Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus Children's

So we made it to Uncle Don's and Aunt Tammy's house!  Jeremy got home from church Sunday night and we hurried up and ate a quick supper and got on the road to Columbus. Tammy was watching our older four kids for us while we took Mariah to Cincinnati Children's International Adoption Center for her general check-up. Aunt Tammy must have looked fun enough to be okay to sit with on the couch and Uncle Don........well, it was acceptable (in Mariah's eyes) for him to just observe!

So with a blurry picture and all, Mariah was showing that aunts can be pretty special too!

Jeremy and I got up bright and early and got on the road from their house and headed to Cincinnati. Her appointment was for 10am and we got there around 9:20am.

As part of God's plan for our family, we have been to this facility several times. This is one reason why we chose Cincinnati. Micah and Ben have both been to Cincinnati numerous times to see their specialists. This probably explains all why we are so comfortable here. This was a smaller campus than their main hospital but we really liked it here last time and requested an appointment here instead of downtown at the main hospital. We have been to three of their locations.

Mariah is not exactly the best traveler. Even though she got to bed at midnight the night before and was up by 6am, she only slept for the last 35 minutes of the ride from Columbus to Cincinnati. 

Her appointment went well. We saw a social worker who evaluated Mariah's bonding and attachment as well as her adjusting. The social worker was really nice and gave us some pointers on helping Mariah with a few things. Basically, she is overwhelmed. So we have decided to cut back on activity. This is affecting Mariah's behavior and communication with us. 

Mariah had her own interpreter while there. It was funny to watch Mariah as she listened to the interpreter. You could see the wheels turning! I'm wondering what Mariah was thinking...maybe something like, "Wow, I haven't heard someone speak like that to me in a long time!" Anyhow, Mariah never really responded to her verbally but it was obvious she understood what the interpreter was saying. Our interpreter also told us she liked Mariah's hair and in Chin@ they call that "fire cracker" hair. 

The occupational therapist was trying to get Mariah to stack some blocks on top of each other and Mariah just kept playing. When the interpreter requested the same thing.....Mariah stacked all four blocks!  So, we clearly understand there is still a language barrier.

We see that tongue of hers come out quite a bit! Not sure if it is just pure concentration or enjoyment or sensory needs but there is her tongue.

Mariah was funny while in the exam room. Then they left and we waited for the next healthcare worker to come in. Mariah would walk right up to the blue floor tile and not take another step. I think she was afraid of the blue floor! 

The last appointment was with the doctor. Dr. Staat is wonderful!!! She is an adoptive parent and understands the joys and struggles of international adoption. She was the doctor I spoke with while in Chin@. She was super sweet and didn't take long.

The appointments lasted about 3 1/2 hours. We had long since run out of entertainment for Mariah. She was done with her diaper bag of toys and wanted something different. Then they came in with her tb shot. Oh that poor baby. She cried something terrible!

Dr. Staat explained to us that instead of having a mobile toddler, we have a very mobile infant. She will explore anything and everything since it is all so new to her. Absolutely everything goes into her mouth. Including a handful of potting soil from the front porch...just ask Jeremy.

Mariah is globally delayed. That means that she is delayed some in many areas of her development. She has low muscle tone (which we already knew), she has poor oral motor skills and that contributes to her not wanting to chew her food. It is work to chew and she gets too tired and swallows things whole. Mariah's speech is also delayed. Dr. Staat highly recommended that we wait for a few months before any referrals to therapists. We need to get her familiar and comfortable with home first.

We went down for her bloodwork after the appointment. The lab tech came out and explained that they did not have what was needed for the bloodwork. She assured us that we could drive the 20 minutes up the road to Dayton and they could do the labwork. 

We left and drove to Dayton. Let's just say that Dayton is not 20 minutes.........more like 45-50 minutes away. When we got there they apologized and told us that they didn't have the orders and didn't understand why we were told they would. No one could get a hold of Cincinnati so we left and headed back to Columbus praying that we could have Cincinnati fax the order to Columbus Children's.

Cincinnati called my cell phone and we were set to have the bloodwork done in Columbus. So.......8 hours later we were finally sitting in the waiting room at Columbus Children's. Mariah decided to entertain herself by clearing off the shelves in the waiting room.

