Ahhh...waking up at The White Swan was so nice and a place that we have many happy memories from our adoption of Sophia. It is a chore to get so many of us up and ready, but the kids are behaving so well and we were all able to enjoy the wonderful American breakfast buffet. Ainsley finally sat in a high chair without crying and is still eating very well. We met Judy, our special facilitator that helped us with Sophia, at 10:30 am and went to get Ainsley's visa photo. Next we went to get her medical examination. It is strange to see all the medical notes in Chinese, but millions of people can read it here in China, just not our pediatrician or ourselves. Finally we had more paperwork to complete for Ainsley's visa.
Richard is the "King of Paperwork", so we were more than happy to get out of the way and let him finish this set of papers. On Monday Richard will have to go with Judy to get a form notarized to take to the consulate and we were told not to worry.
After these steps were complete we went to Lucy's for lunch. Richard and I were amazed at how delicious the food was and did not remember it tasting so good. Everyone was pleased with their food and even Lucy's was packed.
The burgers tasted better this time- very interesting. Stacy tried to put Ainsley down for a nap but she was wide awake which is not surprising since her body clock has been on "China time" for 2 years.
Richard, Nana Carole, Ethan, Olivia and Sophia went to the park/exercise area for some fun and running for the kids. The kids all adore Nana Carole but we wanted to give her a break so she would continue to adore them. She has been asked several times if she was Ainsley's mother or Stacy's sister while here. Stacy's face cream doesn't work that good to make her look under 30, surely.
We went browsing at "Jordan's", our favorite store here in Guangzhou.
Ainsley got 2 pairs of squeaky shoes for the listening pleasure of our friends and family. There is not much that we needed, but we did get her a small tea set, like the one Sophia and Olivia have from their last trip.
More and more Ainsley is attaching to her Daddy. She knows that he is her Daddy and is allowing him to hold her more and more. Ainsley loves to be tickled by Daddy, too.
We are still enjoying the American comaderie here in Guangzhou and getting to speak with other families from the US. We are surprised to see so many older adopted children and special needs children here. Babies are the minority in the adoptee population this trip. God has a perfect plan for His children, plans to bless and not to harm when we obey Him. We are glad we obeyed God's call on our lives to adopt Ainsley and we pray she will love and serve Him all the days of her life. |
