Sunday, September 10, 2006

More photo catch up...

She really is an angel...when she is sleepingEmily's mommy will love to see this pic of her precious daughter eating pizza! Corey had to pry it out of her hands.
This pic was taken on our last night at Lanzhou. We had a nice dinner complete with singing, dancing and a birthday celebration for our girls.
The proud mommy and daddy helping Kylie blow out her 1st birthday candle. Notice we did all the work while Kylie just watched
Our friends the Welsh's from Maine with their beautiful daughter Caris. This pic was taken in the Lanzhou airport. We were on our way to Guangzhou.
We are having a fabulous time in Guangzhou! I hope that all of the waiting families get to stay at this wonderful 5 star one of a kind luxury that is the White Swan. What a gem! The breakfast spread is incredible along with the service. I'll have to remember to take a pic. The shopping right outside the hotel is incredible too. There is so much to see and do and we are trying to take it all in between baby K's naps. The first night we arrived, we had a pizza party (yes, PIZZA) for dinner with the families and we went over our itineraries. On Saturday we went to the medical clinic for the obligatory but definitely not a thorough medical exam for the children. Kylie did great until the tongue depressor went into her mouth. She was calm again within a minute. Our princess weighs 19.5lbs and she is 2 1/2 feet long! The whole process happened very fast. Then at 3:30pm we had our white out party. It is where we fill out tons of forms, notary documents, forms from the US Consulate, copies of passports, etc and whiting out is allowed. Imagine that. Only one parent was asked to attend so I went since I'm the one most familiar with all of the documents. I was gone a couple of hours and when I got back to the room, I was heartbroken to find out that Kylie had a major emotional break down for about an 1 1/2 when she realized I was gone. I didn't understand it because she loves her daddy. She was clingy again for about an hour. Later that night miss clingy came out of her shell. She was a total handful during dinner and the rest of the night. She was wiggling her way out of our arms. She wanted to walk and talk to everyone. She is definitely very social. I must warn you now, she loves to offer you a piece of food or an item with no intentions of really giving it to you. We finally decided to take her to the mattel room where she played until approx 9:30pm. When we arrived in the room she completely crashed. So guess what we will be doing each night to make sure Kylie doesn't fuss when we try to put her to sleep...that's right, we are taking her to the toy room!! We also received the going home Barbie that is given to every adoptive family staying at the White Swan. I wanted this darn thing so bad and I kept thinking with my luck they will probably run out of dolls. When we arrived in our room and saw our Barbie present waiting for us, I don't know who was happier me or Kylie. There are bus loads and bus loads of adoptive families with their Chinese babies staying at this hotel. While it is sad that there are thousands of children that end up in an orphanage somewhere in China each year not because they are not loved but because of the laws currently in place, it is true that these are some of the luckiest babies once they are adopted. It is great to see all of these new happy families.
Today we went on a tour to the tea emporium. They showed us how to clean and make tea and they sampled several different flavors of tea. It is a great tour if you like tea (we don't). There was a nice scenic park behind the tea place which provided more photo op for our 'staff photographer'. Right after, we went to the Six Banyan Trees for the Buddhist monks to bless the babies. This was really a nice experience and we have some great pics from it. We had lunch or I should say everyone else enjoyed lunch. My mind kept wondering off to Danny's bagels where I was able to order pizza and have it delivered to our room as soon as we got back. Did I tell you how much I love Guanghzou?
The rest of our schedule is something like this:
Monday - Free day - Shop, shop, shop, then we will meet the families to go on a dinner cruise
Tuesday - Red Couch photo
Wednesday - We fly back to Beijing
Thursday - We are coming home!!!
I am not looking forward to the long flight home, but I will be happy to finally begin our journey back home.

12 comments:

The Film Family said...

Sean and Judy,
I love reading your blog--today it brought tears to my eyes. The love and excitement you feel for your daughter is clear in each accounting of your days with her. Of course, I love the picture of Emily and Kara and I can't wait to meet her. I can't believe it's almost time. Enjoy your last few days in China:)

Anonymous said...

Dear Sean, Judy, and Kylie,

Kylie sounds like she is a handful! How wonderful!!! We too had the pizza party! Lovely. We were happy to read that you were enjoying this leg of your trip as it is the most relaxing of all. Have lot of fun thank you for telling us how long Kylie is. We can adjust the car seat accordingly. Love to you!
Fred, Jeanne and Ellie

Anonymous said...

One more thing! Please tell The Welshes that we saw their photos. We met Caris' mommy in the China Pavilion in June! Caris' is beautiful!! Congrats to them!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Shawn & Judy!!!
I am so happy for you guys, she is so beautiful and is a very lucky little girl. Can't wait to here about your trip and don't forget me when kylie needs her first haircut! Karen Britt

Anonymous said...

Such wonderful photo's. Love the one of Kylie eating pizza. That is priceless! Glad to see a photo of Tammy and her hubby, I met her at Karyn's shower and am delighted to see the happy family together at last! Hope you enjoy your last few days in China. Happy Shopping!

Stacy & John
LID 8/30/05

cmneli said...

The White Swan sounds lovely. It's amazing HOW MUCH you guys are doing and how much culture familiarization is scheduled for you guys - that will be so awesome for Kylie to see as she grows up and sees her story and pictures documented with so much love. Enjoy your remaining days. The pictures are awesome!

Anonymous said...

Hi there, Judy, Sean & Kylie, I bet you guys are excited that the trip is winding down. This is the best part of it though. Knowing all the paperwork is done and most of your time is spent shopping. The Island is the best place to be. Kylie is almost as big as Natalie, or should I say Natalie is almost as small as Kylie. Perfect size playmates. Can't wait to see you when you get home.
Hugs & Kisses,
Robin, Joe and Natalie

Anonymous said...

Dear Sean and Judy,
Congradulations on your beautiful little girl! We are so happy for you and are excited to see her when you come to St. Charles.

Mike's Mom and Dad

Anonymous said...

Love your site! We are LID July 25th through Wide Horizons. We live in Florida and are so anxious to receive our referral (hopefully within a few weeks.) I've been reading your site everyday and am so happy for you and your husband. Your daughter is absolutely beautiful!!! ;)

Maria said...

Oh, wow! Your daughter is cuter each time I look at her, and the pictures of Steed and from the Tibetan restaurant are making me "homesick" for China again! We have a photo of Lucy being held by the same waitress, and the man in the photo did some awesome Karaoke for us the night our adoption was finalized. It was such a special evening and I can see you guys are having a wonderful time! Enjoy your beautiful little girl and ahve a safe trip home! We hope to be coming home to Orlando late this year to meet Lucy's cousin from China (if the referrals would speed along!!). I hope we can get together!

Maria Bisceglia

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful adventure and what a precious baby you have. I'm so glad you shared this experience with your friends and family. Beautiful pictures, Sean. Can't wait to meet the newest member of the Durney family... Be safe on your return trip to Orlando. ...Sharon L

Anonymous said...

Sean & Judy I shot you an email as well, can you email me your return travel details?

Brian Durney