Medical exam, paper work, dinner out Day 9

Day 9 is complete.  It was a great day and I am excited to fill you in!

Guangzhou (GZ) and Nanchang are so different!  I am so thankful and grateful for the order of things on this trip.  Being in Nanchang was such a blessing for our family.  It was also a blessing to really feel like we are in Ch*na!  GZ has a very different feel.  The city is big (14 million) and has a new and clean feel to it.  We are in a nicer area and honestly it feels just like downtown Chicago or NYC or LA.  The hotel are are staying at is called The Garden.  I will post some photos soon, but we turned our bathroom into a laundry room so it isn't suitable for photos right now.  It is super fancy and full of American adoptive families.  Seriously, everywhere we go we hear English and see other families that look just like us.

Our view!  Zoom in to check our two of the hotel waterfalls.

This morning we had a lovely breakfast and got to meet many people from the FB world in real life!  It is so special to be here with people you have prayed for and cried with and jumped up and down with throughout the process.

After breakfast we met other families from our agency to go to tour a memorial hall.  Basically it is a memorial to a man who studied in the US and tried to bring democracy to the country. He was a good guy. 

Sun Yat-Sen

Memorial Hall.

Sleeping baby with mommy and daddy at Memorial Hall.

It was great to connect with the other families from our agency.  One of the families lived in the town next to the town we lived in while Brandon was at grad school.  They also moved north and now we live in the same state again.  Crazy small world.  We probably passed each other in the mall several times didn't even know it.

Next it was medical exam time. The medical exam was a little chaotic, but also very fun.  While we were in the process of adopting M we were blown away by the number of Christian families adopting children.  I am not sure why we were surprised by this as God has called us to care for orphans, but it just seemed crazy amazing to meet so many amazing godly families on the other side of the world.  Well, this time was no different.  We met many families who love Jesus and love adoption.  It was such a special time.  We are hoping to go to (hur(h with many of them tomorrow.  We even met someone who knows Mark Hall (lead singer of Casting Crowns and adoptive dad).

T is all done with medicals!!!  She was so sweaty in there and a little overwhelmed and super tired.

My little joey in her pouch!  We wanted to give you an idea of what the medical area looks like. 

T did great during all of the exam parts.  Since she is under 2 she didn't have to have any blood draws!  Whew!  My heart just broke to see the kids coming out of that room.  She did whimper a little when she was being checked, but again, we embraced it because she was looking to us for comfort.

After the medicals we came back to the hotel so T could nap.  Brandon went to the market for lunch and for other supplies.  T took a monster great nap!  She needed it!  I actually had to wake her up. 

So sweaty after medical exam I didn't have the heart to put her pants back on after a diaper change.  So sweet.

 After nap we did more paperwork!  Yes, it never ends!  It was such a blessing to go over everything with our guide.  She is super and I think we are all set for the consulate appointment on Monday morning! 

Very focused, lots of paper!

 After paperwork we had a blast with T in front of the mirror.  She is such a ham.  We are pretty sure that she thinks her reflection is another baby because she talks to herself like it is a friend.  It is so cute to watch.  I have lots of photos and video footage of this!

Hey friend, want to play?

Funny face time (actually she is babbling, but this is so sweet)

Hey girlfriend, I have not seen you forever!

My friend is so cute!

I really want to touch my friend's shoe!

oops I fell down.

 We ate dinner at a local place with our guide and another family from our agency.  T had a great time and decided to present me with a challenge when she had her nastiest poo yet at the restaurant.  I had to change her at another table... anyway, I won!  The diaper was changed.  All was right with the world!  T got to sit on a special "high" chair.  We were glad we had the Ergo to belt her in.  She is a wild woman. 

Our princess thumb sucker.

Enjoying dinner with another family from our agency and our guide (taking the photo).

After dinner I was sure T was sleepy, but she got a second wind and just fell asleep minutes ago.  She had so much fun with a beach ball and playing hide and seek behind the curtains.  She started the game and knew what to do at the proper times.  This shows she can hear at least decently and also that she can remember the game.  Such a sweet girl.  I can't believe that after tonight only 3 sleeps here and then the LONG plane ride home!  Dreading the flights, but can't wait to see the faces of my family at the airport. 

Hey I found another friend down here!

Peek!