NI HAO FROM GUANGZHOU!

This is the face of a tired mommy ~ on a late night flight from Nanning to Guangzhou, which was only an hour - but an hour of swirming, flipping and flopping by Miss Mia!! I hope this isn't an indication of how the 13 1/2 hour flight will be!!














We had the babies medical exams today; which was interesting to say the least. Peeking in the babys ears and mouth...squeaking a toy to see if they turn their head - just weird! Mia was angry to say the least and screamed, jumped and wailed her arms all over ~ the doctors eyes were bugging out to see how this little woman has such power!!






















Mommy and Mia wait for our turn for visa picture
















Guangzhou is so pretty and scenic!





















Love my girl!






















Screaming Mia before the exam!






















"Mommy!"




















"Get her away from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

All done!

In the White Swan Hotel they have a toy room sponsored by Mattel toys. We went in to play a little with the girls before dinner:

Mia loved Elmo !

She dragged these animals all over the room!

We had fun and Mia loves walking all over!

Miss Mia

This picture is for my friends and family back home: this is a squatty potty; which we see all over China. It is very hard to find a western style toilet these days ~ it is gross and it is hard to use!!










****Anthony and Eddie - we miss you tooooooooooooooooo much!!! I love hearing your voices and cannot wait to hug and squeeze and kiss you both!!! I am so proud of how well you are doing in school and of how well you are behaving!! Enjoy your weekend guys - well talk to you tomorrow!!!!!!! Love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

MAMMA ~ MIA!

It is so much fun getting to know our daughter...most of the time!Here is what we know about Mia so far:

Mia is very sensitive and does not like when other babies cry. If she sees someone crying she will walk over slowly and just stand there and stare at them. She will also pout her bottom lip as if she's about to cry too!

Mia finds comfort in sucking her thumb when she is tired or unsure. The Chinese people frown upon this, when we were walking down the street some women ran up to Mia in the stroller and pulled her thumb out of her mouth...Mia just glared at her and stuck it back in!

Mia also loves the hair on her doll (that I sent in her care package!), it is a few strands of yarn, but she touches it and pulls on it when she goes to sleep!

Mia does not like elevators.

Mia loves to eat, but does not like to drink!!! I've tried to give her juice, water, a mixture of juice and water...she only wants to drink out of a cup or the top of my water bottle!! (This does not include her bottle of formula...she will down this!)

Mia is finally beginning to realize that "Mia" is her name!!!

Mia is either eating or sleeping ~ I think she spent too much time in the crib!

Mia is walking better with each day; however, like I mentioned she seems to have been in the crib so much that she is way behind the other babies who are running around (who are a month younger than her!) Her balance is better with each day and I try to let her walk whenever it is possible.

Mia is unsure about daddy...she will peak at him when he isn't looking. Then, when he looks at her she will turn her head the other way! He can hold her, however, she will turn around for me to hold her - I try to ignore her and let him continue to hold her and she won't protest too much.

Mia is a living doll, happy, loves to laugh and is a true princess!!!


















Daddy lures Mia over with a banana!














After 15 minutes, she gets close enough for a bit!















Love my thumb!















Happy !















Sweetness!




















Got your bottle daddy!!

"aaaaahhhhh"

DAY 4 WITH MIA

Mia still wakes up a little confused and puzzled, but by the time she has her bottle and "checks" things out, she is better.

Our guide took us out to the country-side today. She said this is like the area our daughters were from. It took about 45 minutes and then we parked near a small village and walked through. The people seem to work hard and are extremely poor. They had a small rice field, one of the pictures I took of Mia is in front of the rice field.

We saw women washing clothes by the water and scrubbing them on the rocks ~ Ed said I better not complain about the washing machine anymore! The people were curious and stared at us. We saw small brick homes and a few dogs on our walk.

The scenery was beautiful with the mountains in the background and green for as far as you could see. It was a very sobering experience and our group was very quiet as we walked through. I think we were all thinking the same thing and held our daughters a little closer.

Mia asleep on the bus

Mia next to the rice field

The village

Look Kara, she love the braclet!

Mia checks out the rice field

Mommy & Mia, Abbey & Nicole, Michelle & Lia

A man carries food thru the village

Back at the hotel ~ Mia struts her stuff again!

