Finally and Final

Yes, the time has finally come. The new blog has been created and this blog is now done. You can now follow the new blog, Growing With Mikayla. You can find it at... http://growingwithmikayla.blogspot.com This is an end to this following and a beginning to the new following of the new blog. Hope to see you all there. Blessings, AJ

Nap Time

OK I am on the middle to tail end of nap time and hope to get this done before Mikayla awakes. The homecoming of the boys went pretty well as I got all the bear hugs and sloppy kisses I have been waiting for. Mikayla watched closely in the comfort of Daddy's arms. Once home and both the boys and Mikayla watched each other and claimed there spots that's when the fun began. Stopping the stampede to Mikayla and the rescuing and picking up of Mikayla as the boys continually tried loving on her and running her over was exhausting. Mikayla even today has not really wanted to touch the boys at all but she is brave enough to get on the floor while they are around now until they come running to cover her with sloppy kisses that she still is not to fond of. I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the boys do not give up once they start. Hey who can blame them she is so cute plus both boys have just turned 1 year old so they still are in the smother you with slop every chance they get. I think Mikayla is taking a liking to Gus a bit more as he is the mellower one of the two and does not totally over due the kisses and does listen better when told to stop. They love when she eats even if nothing drops it is still heaven getting to get that quick lick of a finger or even sometimes a face every now and again which while in her seat, Mikayla does not mind to much. They are all definitely getting used to each other. Even in the beginning of nap time Mikayla fell asleep with her head on Louie and he did not mind or wake her. When the lawn guys came Louie slowly and carefully got up from the couch without waking her, just to go look outside. Yesterday, Mikayla had a blast when Kelly came over. They played together in the basement crashing cars into each other. Mikayla belly laughed none stop. It was definitely a break for me even though I was there every minute taking pics. I still was able to relieve myself of entertaining for a little while. She even gave Kelly a hug good bye when it was bed time. Mikayla is doing awesome meeting new faces every day. She is doing well in the bonding area, when we started she would go to just anyone and now she is doing better and not doing so as much. When she does go to others she does not stay with anyone very long, she turns and searches out mommy or daddy which is great. She is sleeping through the nights as well as her naps although the naps are sometimes not as long as they should be. She is slowly getting off the bottle and formula eating more baby and adult foods and getting bottles mostly at bedtime and sometimes at nap time wake ups. This is another milestone we are happy to see. We will continue to give her the bottle and formula at least until we run out of what we have but probably will not buy any more formula making that the final switch over time. We have gotten her on DEERS so medical is covered at the base and varies Peds with a co-pay. Next will be the SS# and doctor appointments. Today I have to take Louie to the doc as he looks like he has an infected sore on his foot. Hopefully it is nothing to be to concerned about, as it really don't seem to bother him to much. I think it bothers mommy more than him but I guess that is how it usually works with all kids. If anyone is waiting on us for an okay to visit you are all welcome to come by when you can. All we ask is that you call first to make sure we are here and that it is not nap time or bed time, etc. I hope to see you all soon and hope my next posting will be to the new blog. I will let you know as soon as I get there, maybe bedtime or nap time tonight or tomorrow.... keep watching. AJ

Ketchup - Not Of The Tomato Variety

Hello Everyone,

I am so sorry I have not been here to update but as the title states I have been playing Ketchup or should I say catch up. I have been getting my bills and home back in order as well as working on a new schedule for our new life. I am not going to update you today as it is late and I need my sleep. I just wanted to drop you a post just so you know I am still here and working for you. :) I do want to let you know that I have finally caught up with the pics on the posts for this blog. That is what I have been doing tonight. I started with a post back in July and almost every post if not all have new pics posted to them. The one posted here is Mikayla's first self portrait So please don't miss a single one, go back and check them all out. Tomorrow during nap time I hope if I do not need one myself I will get you caught up with the boys coming home and how all that went and get you rolling on the new blog. Chat with you more very soon. Happy Blogging!

