This morning we woke up to the wonderful White Swan breakfast! The breakfast at Galactic Peace in Nanchang is mostly Chinese food (noodles, dumplings, soups, breads and other foods that I didn't dare try) but The White Swan breakfast is good old fashioned comfort foods...eggs, french toast, fresh fruits, bacon and much, much more. Just what homesick Americans are desperate for by this point in the adoption journey. For those who don't know...the White Swan is well known in the China adoption circle because ALL Americans adopting from China must come to Guangzhou to appear before the US Consulate for a citizenship ceremony for their newly adopted child and to get a visa for their child to enter the USA.
A medical exam is required before a visa is issued so this morning after breakfast we set out to get Bailey's medical exam and visa photo taken. Her exam went fine. She weighed in at 25.8 pounds (My arms are screaming that she ways more!) and she is 36 inches tall. Not much smaller than Brea. The bad news is that the USA is now requiring all children adopted from China to have ALL of their immunizations before entering the country AND all children over the age of two much have a TB test. Poor Bailey had to get four shots (one in each arm and one in each thigh) and a TB skin test at her exam. Not even lollipops help when it comes to needles! It was over pretty quick and after waiting 30 mintes to be sure she didn't have a reaction we were on our way back to the White Swan. She is sore and limping a little but overall she is doing great after such a horrific morning.
Bailey continues to keep us laughing! Danny has taught her to "blow it up" and to "give high fives". She started saying mommy, daddy, Bailey, bye-bye and Yabba Dabba Do today! She has been generous with the chin chins (kisses) today to! I am amazed at how quickly this little girl has wrapped her daddy (ok...mommy to) around her little finger! Brooke...you are going to love her to but be prepared to share the yeast rolls because she loves bread. Baker...you and Bailey just might need to do a stand up comedy act. She is almost as funny as you are! Brea...you guys are going to have a ball together! She LOVES to be outside and she loves gummy bears...two of your favorite things!
Our travel mates (the Scott family) newly adopted daughter is doing better today but now their four year old daughter is sick with a throat infection. We saw her this morning and she sounds horrible. They could really use all the prayers they can get for their girls to get well soon. It is hard enough to have a sick child at home but to have a sick little one and be stuck in a hotel room is the pits.
On a sad note...the couple from the UK that we spoke of earlier in the trip that was having a hard time adjusting to life with a new baby was still struggling with their decision to keep the baby or not as we were leaving Nanchang yesterday. I can't get them off my mind and I may never know the outcome but please keep them in your prayers as well.
Tomorrow is a free day and then Monday we will head back to the medical clinic for the TB test to be read. On Tuesday the attorney's assistant will go to the consulate and if all goes well we will go to our consulate ceremony on Wednesday. This process seems to drag on and on at this point and it seems like we are just wasting time until the consulate appointment. I know all the steps in between are necessary evils but boy do I wish we could expedite the process and head home sooner. I (we) really miss our kiddos to the point that I physically feel sick if I sit and think about it to much.
Enjoy the photos from today. I am off to bed.
