February 14, 2006
I remember this day being very busy. We were on cloud nine with our little valentine!! The streets and shops of Shamian Island were decorated with balloons and streamers. The local shop workers called it "lover's day". Lucy's (our favorite place to eat) was all fancied up with table linens and dressed up waiters. It was a beautiful day.
Our group met in the hotel lobby in the morning to take the famous "red couch" photos. This is when you dress the kids in traditional Chinese clothing and line them on the couch and try to get some pictures before the crying starts. It was pretty hard getting all these little ones to cooperate, but it was fun. In the top photo above you will find Molly wearing pink on the right end of the couch. She sat there all calm and collected for some time, then as crying got louder, she decided to join in!! See the bottom picture. Isn't she the cutest even when crying!!
The pictures above are from that day as well. One of the three of us and the other is our entire group. It was a large group. 17 children in all.Our trip was almost over. We were very ready to come home, but yet sad to be leaving Molly's birth country. We were also enjoying the carefree days with all the focus on Molly. Because that would all change when we return home. But I was looking forward to a real routine and my own bed! The weather is also hard to leave as it is very cold in the US. A snow storm had hit Newark (our point of entry) and the airport is nearly closed.
This afternoon we all went to the US Consulate to take our oath. We could not take anything into this building but our passports and basically a diaper and bottle. A very restricted place, and I have to say intimidating. We waited for it seemed forever, with cranky children. The room was filled with lots of families from all over. When the time was right, we were instructed to raise our right hands and take the oath that everything in our paperwork was truthful. Then it was over. What??? That's it??? Yep, done and gone! No big deal. It took longer to go through the security line that take the oath.
The rest of the day was spent packing our bags for the trip home. Our night ended with Molly losing her bedtime bottle all over me and her!! Or I guess I should say bottleS!! Yes I gave her extra because she was crying for more!! Hey!! I was new at this stuff!! Anyway, the bags were packed and we were saying good night to China. I think I stared out the window for an hour that night. I wanted to remember everything about it. This country provided us with something we couldn't for ourselves, a beautiful baby. It was hard to leave, not knowing if we would ever be back here.
1 comment:
Molly looked like she was so done with the Red Couch experience. She's still adorable screaming her little lungs out. We loved Luci's too, it was the closest thing to food at home! I wish we would have gotten a picture of Luci's while we were there. Happy Valentines Day to your family!
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