So apparently it's New Year's Eve here. My plans: try to stay up until 9:00 p.m. and then go to sleep. It won't be the New Year in the U.S. until 1 p.m. tomorrow, so it's all just confusing anyway! Before I give you the play by play of today, I want to thank anyone who has prayed for me in the last 24 hours. I have seriously, seriously felt your prayers. Yesterday was a tough day, but today was so much better - I feel your prayers lifting my spirits and I'm so appreciative!
Today we had our American Consulate appointment. I have to say it was...interesting. There were probably about 10 families all in the waiting area. We took an oath as a group, repeating after some guy talking through a window. And then they looked at our paperwork and we left. Miss Luyana did not have a fun time. There was a play area there and I think putting 10 or so kids who have just left orphanages together with a few toys is not a great idea - I'm certain every one of them reverted back to orphanage behavior. Several meltdowns, kids pushing other kids, etc., etc. Luyana had a major meltdown and even started pinching and hitting me which she has not done before. But she actually seemed fine after we got back to our hotel room and she took a nap. By the way, her hitting and pinching are so light and gentle, I barely realized she was trying to be mean :)
Here is my cutie dressed up for her appointment today:
We were only allowed to take a picture outside; no cameras allowed inside. Here you can see my bad attempt at hiding the snack cup:
We have really enjoyed Lindsey and Marcus being here; its nice to have friends to hang out with while we're here. They are leaving tomorrow, which is a bummer! Here are our girls strolling along by themselves:
Lindsey and I with our sweeties. It looks like we're both meanly digging our fingernails into their stomachs, but really we're just tickling them so they'll smile. Really.
We then met up with some girls from our China adoption Facebook group. It was nice to meet them in person!
In the China adoption world, this is the classic picture that pretty much everyone takes. Your adopted child standing with this statue. It's in a place where most adoptive families go to shop, so you can't miss it. So here it is! Miss Ellie and Miss Luyana were very cooperative :) Please excuse Luyana's bow placement (bow placement compliments of daddy).
This is currently my favorite picture of Luyana. She was checking out the river and the boats. She even said boat! Well more like bo-ta, but not bad for picking up a second language!
My little Daddy's girl has quickly turned into Mama's girl, so here we're working on re-bonding with daddy. They both sang the whole walk home. Luyana's singing was adorable. Mark's singing brought a little more attention than I was comfortable with - but all in all, adorable.
Tomorrow I have a Chinese friend coming into the city to see us. We've kept in touch since we became friends back when I was teaching in Beijing. I haven't seen her in about 9 years, so it will be so nice to see her again! Two full more days in China and then we can begin our trek home. YAY!
It's a great feeling when the appointments are all finished! Haleigh had a meltdown at the consulate. She wanted to play when they wanted us all to sit and listen to the talk. Back then they actually came out and spoke to us. Haleigh really didn't want to do that; she wanted to stay in the play area. Loved the island! Rest up. Coming home is a marathon is many different ways!
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