Home At Last

We finally made it home. After the 12 hour flight to LA Mikayla was awesome as I said she did not sleep much but did not fuss much either. She slept really well in the hotel and then when we took the 2 flights (each 2 hours long) to Denver and STL she fell asleep just before the 1st plane took off and did not wake up until after the end of the last flight. Even then she did not stay up long she crashed in the car ride home and pretty much did not wake until we were inside and unpacking. Of course she was awake until about 1am but so were we. While we were finally relaxing watching some English TV Mikayla so cutely crawled up on the couch with me and crashed. She slept until about 6am just as we did so no problem there. So Far so good. I love the stork in the front yard it is awesome and the star will be a keepsake forever. We can now begin a normal schedule with Mikayla and us being home. Today, Mikayla has the luxury of having the house to cruise and investigate on her own. Come tomorrow it will be a fun and interesting day when the boys come home and they meet Mikayla for the first time. It will be all sorts of fun I am sure when they take each others toys and torment each other. I dont think I will get to post any pics today as Mikayla wants attention and I do not blame her. As for the China trip and closing that saga of our lifes I want to just give everyone especially those planning on going there to adopt or otherwise when we started this journey we were told so many things to do, not do and bring and not bring and I want to clear some of that up. First off we were told DO NOT wear any white, I can understand this for finalizing day as it is a sign of mourning but I could not understand it for any other reason. I did find out the only other reason they tell you that is that their water is so dirty that if you wash any whites they are never white again they become dingy. The other thing is that if you sit anywhere you will wind up getting brown spots on your butt as most everywhere is pretty dirty even if it does not look like it. Next, was that you are NOT to wear shirts with writing on them as the Chinese will not know what it says and they are afraid it might be something offensive to them or bad about their country. Whether that is true or not I do not know but what I do know is that there were people everywhere wearing shirts with writing, even some chinese were wearing shirts with English writing on them so I think that is nothing to worry about either. Being on clothes another mis-information I was told was that you are not to wear any shorts, cause if you do they had to be down to the knee, I dont know about any of you but my shorts are not that long, don't get me wrong my shorts are not daisy dukes either but I was told shorts higher than the knee were a NO go. Well, once again most of the families we were with had shorts on and there were many others in China wearing shorts although there were some Chinese females in shorts there were not that many chinese in shorts only americans. If I were to go again or were to tell anyone going I would tell them if you want to wear shorts by all means go for it. Moving on, we were also told if you want to use blow dryers, shavers, computers or the like that you need converters and adapters, another mis-information, everywhere we went including in Starbucks and places you could use the computer all had outlets usable for any thing you wanted to plug in. These are just a few of the things I can think of right now. I am sure there are others that I am just not thinking of at the moment, if I think of them I will be sure to let you know. The things that I will tell you to do that we were told that I totally agree with is that you should have plenty of wipes and/or kleenex for bathroom trips and also have sanitizer if possible. Also DO make sure you put at least one set of clothing in your carry on backage. Right now I think we are going to get out of the house and get some fresh air and go for a stroll although there is no sun at the moment that is ok it is still fresh air and the friendly hometown neighborhood. When we return maybe I will have my ton of mail to go through which I am sure will be a blast. Before I go I do want to thank those of you that came to the airport to welcome us home we really welcomed seeing some friendly warm faces after such a long journey. Thanks again to our personal taxi also we really do appreciate it and if there is anything we can do to help you guys out you know we are here to help just the same. Until next time.... AJ

