Fun at Home!

Well we have had Zoe home now for 7 days now and she is doing great! She slept through the night last night for the first time and hopefully that will continue. She is having a blast exploring her playroom, her toys and getting to know her brothers and family. She says "uh oh" a lot now and she blows kisses when asked too! She waves hi and Bye and says "quack quack" for duck. We are so blessed to have her home and she is more than we could have ever wished for. Here are some pics......

Sleeping after our consulate appointment in Guangzhou!

Laughing at her brothers!

Sitting with Grandpa at his computer!

Playing with the baby doll stroller for the first time!

We are home!!!

Words cannot express how thankful I am to be home! Our flights were on time and Zoe did great on all four flights. She only cried twice on our 13 hour flight which was amazing. She is bonding with Robert every day and loves the boys and the dogs. My mom was such a huge help to me in China and I could never thank her enough for enduring the trip with me. Zoe and I are starting to adjust to the time zone here but she doesn't want to be left alone in her room at night so that is a adjustment for her. Robert ended up sleeping in the room with her last night while she slept in her crib. Making sure that we won't leave her. She is doing great with potty training and loves to eat. She had her first spaghetti tonight and loved it. Brushing her teeth has been a challenge as she has had no dental care at all. Soon we will schedule her physical and have her heart looked at. I can't thank all the people enough that have covered us in prayer through this whole process and all the way home. Please continue to pray for all of us as we bond with Zoe.

Well it's the last day for us in Guangzhou! We walked to McDonalds and they had a menu we could point to what we wanted. We got Zoe her first happy meal and she ate every bite! This girl can eat! We also found a 5 story market called Jusco and they had umbrella strollers so we bought a red snoopy one for the travel home. Grandma also bought Zoe her first purse! It's hello kitty and she loves it! She been snooping through our purses all week so now she has her own with a princess cell phone inside! We are so excited to fly to Beijing tonight so we can start our journey home. Please pray for smooth flights!

Today was a day to celebrate! We finalized Zoe's adoption today at the consulate! Tomorrow our guide Lily will bring her paperwork and her Chinese visa and passport to enter the United States. We leave Guangzhou at 4:30pm and head to the airport to fly to Beijing. We stay in Beijing for one night and fly out of there to JFK and then on our way to Dulles! So excited tomorrow starts our journey home! Zoe had her first grieving session today and cried for 2 hours straight. She's very happy tonight though! She's such a little lady. Crosses her legs when she sits and jabbers in Chinese all day long. She blows kisses now and waves hi and bye to everybody. I look forward to having her home and on a real schedule and have the boys and her daddy get to know her. Please pray for our 3 plane rides and the long trek home for safety and sleep.

Today we had a day to shop! We went to the pearl factory and a walking mall and shamian island. Mom bought Zoe her first pair of pearl earrings for when she gets her ears pierced! We also got hand painted porcelain beaded bracelets made for all the girls in our family that were made in the Jiangxi province which is where Zoe is from. We got squeaky shoes for Zoe and 3 Chinese outfits too. This is a photo of the pearls we saw. We had a good day but busy. Tomorrow we get Zoe's TB test checked and have a relaxing day planned! Missing my boys a lot but each day that goes by means I'm one day closer to coming home!

Today we had our medical check up appointment. It was very crowded and lots of tears were shed but Zoe did really well. She cried but calmed downed quickly. When they gave her the TB test they wouldn't let parents go back with the children so that was very hard. We were there for 2 hours and then went to a market near by the hotel to pick up bottled water. Then our guide Lily brought us back to the Garden hotel for paperwork. We miss home but are really enjoying Zoe and her fun personality!

Today we had a great time of touring in Nanchang. With our guide and our group of five families we went to a porcelain factory and a Chinese pavilion. It was six floors high and very pretty. As Mom and I were coming out of the pavilion we had a crowd begin surrounding us and people asked to take pictures with Zoe and I. One man who spoke broken English asked if he could hold Zoe. I wasn't too sure about this but he was very sweet so I said yes and she let him hold her for the picture and then she wanted her mommy! We are bonding more and more each day that goes bye. After we visited the pavilion we were then treated to a traditional Chinese feast which was delicious! That was the best meal of our trip so far and Zoe did great all day! She is really coming out of her shell and showing us all of her personality. I got my first kiss from her today and she is calling me mama and giving hugs to mom and I. She doesn't know what it is to be quiet yet so we have to teach her that. Today I taught her "shhhhhhh" and she did it back to me in the lobby of the hotel so that's a start. She is lots of fun and stubborn too! We have our first flight tomorrow to Guangzhou with the rest of the four other families and we will pick up all the kids passports in the morning before our guide takes us all to the airport. Then we will check into the Garden Hotel! We are halfway done with this trip and I can't wait to get home to my family!

We have Zoe! She is doing well over all but has a cold. She said "hi" today while face timing with Robert and the boys and she waved to them. We miss home a lot as we are having a hard time with the air here. They heat with coal here and it's making us sick so we had to shut off the heat in our room and that helped. Zoe smiles a lot! She is fun and we are learning what her cries mean. She likes to go potty on the toilet and mostly keeps her diaper dry. The Lord is keeping us in his arms until we get home. Please keep us in your prayers.

2nd Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Zoe! Two days till I leave! Zoe turned two today and we had quiet a busy day with Taylor not feeling well and multiple tests at the doctor:( Hopefully all will be fine while I am gone! Almost all packed and so excited to see China and most of all my baby girl! Please pray everyone stays healthy while we are gone and that my mom and I stay healthy while in China. Gotcha Day is on the 7th!