Thank You!

Thank you all for your warm wishes while we were in China. It was an awesome journey..and perhaps someday, I will be able to write more about the trip..for now, though...we are going to switch back to our "regular" blog...here's the address:

www.journeytomaya.blogspot.com

Check in on us from time to time...we'll try to post frequently!

Michelle and Maya

HOME!

Yay! We are home. I will admit that there were times in the airplane(s) today that I highly doubted we would make it. This was, by far, the HARDEST day ever! But...Maya has taken it like a champ. She already seems comfortable in her new house...we took a brief tour and then she went down for bed around 8pm - just like in the hotel rooms that we have stayed in. We did have dinner...how could we not feast on Imo's pizza after 16 days away? I wanted to make Maya's first meal in the US a distinct one!

I'll keep this short...I'm so stinkin' tired right now that I'm seeing doubles!

The plan is to ease into a routine...after a few days!

More later!

November 3, 2006 - Guangzhou

The adoption is complete! We had our swearing in ceremony this afternoon at the U.S. Consulate. Two little stamps in Maya's passport once we get to Newark, NJ and she will be a US Citizen.

Nothing else to report today...we took it easy most of the day and then had dinner one last time in China. We have to be in the hotel lobby at 5:50am tomorrow morning, so I'm signing off, one last time, from China.

See you guys soon!

Michelle&Maya&Grandpa!

November 2, 2006 - Guangzhou

Our day in photos....

A little pre-breakfast paper reading...

Yum...I really like bananas!

All done! I help mama out by wiping my own mouth and hands!

We took a walk around the island after breakfast and did some shopping...she still does not like to shop...oh well...mama doesn't really like shopping either!

Back in the room before picture time...Grandpa introduced me
to Snickers! YUM - I guess we can be friends afterall!

One of my favorite things to do is throw everything from the table onto the floor...then mama picks it all up for me so that I can do it again!

Mom bought me this pretty lavendar dress - it's a traditional Chinese dress -
I didn't mind it so much!

But then...she wanted me to cooperate for some group photos...doesn't she know that I don't like big groups of strangers?? (I'm the cute one in the upper left corner - looking like I'm waving!)

Now I'm all sacked out...ready to bring on more cuteness
tonight for dinner with some friends!

And this is me NOT going to sleep eventhough mama put me
down 30 minutes ago!

November 1, 2006 - Guangzhou

There really is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby! These pictures are imprinted in my mind..and I recall them as often as Maya's meltdowns...it's one of my coping mechanisms!! Notice that she has BOTH of her legs out of the crib slats...too cute!!



This was our first full day in Guangzhou. The best way to describe it is from another adoptive parent - it's the West Palm Beach of China. It's very accomodating to westerners....it's very touristy...and it's very "lit up" at night. One of the cool things about our rooms is the light show that goes on over the Pearl River every night at 8pm. It's very impressive!

Today..we got up pretty early and went downstairs to have our first "American" breakfast since last Wednesday. It was SO good! We then made our way to the "Swan Room" which is a great play room that Matel has built for all of the adoptive parents that come through Guangzhou with their babies. Maya has so much fun being with other kids...even if she's not yet able to fully interact...she enjoys people watching! She did play with some toys...my personal favorite was the Elmo/Cookie Monster shape sorter that talked to you in Spanish! All I could make out was "Hola" in this really creepy CookieMonster-ish voice.....the rest was pretty garbled! Here's a shot of the room...

Then...the unimaginable happened...a ton of paperwork had to be completed and I had to leave Maya for almost two hours...for the FIRST time! Man that was HARD! But...we are all still here to tell you that Grandpa FINALLY got to hold his newest granddaughter! She was sleeping....but that still counts! By Grandpa's account...everything went pretty well....they played just a bit...she cried just a bit...she slept a bit...and then she sat on his lap and waited for me to come back. They still have some work to do...but this was a BIG start! Yay for Maya and Grandpa - and Mama only cried a little bit, so Yay for Mama, too! (I cannot believe that I forgot to get a picture of this....I'm SO sorry!!)

We had some lunch at a local restaurant called Lucy's and then went out to do a tad bit of shopping. This girl loves to eat! She's a very good eater...will try almost anything that I present to her...and particularly enjoys feeding herself. Grandpa will give her some little bites on a plate..and this morning...she just kept sliding her plate over to Grandpa for a refill once it was empty. It was quite funny!

As for shopping...I'm not completely sure - it could have been because she was tired - but I'm beginning to think that my daughter does not like to shop! She wouldn't stand for it for very long before meltdown central came knocking at my door. So...we didn't do too much. Besides, we had MUCH better plans for the afternoon - photo and medical exam time! Oh MAN was she pissed! She did not enjoy the photo op, because other people were touching her and she REALLY didn't like the medical exam. That involved way too much time in the hands of strangers for her. The good news is that she checked out just fine and we should have all of the immigration stuff done by tomorrow afternoon so that I can take an oath on Friday and that will be that!! Maya officially becomes a citizen of the USA once her little feet touch US soil on Saturday evening. Yay for Maya!

Ok...I know...I stink at picture taking...I should have had a TON more photos from today...particularly since we didn't have much going on...I'll try harder tomorrow! Until then...have a GREAT whatever day today is!