Back in the USA

We are back in the U.S. We are so glad. Mikayla did great on the long flight here to LA. She slept a little but not much. She complained a bit, but nothing loud enough or long enough to bother anyone else on the plane. I am so proud of her. She of course is wide awake now here in LA at 10pm but we expected it. Also we definitely had a weather change, we came from mid to upper 90's with 105 heat index and nasty humidity to 66 degrees here in LA. No more culture shock just temperature shock. I thought CA was supposed to be hot all the time what is up with the weather, what happened here while we were gone. We see it will even be cooler in STL then when we left we left with mid to upper 90's and are coming home to lower 90's. That's ok any weather will be fine with us right now as long as we are home. We said all our good byes to all the new friends we made and vowed to keep in touch. All that is left is recouping to life back home and getting back together with all our old friends and showing Mikayla the world as she has never seen it before. For those who are interested we will be arriving in STL Saturday, August 15th at 8:11 pm on United Flight 7388 from Denver. We look forward to seeing some if not all of you there. Don't forget to do a drive by the house so you can check out our stork that should be there before we are. :) I am so happy to hear my music when I signed on the blog now I know I can update it all once again. So keep following, pics will be posted soon. Check it out I have edited the music, yeah!!! I have also posted a pic or two so go check them out... I started with a post back in July.,... I will add more soon it is getting late so I am going to crash so I can get home soon. Oh and any pics you see that are foggy it is not fog but smog... just thought you might like to know it is like that all the time there. Any questions don't hesitate to ask. Love you guys.

Day 15 - Day of Relaxing

The day was a very laid back day. We slept in a bit, until about 9am when we all woke up and the doorbell was ringing. Our new friends, another adopting family from Iowa was heading out and wanted to say good bye. We talked about getting together some time in the future and talked how another family said they would be organizing a family reunion for us all. That would be great but I guess we will see how that goes and where they plan it to be as the ones who said they would do the organizing live in Nebraska. We all do plan or have already joined the FCC so we will have that but being from different states and different chapters we probably won't see each other in the FCC. After the families left, it is now down to just 3 of us families who will be on the same plane, we have yet to even see them since everyone else left and one of them is right next door. As for our day it has been pretty calm. We did venture to the super-market by taxi ("S" wrote where we wanted to go in chinese and we just handed the paper to the taxi driver) we got the formula we needed and a few other things like water and such. We still did not make it to the pool though but have not given up. One more day to try. We will be leaving here tomorrow evening and heading to LA taking our long flight of 12 hours or so. We will spend the night there in LA before heading to Denver and home. We will arrive in LA about 6:30pm PST on Friday the 14th while leaving here 9pm China time Friday the 14th. You got to love when the day never ends. We leave LA on the 15th arriving home the same day later in the evening. Now I know some of you have been asking and wondering what I will do when we return or rather what you will do when you don't have this blog to follow, well I have taken care of that for you. I have already thought about that and have no fear I will be creating a new blog called "Growing with Mikayla" I would never let you all down. :) I will post here and let you know when it is first created. Now I don't think I will post every day but maybe once a week or something, that I have not decided as of yet but will let you know. I will try to keep it on a schedule like every Tuesday or 15th of the month or something so you know how often to check back. No matter what you will not be left in the dark. Face it as much fun as it is for you to follow my blog it is also that much fun for me to post for you. I just wish while I am here I would have been able to post pics for you. Which brings me to pics... what I plan to do is when I get home I plan to back track a bit and post pics to the blog on the days they occurred so you can just go back and scan the posts and see what I edited, keeping you busy while I create the new blog for you to follow. ;) Well, that pretty much sums up things for now. I am going to guess my next post won't be until I am in LA so catch you back in the states soon. Love you all, AJ

