Monday, June 29, 2009

Fun Weekend





Siena went to her first birthday party this weekend. It was for Abby who turned 3. She had a blast and ate way too much cake. She was very interested in what was going on with all of the bigger kids but was too intimated to join them on the very cool bouncy and water slide. Justin did get her to get in just the bouncy towards the end of the party and she LOVED it.

We went to the zoo on Friday with her kookie cousins, Luke & Jax, and then on Sunday we took her on the Carousel ride. She seemed to really like that as well.

Needless to say she is exhausted today from all of the festivities!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Getting Wet






Today we went to Davis' Farmland and visited all of the neat farm animals and played in the spray grounds. At first Siena was a little leery of everything but then warmed up to the animals and playing in the water. She did really well and fell asleep on the way home.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day!




We had a nice Father's Day. Lara, Jed, Luke, Jackson and Robyn joined us for a BBQ. Actually, Lara and Jed made and brought the entire dinner and Jed stood in the rain cooking it! It was yummy and we had a nice time.

Siena had fun with her cousins Jackson and Luke and looks forward to seeing them later in the week. We are hoping that the rain goes away so we can head to the zoo.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Saturday Festivities





We were out and about most of the day taking advantage of the break in the rain. We met up with Shelby and Auntie Melissa at Tyler's baseball game in the morning. Shelby and Auntie Melissa entertained Siena on the playground and she LOVED it.


We then met with friends at the Boxborough Fifer's Day Parade and festivities. As you can see Siena enjoyed her corn-on-the-cob and made short work of it!


Thursday, June 18, 2009

Playing Outside







We are doing well and trying to get into somewhat of a routine. For the first time last night we got Siena to sleep through the night on USA time and are hoping that we are getting her more acclimated. Here are some photos from the past couple of days of her playing outside and with Auntie Lara. She loves to be out and about and we can't wait for the weather to turn nicer so we can head to the beach with her cousins!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Siena Lei Lei and Her Musical Top

In Guangzhou we went into a store where the store clerk entertained Siena while we shopped. She fell in LOVE with this musical top so of course it made the trip home with us. Lika (our cat) also seems to enjoy it!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Home Sweet Home!







We are home and it feels great to be back in our own house surrounded by our furry friends. We missed them so much!

The trip home was very long and not fun at all. It took over 24 hours and at one point somewhere over the North Pole I was ready to jump from the plane. Don't let anyone ever tell you that traveling with a 19 month old on a 15 hour flight is easy. Siena did as well as to be expected but got bored very quickly and let the whole plane know about it. To add insult to injury our flight from Newark to Boston was delayed by a few hours. We did finally make it with all of our luggage and Robyn (Grandma) saved the day and picked us up at the airport and had a nice meal waiting for us when we arrived home, including a salad which we were both dying for!

Siena is adapting pretty well to her new surroundings but so far is still on China time. She was up at 3a.m. this morning ready to play. Justin is also still on China time so he got up with her and they are both now taking a nap. Siena is a little afraid of our two dogs but is warming up to them slowly. She was petting Asa this afternoon a bit but as soon as he looked at her she pulled away. Of course Abbey and Asa both love feeding time and are waiting for any crumb to hit the floor, which with Siena is a lot!

We miss our travel group a lot and the daily support and camaraderie. We formed some very special friendships and they will all have a place in Siena's and our life going forward.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Little Rocker

Here is a clip of our little rocker. Siena loves music and bops around to any beat!

Day 12-Train to Hong Kong

Siena took her first train ride today and did pretty well.  It is a 2 hour ride from Guangzhou to Hong Kong and the train is very nice, quiet and clean.  The people were very friendly and we enjoyed seeing more of the country we have grown to love.  It was a bit of a challenge to manage all of our baggage up and down escalators, through customs, on and off the train and then into a Taxi to our hotel.  I am not sure I would recommend this route if you have more than a couple of bags because it was truly a circus.  Luckily we traveled with two of the other families so we could move our baggage in shifts. 

