more pictures of the playroom

The playroom is also an opportunity to meet other families who are adopting. Everybody eventually ends up at the White Swan. I've met three other single women who are also adopting. There are also special needs adoptions. I've met one five year old boy who is deaf being adopted by a family in Colorado. There are several children who have had cleft palate surgery who are here also being adopted.

Sunday in Guangzhou

Clarke and I had a lazy day. Last night went better and I hope it continues to improve. The crying didn't last as long and her sleep was more peaceful. A late breakfast, more shopping, a two hour nap and dinner with the Stimacs. We tried a Cantonese restaurant that had everything from pigeon, frog, chicken feet, and one dish called the secret treasure. No, I didn't care to find out what the secret was. I stuck to rice and vegetables. Usually a safe bet. After dinner we tried the pool. Clarke took to the water fine. She kept putting her face in it so we'll have her swimming in no time. Earlier in the day we checked out the swan room. It's a room where parents and children can enjoy some play time. Clarke would wander a few feet away and then come hurriedly back to me. So maybe the trust is building.

my travel group

My travel group as I've mentioned before consists of three families. Here are some pictures of the Wise family and their baby, Lucy, who is 9 months old, and the Stimac family and their baby, Annaka, who is 13 months old. Yesterday we all went to a shopping area in Guangzhou where you could find row after row of booths with about anything you could imagine to buy. A dollar is about 7.5 or so yuan, so the dollar goes a long way here. The pictures here though are of the families out to dinner with me on two separate occasions.

Guangzhou nightlife

With a baby in tow there's not much nightlife for me. But the view of the river at night is beautiful. Boats all lit up pass by, and buildings across the river from Shamian Island, where I'm staying, are also lit up. Here are some pictures across the river and of the boats passing by.

foot massage

Before I got Eden Clarke, Tea and I and a niece of one of the other families, who plays baskbetball for Weber State, by the way, went to get a foot massage. I'm not the massage type, but per usual Tea persuaded me to do it. It wasn't just a foot massage. It was a 90 minute process that started with the back and neck, the arms and then after an hour of torture, yes torture, they got to the feet. We were all three in the same room in a big chair with a cup of tea. Tea and the girl with us took great pleasure and had many laughs in watching my pain. Chinese men performed the massage. My masseuse was cute which was the only good thing about it. We each had our own masseuse and none of them spoke good English. Very interesting. Here's a photo of Tea and I and our respective torturers (sp). Can you tell I'm still in pain.

Friday, July 6

Yesterday was our first full day together. It went pretty well. She will not let me out of her sight. A trip to the grocery store was unsuccessful. I think because she couldn't see me she had a fit. I ended up using the stroller to carry my groceries and diaper bag and carried clarke on my hip.

She had a brief medical examination yesterday for her passport and visa applications. She passed. She has some congestion, but otherwise seems fine. The first night she slept for about ten hours straight. But..........last night was a different story. She wouldn't sleep in her crib so she slept with me. After about an hour of crying she fell asleep on my chest. All through the night we would have very brief periods of peace and then the crying would begin again. This morning after her bottle she fell dead asleep and is sleeping now in her crib. I'm going to ride that ride as long as I can. I'm going to catch some zzzzzzzz's myself here in a minute. Before the bottle I took a couple of snaps in her cute pink jammies her nanna bought her. It's hard to get a picture because she squints everytime she sees the flash. Hope you enjoy.

Here are some bath pictures. Isn't she a cutie.

Here she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well today about 3:45 the nannies from the orphanage arrived at the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou with Eden Clarke Officer. She's a beauty. She was very frightened at first but has already started warming up to me. After a few hours I tried a bath which she was apprehensive about but came through it just fine. She's eaten and now sleeping. What a blessing she is!!