Day 13 - ACS Appointment and Day 14 Citizenship

I am behind once again but hey, I think I will be on it more now that all the work is done. We had our ACS appointment and all went well with us no questions asked. There were I think 2 families out of 19, I am sorry to say did have some issues, but I think they did get them resolved, thank goodness. After being able to leave our room after finding our paper work was all okay we did venture to the shop here near the hotel and I got me some deals this time. I also have two new friends at the shop there. I told them I wanted to buy more stuff but they did not have the sizes I wanted. They promised me they would have it tomorrow. We never have made it swimming with all that is going on and how I have been feeling but that is okay, I got to go shopping. :) Wednesday and day 14 came around and we are doing good with keeping Mikayla on a schedule with me not feeling well and staying close to the room. We got our pictures taken as a group today with Mikayla's traditional clothes and squeaky shoes. She is a character. The best part of the day took more time to get there (30 minutes) and back (another 30 minutes) than for the actual venture. Today we took our oath in the ACS and got Mikayla's visa to get home. Mikayla is now an official U.S. Citizen. It was a teary time for many but I held my own. Today was not only a great day for us and Mikayla but it was also the best day for me since arriving here in Guangzhou. I felt so good I went back to the shop to do more shopping... hey, they told me to come back remember so I had to go. Needless to say, I did buy more and no worry's we did get another suitcase to get it all home. With all the work done there is not much left to do but relax and enjoy and I even feel more up to doing just that, of course it would be now that everything is done that I feel better but I guess it is always better late then never. A few of the families left earlier this evening and then the majority leave tomorrow morning. That leaves us and two other families leaving on Friday on the same flight. One of the families that were not in our smaller group (our province group)adopted an older (8 year old) and they are staying in the room next to ours and the little girl likes ringing our bell and running. She took a liking to me and is always seeking me out to play, she is not speaking english but we have fun laughing and playing in the hall, on the bus or where ever we see each other. So I know we will have fun on the long flight home. Maybe with most of the families gone and I think (yes I am not sure) all my shopping is done other than a trip to get some formula, maybe we will get to the pool or not. I guess we will have to wait and see. We will be home soon and I can not wait to bring my baby home so we can all sleep in our own beds. I will let you all know the flight we arrive on in STL when we get to LA so if anyone wants to meet us up there and get a sneak peek of Mikayla at that time before we get home and hiberate for a while, you are all welcome to do so. And if anything changes you will know from either us letting you know from Denver or if you check the flight information online. Hope to speak to you and see you all soon. All Shopped Out...NOT!!!! AJ

Day 12 - Shopping Day

I am sorry to say today was a very bad day for me. I think the heat is really wearing on me. We did attempt to go to the pearl market and then we were to go to Shamian Island to buy more dresses and shoes. When I got to the market it was nothing but bad for me. My stomach and the heat did me in and "G" and I took a taxi back to the hotel. It might not have been so bad if I wanted to be at the pearl market but we did not care to buy any kind of pearls or jewelry they had there. This only meant that we had nothing to do but stand around in the heat feeling crappy for 1 1/2 - 2 hours waiting for others to be done. Later I found several others taxied back also some from Shamian Island but still they could not stay in the heat any longer themselves. See, after the 2 hours at the market, they were going to still keep us out for another 2 or 3 at Shamian Island. Now, I do not know about anyone else but I do know I did not feel well and Mikayla had not napped and I do believe she felt my illness as she was not happy with daddy but wanted me and I was not doing well enough to carry her and comfort her myself, which only made me feel worse, so I think all 3 of us were pretty grumpy. Tomorrow there is nothing planned. We just have to stay in our room for about an hour just in case the ACS calls us with questions. There is an optional river cruise but "G" and I already decided we were not going to splurge on it way before it came about on the official schedule. So, tomorrow we are going to take it easy and maybe go swimming with Mikayla and see how she likes the pool. If we get really venturous we might go back to the shop here near the hotel and get some more shoes and maybe some clothes but not really sure at this point. I know I am ready to be home so we can get back on a normal schedule with the baby which is impossible here and home we can also sleep better and be cooler. I am enjoying my time growing with Mikayla and being with the other families making new friends but the heat and all they can keep. Well, got to run my bed is calling my name. Stay Cool!!! AJ

