Medical Exam

This morning we had Sophie's medical exam. The doctor said he did not hear a murmur. Praise God! This might mean Sophies VSD has closed on its own. As you can see in the picture Sophie was not too happy about part of the exam. She did well for the most part. Bert is with our facilitator right now doing paperwork and I am waiting to Sophie to get up from her nap. The walk to the medical building today was just gorgeous. We passed a large playground that was full of young and old alike exercising and playing. I think we pretty much have today free and then a group dinner tonight. Guangzhou is just a gorgeous city(at least where we are). We were also given a gift from Mattel today. It is an American mom Barbie holding a Chinese baby. Very cool. There is a large playroom here sponsored by Mattel,,we are going to go there after Sophie wakes up.

Pictures!!

Mom and Sophie with White Swan in the background

What a beautiful Christmas picture!!

Guangzhou

This afternoon we flew to Guangzhou. Sophie was very good on the plane...she had a lot of energy but no crying or fussiness. We are here at the White Swan and it is the bomb!! WOW is all I can say. Nicest hotel we have ever been to. Tomorrow we go for Sophies medical exam..and then I am not sure what we will do the rest of the day. We are ready to come home...we miss Tyler, Micah and Elizabeth Grace sooo much.

Enjoy

Dads not too bad

Love my momma

Just a few random shots..it will only let me post 2-3 at a time. Thanks to everyone who has commented on the blog. Please know I read every one of them even though right now we are just too tired to respond. I am so glad you are sharing "the moment" with us.

Shoes!!!

Yeah mommy finally bought me new shoes!!

My friend Kara, also adopted from Chengdu

Today we went shopping..I only bought...8 pair of shoes for Sophie!(1 for EG) It was soo fun..I dont think we spent more than $30.00 total for all of them. I also bought EG a beautiful coat!! After we came back to the hotel for a nap we went out to a park. It was very neat seeing people practicing Tai Chi, playing mahjong, and generally just enjoying each others company. Several people with babies came up to meet Sophie. It was very sweet. After the park we went to the silk embroidery factory which was really amazing. On the way to dinner we stopped at Sophies finding place. Then we all went and ate at Peters then back to the hotel. Sophie has opened up so much today! She is very smart. She is responding to daddy a little more too! She just had tons of giggle fits today..it was awesome. I can tell she is going to be quite the stinker.
Tomorrow we leave for Guangzhou.
I am only posting pics of Sophie...but we are taking pictures of all the cool stuff we are seeing. If anyone is interested we would be more than happy to share them.
Christie do you recoginze Sophie's outift? It is 18 mos and fits her pretty well! Thanks so much.

Pictures from "Panda Day"!

Ok..why did these upload and my others wont??

Technical difficulties

I cannot get my pics to upload so I am emailing them to my friend Kim Mintz and she is uploading them for me. And since it is obvious I cannot get the captions right she is helping me out there too!! Thank you so much Kim...I would be in big trouble if I just posted and there were no pics. Your a gem!!!

Sophie day 3

Today we went to the Panda reserve it was very cool. The pandas were very active and eating. Sophie was not very interested in the pandas. I wore her in the mei tai sling and she and I had more good bonding time. When I would tell her in Chinese to kiss me, she would!! She has definitely opened up more today. Right now she is napping and then tonight we are going to eat hotpot and then on to the sichuan opera.
At the panda reserve I got to see my friend Jennifer and her family along with her beautiful new daughter Hannah. Jennifer and I met through the adoptchengdu yahoo group.
Last night at bedtime Sophie would not let me put her down. After she fell asleep I tried several times to sneak her into her crib but she would wake up mad and screaming. She slept most of the night on my chest or right up next to me in the bed. She woke up screaming several times like she was having some kind of night terrors. Her cough still sounds yucky, I am hoping the amoxicillin will kick in soon. Several people have emailed me to ask me her size. 12 mos fits her perfect. She wore a gymboree outfit today that was 12-18 mos and the pants are a little big. She looks sooo cute. She does not mind keeping her hairbows in at all!! Good thing b/c she wasn't going to have much choice..hee hee.
Tomorrow we are going to her finding place...and the some shopping. (still no new shoes). Then Friday we fly to GZ. White Swan here we come!!!

Pictures from our Chengdu Angel!