The other four kids were entertaining themselves as well. They were all telling us that they didn't want to hear Mariah cry.

They finally called us back and we took her back to the lab. There was a little concern that it was too much blood to draw but after some quick math on their part they figured it was fine. They started with her left arm (right arm had the tb shot/test). Halfway through they lost the vein. Unfortunately, they had to draw more blood from her right arm as well.

She screamed and cried! She was soaked from sweating so terribly. Then as a result, I was soaked too since I was holding her. Poor thing. We were glad it was over and to finally be on the road home to WV. Here was Mariah once we got her in the car. Her hair is soaked! Notice the pink camo bandaid in the crook of her arm.

That was our long exhausting day! It certainly was not a fun day. To be perfectly honest, I think Jeremy and I were both a bit grumpy too! 

Did you notice in the above picture that Mariah is eating? She is eating in our car! Jeremy caved in and allowed her that luxury. He felt she had been through enough already!

We stopped to eat at a restaurant on the way home. We had another mom come up to us halfway through our meal and began to ask question about international adoption. She and her husband are very interested and didn't know where or how to start. I jotted down my email for her and a few agencies that have a good reputation and I think I will be hearing from her soon.

Adoption has opened many doors for us. We are passionate about adoption (domestic or international) and it also allows us the opportunity to witness to others. We are able to share our journey and how God worked in miraculous ways to bring Mariah home. 

I have a few adoption friends that are struggling right now. Emily Rancourt and Merideth Toering have little girls that just had open heart surgery. Emily's little one, Lily, was pictured on my Facebook page. She is finally slowly improving. Merideth's little one, which is actually her little sister, Brooke, just had her surgery today. She is doing better but we still covet prayers for these families.

Today we spent the day recovering. My older kids slept in until 10:45! That is unheard of, especially for Ben. I think we all needed to just relax today.

Mariah fell asleep while eating her lunch today. It got quiet and I looked over and this is what I saw.....

Then this........

I took her up for her nap and she slept for almost five hours! I suppose this was to make up for the less than one hour of sleep all day yesterday. She was determined to stay awake in the car.

I am one blessed mommy to call these five kids mine! I love them more than I ever thought possible. We are praying for continued healing of Mariah's "broken heart". She has come so far but still struggles. Every day we can see a slight change in this wonderful creation of God. My heart is overjoyed as I watch her pure delight in so many things.......like emptying a box of Kleenexes (sorry, no picture)! 

Or seeing rain for the first time then the giggles as I open the sliding door and let her out to play in the rain....

Or swinging (yes, that is Benjamin)......

First time with bare feet in the grass......

First time with rocks.......

First time playing on the deck (that toy was Kyle's....13 years ago).....

And the first time lying on the floor with daddy......just because he can........

Sheer joy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Lord for allowing us the blessing and privilege to be the parents to five absolutely amazing children. Let us always seek Your wisdom and never grow weary in this life You have seen best to fit us.

I forgot How Busy Toddlers Are........

The title tells it all, really.  I truly forgot how busy the house is when you add the unique dynamic of a toddler. Maybe it is our toddler, but we sure are busy! It was funny this morning as Jeremy called to check-in with us I gave him a laundry list of what Mariah had been into before 10am. We have already purchased outlet covers and cabinet door locks! 

I believe it is partly her age but also the fact that she has never had the freedom to roam as she does now. We limit that roaming to the main living floor for now. 

We have taken her to our basement a couple of times. She is not impressed! Our basement is a finished basement but I think the size of everything is just too much for now. 

So here is what I caught her doing in my kitchen.....

Of course when I came closer, she closed the door and smiled at me! I really did not mind. 

I've done things with this baby that I said I would never do. I have put her in bed with us (gasp!), laid beside her in our bed to get her to sleep, woke her from naps (only to help reset her biological clock to eastern time), redirected her instead of disciplining, and fed her between meals. I'm sure there are more things but I'll spare you all.

Now to explain the "redirecting" part. She is not a child who was born to our family and raised in our home. She was born 8,000 miles away from here and lived in a completely different culture for 18 months. Everything was ripped away from her and she had absolutely no choice. That explains any possible behavior we anticipate. I would be behaving so much worse if I were in her shoes! 

