Summing it all up in a single photo....

Due to these four precious little faces I not only do not have the time to blog (there are now 3 different saved drafts that I never finished or posted) I left the house at 6:50 am and then again at 10:30 am and neither time did I realize that I had on two DIFFERENT colored shoes! We had several meetings today; with our builder, an electrician, a plumber and then in a showroom for 4 hours pricing kitchen appliances and fixtures BEFORE it dawned on me that one brown shoe and one black could be the slightest bit embarrassing :} Thankfully, I doubt that any of those guys noticed or cared one bit but SERIOUSLY!!!

We are all doing well and still adjusting :) xoxo to all - Madeline

Mia

Life with four girls..... is BUSY!!!! Little Miss Mia fits right into our silliness and is laughing or smiling all the time! She is precious and her big sisters stop at nothing to keep her giggling, WHATEVER it takes, LOL :)

I have wanted to blog every night and by the time I get everyone in bed it takes all that is in me to change into pj's before I hit the bed :} we are getting about 5 1/2 hours of sleep now a night which is welcomed after about a week of only 3 a night. Tomorrow we have a visit with the pediatrician and I am PRAYING hard for Mia as she gets a BIG check-up with bloodwork and all. I'll let you all know how it goes - M

Pictures as Promised...

Here was our view of our "Welcoming Party"!!!!!




and one of the VERY proud BIG SISTERS :) xoxo




with Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and sisters :)

Home

Sorry this post is a day or two late :(

Our flight from Tokyo to Detroit was delayed almost 2 hours which meant that we MISSED out flight to TN. D*lta/NW is AWFUL!!!! They had 12 hours to have some sort of plan in place to help all of us that missed our connecting flights. Instead we stood in line for 2 hrs and 40 minutes while they figured it out. They gave us a voucher for a hotel to stay the night but after standing in another 45 min line for the shuttle we found out the hotel was all booked, uggghhhh! To make this long story a bit shorter... we got to some hotel at 11:30pm. Our flight landed at 6:40pm so needless to say it was a VERY LONG 33 hour day, LOL.

We left Detroit at 7:15 Sunday morning and A was feeling awful. By the time we made it home he was really SICK! I had thought I was in the clear because he had eaten the "salad" on the plane and I hadn't BUT just after lunch I was worse off than he was :(

We are both getting a little less green but it isn't helping that Miss Mia has her nights and days switched! Thank Heavens for Grandparents!!!! We would be lost without them helping us survive this :)

I PROMISE to download pictures from our home coming later today - M

Almost home...

     Today at 4:00 PM we flew to Hong Kong to start our journey back home.  We had a fairly non-eventful day except that Mia has hives covering her body.  It started just after breakfast and has diminished a bit but is still visible.  The PA in our group said it looks to be a food allergy....she hasn't even tasted Madeline's cooking yet, LOL.  We Benadryled her up and she seems fine.  It may be our best bet to get a third seat for her.  People are looking at her like she has the plague.  We fly out of Hong Kong tomorrow at 8:20 AM.  Since we have to be at the airport so early we stayed at the Regal Airport Hotel.  It is awesome and we had our first REAL western meal tonight, it was nice.  We miss everyone and look forward to seeing all of you, almost as much as we miss ice and drinkable water :)  I'll try and post some more pictures soon but don't count on tomorrow as we will get in late and probably have jet lag.

The Oath

Today we traveled 30-40 minutes by bus to the US Consulate to complete the FINAL steps of the adoption!!!!! We all rode the escalators up to the fourth floor, showed our passports for the umpteenth time, then up to the fifth floor walking through another round of metal detectors to sit in a waiting room. At the "interview" window they checked our passport photo page copies and the baby's to make sure we had the correct child and then we were sent to sit down again. About 10-15 minutes later a lady from the consulate came out to address us with microphone in hand. She explained what the department did and how many visas they issue annually. They she asked all adoptive parents to rise, raise our right hands and repeat after her. She administered the oath finalizing the adoption so that when our babies touch US soil they immediately become United States Citizens :)

 

The culmination of more than four years was all summed up in a very short, very legalistic, oath about the correctness of information we provided. So now, both China and the US recognize this little angel as our's!!! Amazing :)  The consulate does not allow photos in the building so we don't have any to share from today's BIG event  :(  I have included the photo taken of Mia for her visa application :)

 

Right after leaving the consulate we said goodbye to four families in our travel group. True to form, I was crying. We have shared such a precious time with one another and even though we are all more than ready to go home, it was hard to part ways. For our last night in mainland China, we had dinner with two other couples from our group in a German restaurant on the island, listening to 70's music, VERY surreal! We have truly been blessed with some wonderful people to share this last part of the journey with :)

 

Tomorrow we leave for Hong Kong and are not sure we will be able to blog but will do our best to let everyone know we have landed safe and sound! -M

Tuesday in Guangzhou - Part Two

     Tonight we took our "Red Couch" pictures of our family and of all the babies in our group.  Quite an experience trying to get 12 babies to all look and smile at the same time.  After that we went on a dinner cruise up and down the Pearl River.  Although the food was "a little fear factorish" the scenery was worth it.  I was able to eat some of the food; duck, pork, chicken and something that resembled beef.  Madeline ate 1/2 a cup of white rice and part of a cookie...she's so brave.  We spent most of the cruise on the top level taking pictures and video.  Later that night when we got back to the hotel and decided to order Papa John's Pizza.  Unfortunately, Madeline started throwing up before it even got here and ended up going to bed and missing dinner.  She never should have been crazy enough to eat that white rice, LOL.  Tomorrow we have to wait in our rooms as our CCAI reps go to the Consulate to finalize our paperwork.  After that we will try and finish our shopping. ~A