Day 11 - Park Trip and Shopping

We did walk to the park. It was not your usual children's park like we thought it would be. It was more like Forest Park or Central Park in NY. It was a very big park with a big lake. The temperature was way to hot to be out walking forever in this park. The temperature here and the whole trip even the rainy days 2 in Chongqing and 1 here so far in Guangzhou, all days were in the mid to upper 90's or more with major humidity. You take a shower and then wonder why, as soon as you go outside your back to being drenched. We did do quite a bit of walking at the park and saw people out dancing to the music a chinese band was playing and there were tons of adults playing their version of the hacky sack. Further along there was an area where it looked like a play ground but was actually an exercise area. I loved it, it was really neat. Makes sense how the chinese all seem so fit as the area was packed with people using the over maybe 2 dozen or more different types of equipment. There were boat rides you can go on, on the lake, some electric boats others were paddle boats. Walking more we came to the amusement park for kids it was really cool with some really interesting rides that were nothing like I have ever seen in the USA. Next to it was what you would have called a normal play ground for the kids. Both areas had fees to get in, yes even the regular playground area. We did not opt to go into either as Mikayla was not having any part of being put down. Outside the park gates were these big ride-able animals. You can get on them and ride with your child or your child by themself for a coin (not sure what it costs, I think you had to buy a token) Once you put the coin in you can drive them all over the park. All the kids loved them, except Mikayla :) I tried to put her on one just to take a pic and she was not happy. Later I got on and put her in front of me and she decide she was going to drive with her feet only we were not moving but we did get the pic. After the park we stopped at the shops right by the hotel and I bought some of the famous squeaky shoes finally. I thought I did really good bartering but found out talking to others I did not do as well as them. I know the reason I did not do so good is because I had no clue how low I could go not knowing what I could get them for. Day 12 tomorrow or rather today as I am updating a day behind we are going back to Shamian Island and I did my homework so I am now ready to wheel and deal for those shoes and dresses. The shops better be ready for me. ;) I will let you know how I do later tonight when we get back from the shopping venture. For now we are off to breakfast and maybe a pool trip not sure how about time as we are going to Shamian Island.

Day 9 - Day 10 Guangzhou and Doctor Visit - pics

This post is actually 2 days only because we kind of lost day 9 with traveling from Chongqing to Guangzhou. Day 9 we just relaxed and got packed up mostly. We got on the plane with luggage very smoothly as we had "A" and "J" seeing us off helping us check in and get our flights. We also arrived in Guangzhou actually 10 minutes early and believe it or not our luggage did follow us arriving 10 minutes early with us. Mikayla did fine with her very first plane ride. Every time my ears were popping I was guessing Mikayla's were too and all she did at those times were make faces and then pretend she was chewing so I guess she knew how to fix it. I know she laughed every time I yawned to fix mine. On the plane they were very nice as they gave me a row of three seat all to myself and Mikayla as the flight was not full. I think they did so for me and not others cause "G" and I did not have seats together and I think she thought I was traveling alone with the baby. No matter to me, I was definitely not complaining and "G" wound up sitting in the 3 empty seats on the other side of the plane right next to us. When we landed "S" was there to greet us. We arrived at the hotel so far Guangzhou's hotel and area seem much better than both Beijing and Chongqing. Day 10, today we went to the doctors to get her medical. That was fun for all. Since no shots were given to us only TB shots to 2 years and older Mikayla had no problem with any of the 3 doctors she had to see. I think the worst for her was when the doctor wanted to see in her mouth and put that stick in there she pulled away fast and gave the doc the evil eye but she did not shed a single tear. She came out of the doctors office with a clean bill of health...praise the lord. After the doctor we visited a few of the stores at ShaMian Island which is where the doctor was also. We shopped a little got one traditional dress for Mikayla and a pair of squeaky shoes to go with it. I figure the outfit will be one for special occasions. We later were offered to go grocery shopping or back to the hotel. I think most families split where child and one parent went to hotel while the other shopped. Of course, being here for the first full day my stomach told me to return to the room and Mikayla's diaper confirmed the trip. "G" went on to the store and was back shortly after Mikayla and I got back from the play room at the hotel meeting a chinese family with a little boy that Mikayla kept her eye on. The rest of the evening we plan to relax and acquaint ourselves with the hugh hotel with many restaurants and shops, pool and play area and much more. Well I will catch you tomorrow when we will be going to the park in the morning and filling out more paper work in the afternoon and whatever else we personally decide to venture in doing. Happy blogging!