This is why Jeremy and I have made the conscious decision to be her only caregivers. We will probably be the only ones holding her, changing her, and feeding her for a while. I wish I could give you some kind of idea for time, but I cannot. Every child is different. She is learning to trust us and learning to accept our love. This is an entirely new experience for her. She is opening up with us and allowing us more access to her sweet yet very silly disposition. 

See what we mean? Isn't she sweet? Something so simple such as eating her puffs and playing with a measuring cup.

So for those of you familiar with the movie Despicable Me you will understand why my older kids keep telling me that Mariah looks like Agnes from that movie. For those of you who haven't watched the movie a million times, here she is. 

The story is oddly familiar......she was an orphan living in an orphanage or group home. Gru comes to the orphanage pretending to be a perspective parent and fool people to gain more power. He adopted a group of girls under false pretenses yet ends up falling in love with these three girls and becomes a daddy who is head over heals in love with these three girls. It didn't occur to me until we were leaving to go to church how correct my older kids were in comparing the looks of these girls! Either way, both girls just adorable. 

Finding a New Normal

So, I couldn't start this blogpost without posting a new family picture! It isn't the best but will have to do. This is before leaving my sister's house who still didn't have power. Not exactly sure what Ben was doing but that is typical.

We made the trip home from Westerville, OH to Washington, WV after finally getting some gasoline. Mariah slept almost the whole way. For a child that has never ridden in a carseat before she seemed to like it. 

While in Ch*na we found it difficult to hold a child while in a car. Neither the adult or child stay comfortable for long. A carseat was a welcome addition to our car. She seemed to like her own space. She never fights the carseat either.

We came home and our neighbor welcomed us as he admired our Mariah. Tom took care of our house while we were away. He got our mail for us too. We love our neighborhood. Tom also kept a key to our house and cut the grass once. Our other neighbor, Marvin, was on vacation for one of those weeks but kept on eye on things once he got back. Friends of ours came over and took care of the pool and cut the grass another time as well. 

So the time came for us to distribute the souvenirs. The kids were super excited! We found some swords that collapse just like the light sabers we have. So, all three boys got one of those unique treasures. Here are a few pics. Just a fair warning......silliness included!

So as you can see, weapons were a huge part of our shopping in Ch*na. The weapons that caused a little bit of trouble in Ch*na were not the kids'. Well, unless you consider Jeremy a big kid. He bought a sword. It also bought him a place behind the security counter in Nanjing! All was good though.

Here are the cutest little chopsticks! We bought each of them a set. They are connected on one end to help learn how to use them.

Here is Mikey just hanging out. And yes, he has spaghetti sauce on his white t-shirt. They showered before supper and let's just say that Micah enjoys eating his pasta.

Okay. So this is not a typical traditional Ch*nese souvenir. Jeremy found this at TrustMart (Ch*na's Walmart) in Guangzh*u. Ben loves Transformers and this one we have never found in the US. This is Devastator, Ch*nese style. Ben loved it! He has played with Jeremy's old one but it is broken.

Since we were not here for Becca's birthday, we got a few things for her that were intended for her birthday. Right now, Becca's favorite color is orange. She is also loving purses. So an orange purse seemed perfect!

This is a piece of candy made out of glass. We bought one for her and Mariah. We found these at the glass store in Be*jing near The Great Wall.

Then we had to get one for Mariah. These were the only souvenirs we bought while in Beijing. My mom bought a beautiful vase and carried it on each plane as if she were carrying a million dollars. It was funny to see mom with that vase.

Okay, so not really a souvenir but just thought I'd share a very cute picture. Somehow she has learned to smile when she sees the red light on the camera. This is not the clearest picture because Mariah kept moving closer to me while I tried to snap the picture.

Our suitcase of souvenirs remained in the livingroom for a few days and Mariah was fascinated with it all. I'd be lying if I said I left it there for her to enjoy. I was just too tired, exhausted, spent, etc to do anything with that suitcase. After all, everything in that suitcase needed to find a home in our house. Not an easy task. Mariah loved her purple backpack and loves to wear it. Just ignore the disaster behind her.