The weather in Hong Kong today was mostly rainy and of course humid.  We decided to just jump into a cab and head straight to our hotel which is about a 30 minute ride.  We are staying at the Marriott at the airport which is brand new and beautiful.  We are sad that we weren't feeling up for exploring more of Hong Kong but we are all exhausted, hot and sweaty and need a good night sleep before our 17+ hours in a plane tomorrow.  What we saw of Hong Kong is gorgeous and the mountains are amazing.  We plan to come back someday and spend much more time here. 

We are excited to get home!  Wish us luck and lots of patience for the plane trip tomorrow, I think we are all going to need it!

#End

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Day 11-Red Couch Photos and Oath

Well today is a bittersweet day.  We are excited to be packing up and getting ready to travel home to see everyone, especially our furry friends!  We are really sad to leave our new friends that we have had such a nice time with and have bonded with very quickly.  It is truly a great support group and it is nice to just have someone to share things with and that they totally understand what we are talking about/feeling/going through. 

We started out the day posing for the infamous "Red Couch" photos.  There is a tradition at the White Swan Hotel that all adoptive children and their families take their pictures on the Red Couch.  It is a fun tradition and we got some good shots of Siena as well as the other girls and their families. 

Then Trena and I decided to brave the taxi's and streets of Guangzhou and try to find the pearl market.  If I didn't think we could compete on the Amazing Race before, I certainly do now.  We were the only blond haired people we saw the whole 3 hours we were gone and everyone we asked directions from didn't speak English.  After several U-turns and a little luck we found the pearl market and had a lot of fun picking out some jewelry.  I purchased a couple of things for Siena for when she gets a bit older. 

This afternoon we headed to the Consulate to take our Oath.  It was about a 40 minute bus ride and we got to see new parts of the city that we haven't explored.  It really is an amazing city and quite large.  Across from the Consulate there is a beautiful park with a neat waterfall. 

At the Consulate we couldn't bring in cameras or any liquids and they screened all of our baggage and us much like at the airport.  The actual Oath ceremony was pretty short and non-descript.  The US Consulate Representative stood before us and talked a bit about their role, how many visa's they process per year and then she asked us to repeat after her with our right hand in the air.  The Oath was really to say that to the best of our abilities and knowledge all of the paperwork we have processed is correct and true.  Once that was over we were handed Siena's passport and visa along with the "Brown Envelope" that contains all of her entry paperwork.  It is in a sealed envelope that we are  not to open until we reach our port of entry, which is Newark.  Once we reach Newark, Siena is officially a US Citizen.  That is pretty cool!

We ended the evening back at Lucy's for dinner with our whole group including Minhau.  It was pouring down rain but we didn't care, the food was good and the company was fun. 

We are now in the process of finishing our packing.  We are taking a train to Hong Kong tomorrow and then we fly on Saturday from Hong Kong to Newark and then Newark to Boston.  If all goes as scheduled we will be landing in Boston a little after 5p.m., yippee!

We may not get to post for a bit since we will be traveling but will update the blog once we recover from jet lag early next week.  Take care all!

#End

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Day 10 - 1st Consulate Visit

It seems as though we are starting to figure out a schedule that works for Siena.  It does not always work out the best for the things we need/want to do, but then again, keeping her on schedule is very important to keep her somewhat in control it seems. 
Today, I had to go to the US Consulate to file some paperwork, namely our affidavit that we would ensure that she get all necessary vaccinations that the US requires for new citizens.  Unfortunately, the US Consulate is about a 40 minute van ride from our hotel.  So Deborah finished lunch, etc. with Siena and then put her down for a nap while me and one from each of the other families in the group traveled to the business district of Guangzhou.  This area of the city seemed a bit more upscale and kind of reminded me of Beijing a bit.  The area we are staying in on Shamian Island is more of an area that has in the past been populated by westerners and their associated consulates.  This area is quite used to foreigners adopting children from China and lots of the shops cater to that need selling baby supplies, strollers, baby clothes, etc.  We got back fairly late from the US Consulate and then many of us joined our families at the pool for a late afternoon swim.  Then off to dinner at La Dolce Vita again (our favorite place) and had some pizza, pasta, beers, etc.  It is starting to dawn on us that we do not have much time left here in China.  We have our red couch pictures and oath ceremony tomorrow (Thursday) and then we depart for Hong Kong on Friday.  It is bittersweet.  We have settled into a nice routine here in China and enjoy having all the babies play with one another and we can lean on each other for support.  However, we do miss being home and really want to settle into our new schedule at our own home.  We had a fun time playing with Siena after dinner in our hotel room.  She loves to stand up and then fling herself backwards onto the bed.  She laughs like crazy and then we can tickle her and she begins laughing uncontrollably.  Sometimes I need to hold her down or redirect her efforts so she does not fly off the bed and crack her skull, and she hates being held down or directed that way.  She is a free spirit that I feel will be quite a challenge in the years to come. 

