We're On Our Way Home

It's hard to believe, but we will be on our way home very soon.(8 hours and we will be at the airport) We have really enjoyed our stay here in Guangzhou. We have met so many wonderful families and plan to keep in touch. Three of the nine families live in Texas and one lives in SA area! I am sad to leave Karlee's country but very ready to sleep in my own bed. If all goes as planned we should be back in SA on Wednesday at 10 ish. This will be the last post fro a few days. Here are our last pictures til were home. FYI, we can't wait to BBQ and I am craving an ice cold tea from Bill Miller's. See you all real soon!

Consulate Day

Today we go to the American Consulate and head home tomorrow! We have heard that NW airlines has cancelled some flights and we can't get any info. So we will say a prayer we get home. Here are some pics from this moring. I will post again before we leave. Gotta go get breakfast before the lines get to long!

A few More Pictures

Blogger only lets me upload a few pic at a time so here are some more.

Were In Guangzhou

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted lately. I was deathly ill. We all have had some sort of bug and the grandma's have it now. But I had it BAD!. Today we did Karlee's medical exam and all is good. She weighed 17 lbs and is 28 1/2 inches long! She is very tiny otherwise. Everything she has worn is 6-9 mts and some of it is too big. She has no booty at all. She does have a few Mongolian spots and has the usual chinese flat head in back. We were kinda feaked out about that but after speaking with many BTDT parents, they assured us it will round out with more belly time and sleeping on her sides. Flat heads is ver common. However, we will ask the Dr. when we get back home too.

The White Swan is so nice. Our room overlooks the river and is all lit up at night. It looks like Vegas! I haven't gotten to shop much, it not easy when you have child in arms. We got a stroller so that should help a bit. Karlee loves it as long as it is moving, once you stop she lets you know it! Actually she lets us know when she not happy for any reason. It hasn't taken us long to figure out when she hungry, wet or sleepy. For the most part she is a happy little girl. Duane can really make her laugh. He has been so great and such a hands on daddy. He looks like a he's done this all his life. Not that I ever doubted he wouldn't be, just its neat to see. He has done the majority of the poopy diapers. Being sick and so nauseated I just couldn't stomach the stinch.

Duane and I went to Lucy's, an american style restaurant for lunch and it was very good. We will be eating there every day for luch for sure. Did I mention Guangzhou is much nicer than Beijing and Nanchang. The a/c is cold, the beverages are cold and you can get ice! Well, here is what you all want, so enjoy the new pictures of Karlee.

Karlee Pic's Continued.....

Our Pretty Girl

I am having so much fun dressing Karlee! Only she hates to put her arms through the holes! But we are getting better. I think she is adjusting well. She's attaching to both of us. Yesterday, I left the room and she started crying. Made me feel good and dad feel bad! She also just hates her bath so the grandma's and Duane have been doing that. I can't take the screaming and I leave the room. She is fine and happy as soon as she is done with bath time. I hope that will change soon.

We prayed for poop and our prayers have been answered ten fold! She is a good eater. We are out of formula and there is none to be found! Duane brought some home from the Chinese store and it is out of date. So he is on a mission for more formula today. We have Infamil that we brought from home so if we need to we will use that. We just didn't want to change her so suddenly. We should be able to get her brand of formula and more bottle liners for sure in Guangzhou! Apparently, it is very Americanized!

It is so nice to see everyone comment from back home! Thank you! Netta, we got your comment! I cant wait to tell you all about China. It is simply an amazing country and so beautiful. We can people watch for hours. If you guys could see how these folks drive you laugh til it hurt. I can't even begin to describe the chaos on the streets and there is no traffic jams ever!

We have another tour today of a park and garden. Cathy and I took Karlee to a local dress shop called Tiffany's and had 3 Chinese dresses made for her. A white one to be christened in and a blue one for the red couch photo and a red one for when she is a bit older! We will pick those up today.