DAY 3 WITH MIA

Sept 5th, Wednesday: Today we had to wake Mia again at 7am! She is a really good sleeper and takes it very seriously! It took her a while to realize that we were here to stay, but she is warming up quicker and taking her bottle. We had to bathe her again - she sweats SO much and since she had a fit during dinner last night (she was tired!) she was soaked and I was not looking forward to screaming-bath-time! She also screams when I change her diaper -it really upsets her and I try to get it over quickly - speaking of diapers..."Ta, dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh": Mia had her first poopy diaper today!! In the adoption world this is major and looked forward to!

We had a nice breakfast in the hotel again and then we headed out with our guide to Qingxiushan mountain, man-made and when we climbed to the top you could see all of Nanning - Mia wasn't too impressed, she just wanted to walk and pick up whatever was on the ground!!

She is coming out of her shell more and more and seems to really be attaching to me. She will let me kiss her cheeks and smile and when she walks away she turns around and "runs" towards me with this huge goofy grin - priceless!

Today, after the mountain, we stopped at a museum and got to see all of the minorities that are actually from the Guangxi province, our guide said there are many! Some women came over to Mia and were talking to her, touching her and she seemed intrigued and stayed with them for a little while. I started to walk and she turned and just "ran" towards me with that big grin - it made me feel so good that she understands these woman, looks like them...but prefers mommy!!

When got back to the hotel, we took a walk around the city and got stares, thumbs up and more stares! When we got to the park a man tried out his English on us and told us he was a retired professor and was happy for the girls to come to America. He said their parents were from the country-side and were not allowed more than one child, but he thought the girls were very lucky to call us mommy. Tomorrow, our group will drive to the country-side and see the tupe of area our daughters are from. I am very interested to see and photograph these areas for Mia to look at someday.

Enjoy the pictures:


























The princess struts her stuff!

































Pagoda at Qingxiushan mountain





















Mommy, Mia and Kelly (our guide)
















Daddy and Mia ("get this ape away from me!")

Mia at Renmin Park




Ed was "famous", this man had his girlfriend take their picture,
so I had to take one too!!

ADOPTION DAY!

Tuesday, Sept 4th: This is our first full day with Mia and she is really making progress! She slept ALL night and was an angel! We had to wake her this morning for our official work at 7am. She seems somewhat thrown-off and this first picture is where she went when I took her out of the crib. She took the bottle and curled up against the bed and just looked at me...it was sad and I know she was trying to figure it all out.

Daddy feeds Mia congee at breakfast - she ate the whole bowl!

Dressed for our special day!
Walking the hotel lobby - smiling!

Mia is really coming out of her shell - laughing, smiling and commuicating!

Daddy gives his girl a hug!

Mia is so tiny and looks more like a 9-12 month old. She walks, but seems unsteady at times. Her feet are so tiny that the Robeez look like clown shoes! I tried to find sandals in a store down the block, but even they were too big!

I notice a huge difference between Mia and the other two babies in our group, both who were in foster care. They are bigger and seem to act more like their age. One of the babies is almost two years old and the other is a month younger than Mia. I know she will catch up, but it goes to show how much of an impact foster care is on the babies development. Mia is doing great, she has the pincher grasp and tries to commicate, but she is so tiny and petite - she is just a dream come true. We are both in love.

Dreams really do come true ~ it was hard to believe at times, but with time, faith and hope...here I sit in China...blogging and listening to her sweet sounds :)

*Anthony and Eddie, it was so nice to "see you on skype again - you guys make us so proud and we cannot wait to give you big hugs - we love you guys!

~ BREATHLESS ~

Life is not measured by
the number of breaths
you take ~
But by the number of moments
that leave you breathless ~






















Dan Dan came right to mommy!
















Her nanny says good-bye - she was very loved





















She even went right to Daddy!




















We walk around (she started recently!)





















She already has Daddy wrapped!

Mommy feeds her cheerios!

Back at the room - having a little water

I got my first smile from Dan Dan (we were told to call her by this name for the first day or so and then start adding Mia) She is a great baby and has an easy personality...so far!

She did get upset when she heard the other baby crying...one of the babys had a real hard time and she was just looking at her and a small tear just rolled down her cheek. What a sensitive girl!

Dan Dan/Mia is a doll ~ everything I could have imagined but oh, so much more! She is real petite.

