Consulate Appointment and Lazy Afternoon

This morning we were up early! At the beginning of our trip in Beijing, we were up by 3:00am just because we hadn't adjusted to the time change. This morning we needed an alarm to wake us at 5:30. We had an early CA this morning. We left the hotel at 7:50 so to get all FOUR of us showered and finished with breakfast, we had to be up with the sun. We made it, though I know we'd have all preferred a more relaxed breakfast. Tomorrow is a free day though so we can allow for that.
Here we are ready to leave to take our oath.




Outside the Consulate - no electronic equipment is allowed, so we were instructed to snap this picture quick and get the camera back in the bag. The US Consulate office is on the 5th floor of this building.




Our appointment went very smoothly. There were only two families this morning so we were in and out in a half hour I think. The other family had a healthy 16m. old sweet little girl. They were first time parents from Austin, TX. In a city of 12 million, it is nice to meet another family that looks like ours. We don't have the comfort of our travel group with us this time around. Anyway, we were in the consulate office on time for our 8:30 appointment. We heard some instructions about applying for SS numbers and protecting our very important sealed brown envelope of citizenship papers, etc. Then, we all raised our right hands and swore that the information we provided was all true to the best of our knowledge, and that was that. Welcome to America, Luke. :) Our new son will now become an American citizen when he passes through customs in Seattle on our way home.
Now for the story...We had some running around to do after our appointment. We had to return to the Chen museum to remedy a broken necklace from yesterday. We had to stop by the medical building to pick up Luke's translated medical report. And, we'd asked if we could stop at a supermarket to do some shopping for some things for our trip home. We purchased some more noodles to make with our hot pot in the room, water, baby wipes...essentials. We also picked up a stroller for Luke to use in the airports, and an extra suitcase to pack our gifts in for the trip home. On our way out we noticed some not so sweet aromas coming from the stroller...you fill in the blanks here. Mr. Luke Heutmaker is now down one size 18m navy blue onesie.




I think that family picture at the top of this post is the only one we even have of him in his little red, white, and blue outfit. Ah well. There was no way that onesie was coming home with us. We Heuts know how to make memories. :)
The rest of our day was pretty quiet. We got back to our room and bathed the little man while Daddy made the noodles for lunch. Luke took a marathon nap. Hope and Ron tried out the new stroller and went for a walk around the area. A certain big girl is feeling like she'd like a little stroller time again these days. I started packing some of our things. It was nice to get a head start on that.
After nap we had some quality playtime in the room and then decided to go for a walk. We crossed the road to check out the "Guangzhou Friendship Store." Ummmmmm, Yeah...... We did not belong there. It turned out to be a VERY upscale type mall with stores like Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Valentino just to name a few. We wandered around a little bit but got some very strange looks and felt pretty uncomfortable so we took our hillbilly family and went back across the road to McDonalds for dinner.
Wen we got back I took some pictures around the hotel so you can get a glimpse of the posh live we've been living for the last few days. This is something else.

The garden Hotel Guangzhou


Under the escalators in the lobby ~


Outside Courtyard ~








Lobby Ceiling ~


Lobby Staircase ~


Front Desk ~


Above the entrance on the inside ~


Happy Kids ~


Happy Family ~


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Chen Family Temple and Shamian Island

This morning we started out by meeting our guide at 9:00 for some sightseeing. We went to the Chen Family Temple. We were here five years ago with Hope. Our biggest memory from being here was Auntie Tu thinking she was so funny by making us all try the smelliest fruit EVER...Durian. Oh my gosh it is so awful. Anyway, the sights were just as breathtaking the second time around. Our guide said the Chen family is the largest surname in Guangdong province. At the end of the Qing Dynasty the Chen family built this structure as a place for the family to study and worship. It was very interesting.




The brochure says these buildings are some of the "best-preserved and most gorgeously decorated traditional buildings in Guangdong Province."








These two guards on the doors are very significant. One must be red and one black. And, when the doors are closed, they're eyes meet on a single spot therefore sealing the doors. If they are switched and their eyes end up facing away from each other, evil spirits and bad fortune can sneak into the building.








This is a section of the wood paneled gate at the entrance. All of the carvings were different and unique. This one shows the banana tree. The leaves are apparently very significant because they are large and symbolize longevity/long life.




This display was in one of the side buildings and shows the process of carving the jade family ball. We have one of these from Hope's adoption trip. They are carved ornately from a single sphere of jade, and each layer on the inside represents a generation of your family.




Hope's name on a piece of rice and put in a necklace charm. Cool Keepsake! Her Chinese name is on the other side.








Daddy with both the kids and all the stuff...such a good daddy and husband! We fought the battle with Luke and the stroller today. It was so worth it. He is a chunk to carry, even with the hip carrier we brought. We may be on a mission to find a stroller tomorrow for the trip home. You can see here his big sister wanted a turn, too. :)




Done for the morning. It was so HUMID today!




Hot and sweaty and chillin' in the a/c on the way back to the hotel.