Day 8 - Zoo and Walmart - Pics

Yes, we finally went to the zoo and got to go to Walmart. We got some more formula, clothes and a very loud noisy toy Mikayla can not get enough of. The toy plays music, moves across the floor, speaks numbers, abc's, colors and shapes and animals. It speaks in English and Chinese and roams around the floor, changing directions when it bumps into things. Walmart was interesting nothing like home, has 2 floors but is on the second so you travel 3 floors to go shopping. Things in Walmart for the most part are in english and chinese but if only in chinese you can usually tell the item by the packaging. As for the zoo they told us it was very hugh so we just visited a small portion of it. We mainly went to see the Panda's which are considered the State Treasure. We got some really good pics of the Red Panda which looks more like a raccoon and we even got some video of the black and white panda playing with some branches eating. Mikayla fell asleep just before we got to the zoo and woke as we were walking out the gate, needless to say she never saw any of it but that's okay we can see ours after we are home and she understands more. After the hot walking at the zoo and the craziness of shopping we all went back to the hotel to relax and I think all the families took a nap and ate in their rooms. This evening we just nibbled on snacks and wondered the hotel just to occupy Mikayla and have her out and about and not just stuck in the room. Mikayla had fun as she loves music and there was a piano player and a singer in the lobby and she got to listen and watch and the singer and piano player came and talked to her and play a bit she was thrilled. Tomorrow we get the photo album from the notary and get Mikayla's passport so we can head off to her first plane ride and arrive in Guangzhou to wait for our appointment to get her visa and have her become a US Citizen. We will be there for about 7 days and that will be where we get our traditional chinese clothing for Mikayla and maybe for me too, along with the famous squeaky shoes. Well, I better go the little monkey butt needs changed and get ready for bed. Catch you all in Guangzhou. Blessings

Day 7 - Site Seeing and Shopping - Pics

Today we did go to the "Peoples Hall" and The three Gorges Museum I believe it was. Both were very interesting. It did start out raining but turned out to be sunny and very hot. Since the old city was in a flooded area and the pandas do not come out in the rain we did not go to the zoo or the city. We are to have sun and heat again tomorrow so we are supposed to try the zoo again. We did go walking and shopping a bit in an area where there were many street vendors, who had yummy things cooking and ready to buy and or eat like pig snout and chicken legs. No I was not brave enough to try any of it. Beef intestines and frogs, along with some other fancy food were definitely not on our plates but on most menues. After that we came back to the hotel to try another shopping adventure at a department store near here we did not go to Walmart since they decided we would do that with the zoo as they are near each other. That trip went a little better then the day before but still was not a good time. They say the best shopping for the things we want for memories etc are to be had in Guangzhou. We will go there on Friday only 2 days away. So we shall see. I don't know about anyone else but I am ready to find out. This 5 star hotel has much to ask for so there really is nothing calling my name to stay here or write home about, well, I guess I just did, huh? :) For anyone who thought this was going to be one of those usual blogs about adoption with all the fluff I guess you came to the wrong page. Here I am going to give it to you like it is and how we see it, in our opinion and I guess if it was the second time around, always had a translator 24/7, knew the language better or they knew English then it might be different. That is not the case so I can not see it as a fun trip, an experience, adventure (not of the best kind) or just a special journey for Mikayla, yes, but fun, no. I know it is for her (Mikayla's) best interest but all it is doing for me is to say she is better off in the USA. China has its history and we have our memories but I am sorry to say that the longer I stay here the worse the opinion is becoming. Today is day 3 with Mikayla and the day went well except she did not get but maybe a 20 min power nap today and tonight she is a terror. She is fighting sleep like crazy and the minute she finds she is in her crib she is not a happy camper. I guess my sweet quiet day 1 and 2 just caught up with us here on day 3. G and I both agree she is to miss no more naps. Although the one she missed today was not due to us but the guides keeping us out through their naps which they stated we would be back for at the hotel... although none of our schedule has been on time or as scheduled except when it had to do with paperwork for the babies. The best thing I can say is that at least we are with some really nice couples that are in the same boat as us that have been very willing to help us and loan us clothes, wipes, bibs and shoes and comfort. In this process you have all walks of life adopting. You have the stand offish ones, the talkers who know it all. the ones who want to be the mommies of us, the nice ones and the like. No matter which ones you run into, or if it is all of the above no matter what, they all seem willing to help when and where they can. I can also say the guides are extremely good at not losing any of us and giving us history of the places and things we see. "J" as some of you may know was extremely helpful in helping us track and pick up our luggage. "J" and I got to know each other pretty well in the journey surrounding the whole luggage venture even when "J" got cursed out by a taxi driver and we both got kicked out of it and had to track another taxi from in the middle of the street and the one who stopped to pick us up got in trouble with the police for stopping where he shouldn't, we paid the police payoff in the taxi fee but "J" and I grinned and bared our adventure and had a good time together. Now I must go find the camera as Daddy and Baby fell asleep together on the bed. Hopefully when Mikayla is moved "G" won't wake, oh I mean hopefully Mikayla won't wake. ;) This pic will be up for bids on ebay starting at $20 bucks a piece.... just kidding. Good night all and catch you on Day 8.

