Monday,
August 13, 2012
Visa….APPROVED! She can come home! Well, not exactly. We
have to wait until tomorrow at 3 ish to get it! All the
parents had to take an oath on behalf of their children
and then the final looking through of the paperwork with
an officer. You can not take pictures inside the building
(same as with Kazakhstan) so no pictures to provide BUT it
is really not that exciting as far as rooms go. I would
point out that they have a book display of picture books
for kids with “American” themes….yeah, a little lacking in
my professional opinion. I could help them out…maybe get a
discount on the visa application? It was funny to be in
this room full of parents with their new children and over
the loud speaker hear….”We have ONE family that is
pre-Hague (that is the new international adoption
“agreement” between countries which the US entered into in
April 2008)……we need the XXXX family to please go to the
cashier window in the hall to pay for the visa processing
(because they changed the rules and make you pay before
you come EXCEPT those that were grandfathered in).” Hmmmm
who would that be? Yup, yours truly! What does this mean?
Well it means of all the families in this room….we had
waited the longest as we began all the paperwork PRIOR to
the new agreement. Score! I love a good competition and we
won it by a landslide!
After fighting it the whole way back to the hotel,
EmmeClaire FINALLY fell asleep. Dad was able to
successfully transfer her from the bus, up the elevator,
in the room, to the bed without even a whimper….from
either of them! She was NOT happy when we woke her up at 7
am today. Not sure when I should tell her that Wed. it
will be a 5 AM wake up call! I think I know why we all
have separate vans to Hong Kong – thinking screaming
babies with lack of sleep. The idea of putting ALL the
babies in one van and the parents in the others has been
discussed….
Since EmmeClaire was asleep Dad decided to make a beeline
for Starbucks. He was giddy with excitement - guess the in
room instant coffee is not cutting it. He left with a list
of assignments to do while he was out, some scoping out
for later. We also have a few pieces of laundry to pick up
at Judy’s. She gets my business because she keeps telling
me I am skinny and I need to eat. Sold! Of course if you
saw her you would understand why this is funny! He was
also on a squeaky shoe-scouting trip. Baby needs a new
pair of shoes!! He came back with a bag full of
stuff….hmmm WHO is the shop-o-holic now?
EmmeClaire was STILL sleeping almost 3 hours later when
Jim and a few of the guys went with Zhou to look at a few
places across the bridge. When she finally did get up it
was noodle time! She and I stayed inside and listened to
the thunder while playing and doing her “exercises”…..baby
bootcamp!
We were to go as a large group to a pearl market and Pizza
Hut for dinner tonight but that had to be cancelled
because of the rain. But no worries….we went squeaky shoe
shopping!! Now EmmeClaire is armed with squeaky shoes in
all their cuteness! While I was busy making MAJOR
decisions as to which ones to buy, Jim was teaching the
10-year-old daughter of the storeowner English. Yikes. Now
the poor girl will be saying “yinz” if she comes to the US
and no one will understand her!
Tomorrow will be another calm day other than…oh yeah,
trying to pack dirty clothes and lots of shopping into the
suitcases!! Yikes! This could get ugly.
So today marks one week officially since we met EmmeClaire.
One of the other parents remarked the other day about only
having had the kids a few days…..I still have a hard time
believing it has only been a week. One more day….until the
long trek home….pray that…we FIND MORE CHEERIOS!!!! Any
last requests for items “Made in China”…….???
Adam: Hope you had a good day back at school! Make sure
you are a good listener for your teacher! Your chain is
getting much shorter....2 more sleeps until we see you
again!!
|
Wiped out post consulate appointment
Sporting my “Cutest little sister ever” t-shirt
Squeaky shoes explosion
More statues on Shamian Island
Starbucks….Guangzhou
Streets of Shamian Island |
