Signing Off From China!

 So, today marks our last and FINAL full day here in China! Tomorrow afternoon, we will pick up Addy-Kate's visa, jump on a train bound for Hong Kong and then begin the first leg of our L-O-N-G trek HOME!!!! (Please pray!!!!)

 Today, we had our much anticipated consulate appointment!!

 We got up bright and early and headed to the US Embassy for a short swearing in ceremony, and to submit papers necessary for Addy-Kate to become a US citizen.

The papers will be processed today and will be ready for pick-up tomorrow afternoon.

This marks our LAST STEP in our adoption journey here in China.

Thankfully, every step has gone incredibly smoothe and with out complication!!!!

We are so GRATEFUL! Praise the Lord!!!

  

After our consulate appointment, we ran back to the hotel to change our clothes,

 and then headed back out for a visit to the ZOO!

 The Zoo was only a few miles away from our hotel, so we decided to walk there!

 It was HOT (like REALLY REALLY CRAZY HOT), but that didn't stop us.

 We really wanted AK to experience this city zoo before we left.

 Of course, she absolutely LOVED it!

 She was mesmerized by ALL the animals

 and giggled as she watched them play

 I'm so thankful for another wonderful day here in China! 

We are soooo ready and soooo EXCITED to be going home, but we will definitely be leaving a little piece of our heart here!

These last two weeks have been AMAZING and Shane and I will NEVER forget our time spent in this beautiful country!

So here's hoping that my next post will be filled with LOTS and LOTS of sweet pictures of all  my precious kiddo's finally together!!!

Our Littlest Firecracker

Happy Fourth...from China y'all!!!

   

Unfortunately, there were no parades, bar-b-ques or fireworks for us today,

 but we still sported our red, white, and blue proudly!

Here's just a peak at what our fourth looked like this year...

 

Happy Birthday America!!! 

We can't wait to bring home your newest (and CUTEST) little citizen!!!

Only THREE MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Addy-Kate...

 Today is our 13th day in China! The country that brought us YOU!!

 Everyday we find reasons to fall in love with this place more and more. It's filled with beautiful sights, amazing food, and the most friendly people. 

 We miss our home and family so... much it hurts, yet we long to be here and learn more about this place which YOU have called home for the last two years. 

 We want to soak up as much of China as we can, so that one day when you have questions about your birth place, we can share with you all we know.

 Today, our guide took us to visit the most beautiful park to play.

 For fun, Daddy bought you a ride on this little sheep. I don't think you had ever been on anything like that before because the moment it started to move, you cried. Mommy quickly jumped on with you, to show you it was safe, and you (kind-of) liked it then!

 

As we walked around the park, Daddy took the time to stop and show you all sorts of cool and interesting things.

 Little things still amaze you and we LOVE to see the world through your sparking brown eyes!

 China is THE ONLY place where it's okay for you to accept treats from random strangers and considered RUDE if you don't! We won't make this a habit at home AK, but here... people love you and ask to hold and take pictures of you ALL THE TIME!!!!

 You are quite the little celebrity!!!

I don't think you have EVER seen or climbed a set of stairs before!

Any time you see them now, you just  HAVE to explore them and see what's at the top. 

 You aren't very good at making it up them yet. 

You mostly crawl your way up...and coming back down...well lets just say you definitely still need a hand to hold;)

 We happened upon some little arcade games while at the park. Daddy sooo wanted to win you one of those HUGE, GINORMOUS stuffed animal things, but mommy made him stop trying after two rounds;)

 You had to settle for a package of Angry Bird Bubbles instead;)

but I think you were still HAPPY;)

 I hope you enjoyed your day today, sweet girly!

 I know your daddy and I both enjoyed our day with YOU!

"Doctor Day"

 So, last night Shane and I decided to head out on the town and do a little exploring. We had heard from other adoptive families that Shamian Island was a great place to visit while staying in Guangzhou.  We decided to grab a taxi and head there for the night! The "island" was just BEAUTIFUL! It's close to the water and there are some really neat shops there which cater to adoptive parents. We purchased a few traditional chinese dresses and some adorable squeaky shoes for the girls.  After shopping, we had dinner at a local Thai restaurant there called The Cow and Bridge. 

It was absolutely DELICIOUS!

 When we got back to the hotel it was BATH time! 

 AK absolutely LOVES her bath...especially when bubbles are added!!!

 After BUBBLES though...bath time SNUGGLES have to be the next sweetest thing;)

 We all had a good nights rest, and in the morning it was off to the doctors office for Addy-Kate's medical exam.

 I was super nervous about how she would do, but thankfully she did pretty well! At the beginning of the week, whenever we would do something different or go to a new place she would cling. If we ever put her down, she never went very far and always made sure she was with in our reach. 

 Now, (even at the doctors office today) she was a wide open mess;)

When we let her down, she just RUNS away laughing and looks back to see if we are chasing her. 

We are amazed at how far she has come in just over a week!!

We saw a total of four doctors this morning, each checking something different about our girl!

 AK weighs a grand total of 22 pounds

 and is 32.5 inches tall!

Bless her heart...she's just a peanut;) But a healthy one at that;)

 And after a TB test, our doctor's appointment finally came to an end!! 

Sweet little thing! 

I think we were BOTH glad to have that part of our day behind us;)

Makin' a Splash in Guangzhou

 Thanks so much for your prayers, emails, and comments concerning my last post. I'm so happy to report that Riley is feeling MUCH better. Praise the Lord!!! He was actually swimming and playing only a few hours after getting sick. We are not sure if it really was a stomach bug or not, but whatever it was, at least it was short lived. Please continue to pray that NO ONE else will get it!

So, our time here in Guangzhou is off to a great start! We love this city already and have only been here ONE day! It's a beautiful place to visit and a little quieter than Xi'an was. 

It's a nice change of pace for us. 

We will be here until Friday afternoon and then catch a train into Hong Kong. 

From there, we will fly home early Saturday morning!

Because we will be in Guangzhou for another FIVE days, it was time to do a little laundry. 

We were definitely running out of clean things to wear;)

Instead of sending our clothes out to be washed though, Shane decided we would just wash them in the bath tub. Apparently, that's what he did when he was in the Marines-ha!

So last night, we turned our hotel bathroom into a makeshift laundry mat! 

Shane washed and I hung them dry.

Surprisingly enough, our clothes came pretty clean and I guess we saved a few dollars in the process;)

 This morning,we met our guide for a little sightseeing and shopping!

 Our guide in this city is a gentleman named Elvin. He is a super nice guy and we have already enjoyed his company. Today, we were also joined by another adoptive father and his precious new son. This is that father's THIRD time making this unforgettable trip, so this time he was able to go at it alone. His wife stayed back home with their other two daughters. Their new little guy is JUST precious and I can only imagine how excited that momma is to finally meet her new son;)

 So together we jumped in a van and visited the Big Banyan Pagoda today!

 Unlike the cooler weather we experienced in the beginning of the week, Guangzhou is REALLY REALLY hot and humid!!

 So after being out all morning in the heat and humidity, a nice dip in the pool sounded like the PERFECT thing!

At first, Addy-Kate wasn't so sure she liked the idea or not.

 But after a little encouragement from her daddy, all was good!!

She LOVED swimming and had so much fun splashing around in the pool! I'm quite relived she liked it so much, because that's where she'll be spending the majority of her summer once we get home;)