Oh, about a few hours before we went to the civil affairs office, our guide told us that she had a heat boyle on her head!!! I was so upset all afternoon wondering how she was, if it was infected, etc. Turns out, it doesn't look all that bad and they gave us some cream for it - better go - time to eat some congee (her not me!)

SO HAPPY ~ ALL IS GOING VERY WELL!!

UPDATE: I CAN UPLOAD PICTURES NOW!!!!!

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WHERE I ADDED THEM TO THE LAST FEW CHINA POSTS!

HOORAY ~ KEEP YOU FINGERS CROSSED THAT IT CONTINUES THRU MIA DAY :)

We arrived in Nanning!

Wow, the traveling that has been going on with us!

Sept 2nd : Sunday: We arrived at the Beijing airport bright and early with some of our group - we said our goodbyes and headed to our different Provinces. We are traveling with another couple, Michelle & David and they are just great! We get along so good and have so many laughs toether. We are meeting another couple here also.

We had a bumpy and turbulent flight to Nanning! But we made it safe and sound. The weather here is very humid and it has palm trees and reminds us alot of Florida; except for the driving!! It really is as crazy as everyone describes and then some! We were laughing so hard on the way to the hotel because of the bicyles and car and buses who "share" the roads of China are certifiably (sp) nuts! We came within inches of these people and no one has a reaction when almost hit by a van!

We are meeting for a group dinner tonight with our guide,it should be fun to meet the other couple. The time to get the babies has been pushed back to 3:30pm instead of 2pm - not happy about that !

It is so exciting to finally be in China, but very hard to manage the blog, email and impossible for me to upload pictures to the blog - I emailed a friend and she should be able to help me out (I hope!)

Tomorrow is the day ~ Mia Day! I cannot believe we will meet our daughter for the very first time ~ so many lives will change forever in this one day ~ amazing !

What does one wear to meet their daughter for the first time?? I hope I remember my clothes in all the excitement :)

**Anthony and Eddie: I hope you had a nice day - we cannot wait to see and talk to you on skype tonight (or morning for you guys!) We are so close to getting your sister!!

WHAT A DAY!

Travel group at Tian An Men Square

At the entrance to the Frobidden City

Sept 1st: Saturday:

We had a packed day here in Beijing! We started the day with a buffet,which was very good - I stayed safe and had french toast, fruit, banana bread and I also tried a fried dumpling - all very good. We met more of our travel group and one of the couples who will go to province with us - very nice people!!

We hopped on a tour bus and our first stop was Tian An Men Sq - we just keep looking at each other and saying , "I can't believe we are here!!" The square was huge and we bought an umbrella for Mia for her room, however, it was extrememly hot and I hope she doesn't mind mommy got some use out of it to shade herself from the almost unbearable heat! The Forbiden City was massive and had so much intricate details where ever you looked. I had my first run in with a squatty potty and it was beyond gross - very hard to describe just how disgusting it is, but ...everything "splashes", if you get my jist (yuck). But, if you have to go, you'll go just about anywhere!

Imperial Gardens in Forbidden City

Then, we went had a yummy authentic chinese lunch and experienced a cloisonne factory. After luch we were able to shop and Ed and I had SO much fun. It was so easy to buy and buy, because everything was gorgeous. My favorite purchase is matching bangle braclets for Mia and I.

We were off again to the Great Wall - words cannot describe how huge and pretty this really is. We started off great, but my heart was beating out of my chest halfway up to the tower. Ed and some others kept their pace. I turned around and started back down with some others and we ended up hanging out at the bottom. All the other husbands came down one by one...but where was my "wild man"? Soon I was left to wait and wait and wait....you ge the picture. I was starting to worry, then I was getting mad! He had my water!!!

Then, when I was ready to send out the army (and a strecher ) for him, I saw him making his way to me with the other couple who we had met at breakfast. He was beaming and so proud - he made it all the way to the top and waaaaaaaaaaay past that! He got a t-shirt stating his accomplishment and we will get copies of the pictures from the other "heros", that is what our guides said people who make it all the way are called.

My hero is out getting us Subway,as we have a 4:30am wake up call!! We will take a plane to Mia's province and get her the next day! We are so close honey!!

*Anthony and Eddie : you would have been sooooo proud of your daddy - we had an amazing day, but thought of you so much too. We miss your giggles and your hugs...love you boys!

About to climb the Great Wall!!