In the picture below, Mariah even decided that the extra Lysol wipes were fair game. There is that smile again.

Interesting thing here. She found the three bottles that we took to Ch*na with us. She held it up and started playing with it and wanted to drink from it. Jeremy filled it up with milk from the fridge and she took a few drinks and that was it. She was done. Funny that the orphanage gave her nothing but a bottle for breakfast and supper yet with us she completely rejects it. Oh, well. Straws for this little gal. We are definitely getting the best results with a straw. She is not interested in a sippy cup either. Well....whatever way we can get liquid into her works for me.

You will be happy to know that my livingroom is once again free and clear of that suitcase. It only took me several days and knowing that Jeremy's parents were coming to get up enough ambition to clean it up. Now the livingroom is filled with the few toys we have for Mariah. But who cares about toys. Mariah believes the picture frames, my piano, and the remote control are good enough!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!

The title tells it all. Today, the longest day known to mankind, was a day of  different modes of transportation. Bus to the airport, train to our gate, plane to our destination, train to another gate, plane to final destination, then our van to ride home. We got up at 6:30am and our bellboy was prompt to get our luggage at 7:45. We are ready to be done tipping the bellboys! It isn't a huge amount of money (just $1 per piece) but after checking in and out of four hotels and several drivers from airports, we are ready to hold on to the money. Anyhow, we checked out of our hotel. It cost us $618 HK! The equivalent of around $200 US, we were on our way home. We caught the hotel's 8am shuttle to the airport and we checked in to Hong Kong's airport at the United desk......many, many, many desks away!

We checked in our luggage and there was a slight problem. Since Mariah was considered an orphan, she was not entitled to a checked piece of luggage. I was offended later when Jeremy told me that is what they said. She is not an orphan!! She is Mariah Claire LuPing Kaminski, our daughter. They really were sweet and allowed the extra piece at no additional cost. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:25am. We didn't even have enough time to get breakfast! The gate we had to wait at was FOREVER away. So, we boarded a train and it took us where we needed to be. We waited at the gate for just a little while then they called for us to board the plane. 

Okay, I admit it....Mariah wore jammies almost the entire trip. I just wanted her to be comfy. Here is a picture of my dad as Mariah made her way over to him and she sat ever so patiently.


To be honest, we were dreading the trip. We went and spoke to the United office at our hotel in Guangz*ou and the United rep told us that our 777 plane did not have the personal entertainment on the back of the seats like it did on the way to Ch*na.  We were a bit concerned on how we would occupy our new 18 month old quite active child. 

We also knew how difficult it was for our travel agent to find a flight for all of us. So we knew it was a full flight. That could only meant that we would be sitting in groups of three...Jeremy, me and a complete stranger and of course a baby on our laps. Mom and dad had their seats ahead of ours, also with a complete stranger. Well, there was no choice but to just muscle through the 15 1/2 hour flight.

We boarded the flight. Our seats were the very last two rows. When we reached our seats, we noticed the very same entertainment systems as our Chicago to Beijing flight....YEAH!!!!

Then as we were getting ready to taxi  to the runway, we noticed there were many empty seats. The girl next to me moved to an empty row and that left Jeremy, Mariah and me. Mom and dad also had an empty seat between them also. God was so good in providing those empty seats and entertainment systems for our trip.

Mariah was either exhausted or pretending that this was not happening because she slept a lot. Our flight was 15 1/2 hours long and she was awake for just about 2-3 hours of that trip. 


As we landed in Newark, NJ the flight attendant came over the PA announcing that this was the final flight for our captain. He was retiring after flying many years. So, as any other absolutely crazy, sleep-deprived, homesick mom, as we exited the plane I asked if we could have our picture taken with this man. I explained that whether he knew it or not, this flight was the most important flight of my entire life! He was gracious and a little teary-eyed as we posed for a very tired-looking (aka bad) picture.

We went through baggage claim in Newark and our daughter became a US citizen!!! No pictures allowed!! We were so excited. Again, no pomp and circumstance. In fact we got in trouble by one of the immigration officers as we were waiting for my parents. Evidently there is no standing around. I explained that the other really nice officer offered for us to stand there. He didn't really care. 