Day 6 - Official Mom and Dad - New Pics

Today was the day we officially became Mikayla's mom and dad for life. We were sworn to love and cherish, never abuse or abandon her and all three of us were finger printed. Then they say I now pronounce you legal mother and father. They took pics and gave us a bronze and 24 karat gold plate as a gift for best wishes and that everything will be doing well. We will get a small photo album of Mikayla and passport for her on Friday. Today was a very rainy day. Many places were flooding. We drove down roads that people were walking across that the water was up to their knees. Tomorrow we are to go to the zoo but that might change if it is still raining and the zoo apparently is in an area that floods. They say we may go to the building that is on our gold plates which is called "The Hall of the People" I believe along with maybe some museums if it does continue to rain. We will find out tomorrow morning where we go for site seeing. Then afterward we will go to Walmart. The reason we will go to Walmart is because the shopping today was pretty bad in the rain and the stores were not what we expected nor did they have what we wanted for a price we were willing to pay. It was sort of like shopping in Frontenac or a mall verses Walmart. Trying to find what you want, sizes you want and have anyone understand you was pretty frustrating for all of us. We all came back to our rooms and relaxed until tomorrow. Mikayla woke about 6:30am still as sweet as can be. We did have our first messy diaper which was not much of a mess but we could have used a clothes pin or two. :) She loves to walk. We walked her all around the hotel on 3 or 4 different floors (we are on the 15th and there are 27 I think). We checked out the 3rd floor full of restaurants, the 11th floor for the tennis court, the 7th floor where the pool and spa is and also the lobby with restaurants and bakery where you can get sandwiches, chocolate and danishes. She does well with naps, eating and playing with us or alone. We even had those full deep belly laughs at times. She sleeps through the night at least so far. The only time she got a bit crabby was when we were in the store but I am sure she sensed everyone was on edge plus we were standing still a lot and she likes to keep moving. All in all it was a busy day and we were all ready to crash to start a new day tomorrow as Mother, Father and Daughter, as an official Family. Catch you all on day 7...