J

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Day 9-Paperwork Day & First English Word

Today was a quiet day.  The weather was hot and humid but it rained a lot.  It is very tropical feeling here and tends to rain a bit everyday but today we had an actual thunder and lightening storm. 

Justin spent most of the morning completing all of our paperwork for the Consulate.  While he did that, Siena and I ventured out to do laundry and poke around a few shops.  We then headed to the play room and met up with a couple of her buddies.  She is doing better with sharing but needs to be reminded that hitting is not allowed.  She is definitely not a wallflower and is not afraid to let her peers know if she is unhappy with them!

While in the playroom Siena said her first English word (or the first one I understood) as one of her buddies was leaving.  She stood up, blew her a kiss and said, "bye"!  It was very funny and neat to finally understand a word that she is saying.  I am sure she is frustrated that we don't know what she is talking about 90% of the time. 

This afternoon I went with our facilitator, Minhau, and Sanna and Thecla to the jade market.  It was actually quite nice and different than I expected.  It was set up like a department store and there are different grades of the jade.  Grade A is the best and of course I liked the jade in those cases much better but the prices are definitely much steeper.  I bought a few things including a necklace and pair of earrings for Siena for a future birthday or special occasion.  We were the only ones in the store so it was very nice not to be over crowded with people. 

Tomorrow we may head off to the pearl market and check out that scene. 

Thank you all for your blog comments and emails.  We have received them all and appreciate all of the well wishes!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Day 8-We made it one week!

It is hard to believe that we received Siena one week ago today.  In some ways it seems like a really long week and in many ways it has flown by.  She has definitely changed a bit since we first met her a week ago.  She was at first hysterical, angry, scared and very loud.  Then for 2 days she was quite reserved.  Now she is completely out of her shell and is a typical 19 month old.  She is very independent, not shy about what she wants and when she wants it and if she doesn't get her way she throws herself on the floor and flails about screaming at the top of her lungs.  It makes for an interesting day!

Today we ate breakfast and met Minhau at 9:30a.m. to go get Siena's visa pictures taken and then off to the medical examination.  There are signs posted throughout the medical facility that say, "Keep Quiet", which I found very funny since the place was packed with kids lining up for their adoption exams. 

As expected Siena didn't disappoint us at the medical exam.  First she dropped what seemed like a thousand Cheerios on the floor that went flying in every direction.  You have to imagine a hallway with people sitting on both sides and people walking up down the aisle stepping all over the Cheerios.  At the time I was embarrassed and annoyed because I was on my hands and knees trying to pick them up off the gross floor without much success.  Now I get a little chuckle out of it. 

In the first exam room they measured her head and chest circumference and listened to her heart.  She was OK with that and actually was interested in the stethoscope.  In the second room she was laid down on the table so the Doctor could examine her further and that is when he got a full dose of Siena's lungs.  She screamed bloody murder and kicked violently.  It took Justin and the Doctor to hold her down.  Then it was off to the third room to have her height and weight taken, then her eyes and hearing checked.  We were only there 45 minutes but Justin looked like he had run a marathon once it was all over.  We were happy to leave and have the rest of the day to ourselves. 