We were ushered into another room and told to have a seat. We didn't even have time to sit down and we were called back up to the window and handed back our Mariah's passport. That was it. We were all done. Mariah was now a citizen of the greatest country on the face of this earth.


The five hour layover was okay. Let's just say Newark is not my favorite airport. We were entertained by a pigeon inside eating the crumbs that Mariah dropped from the puffs she was eating. We were desperate for anything!


Then came security. Oh how I loathe security. I understand why they do it but after traveling for 23 hours, WE. WERE. DONE! Well, I was done. Mom and dad decided that they wanted to cause a little excitement. They/we were ushered into another room. The officer pulled out a souvenir for my Grandma Bash. It was a glass globe but evidently it looked like liquid. Once we convinced them it was a harmless globe, we were released to wait!


Mariah attracted a bit of attention. This attention was sweet though. Many questions from strangers that genuinely wanted to know about the adoption process. 


Finally, our plane began to board. The airlines have stopped allowing parents with children to board first. So, I had a sleeping Mariah in my arms and walked up to board with a group that was ahead of mine. Mom sort of panicked and said, "Are you sure you are allowed to do that?"  I just told my mom that I didn't care! I was holding a sleeping baby and I was boarding that plane! It all was fine.


We boarded the smallest plane I've ever ridden. On one side of the aisle there was room for 1 seat. Across from that seat were two seats. Jeremy took the aisle and got hit every time someone came down the aisle, including the stewardess. 


That flight landed in Columbus at 8:15pm. Little did we know that we landed after one of the biggest storms in many years. My sister and her hubby met us at the airport with our four kids and their three. It was a wonderful homecoming!! We missed our sweet kids like you wouldn't believe. I cried as I hugged each of them. My Ben probably had the biggest hug I have ever received. The picture below has Abbie, Rebecca, Ben, and Caleb greeting us.

Then my Ben just had to give me a private moment. How sweet is this picture? I wish it was a more clear picture but you get the idea. Can you see the love in this boy's eyes?

Even though we were exhausted, it was a good feeling to drive on roads where people actually obey the traffic laws! Our van was a welcome sight. As we left the airport, we saw many trees down and roads were closed. We arrived at Tammy and Don's house and there was no power. Tammy knew that we all would want a shower after being up for 27 hours, so the kids showered before the storm and we still had hot water for a much needed shower. 

Don and Tammy had a couple of trees down in their backyard. We missed the storm by only a few minutes. Mariah decided to put on a show for everyone! She played with all the kids and at one point she went over to Uncle Don and wanted him to hold her. She still prefers those men over women.

We got everyone home and settled in. I fell asleep on top of our bed, more accurately Abbie's bed, with Mariah. I was supposed to be putting her to bed. Mariah slept from 9:30pm until I bumped her bed the next morning at 10 o'clock. Even then, she was not all that happy.....until Pap allowed her a powdered sugar doughnut!


We waited in line at a gas station for over an hour just to fill our tank to come home. There seemed to be a panic about gasoline. We just wanted to get home!


We finally arrived in good ole WV at 4:30pm! Then I realized the degree of damage caused by this surprise storm. As I left for much needed groceries, there were no stores open.....NO POWER! Finally, Foodland was open for just a few hours. We got our milk, bread and a few other basics and came home.


It was so good to be home!!!!

Final Day in China!

Today(Thursday June 28th) is the last full day for us in China. I am sad because today is Rebecca's tenth birthday and we are missing it. Ten years ago I labored for 37 hours under extreme circumstances. Rebecca was born 6 weeks premature and we knew she was going to have some obstacles to overcome. Well, after being on the ventilator for a few days, her lungs began to heal and mature. She was weaned from the ventilator to room air! This baby fought for every breath she took. She now is a healthy, happy, beautiful young lady! Rebecca has such a sweet disposition. She is like another mom to the boys. She is so much like me! I hear her telling the boys things to do, and to my amazement, they listen! She used to refer to her brothers as "my boys".

Happy birthday to my sweet Rebecca Rose!! We love you more than you can possibly imagine and plan never to miss a birthday again. Here is our early birthday celebration for Becca with some of her cousins!