We got back to the hotel and had some noodles and peanut butter sandwiches in the room for lunch. Again, we shopped at the market and planned for some meals in the room to try to conserve some resources. Eating out every meal for three weeks is a little much for our budget. We'd made afternoon plans to take a taxi to Shamian Island for the afternoon/evening to meet up with our friends we met in Jiangsu who are staying at the Victory Hotel there. It was so fun to be back on he island. It brought back so many memories of our first trip. It is so different to be there now. The atmosphere is remarkably different. We remember waking outside and having almost every family we met look just like ours. This time, the only other adoptive families we saw were in the hotel lobby when we met our friends. At any rate, we were able to walk around, admire the scenery, visit some shops, and eat at Lucy's. The latter of these things we really the goal for our island visit anyway. Yum!
Hope wanted to pose with almost every statue we saw. :)



























Grandma and Grandpa, You might want to print this one. :)




End of a long day.




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Steps

Luke is a walker! :)

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Medical Exam - CHECK

Time to start checking things off the list for Guangzhou. Luke had his medical exam this morning.

Current Stats:
9.9 kg
36.1 degree temp (c)
80 cm

Waiting for everything....





Our guide, Lucia, had us whip right through everything. I don't know how she did it because it seemed like families were waiting, but we just walked right up to each room and got in right away.

First stop was Luke's visa photo.


Next was the ENT visit - It was rather comical watching the doctor check his hearing. She thought she was being stealthy I'm sure, but Luke doesn't miss a beat. He noticed her moving her arm to squeak the toy near his ears and of course he turned his head in her direction. I'm anxious to get him home and to an audiologist to really see what the status is.


From there, we went to the nurse's station for height and weight.





Lastly was the general examination. This was sort of funny as well. As I've said before, Luke will sit still for noone. I know the picture is blurry, but check out the mess as she's trying to measure his head.. Hahaha...








Her only comment to us was, "Oh Buddha belly. This boy likes to eat." :)

Yep!

So the rest of the day has been pretty quiet. We stopped at a supermarket and picked up some bread and peanut butter, some noodles, and some snacks. We are hoping to save some money by eating some meals in our room. Back at the hotel we wrapped up some paperwork for our consulate appointment on Monday. We also had someone come by and pick up our laundry. It will be nice to get some clean clothes for the rest of the week.

So tonight, I think we'll probably just take a stroll around the area here and see what there is to see. We talked about going to the island to see our friends and eat at Lucy's but that may wait until tomorrow. Hmmmm - I need to make a shopping list. :)

Prayers for today:
Luke - He still has a pretty deep cough and runny nose...though his temp was normal at the medical appointment this morning. We did give him a dose of Motrin this morning though.
Hope - She is sneezing a bit now too. Also, this "big sister" gig is hard. It is hard to know what is helpful and what is a job for Mom and Dad.
Ron and Me - Just pray that we remain healthy and rested so we can be the parents our children need us to be.

Thanks everyone! It will be morning when you all see this, so have a wonderful day!



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Goodbye Jiangsu, Hello Guangzhou

Good morning from Guangzhou. Today is Saturday, Aug. 4. 9:20am. We made it to Guangzhou last night. If yesterday's trials were any indication of how our flight home is going to be, we need some major prayers. Little Luke is MIGHTY!!! He has no intentions of sitting still for any duration of time for anyone PERIOD. It didn't help that our flight was delayed, and our gate was changed. When there is a language barrier it is hard to negotiate such things. We were at the airport with plenty of time, but our poor kids didn't have a snack before we left and it was getting to be lunch time, too. Our guide was able to get us through security, but after that we were on our own to find the gate. Originally we were down two escalators to the gate 25 waiting area where we'd have to take a bus out to board our plane. Then we were changed to gate 10 so back upstairs we went to stand in line for about 45 minutes. I had Luke in the carrier. By that time he was completely exhausted, flailing all over, and screaming. As long as I kept the Cheerios coming he was ok, but that couldn't go on forever. Finally, we boarded the plane and he had had absolutely enough. He was in full tantrum mode. So as soon as we were up, I took him and stood in the back of the plane for almost the entire 2 hr. flight. I had some terrible flashbacks of Hope's trip home. YIKES! Please pray that our travels home are much smoother for us.
Anyway, we are now in Guangzhou safe and sound. Our hotel is pretty incredible! I've never stayed anywhere even close to this lavish. We are headed out in about a half hour for Luke's medical appointment. After that I think we are going to try to find a laundry service. Not sure if there is really anything else on the agenda for the day. A little down time in the hotel would probably do us all some good.
Jiangsu
(This is our original waiting area)




Goodbye Jiangsu - This was the point where I had some emotion with Hope's adoption. Taking your child from his home, the people, places, smells, sounds....the only things he's ever known, etc...it's hard.


Guangzhou - YES! We made it. Get us off this plane!


(Blurry from the plane window but truly very polluted and overcast as well.)
Lucia - Our Guangzhou Guide - sight for sore eyes when we arrived at the baggage claim


Before signing off, I'd like to share a few pictures of our last night in Nanjing. Hope and I explored the market around our hotel with our new friend Terrie while Ron stayed back with a sleeping baby. It is such a cool area. I'm glad we got to experience this part of Luke's home. We got to be pretty darn good negotiators.

















These 'yellow' gentlemen gave rickshaw rides around the market. Every once in a while we'd here the jingle of cowbells only to turn around and narrowly miss being hit by the train or rickshaws strolling by. Watch out!


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