We ended up having a pretty low key but nice day.  It rained a bit today but we walked along the river front where there is a nice park.  In the park there were several groups of Chinese couples taking dancing lessons which Siena loved to watch.  The Chinese woman all love to come up to Siena and talk to her and touch her.  She doesn't care for the touching part and usually gives them a dirty look.  It is very funny how different our cultures are when it comes to touching and giving people space.  We are so used to not being, "space invaders" that it really does take you aback with how close their comfort zones are. 

We also did some shopping on Shamian Island.  We found a great little local folk artist who had some fun prints that we picked up for Siena's room.  We ate dinner at La Dolce Vita with two of our travel couples and had a very nice time.  Food was good and the company was great!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Day 7-Very Cool Day

We are really enjoying being in Guangzhou.  Shamian Island, where the White Swan Hotel is located, is very nice and picturesque.  It is on the Pearl River and we can watch all sorts of boats, barges and fisherman go by. 

We started out the day pigging out at the breakfast buffet which had everything from french toast, omelets and bacon to more traditional Chinese fare like dumplings and noodles.  We then got on the bus and headed to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.  Because it was Sunday it was very crowded and the weather was extremely hot and humid.  It was really neat though and we enjoyed our time there.  Our guide, Minhua, was able to get our group to be blessed by the Monks.  We took off our shoes and knelt on the floor while two Monks chanted and lit incense.  One of the Monks then came around and sprinkled water on our heads.  I have no idea what they said but it was a very neat experience.  It lasted about five minutes and then we put our shoes back on and headed out into the courtyard where there were several other Buddha statues with people praying in front of them and  lighting incense. 

We then got back on the bus and went to the Guangdong Folk Art Museum.  The museum was mostly outdoors and displayed lots of traditional Chinese art from this province.  Some of the items were amazing.  There were carvings of ships made from ivory (cool but I don't like to think about how they got there), silk embroidered pictures that were very vibrant and many paintings.  We lasted about an 1 1/2 hours before we were all overheated and hungry. 

When we got back to our hotel room we had a present waiting for us.  The White Swan and Mattel team up to welcome adopting families which makes being at this hotel a nice experience.  There is an entire playroom donated by Mattel on the first floor.  Our gift was a, "Going Home Barbie" complete with blond hair, blue eyed mom in stilettos and a Chinese baby.  Personally I don't care for Barbie, never was into dolls, but I got a good chuckle on how Mattel portrays how we look.  I can tell you I don't look as put together as she does at this point and would never attempt to wear those shoes on the streets around here.  I would trip and kill myself!

We ended the day by heading back to Lucy's and had a nice meal.  Siena ate everything in sight including the noodle soup that wasn't finished by one of the other babies. 

Tomorrow we are off to get Siena's visa pictures taken and her medical exam.  We are getting prepared for some screaming!

#End

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Day 6 - First Plane Ride and Guangzhou

Siena started the day pretty much the same as the others.  She wakes up a bit cranky, but a quick snack usually gets her going.  She and I went downstairs for breakfast while Deb showered.  She ate like a champ this morning which was great.  Then got really antsy, which did not allow me to each much for breakfast as we then had to walk around the lobby, me holding her hand, she smiling, waving to everyone and blowing kisses to the bellmen.  We had some time to kill before we needed to be in the lobby for the bus to the airport, so we decided to walk down to Nanning's Peoples Park again and walk around the lake.  It being a Saturday, the place was mobbed, and we got even more attention.  In fact, a businessman from Nanning who had traveled throughout southeast asia for work spoke very good english and we had about a 20 minute conversation with him.  He seemed very happy to hear our daughter was adopted from Guangxi province.  Also, a young femal student approached as well and wanted to practice some english.  She kept apologizing for how bad her english was, but it really was quite good.  The bus ride to the airport was great.  Siena fell asleep in the seat beside me which allowed me to have some adult conversation.  We hoped she would awake at the airport and then sleep on the flight.  Well, she was awake at the airport, and awake on the flight.  Thankfully, we had an open seat so we had three in a row as she was EXTREMEMLY squirmy.  Overall, not that bad - not sure all the other passengers would say the same after having 5 babies on their flight, but it was only an hour long.  Guangzhou is a very large city, and Shamian Island (where our hotel the White Swan is located) is pretty european.  We all went down to Lucy's for some american fare (grilled cheese, pasta and beer).  Tomorrow is the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees which is over 1400 years old and where we will go to have Siena blessed. 