This morning when we finished breakfast, Jeremy and my dad decided to go back to Shamian Island to get a few more things. They were able to flag a taxi and make the trip. Jeremy grabbed a hotel business card before he left and it was a good thing. They finished their shopping and got a taxi back to The Garden. That business card was a life-saver! Jeremy showed it to the driver and he was able to take them right to the front door of our hotel! He did not speak any English.

Mom and I finished up packing and took Mariah to the "pray area" (that is what our facilitator called it). We finally figured out she was saying "play area". It is funny how our languages are so different!

We also wanted to get one picture of our facilitator, Miko, with us. She was so cute! Jeremy gave her such a hard time with her English and she was such a good sport. Some of here famous statements were, "So......everyone's mind clear?" and "So, you needn't bring your paperwork." She got Jeremy's humor and it made it fun!

Mariah had never climbed up steps before. She did not know what to do when she came to the first one. We showed her one time and she was off to the races. She LOVED the sliding board! She loved being outside! There have been so many "firsts" for this child. It is neat to just watch her bloom.

And here was the result of her hard work!

After Dad and Jeremy got back we finished up packing, ate some lunch in our room and got ready for our limousine ride to Hong Kong. Now, to clarify, the limousine ride is what they called it. It really was a very nice mini-van that took us on the 3 hour ride.

That ride was interesting. Let's just say that the driving in China is like a nightmare! I have never witnessed any driving like that in my entire life! The odd thing with our limo ride was that our driver was on the right side of the van. We forgot for a brief moment that Hong Kong was British and they drive on the opposite side of the road. But not until we reach Hong Kong. 

The ride was uneventful until we got to the border. We were amazed at the security we had to go through once again. They took our passports and stamped them. We had to have the yellow exit China card that we were given on the plane when we entered China.  They opened the sliding doors on the van and looked us over and sent us on to the Hong Kong security checkpoint. There we had to do much the same but give our Hong Kong entry form. They also opened the doors and read our body temperatures through a scanner that they pointed at us. Once cleared, they stamped our passports and we were on our way.

Once we entered Hong Kong by way of a bridge, we switched over to drive on the left side of the road. It was just a strange feeling. 

We were entering Hong Kong when it was still daylight. That is a beautiful city!!! We were amazed at the beauty of this city. Our driver was really nice with us and spoke fairly good English. He told us he often times makes this 3-hour trip three times a day. Even holidays.......seven days a week. 

We drove over some of the most beautiful grand bridges we have ever seen! Then we realize we were on bridges driving over the South China Sea! It was a beautiful sight! There were oyster farms everywhere! (We had to ask our driver what it was.)

We arrived at our hotel, Marriott Sky City, and it was nice. I was a little frustrated that they did not have a crib for Mariah (I ordered it 2 weeks before) and that there was not free internet. This was a very expensive hotel and I thought that free wi-fi and breakfast were included. Not so! We had to Skype the kids (remember now this is the morning of June 28th, Becca's birthday) from the lounge of hotel. The lounge was actually the lobby. It was noisy and we could hardly talk without yelling. We just wanted to be home. We just pulled over the small couch next to our bed and Mariah slept there. Here she is getting ready for bed.

We got to our rooms and fixed something for Mariah to eat. Now, she has decided to not eat or drink much. So this was quite the task to accomplish.

There were no bathtubs in the bathroom so I tried to bathe Mariah in the oversize sink. She loved it!!! This is the same child that screamed everytime I bathed her in the other hotels. I think she may have been bathed like this at the orphanage. It was a very pleasant bathtime!

Our windows overlooked the beautiful South China Sea! What a site that was!

We leave in the morning for the Hong Kong airport and head home. It is a 15 1/2 hour flight and to be honest we are dreading it. We found out that this flight does not have the individual entertainment on the back of the seats. So this Boeing 777 was a former Continental flight that does not offer the amenities of the other United Airline flights. That makes for a boring LONG flight. We also were in Economy without any extra legroom. We were sitting in groups of three. Jeremy, me and another person and my parents and another person behind us. Mariah was just a lapticket.

