A Little Belated...We're Home

After 24 hours of travel, we were welcomed home by sweet family and friends.

Our trip home went remarkably well.  Jenna slept most of the flight from Shanghai to Chicago. We've been home a week now and are settling in.  Jenna adjusted to her new sleep schedule better than the rest of the family overcame jet lag.  We seem to be close to normal now.  Jenna is happy during the day and sleeps well at night in her own room in her crib. I haven't taken the time to blog the past week, but I hope to give some "home" updates as we fall into our routine and move on from survival. :~)

Non-Scheduled Tuesday

Today we had nothing on our schedule except to meet Simon and get Jenna's visa at 4:15. It's been our rainiest day since we've been here. We've done a little shopping, a little picture taking, and a little packing because tomorrow we start our way to Bowling Green, Kentucky. We'll leave our hotel Wednesday morning at 9:45am (China time) and plan to get to Nashville about 24 hours later. We go from Guangzhou to Shanghai to Chicago to Nashville.  If my brother remembers to pick us up, we should make it to Bowling Green around midnight Wednesday night(Bowling Green time).  A week ago, Jenna seemed like she would be perfectly content to sit calmly for hours on end, but she's much more active now.  She's a very happy baby, but we'll have to work to keep her entertained. We've had a great trip and are looking forward to sharing our new addition with family and friends very soon.

American Consulate Appointment

This is the appointment that the timeline of our entire trip hinged upon.  Today we submitted documents and took an oath at the American Consulate. This is the last item of business allowing us to obtain Jenna's American visa and bring her home.  When she lands on American soil in Chicago Wednesday evening, she will be an American citizen. After our appointment, we headed back to the park to see if there was more activity than on Sunday.  Jonathan was really hoping to see some hacky sack masters and purchase one for himself.  Without the rain, we had success.  After that, we went to Shamian Island for some shopping and grabbed lunch at Lucy's - an American restaurant. 

Yuexiu Park, Pearl and Jade Market - Sunday

Alright, I'm not sure how I got so far behind again, but we've continued to be busy.  On Sunday, we sent to a local park where people generally exercise and just enjoy the outdoors, but it was a rainy day and there weren't many people out. After that we went to the Peal and Jade Market. Ella chose some pearl earrings and Jonathan got a Jade necklace, but overall the excursion didn't include anything terrible noteworthy.  Apparently, Guangzhou is known as "Goat City", so we were able to see the city statue at the park. For dinner, we went to a Korean restaurant.  Being in a very large city has allowed us to "tour the world" with our dinner options. :~)  Jenna has had a happy day.

Guangzhou Zoo - Saturday

Today we went to the zoo by subway.  The subway system is much nicer than NYC.  The zoo was comparable to Nashville or Louisville.  The Guangzhou Zoo has a panda, and the kids got to feed the giraffes. This was the first day that we simply did something for leisure rather than have an adoption related appointment of some kind. We've enjoyed the company of a couple from Arizona who also are adopting from the Guangdong province.  It's been great to share this experience with another family.  We went to a Thai restaurant Friday night and a Turkish restaurant tonight.  Their daughter is about three months younger than Jenna, and it's been neat to watch the girls progress throughout the week.  We've celebrated ounces consumed, dirty diapers, and emerging smiles together. :~)  Jenna is coming out of her shell more and more and even has done some laughing today.

Dongguan Social Welfare Institute

Jenna's home for 18 months. I am so thankful for our visit today.  I'm not really ready to crank out a blog post that summarizes our visit - not really sure how to do that, but I do feel Jenna was blessed with caretakers who love her.  We were blessed today to be able to witness that love.

This morning getting ready to leave the hotel.

The path to the building where Jenna lived.

Excited to see each other. The caretaker was so happy Jenna had not eaten lunch yet and promptly fed her.

The room where Jenna lived.

These ladies were her primary caretakers and clearly love her.

Jenna's empty bed is by the doorway.

The orphanage staff was kind and loving and seemed very happy that Jenna was with us. They claimed that she is a "perfect baby" :~).  Our family agrees.