Can you say "Gorgeous"???

Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Did you take one of my goldfish?

"Angel Baby" is fun, but she is no Elizabeth Grace! I am ready to go home and meet my brothers and sister!

Day 2 with Sophie

Today we had our civil affairs meeting and notary. Sophie did excellent for both. She is such a trooper. Little by little we are seeing her personality. She definately loves her mama!! I almost...ALMOST feel bad for the hard time she is giving Bert. She will not let me put her down and believe me I have the sore arms and back to prove it. This morning she pigged out on the breakfast buffet. Then for lunch we made her this fish/vegetable cereal mix..and for dinner we had tex-mex. So far in China we have had Pizza Hut, Mcdonalds and tonight it was chicken fingers and fries for me and filet mignon for Bert. We would like to eat more provincial food but the smoking and spitting hockers can get to you. Sophie had mac n cheese tonight and she loved it. I also let her have a little of my coke light, she loved that too...obvious by the HUGE burp she let lose!(Elizabeth would have been so proud!).
We also went to the brand new Super Wal-mart store here in Chengdu...that was very cool. Tonight our friend Monica and her daughter Alana came and picked us up at the hotel for the tex-mex dinner. Monica is the angel that sent us the pictures of Sophie back in July. She works at the US consulate/embassy here in Chengdu. Her daughter "angel baby" is a gem and she gave Sophie alot of hugs and kisses! Sophie really likes other children. I cant wait to see her with her siblings. She is now fast asleep from our busy day...and I am right behind her!

more pics

I promise I will post about the day before we go to bed..for now heres more pics

Pictures!!

we are going to take a nap will post later.

More Gotcha Day Photos

Bert, Tina, and Sophie are together!! Enjoy these photos!!

Wow..

How do you describe the moment you see your daughter for the first time? Awesome is the only word that comes close. Sophie is just precious.
When we first got to the orphanage we took some pictures and video of the outside. After that they took us up to the second floor. The other family we are here with received their 6 yr old daughter first. About 3-5 minutes later they came in with Sophie. She is sooo tiny. They gave her right to me...she thought about crying and then changed her mind. I held her for a while and then Bert had a turn. She is very stoic and serious and we know we will probably have to wait several days to see her "happy side". They gave us a book with pictures of her all throughout her life. They also returned the 2 disposable cameras we sent in July. Then we had a tour of the orphanage. It is a very beautiful facility, and VERY clean. We were able to see Sophies bed and she went to one of her nannies. Her nannie told her to say "BaBa" (daddy) and she did. So Bert thinks he is one up on me there. After the tour we headed back to the hotel. Sophie was very good in the car. She ate gerber puffs the whole way to the hotel. When we got in the room she was starving!! Bert and the guide went to the supermarket to get some food. She is now asleep with her full belly. She does not like it if I put her down or try to give her to Bert. She is a gem and we love her. Thanks so much for your prayers. Also, as soon as we got to the room I got on the computer and tuned on the webcam so Tyler, Micah and Elizabeth Grace could see their new mei mei. They were so excited...and thought she was awesome. It was 12:00am for them and they were waiting so patiently. I cannot wait for them to meet Sophie face to face. We are so blessed with our 4 wonderful children.

GOTCHA!!!!

We've got her!!! Everything is going great. She is soooo beautiful! She has a chest cold and they started her on antibiotics this morning. Her cough sounds pretty bad. We're feeding her right now, so gotta go. We'll post more later.

10 mins till we leave...

AHHHHHH it is almost time. This is so surreal. We are excited and nervous....Keep us in your prayers. We will post pics as soon as we get back to the hotel.

Less than 20 hours...

Bert enjoying breakfast


view from our room
view from our room

In less than 20 hours we will be holding Sophie. AHHH we cant wait.
Bert is out right now with our guide, Susie, looking for a webcam. The one we brought will not work. We will post pics of our girl as soon as we get them. Keep my friend Cynthia in your prayers, they are getting their daughter today at 4:30. Check out her blog http://goingbackforromy.blogspot.com/

Pictures of Chengdu

View from our van
view from our van
Our hotel lobby(better picture tomorrow)
I forgot we took these on our way from the airport. I am not sure if I can upload pictures from here but we will see. My dear friend Kim Mintz has been uploading all our pictures so far. THANK YOU KIM!!