The time is finally here

Okay. you may have been wondering what's the deal, when are we going to see Clarke. I have been having a little bit of drama here in China. The rest of the families in my travel group got their daughters last Thursday. There was a suspicion that my daughter might be a twin, so I had to wait on a DNA test to determine if she was or wasn't. There are two girls at the same orphanage who were suspected to be twins. The girls were referred to different families, someone else and me. This suspicion arose before I left for China and I thought it had been resolved, but apparently there was a miscommunication. So I have been waiting here a week to hear the results of the DNA test. Finally, today, I heard for certain that Clarke is not a twin. Twins are not referred to singles so I would have received another referral. So to hear that she isn't a twin and that she will be coming home with me is a huge relief. There are babies everywhere here and walking around not knowing what was going to happen was quite depressing. But, she will be here in Guangzhou tomorrow. I will meet her at 3:00 p.m. So finally, all is right with the world. Can't wait to post pictures of her tomorrow for all to see.

VIEWS IN AND AROUND HOTEL

Here are some photos of views in and around the hotel,the White Swan. The hotel guidebook shows that Nixon stayed here and the Queen visited. Big stuff.

GUANGZHOU

We arrived in Guangzhou and have been sightseeing here. Guangzhou is on the Pearl River. We are staying at the White Swan hotel which is beautiful. The lobby has a waterfall in it. The weather here is tropical, very very hot and humid. Walking on the street involves dodging cars, people on bicycles, and street vendors. Selling is serious business. It is sometimes very hard to get away. Guangzhou is where all the families ultimately end up when they adopt. The final paperwork and the appointment with the U.S. Consulate occurs here. Babies and adoptive families are everywhere here. The adoption guide here in Guangzhou is Lee. She took Tea and I on a short tour today of a museum, The Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, and the Guangzhou Park of the Five Rams. The museum is the tomb of the Nanyue King which was discovered purely by chance in 1988. We saw the actual tomb, the remains, eek, and many relics found in the tomb. Very interesting. The Park of the Five Rams was beautiful. Guangzhou is known as the City of the Five Rams. The Five Rams is a folk tale wherein five rams basically saved the people of Guangzhou from famine after a great flood. In the afternoon Tea decided she wanted a massage for some pain she was having in her back. She had some kind of freaky massage involving heated cups. The cups were place on her back and twisted. The pain is gone, but now her back is covered in these big purple circles. She looks like she was abducted by aliens or given hickeys by and octopus. Very strange. No more massages in China for Tea. When Tea was being assaulted by heated cups I just walked around and took pictures. I passed a couple who were getting their wedding photos taken. I was able to snap their picture just before they walked away.

LEAVING FOR GUANGZHOU

We left Beijing on Tuesday for Guangzhou. Guangzhou is in the Guangdong province of China. There we will meet our daughters. Here is a picture of my travel group and our Beijing guide at the Beijing airport. He went by the name Simms. He was great.

THE GREAT WALL

Here are pictures taken at The Great Wall.

BEIJING

Had a great day today touring Beijing. We went to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City, a jade factory, and the Great Wall. I can't view my blog but I can post. Hopefully you can see these pictures I'm posting. Tianamen Square was really neat. I was able to get some pictures of the guard in training. The Forbidden City was beautiful. Our Beijing guide is a former history teacher and had written biographical papers on several of the emperors. He was very knowledgeable about the Forbidden City and the emperors who once lived there. The Great Wall was daunting. We climbed a little over an hour up before we decided we had enough and came back down. It was so steep that I felt like I was walking out of the Grand Canyon but at a steeper incline. We have three families in our travel group, myself, a family with their two children and their niece from Salt Lake City, and a couple from Missoula, Montana with a daughter that stayed home. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

BEIJING

FLIGHT DELAYED

Tea and I both made it to the Los Angeles airport, had dinner and were ready to board the plan for Guangzhou at 11:50 p.m. Then came the announcement: Due to some problem in Russia, the plane is delayed 5, yes 5 hours. What fun. It sounded like the announcement said due to a volcanic eruption in Russia. Are there volcanoes in Russia?

Will's baseball team placed 2nd for the season

Will's baseball season is over. His team placed second for the season. The trophies for the season and the tournament were presented on Saturday. Here is a picture of Will and his teammate discussing their trophies, and a picture of the whole team.