Consulate Appointment, Oath, and Shopping on Shamian Island

Today was a bit busy for us. After getting in after 9:30pm from the Pearl River Cruise the night before, we had to meet the other two families in the lobby for our Consulate Appointment and Oath for Mariah. 


When we pulled up to the consulate building, it was crowded! There was a line of people from the inside of the building clear to the street. We were amazed. Do you know how good it felt to walk right past that line as we had favor.....we were Americans!!! That felt so good. That was as close to US soil as we could get......for now.


The building was nothing spectacular. In fact, we had to change a diaper and there was no where to do that. Bathrooms here do not provide a baby-changing area. So, I pulled out one of my disposable changing pads and had to change her right there on the floor. At least it was in a corner.


We were taken up to the security check and they took Mariah's musical Baby Einstein toy. I guess since there were batteries in it, we were not allowed to bring it in. Well, now what? That was the only toy I packed for her since she loves it. We were so glad there was a play area inside and we kept her entertained there. 


The oath came first and was a promise that all of the information given was true and accurate to the best or our knowledge, well you get the idea. There was no Pomp and Circumstance to the whole thing. Honestly, sort of sad being such a grand occasion. 


We were the last family of the three with Lifeline that was called. They called us up alphabetically. My maiden name was Bash....that would have been easier!


We were told NO CAMERAS, they will confiscate. Also, we were not sure if my parents would be allowed. We had a nice security officer and he let my parents through. So, being the rebel that he is, Jeremy took his camera. He did give it to our facilitator (who was not allowed into the oath-- she is Chinese not American) and asked her to keep it until we came out. Miko (our facilitator) was happy to hang on to it for us until it was over. Our idea was to at least take a picture of us outside of the US Consulate.

As this was officially the beginning of Mariah's quest to US citizenship, we had to dress her accordingly!

On the bus back to the hotel, this is what I caught on camera. Our little girl is coming out of her shell. She is still guarded but these moments are becoming more common.  Isn't she sweet?

After the appointment and oath, we went with out Lifeline group over to the popular Shamian Island. It is an island here in Guangzhou surrounded by a canal on one side and the Pearl River on the other three sides. It is a popular adoption location. Until a year ago most, if not all, adoptive families stayed on this island at the White Swan Hotel. Since the White Swan closed for renovation in August, the island has suffered. The consulate which used to be there on the island was moved to downtown Guangzhou. It was sad to see this beautiful island. It was almost a ghost town.

We had such a great afternoon there! We even took time to eat at Lucy's. This is a restaurant that serves classic American food. It was delicious! Jeremy and my dad agree they had one of the best double cheeseburgers....EVER! I think it had something to do with the fact that they were starving for good old American food. I do know that Jeremy would love good Chinese food any day of the week though!


We took beautiful pictures of this area. There are statues all over the island! We saw three couples having wedding pictures taken as well. Here are some of the pictures we took. This island is famous for the statues located everywhere!

  This is probably my favorite picture taken on this beautiful day on the island!

We did so much shopping there! For us this was such a novelty. My kids will be so thrilled with what we were able to get them. Good thing my parents bought another suitcase when we were in Nanjing. We certainly will need it.


We met a really sweet couple who owned a store on the island. The name of the store was Jenny's. We spent a good bit of time there and money! My mom noticed a cross necklace that she wore and my mom asked her if she was a Christian. She was so excited and said,..."YES!! I have been for 8 years but my husband has been saved for 12 years. We met in church."  After speaking with them (they spoke excellent English) we decided to patronize their store. That is why we bought so much. They have a little boy and love kids. She gave Mariah a fan, gave me and my mom a jade bracelet and asked for our picture. She takes a picture of all of her customers and keeps the pictures in albums on the counter. What a sweet time we had. This is the store where we stocked up on the famous (or infamous) "squeaky shoes" that are a must for all adoptive parents in China. Here is Jenny and her husband.

Mariah slept on the way to the island and for a short time in the stroller there. Nap time at the hotel did not happen later. She resisted! We laid on the bed together singing and she ended up calling for Jeremy. It was the sweetest voice calling, "Da...Da...DA!" Unfortunately, he was sleeping on the couch in the living room and did not hear her.


We came back to the hotel with full tummies and began to attack the packing. 


It was a busy day, but a very good, fun day!