Consulate appointment done

We had our consulate appointment this morning...it went well. Although we were the last family called. This was our last appointment...thankfully. Tomorrow we pick up Josiah's Visa/Passport and head by train to Hong Kong. Thursday morning we fly out of Hong Kong around 9am...we should get to Detroit around noon time. This is where Josiah becomes a US citizen. Then we fly to Moline around 3PM and get to Moline around 3:45...thankfully....I have been looking forward to this for a few weeks now. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and eat our food. I don't know how much more internet I will have so if nothing else I will see everyone soon.

 

Brian

TB test OK

Today we went back to the medical exam room and they checked Josiah's TB shot from Saturday. Everything was OK. We also went to the Jade and pearl market, however, Josiah was misbehaving a little so it wasn't very enjoyable. Plus it was hard to bargain and keep track of the family. However, at the pearl market we were able to get a picture of Josiah with Paige's hair...there were people all around laughing at us. Also pictured is our good friend Cormack. He really really helped us on Saturday night. He stayed very close to me and he and I talked almost the whole night. He speaks English (with a british accient), Cantonese, Mandarin, and he is studying German...he even goes to School on Sunday's for additional studying. Well we are getting close to the end of the road here in China, tomorrow we have our consulate appointment and wednesday we receive Josiah's visa packet and head out to Hong Kong via train. Please be thinking about us on Wednesday and Thursday as I really don't know what to expect in Hong Kong. My little bit of Mandarin will not do me much good in Hong Kong as they speak Cantonese. Josiah is taking a nap right now, actually he just fell out of bed and hit his head...that is like the 3rd time since we have got him that he has done that...thankfully his bed at home is low to the ground and has rails :)

 

Brian

Quick Post

Today we are going to the zoo, I hope Josiah does good...he has kind of been in a bad mood.

 

Brian

Some Pictures

I am not sure how many pics I can send at a time so I will send a few at a time...Enjoy!!

Pics

One of the things we really noticed in Changsha is that about 80% of the population was very very good looking. I think it must be some well kept secret :) Here are a few of the people I was able to take their pictures.

We are in Guangzhou

We have arrived in Guanzhou. The hotel we are staying at seems like it should be for royalty. We walked in and we were like wow. We had Josiah's medical exam today...it went great and he was absolutely perfect. I did notice today at the doctors office that one of his legs is longer than the other by a few inches. I don't know how much of a problem this will be for his walking but we will see. Guangzhou is extremely beautiful. Palm trees, blue skys, and waterways. It is a lot more western as there are many different nationalities here in the hotel. The people have also been very nice here and a lot more people here speak english. Plus we are back together with our other Holt families.

 

Our plane ride from Changsha was a little rough...first it was late, then the plane was so small I could literally almost touch both sides. Tina got sick after the flight, and today Paris has some stomach problems. We are going to be eating some McD's for lunch and then we are going to go out to eat with the group tonight. Some good news, our documents said that we needed 600RMB per person, but today we found it was only 600RMB per adult. That saves us 1800RMB/$300.

 

Tomorrow we have a free day, and Monday we are back to the medical exam place to check Josiah's TB test. So far it looks good, nothing raised or discolored. It was a little scary in the Dr. Office because they were a little confused with Josiah's limitations. They were trying to get him to grab a ball with his hands, but he couldn't...obviously. 

 

Sorry McD's has arrived...gotta go...some american food yee-haw!

 

Brian

Last day in Changsha

Hello everybody. Today is our last day in Changsha and I must say I am going to miss it here. The hotel staff has been great, very helpful, and very polite. We even received a letter from the woman who cleans our room, it said, "Dear sir and madam: Welcome to Dolton Hotel Changsha. Your room we have cleaned for you. It's very kind of you. Your Chinese is very good. Wish your baby will become more and more lovely. Best wishes for your family. Lily" This note was written all in English.

 

Our plan for today is to pack up all our stuff. After being here for almost 6 days, we have gotten pretty spread out with our stuff. But Rachel is awesome, what would take me 4 hours she will do in an hour. At 5PM we will me our guide and driver in the lobby where she will give us a bunch of paperwork, and Josiah's passport. We will then drive to the airport and take an hour flight to Guanzhou. This is where we will finalize our adoption and apply for Josiah's Visa. We will be there until Wednesday night. Right now the Guangzhou trade fair is going on so it will be very busy. Please ask the Big Man to watch over us as I really don't like big crowds especially while trying to keep track of my family. We will be in Guangzhou for 5 days, then take a train to Hong Kong, then fly out Thursday morning. I know I may have written this more than once, but just in case you don't want to go back and look.

 

Josiah is still doing very well. He does have his moments, usually when we are eating. It will be nice to get him home and give him some structure, plus we don't want him freaking out in a restaurant. Every morning he wakes us telling me that he loves me and then yells for Paige. Last night about 3:30AM I woke up to find him not in the bed next to me. The other night he did fall out of bed, so I looked on the floor, he wasn't there. Then I looked up and he was in the cot next to my bed. He has made us laugh so much, Rachel especially has laughed a ton as he seems to like making his momma laugh. Well I need to shower again as I have not stopped sweating since I got here in China over a week ago. I don't know how much I weigh these days but I am sure I have lost weight. My next post should be from Guangzhou...see you then.

 

Oh I almost forgot. Josiah can move his fingers in both hands. It isn't very strong, but when I pull on his thumb he pulls back with his thumb. Also when I pull open his fingers, he will pull them back...all this is very light, but he can move them. Plus I asked our guide to ask him if he can feel when I touch his hands and he said yes.

 

Brian