Day 5 - Mikayla - New Pics Added

We have Mikayla!! She is so beautiful. She is more than I ever expected. She has been laughing and smiling and babble talking constantly. She walks on her own from mommy to daddy and loves walking while holding mommy and daddy's fingers. On the way back to the hotel she slept and woke up shortly after we arrived still happy and being so sweet and adorable. Once to the room I got to change my first diaper...sorry to disappoint but it was just a wet one no surprises. We are getting ready to eat as soon as I am done here and then we will be seeing about bed. Tomorrow we will be doing the finalizing whether we want to keep her or not. I think... yeah I think we will keep her for a little while. :) I am sorry I do not have any pics but I am unable to do so on the blog yet. If you would like a peak of us you can email me and I will try to send you a pic or two via email if that works. Well, have to run daddy is starting to doze and someone is hungry. Talk more tomorrow after we go shopping for toys, bibs, clothes and stroller for the zoo on Wednesday. Blessings, AJ

Day 4 - Luggage

WE HAVE LUGGAGE!!!!!! :)

Day 4 - Chongqing - pics

We made it to Chongqing!! This is the province where we will be receiving our daughter at last. On the ride over to the hotel we got some reassuring news... We received a call from the airport telling us our luggage SHOULD be at the airport here in Chongqing at 6pm China time. This is good except we will have to drive the 40 minutes by taxi back to the airport and hope we find where to go and get it if it is indeed there. I will let you know how it goes. We arrived at the hotel which is interesting. Its a fairly new 5 star hotel called the Sofitel Luxury hotel. Shortly after settling in a bit the crib arrived. You can not imagine the feelings you can have when someone comes to your room and fixes up a crib with down blanket and pillow right in front of you with such loving care. I am sorry to say we are having some issues posting pics but we are working on that and will post some when we can, if we can. After our crib showed up we were rushing off to go fill out more paperwork that never seems to end. We heard about some things the babies are doing and things they like but not much. We were told the paper now was so we can focus on the baby tomorrow. Right now I am here while "G" so kindly went with the group shopping for some snacks and beverages. When they return I will probably be off to the airport via taxi with our Coordinator for translation and comfort purposes. I hope to come back with luggage which carrys all the gifts for everyone, necessities and clothes for us and toys and things for the baby. Once finally back and able to slow down and relax a bit we will be off to find some dinner. Tomorrow will be the big day! Tomorrow about 3:30pm China Time we will meet our baby for the first time. It still seems so unreal. Its even hard to believe we are in China at times. It all seems like a dream. I just can't wait for the wonderful day to have the proof it is a reality. I can not wait to touch her, hold her, smell her and just spend the rest of my life with our "Beautiful Gift From God" we will receive tomorrow. For those of you who do not know or remember Mikayla means "gift from God" while Xiu means, "Beautiful". Well I am going to let you soak that up for a while as you celebrate with us that we are one step closer to luggage and our baby. Blessings to all and thanks for all the prayers I know that is the only thing keeping me sane through all that we have been through so far.

Day 3 - Site Seeing - new pics added

I am sorry to say I do not have any pics to post at this time. I will start by letting you know we still do not have any luggage and will be leaving this hotel to go to Chongqing tomorrow to go get our baby girl and I have nothing for her but us and our love. We did go see the Forbidden City and the TianAnMen Square and some really good lunch. I am sorry to say that I did not make it to the Great Wall but as I type this "G" should be there now. Myself and another person from our group opted to Taxi back to the hotel after lunch as we did not feel up to another 3-4 hours of heat and walking. It is very hot and humid here and as some of you know I do not have a very good stomach. I did not want to put my health at risk at this point in the game, so to speak. Especially when we fly for 3 hours tomorrow and do lots more site seeing in the Province. As for the Swine Flu its really interesting how they have things set up here. They have infrared cameras set up at the airport so coming and going you are checked and they will stop you if you are running a fever of 100 or more. Not only is this done in the airports but also at the Hotels. So every time you go into the lobby you get checked. Can you imagine. I know some of you following would probably freak out. I would to if I think about it. So needless to say I don't thing about it. Well, got to rest I am pretty worn out from all the walking and heat. Catch you soon and hopefully "G" took some good pics.