Pictures:  Siena already reaching into my wallet and her waving from my shoulder

J

Friday, June 5, 2009

Day 5 - People's Park City of Nanning

Well, today was an interesting day.  Siena slept a full 9 hours again which is great.  Deb was showering and getting ready, so I decided to take Siena down to breakfast and get her started.  She ate 1.5 hard boiled egg whites and 1.5 bananas and a bunch of cheerios.  About as good as we can expect.  She got a bit restless, so I walked her around the lobby a bunch.  At 9:30, everyone met in the lobby and we walked over the People's Park.  This park is an urban park with a whole bunch of amusement rides for all ages, as well as museums and libraries, etc.  Quite a big facility with lots to offer including meticulously manicured gardens and landscaping.  Oh yeah, and a large pond with you guessed it, lots of ornamental carp to feed.  You can also rent boats to tour around the pond including some that are shaped with animals heads, etc.  We walked around the park with strollers which was nice.  Siena really likes to be strolled around and she waves at everyone passing by.  Our group was definitely very popular with the Chinese.  Our facilitator handled questions from some locals asking if we had adopted and they indicated that they were happy to hear.  There are various groups of older women singing opera over loudspeakers as well as dance lessons, both Chinese and western, regular folk singing with instruments, tai chi, and people exercising.  Lot going on.  We had a blast and by the end, Siena was asleep in her stroller.  We took her upstairs and put her down for a 2.5 hour nap.  She woke up not by crying, but by rising out of her crib, looking around and making noises.  She smiled and was quite pleasant.  We played in the room for a while, and then got Siena into her bathing suit and went to the pool.  Siena had a blast playing on the steps in the water with her stacking cups with Deborah.  I played with some of the other kids in the water and got some swimming in.  It was like 94 with about 94% humidity, so even though the water was about 80 degrees, it felt great.  Siena had a great day and was very loving and pleasant for the most part (except for some minor hitting incidents).  Everyone went upstairs and we decided to grace the local restaurant we have become regulars at one last time.  All the families went all out and got a lot of our favorite dishes.  Noodle soup, fried rice, pancakes, dumplings.  Sorry, no marinated duck beaks or pan fried river snail.  Siena did great and she was eating noodles, rice, etc. by herself using a large spoon.  She made a mess, but she was having a blast.  This was all great until she starting spitting food and throwing her spoon.  We removed the food from her and she decided to cry quite loudly.  We decided a crowded restaurant was no place for this behavior and decided that we would remove her from the table.  Well, she decided to have an absolute meltdown right on the restaurant floor, so I scooped her up and brought her outside to cool down.  After about 10 minutes of kicking and screaming and flailing about (and lots of stares from passers-by), I decided she might be ready to rejoin the table.  She walked in holding my hand smiling as if nothing had ever happened, back in her high chair and stuffing noodles and broth back in her mouth.  Interesting to get our first major tantrum out of the way.  Let's hope she does not pick the plane ride tomorrow to Guangzhou to have a repeat performance. 