Well, time to get moving the day has started for us and it is 5:45 am! Boy, am I not use to this! But we have been going to bed early so it's not terrible. Here are the latest photos of Miss Karlee. Enjoy!

Another Good Day!

We have poop!!!! Lots of poop! Lucky for me, Duane got every dirty diaper! But I got one this morning finally!We are making progress! She can sit well and stand with help but hasn't been able to roll over or put hand to mouth. Yesterday, she did both, rolled over and put a vanila waffer in her mouth! However she hates beingon her tummy. I know that seem so trivial but it is big for her. She is experiencig so many new things lately and doing great. We rented a stroller ans she likes it as long s it is moving! She really has been easy and low maintenance.(I know it won't always be that way but we will enjoy while we can) She falls asleep easily and loves to be rocked. Last nigt we all went to bed early at 8:00 and she slept til 6 am!!!!!!!I have never felt better! Well I better get in the showe we have a tour today of Nanchang. Just two more days and we will be headed to Guangzhou! The food thus far has been wonderful! But we will be having Pizza Hut tonight! Oh Goodness.....looks like we have more poop! Gotta run! Sending lot of love back home!

Tuesday!

Today is our big trips to Walmart!!! We leave at 9am. We found the camera! So I have few new pics but since we didn't have it all day yesterday we need to play catch up! We had another successful night! She only woke up once and went right back to bed. We all wnr to bed at 8:30 last night and we got up at 4:30. Yesterday afternoon was a little uncomfortable for us. We think she is teething so she's been fussy and cries a lot. She has not pooped yet either. We gave her prunes yesterday morning and she loved them. Grandma Cathy gave her a suppository last night and all we got was a BIG fart and a little baby pooper! As much I love poopy diapers, please pray we get a good poop soon!

This girl is so strong! She has a death grip and hates to change her tops only. She definitely has a good set of lungs and has quite the temper! I have never seen a child kick so hard or arch their back like she does! She is happy go lucky for the most part and she gives us lots of smiles and coos!

We went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant and had Pekking Duck and some other dishes. Duane loved the duck but I stuck to pepper steak and rice. Mom has been more adventurous in the food department and ate lotus root and said it was good.

It's Official

Today, we did our interview, notarization, and visa registrtion and according to Chinese Gov't, Karlee is officially our daughter!!! Yea!!!It's been a busy few days and it should be winding down in the next day or so. The only thing we have planned for tomorrow is to go to Wal-Mart shopping for the babies! Karlee is continuing to adjust with us. This afternoon was a bit stressful as she wouldn't let me put her down when she went to sleep. Duane then took her to walk the halls for a while and then they played on the floor. All is good!

We did have us quite a scare this moring, I could not find my passport along with all our money. It was last in our diaper bag during Gotcha Day and I promise you it was not in there. I tore through and ran sacked the room in utter panick! After looking in diaper bag 3 times Duane found it on the bottom! It was good feeling to give all the money to the officials so we didn't have to carry all that money around and we will not need our passports until we leave! So my point here is, now I can not find my camera to down load more picture! So I will try and look for it and post more soon! Life has never been crazier or more wonderful!

Thank you all for your comments and well wishes and support. I finally figure out how to get blogger in English! So I have a better idea of what I am clicking on. Thank you

More Pictures on Gotcha Day!

When I said she screamed I meam she screamed and kicked and bucked like a horse!We gave her a bath when we got back to the room to calm her down and she hated that too! It was te quickest bath ever I am sure! We are in the process of changing rooms becasue the a/c here totally sucks.Nothing is cold,drinks room hotel, etc... Mom and Cathy moved last night. Duane is taking stuff to the new room, Karlee is napping and me, I am updating the blog for you guys back home.( And folks it not even 7am yet!) We miss you all. We are enjoying China, however we can't wait to get home!!! We will be in Nanchang til Friday and half way through! Enjoy!
Love to all,
Mya

