Finally Catching Up, and Lila Is Sick - January 15, 2013

Wow!  Finally starting to get caught up on posting.  If we can figure out how to put them in date order, that would be better!  Still, we're glad to get some up.  Will update more this week.  We've had lots come up since we've been home, not to mention that today Lila Yueyue woke up with what we think is the flu. Poor little girl!  She's caught her first bug here.  She fell asleep tonight on the couch and Vinnie is worried about her, plus he likes a warm body to snuggle against and she is very warm unfortunately. 

US Consulate Ceremony - December 19, 2012

Finally, we made it to the consulate appointment.  We have waited for this for a long time, even though Lila's adoption had to be expedited.  That's because it means she is with us, and we are almost home with our two boys whom we miss tremendously.  We can't wait to finally all be together, but skyping has helped a lot.  I just hope Lila understands they don't live in the computer and they are real and she will see them soon.  Lila loved wearing her fancy skirt that Tom picked out for her before we left on the trip.  She really was beautiful!

In front of the marquise at the consulate.  You can't take cameras up to the room where they do the short ceremony and finalize the documents.  This is the only place you can take pictures. It's a bummer.

 

 

What an expression! She has a million of 'em!

It's Official in Changsha - December 11, 2012

Today we went to the provincial office and finalized Lila's adoption.  It was in a room/office at a desk crowded with stacks of paperwork and documents.  It is customary for the child's foot to be stamped in red ink on the back, but since Lila is 4 and a little harder to get shoes and socks off, they stamped her handprint. It was short and sweet, and final.  Of course, she has been our daughter since July.

We have a picture somewhere of her doing her handprint.  When we find it we'll post it.  In the meantime, this is one back at our hotel in her adorable outfit Gagi and Papa bought for her.  It says "I love Santa!" She loves the poofy skirt and fancy leggings - we do, too!  Way to go Gagi!!!

Merry Christmas...From Texas!!! December 25, 2012

Well, the boys were very excited Christmas morning...and Lila kept up with the best of them!  We tried not to overwhelm her with too many things, and had told her the day before that Santa would be coming that night and bring her presents. She was amazingly TOTALLY fine with that!  Benjamin and Scotty said it was the best Christmas ever, and it was.  We were home, and we were all together - all 5 of us.

Hey! Where's the 50' Christmas Tree?! January 15, 2013

Our hotels in Changsha and Guangzhou were very nice, and nicely decorated for Christmas (even though it isn't celebrated in China).  Our hotel in Changsha had a great tree that Lila got excited about every time we got back to the hotel or got off the elevator to leave the hotel. I believe everyone near and far could hear her squeals. We joked about how sorely disappointed she was going to be when we finally made it home and there wasn't a humongous Christmas tree to greet us. (I'm happy to report she was still excited to be home - and yes, she loves her room, too.)

Changsha

Guangzhou

Nothing really compares to home and a cool, purple butterfly net over your bed!

Provincial Ceremony - December 13, 2012

Today the families adopting children in Changsha went to the provincial office for a short ceremony and to do a final check of the paperwork to be sure everything is perfect.  Then we went to a large park with a lake, a few amusement rides, and great walking paths. Too bad it wasn't a little warmer and sunnier.  Still a nice outting.

CHOCOLATE HEAVEN! - December 16, 2012

We went to Hagen Daz in Guangzhou - the restaurant, not some counter at the food court of your local mall. They had red velvet couches and Tom sat in a huge, elaborate black chair.  We had this awesome chocolate ball filled with 8 scoops (smaller) of different icecreams, smothered in hot fudge on top of delicious chocolate crispy things.  It was AWESOME!!!!!!  Lila LOVES icecream, so after she polished off her chocolate scoop she helped Mama and Daddy finish theirs!

See?  I wasn't kidding - it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!  We are frantically searching the US for a Hagen Daz restaurant on this side of the globe.

Safari Park - December 17, 2012

                Today we went to see the Safari Park – it is a very nice zoo. We took a tram ride on one side of the zoo and saw several animals and then got off of the tram and walked through the zoo.

                We saw a really nice dinosaur exhibit that was very realistic – it scared Lila a little bit but it was cool to see. We ran past the Tyrannosaurus Rex to keep Lila safe J!

                Then we walked along the rest of the zoo, Lila wasn’t too interested in the animals until we hit the Panda exhibit – she truly enjoyed the Pandas and would point to them and talk with them often.

                We fed the Giraffes – Lila did not have any interest in feeding them but seemed to enjoy Mama and Baba feeding them. They took the branches right out of our hands and Poof – they were gone. We saw several baby animals that Lila seemed to like – we stopped at a baby monkey’s home and she started giggling. 

                The safari park is a very nice area and we would recommend this to everyone – we look forward to bringing the boys here when we come back.

                Dinner tonight was a Mexican restaurant named Tekila’s – it is very good. We saw it on our map but were not sure we wanted to try Mexican food in China. A family we met that is here from Texas said they had eaten there a couple of times already and it was yummy – so we tried it!