J

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Day 4 - Mountain Park

Today all the families took the tour bus and some strollers to Nanning's Qingxiu mountain park.  This park truly is amazing.  Like the peoples park, it has a large pond with thousands of carp that you can feed which is a big hit at the park.  We also traveled to the top where there is a 10 story pagoda with commanding views of the area.  Unfortunately, it was quite hazy and smoggy today so the views were limited.  It was over 90 today with severe humidity, so the climb up 10 stories was a sweaty affair.  The park is absolutely enormous and it is obvious that it is a popular destination for Chinese families to take advantage of some open space as the population lives so densely in this city.  Lots of people were there to sit in the shade and take in the sights.  On our bus ride, it became clear that while Nanning is no Beijing, it is a very large city that is growing and the Chinese take great pride in the lush landscaping both around the city and specifically at their parks.   After Siena's 2 hour nap after our return, we took her down to the pool for some swimming.  I have to say her first swimming experience was a positive one.  Despite some whining, she went into the pool up to her armpits (with the help of Dad) and seemed to be fine with some splashing.  At one point, she flung her sunglasses into the pool and went down to reach for them and dipped her face into the water.  It was quite a surprise, but she laughed instead of cried.  Tonight us and another couple decided to brave the streets and put our kids in strollers for a 25 minute walk to Pizza Hut for some western fare.  While the pizza was not anything to remember, it was a nice change from the local cuisine.  The streets here are amazingly busy with so many cars, mopeds, electric bikes and bikes.  We were quite the spectacle on our walk and turned many heads, most with smiles at how cute our daughters were.  The crosswalks are like playing frogger dodging the various vehicles. 

Tomorrow we visit Nanning's city People's Park while we await our final paperwork to take this Saturday to Guangzhou. 

J

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Day 3-Nanning's People Park

Just a quick post....we spent most of the afternoon in the hotel room while Siena napped.  We then decided to head up the road and visit the Nanning People Park.  It is an enormous park with ponds full of carp that people feed.  The sign said there were more than 160,000 carp in the ponds which after seeing them swarm like piranhas when the fish food is thrown to them I now believe.  Siena loved watching them come up to the surface.  We did a lot of walking through the park to try and tire her out.  The park is absolutely gorgeous and had tons of activities like renting boats, Ferris wheels and children's rides.  We mostly just walked and people watched, although we also got a lot of stares. 

We then just headed over to the little market and grabbed some water and ice teas.  We discovered that Siena has quite a sweet tooth and loves juice boxes that have green tea in them.  She recognized them today while at Wal-Mart.  It is interesting to learn her likes and dislikes and new discoveries. 

Minwah, our guide/translator/traveling nurse, translated some of the paperwork for us today.  The paperwork was just filled out on Sunday so it was quite recent and it said she likes to dance, sweets, a good party, being outside and playing with children.  She doesn't like dolls, is scared of the dark and is quite cranky when first waking up.  My kind of girl!  Bring on the Match Box cars, woo-hoo!

Tomorrow we are headed on a bus excursion to a mountain near Nanning that is also supposed to have a beautiful park. 

#End

Day 3 - Nanning - shopping

Today was fairly low-key - too bad Siena picked today to be a bit out of sorts.  We had a bit of time until we departed for shopping, so we decided to give Siena a bath.  She does not like the bath, but we tried to make it fun by having her pour water from a bottle onto herself.  This worked great until we got to her head.  We then proceeded to get her dressed and downstairs for breakfast.  We had given her a few cheerios in the room to tide her over as it seemed as though she was hungry.  At breakfast, she was very fidgety and almost everything we gave her, she would chew and then spit back up for our pleasure.  So, having had enough of that, we walked her around the hotel lobby - holding her hand.  Our group all took the bus to go shopping at Wal-Mart.  This store was literally 4 floors in a large mall and has moving ramps (escalators) that you can bring shopping carts down - pretty cool - they have little cleats on them so the carriages won't roll as well as impulse buy items alongside like at checkout.  It was a pretty interesting place.  It has all the usual Wal-Mart stuff, but then it has lots of foodstuff as well.  Again, we were amazed at how diverse the Chinese diet is.  All sorts of items that would never find their way into a US Wal-Mart.  Can't ever imagine even trying dehydrated squid in a resealable bag - kind of like squid jerky.  Then we next next door to a large department store and sought out the coveted "squeaky shoes" on the 6th floor.  We got a few pairs so that Siena can have them as she grows.  We also learned that you can take the squeaker out when the noise has you going crazy.  Siena was a bit cranky and all over the place emotionally today.  Laughing and jumping in one moment and then crying and whining the next.  Hard to blame her, but it did make this shopping trip a bit interesting for these first time parents.  Many more to follow I am sure.   Back to the hotel and nap time.  So, a few moments to update the blog.  This photo is of Siena on a bike they had in the department store - she absolutely loved it. 