Our Dream Has Come True

Here is what we all have been waiting for.............We got Karlee yesterday at 3:30 and we were the first one to get their baby and she screamed bloody murder!!!It was so so hot in the civil affairs building......hellish HOT!!All the babies were hot exhausted. Karlee was the only one screaming but it was not long before she got the others going too! She is doing well now, about hour after we got back to the room she had a bottle and we got some smiles! It just melted our hearts! She slept all through the night. ( Thank You GOD) She loves her stacking cups and her little inch worm from Aunt Kate and Uncle Dennis and cousins Sarah and Emily. She will soon be called crusty too! She has 2 teeth on bottom and is chews on everything. And get this, she loves her pink blanky! She is her mmomy girl! She doesn't let it out of her sight and hold and chews/sucks it!! Too cute. She is just precious and we are so in love with her. Some of the babies are really tiny. Karlee is petite but very long! Her clothes are 6-9 mts are fitting and so are the 12 mts so thank goodness they fit. Many parents doen't have clothes that fit and will go shopping tomorrow. We have to be in the lobby at 8:15 for more paperwork and to go back to the hellish heat in the civil afairs building. I have been up since 4:45, can you beleive it? So here are the first glimpses of Miss Karlee!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!

Well, it's finally that time and we are getting luggage ready and paperwork and all the $$ situated for the big day. Our bags have to be out by the door at 7 am and we need to meet in lobby at 9am and it's off to the airport to Nanchang. We arrive around 1:30, check into hotel, change and then go get the babies!!!!!Yippy!!We have met some really nice people and three of them have babies in the same orphanage and one lives in SA and her baby's b-day is the same as mine! It is crazy weird how everything works out. Two families just got here today because they missed their flight and connecting fight by 10 min! I'd be a total mess. They met up with us at the Great Wall. The Great Wall is absolutely breath taking amazing. We climbed a good ways until I was sure I was going to suffer a cardiac arrest! It is tough and very steep and its even harder coming down because your already tired. Trust me no matter how far you get, your legs will be shaking on the way down! Here are few pictures of today. we also did The Forbidden City and Ti a men(sp) square and to be honest, I was bored out of my mind!!!!!It was about 3 hours in the heat and everything looks the same and it goes or forever and ever! I could of done with out that tour and spent more time at the Great Wall, we all really enjoyed it. I will post pictures of "GOTCHA DAY" asap! I promise. I can't believe it's finally here nor at how darn tired I am. Everyone is dragging butt, hopefully tonight we will get some good sleep. Meanwhile here are some pics of our tour.

We Made IT!!

We made it luggage and all! Blogger is in Chinese so bare with me! It was an extremely long flight that I am not looking forward to doing again. We got to the hotel about 11pm Friday night. We are staying at the Poly Plaza and it is very nice however the a/c sucks and the beds are super HARD!!!!!Its curently 4:30 am Satuday and I can't sleep and we leave 4 hours to tour the Great Wall and Forbidden City. I have only slept maybe 3 hours total since we left our house Thursday at 6:30. I feel like poo!!!!It would help if the room was cool or if I had a fan. It feels really stuffy/ humid and it doesn't help I have allergies/cold right know either.I have afew pics but haven't gotten to upload anything just yet. Internet is free here but it shuts off whenever it feels like it! Thank you guys for your coments and well wishes. It will soon be you doing and experience this! Lisa, it feels so surreal right now to be so far from home and so so close to our baby girl. I have never left our country other than to go to Mexico on vacation so this is way different. It was dark when we arrived and I can't wait to see everything in the daylight. Well, I am going to try and sleep/rest little before we head out for the long day. we won't arrive back to hotel til 6pm or so.

Ready or Not, Here We Come!!

Well, the bags are packed and we are loaded down to the limit! (yes, there's lots of luggage but we have 4 adults going!)We will arrive late Friday about 9 pm or so. Then we will be up and ready at 8:30 to tour the Great Wall and such on Saturday. We leave Beijing at 10:30 am Sunday July 22nd to Nanchang and get Karlee at 3:30!!!!!!!None of us are looking forward to the actual flight but we have movies for the laptop and I have tons of gossip mags and the like! Our seating assignment looks like it will totally suck, we are like way in the back of the aircraft! But the reservsation clerk said it will not be a full flight and we can likely move around a bit. Anyways, this is it for a few days, I will update as soon as I can.
Wish us luck!

