ba ba (daddy) and jie jie ( brothers) on FaceTime.

Yesterday we went to nanyang to apply for her passport. That is her hometown. 3.5 hours one way in a car. For a 20 minute appt!!! The passport official made a big deal out of seeing my original power of attorney for Scott- and then she could not read any English. She made our guide, Tim, translate it out loud to her on the spot. But it got done. Claire did really well considering the long ride.

Today we have free time. She is napping and we have big plans to go to Walmart. I will try to take some pics bc it is very interesting.

Tomorrow we are planning to tour Shaolin temple which is the birthplace of Kung fu!! That should be cool. On sat we fly to Ghuangzhou and we say bye to Ye Ye (granddaddy). Scott will arrive on Monday.

More about gotcha day!!

I think the pics speak for themselves

Gotcha Day!!!

I still can't believe that I have Claire. First she is perfect!! So we pull up to the civil affairs office and our guide said that some of the babies were there already. I was not expecting Claire to be there but when I walked in I knew she was before I even saw her. Then someone walks up to me and says YuTing- she recognized me from the photos we sent. And there she was. They said she is scared of strangers so I sat on the floor and whipped out the Cheerios. She took some from my hand as the nannies showed her how I matched the pictures in her book. She was sitting in my lap in the next few minutes. She has been very close by ever since. The nannies for her foster care home in shanghai brought her to me. It was obvious that they love her. They were very happy that she was not scared of me and she did not cry. The nannies and I cried a bunch. They brought me clothes and formula for her. She fell asleep for her nap on the bus ride back to the hotel and is still asleep! I will post some pics later- they are still on the camera.

Pics from Beijing!!

Yesterday we did the forbidden city and Tiananmen square. Today we saw the Great Wall and we will go see an acrobat show later. Here are some pics!! Tomorrow we travel to Zhengzhou.

Travel!

So we finally made it to Beijing. Travel was tiring and very overwhelming because of how long it took. Our guide picked us up at the airport- and he is great!!! He is very nice and is showing us the sights around Beijing tomorrow.

I have never taken such a long flight before! We were about 14 hours in the air. The plane was so large that there was no turbulence and you could not even feel it banking when turning. I got to watch movies that were PG 13 instead of G lol!! We lucked out and some families that we know we're on our flight! We sat right behind my friend Gwen and her family- and they are also with CCAI so we will be together just about the whole trip!

I am so happy to be in this country of Claire's birth. I can't wait to see more of it tomorrow! It was dark when we arrived. Oh and the smog is not too terrible. Brandi- yes it smells like China!!!!

Well off to bed!!!

We are going to China- on Wednesday!!!

We got our travel invite. Our appointment has been made at the consulate in China. The flights are booked. The bags are half packed (but it is weird bc the suitcase is 3/4 full....). So here we go!! Our travel plans are as follows.


We (my dad and I)leave Wednesday morning and fly to Atlanta. 2 of the adoptive moms I met through Facebook are on our same flight leaving Altanta. Squealing will be heard at the gate when we meet up!

We leave Atlanta at noon to Korea. We arrive in Korea at 5pm on Thursday. Yep. Gotta love the time difference.

We leave Korea at 7pm and get to Beijing about 8pm and we will crash at the hotel.

We tour in Beijing (where I will freeze ) and fly to Zhenzhou on Sunday.

On Monday the 21st we get Claire!!! We have lots of paperwork and have to wait for her passport to be issued.

On Saturday I will fly to Ghuangzhou with Claire, and my dad will fly home. Scott meets me there Monday. We will have Claire's medical exam which is required for her visa into the US. Our consulate appointment where they approve all the immigration paperwork is Thursday, the 31st. We will get her visa on Friday and begin the trek home!

We will fly out of Hong Kong at 1am sat morning. Arrive in Korea at 5am. Leave Korea for Atlanta at 10am. We arrive in Atlanta sat am at 9. Yep, we get to Atlanta an hour before we leave Korea!!! Crazy!!! We clear customs and immigration and Claire becomes a US citizen!! We have a long layover because our first choice flight home was full- but this gives us the chance to see Scott's brother and his family!! And they get to meet Claire!

We will arrive home at 2:55(ish)pm. All are invited to greet us at the airport!! We will be the exhausted travelers with a wailing toddler. Should be easy to spot!!


WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!