J

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Day Two

Day 2 with Siena started out very busy.  We had to meet the bus at 8:30a.m. to go back to the Social Welfare Institute (SWI) to finalize the adoption.  We were there about an hour where we were interviewed about our intentions to adopt, put our thumb print across all of our signatures and they took a footprint of Siena's and stamped it on the paperwork.  The process was kind of neat but the building was not air conditioned and all of us were extremely hot. 

We then got back on the bus (which does have AC!) and went to the Notarization Office to get our paperwork notarized.  We were back at the hotel by 11:30a.m. and Siena was sacked out.  We put her down for a nap thinking she would wake up shortly because she was hungry but she slept until almost 3p.m. and we had to wake her up.  We had snacks and played with her and met up with some of our travel group buddies. 

Siena responds very well to food, music, the other babies and light up toys.  She really came out of her shell this afternoon and started to dance to some music and would "yell" in delight when she saw her friends Ivy and Kiana.  It was fun to watch. 

One of the best parts of today was at SWI one of the orphanage nannies was there and was willing to take questions.  While we were standing in line waiting for our interview she was standing next to us and talking with Siena.  She kept calling her "Lei Lei" which we have now found out is her nickname that the nannies and foster mom used  with her.  She had also brought us some more of Siena's belongings and a photo album of pictures of the outside of the orphanage, her playing and with her foster mom.    Many of these photos we have never seen before.  Siena responded very well to the nanny and loves her photo album.  She keeps flipping through the pictures. 

Tomorrow is shopping day!  What this means is we get on a bus at 10a.m. bound for Walmart.  I am not the biggest Walmart fan but I am very curious to see what one in China looks like as well as stock up on supplies like water and snacks. 

#End

Monday, June 1, 2009

Gotcha Day!

Well today was the big day.  We spent a lot of the morning preparing paperwork for the adoption process and at 3p.m. we boarded a chartered bus that took us to the Social Welfare Institute Office.  There were many adoptions happening but it turns out none of the 5 babies for our group were there yet.  So they put us in a hot room and we had to wear our masks.  We had decorated ours a bit to try and make them look less scary. 

We didn't actually end up waiting too long and within a few minutes all of the babies were in the room and were handed over to their parents.  It was very surreal.  Siena screamed the loudest and actually got all of the others screaming along with her.  Boy, does she have a set of lungs!  She seemed more comfortable going to Justin and after a good 15 minutes of screaming she sacked out in his arms.  We then had our family picture taken for the adoption process (without the masks) and then got back on the bus to the hotel.  We were back in the lobby by 4:30p.m. 

We then filled out more paperwork for her passport and finalizing the adoption and then headed to dinner.  Siena ate a ton which is a good sign.  We gave her a bath which she HATED and now fell asleep on top of Justin.  I am hoping that she stays asleep for awhile.  It has been a long day for all of us!

The other cool thing about our Gotcha Day is that on June 1st, China celebrates Children's Day.  It is a designated holiday for all primary schools.  There is a great park 2 blocks from our hotel (The People's Park) and there were tons of activities and ceremonies going on there this morning.  We walked down and got balloons for all of the kids.  I defiantly looked like a spectacle carrying 7 Hello Kitty balloon's down the street while trying to dodge the caravan of bikes and mopeds headed towards me. 

Also, all of the care package items that we had sent to Siena were returned to us including the three cameras.  I am hoping we can get those developed while in Nanning.  I am anxious to see them. 

We will post more tomorrow and more pictures.  Unfortunately our camera had the great timing of having the battery die 5 minutes before we met Siena.  Luckily we have two professional photographers in our travel group and they promise to share their photos with us.