We're Almost Ready!

Well I finally actually started packing! I have had stuff everywhere but just actually started getting it all together! Today, I got Karlee's stuff packed and I have a whole suitcase just for her! It is really becoming a reality! It is a feeling hard to explain. For those of you waiting for your first child, I assure you the long wait is so worth it 10 times over. So hang in there, the feeling of joy is so abundant! I went to target to get some things we still needed and $300 + later I am still not done! I never though I could pack so much stuff! The suitcase currently weighs 37 lbs and I have more room! Duane and I will be sharing a suitcase and I will be putting stuff in with my moms suitcase as well! Duane has a back pack he will be caring and I a carry on. I am sure we are way over packing big time, but oh what the hay! I still have a list of things I need to do. But much to your surprise I am doing well and Duane is the one who is experiencing the anxiety!To think in just one week we will be holding our baby girl! It really does not seem possible after everything we have been through.

Last Friday was my last day at UPS and it was bitter sweet. I have become really fond of my coworkers and my job title. It is not easy being responsible of those flying an aircraft! It is really amazing how anyone receives their packages on time, it is an amazing operation. It would give you a whole new respect the next time you sent something out UPS! I work with all men and they all pitched in and got Karlee some toys and books. They even took me out for drinks after the operation. I am sure most of the time they thought I was a total "B" but the job is extremely stressful! But it meant alot that they are so exited for me and for them to think of my future daughter!

Anyways, we leave Thursday at 8:30 am to Detroit then to Tokyo and then to Beijing.. Our gotcha day is July 22nd and we will be back home in Texas on August 1st!! Wow, have things moved fast! I will be updating while in China willing I can post!
Thanks for following!

China Here We Come!

Well, we have booked our flights and we leave next Thursday July 19th and our Gotcha Day will be either July 22nd or July 23rd! Our consulate appointment is July 30th and we fly home August 1st. Just two days before Karlee will be 10 months old! I can't beleive this is happening so so fast! I really thought the travel planning would be difficult but our agency has a travel agency that specializes in China Adoption travel and it was super easy. Basically they get it all planned out and send you an itenery and you review it and then pay for it, pretty simple. I had called around for airfares myself and they were super high. I am quite pleased with the price we got from Delight Travel. However, I wanted to fly China Souhtern and we will be flying Northwest. With such short notice we really could not be too picky!
Well, that's all I know for now and I need to get my butt packing and getting organized. I have shower gifts to put away and clothes to wash.

Shop / Client Shower #2

Sunday afternoon, my coworker Nikki, client and dear friend Kim and old coworker Sylvia gave me a shower with all the ladies from the shop. Everyone was so thoughtful and very generous and Karlee got more great gifts! I had three surprise guests and my emotions were high and tears were flowing. I have been doing nails for almost 15 years and most of my clients have been coming to me since day one! Some drop off and come back for personal reasons or just simply get tired of nails. Perfectly fine with me but I miss them. But even though they don't come in any more they keep in touch over the years. My clients have been listening to me whine and complained about infertility and adoption for the last 5 years, so us getting Karlee's referral is just as exciting to them as it is to me! Nikki, my coworker thought it would be great to include a few old clients and boy was I surprised. I had a wonderful time visiting all my clients and received some fabulous gifts for Karlee. Now I have seriously got to get organized before we leave which may be very soon! I should know tomorrow when we are leaving. I am super excited and nervous, we have so much to do before we go its crazy. But between my great MIL and DH they have assured me it will be all OK! I have been so blessed with so many great friends and family and for that, I am very grateful! If you all are reading, Thank you for your love and support over the years!.........(yes, that means you Mary S. :-))